Last time, we shared the definition of unjustified anger and we looked at how unjustified anger can turn to wrath as we become fixated on the source of our anger. We saw how God warns us about unjustified anger and in this part of our study, we will look at how our anger, when it is rooted in the things of the flesh and this world, can quickly spiral beyond our control. The last verse I shared in our previous study was written by Solomon and is actually a verse of warning: Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools (Ecclesiastes 7:9). This warning from the Lord, if we will heed it, is God’s way of telling us we should really consider what is really the source of our anger. The second part of that verse, what I consider the qualifier is God calls us fools when we make the conscious decision to hold on to our anger and let it grow.
Unjustified anger, and again, this is anger that is fleshly based and usually happens when we feel that someone or something has caused us to become embarrassed or our best made plans to fail. This unjustified anger is not only a sin, but if we do not learn how to scriptural manage it, it will lead us to commit other sins that are totally out of our character or we normally would not even think to do. This flesh-filled and centered anger and the wrath that accompanies it has a natural tendency to bring out the very worst in our character. Again, Solomon was led by the spirit of the Lord to write Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in proud wrath (Proverbs 21:24). When we place our pride in the things of the flesh, anything or anyone that gets between us and the object of our pride can become the focus of our anger. Some people take great pride in getting even or making sure that “someone pays the price” for what we perceive they have done. At some time, we all have said that we were going to get even with someone, or make them pay for what they did to us. We are reacting out of unjustified anger; God gives every Christian the same warning through the writings of the apostle Paul: See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men (I Thessalonians 5:15). How easy is it to allow the flesh to handle these situations; it runs against the fleshly nature we all struggle with to simply do good to those who have angered us.
If we allow our unjustified anger to grow into wrath, it can bring out the worst cruelty from within us. Within the book of Genesis there is a story of how the sons of Jacob sought revenge against a young man who had a sexual relationship with their sister, Dinah (I will note here that the Bible does not explicitly say she was raped or if she consented, as it does in other verses. The sexual act itself is not the main point of the story). Her two brothers, Simeon and Levi, humiliated and angered that their sister had a sexual relationship without being married and had that relationship someone other than from the family of Abraham (a first or second cousin, as was tradition), sought to avenge her “humility and shame.” Rather than to seek the counsel of their father, Jacob, they took matters in their own hands. When the man’s father, Hamor, came to ask about allowing his son and Dinah to marry, Levi and Simeon quickly agreed with the requirement that all men in the city become circumcised according to the tradition of Abraham. After agreeing to this request, all the men in the city were circumcised and three days later, Simeon and Levi led a band of servants and they attacked the city, killing the king, his son, and the rest of the men and took a great spoil and captives from the city. When Jacob heard what had been done “in his name,” he said, Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel (Genesis 49:7).
Their anger and wrath led them to unquestionable cruelty. Where we may not respond with so violent of an outburst that we set a snare that allows us to kill an entire city, we do often scheme and create scenarios in our minds. We read in newspapers, the Internet, and even on the news networks the results of some people who aren’t able to stop their wrath. They make plans or take advantage of opportunities that seem to present themselves to strike back at those who have hurt them, angered them, and embarrassed them. Jesus told all that would listen to him, But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Mathew 5:28). If we take this standard and apply it to our anger, then suddenly, those schemes and ideas, although never acted upon, become sin themselves – as if we had actually done them. Again, turning to the writings of Solomon, A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both. Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy? (Proverbs 27:3-4). When we allow our anger to taint our thinking, there is no limit to how cruel the retribution we feel is warranted by our anger. When we allow our flesh to govern our anger, we become bent on getting even and assuring that we are never harmed again. Sometimes the extent we are willing to take to get even becomes cruel to the extent it is worse than what was done to us.
Unjustified anger, as it develops into wrath, can lead us to become vocal about what we perceive as the injustice against us. It becomes easy to tell others about what was done to us, how we are the victims, and then to cast blame on the person or object of our anger. The apostle Paul witnessed this in his day and realized that it is a struggle against the flesh and he instructed the Christians at the church in Ephesus, Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you (Ephesians 4:31-32). This verse calls Christians to be the opposite. We are to put away anger, bitterness, and wrath, we are not to be loud and boastful about the wrongdoings of others, nor vocalize anything that would cause anyone else to question their character, whether it is true or not. We are not to gossip about others or to spread lies. This is the opposite of what the flesh wants to do. The flesh wants to get even, to belittle, and to punish at all costs. Christ Jesus calls us to rise above the fleshly desires and motivations. Even Peter had to deal with this issue with the early Christians and wrote, Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings (I Peter 2:1). Just as Paul wrote, the apostle Peter is also writing to new-born, recently saved Christians. He is telling them that they are to be different from the world and are to set these things aside. It is hard when this is how we are accustomed to handling those who make us angry. There is a fleshly need to talk bad about them, to envy them of their success while we see ourselves in failure, and it is easy to try to sabotage them. Peter is reminding the Christian that these go against our new nature.
This is the second installment of the Bible and discipleship study on the two types of anger as defined and discussed in the Bible. The next installment will continue with the discussion of some of the sins that unjustified anger can lead to if we allow it to develop into wrath.
