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On Monday, we started looking at what the Proverbs have to say about anger… although we haven’t really gotten into the study yet! I ended the post with a homework assignment:

Go to Bible gateway.com and do a keyword search for the phrase “anger of the Lord” – skim through the references and notice how often God is described as being angry. And yet, contrast that with Exodus 34:6.

How can a good and loving God who is “slow to anger” be described as angry so often? What is He angry about, and how does that compare to what humans are usually angry about?

So, what did you come up with? There are many, many references to the fierce anger of the Lord in the Old Testament, and yet we are also told in Exodus 34:6 that God is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness and truth.” This statement is repeated in Numbers 14:18, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 103:8, and Psalm 145:8. How can a God with such fierce anger expressed time and time again be described as compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness?

In our day and age, we have a very simplified view of God. We have very happily stuffed Him in a box, wrapped it up with pretty paper that has rainbows and flowers on it, stuck a bow on top, and given it to ourselves because we are so “deserving and lovable.” We have made Him less than He really is… and as we discussed in our Bible study on Wednesday, what that really boils down to is idolatry. We have made God into an image of our choosing, into a little shadow of who He is, because the reality of the whole story of what the Bible says about God makes us uncomfortable.

Fasten those seat belts, and let’s take a look at what the Bible says.

If you did your homework :), you found that a simple keyword search on the phrase “anger of the Lord” will pull up 120 references! What is God so angry about? [We have already discussed many, many of these instances in past posts. If you're new around here, I invite you to click on the linked posts and read through these as time permits. I LOVE the Old Testament, and it thrills me to see people get a bigger understanding of God by reading and studying His Word!!]

•Exodus 4:14 – God is angry with Moses for his lack of faith

•Exodus 32 – God’s anger against the Aaron and people’s idolatry (the golden calf) results in the death of 3,000 Israelites.

•Numbers 11-13 – there is a LOT of anger happening in these chapters. This was not Israel’s shining time period, that’s for sure! The people’s rebellious and complaining spirit incites God’s anger, resulting in fire consuming the outskirts of the camp, plagues on the people, Miriam covered with leprosy, and eventually wandering in the wilderness for 40 more years.

•Numbers 25:1-4 – the Israelites begin to worship Baal with the people of Moab. The Lord is angry and orders that the leaders of the Israelites to executed in order to turn His anger away from the people.

•Deuteronomy 6:14-15 Moses warns the people that practicing idolatry will incite the anger of the Lord.

•Joshua 7:1 - Achan disregards God’s order to stay away from the plunder of Jericho, resulting in the anger of the Lord.

•Joshua 23:16 – Joshua warns the people that idolatry will incite the anger of the Lord against them

•Judges 2-3 – Lo and behold, the people do fall into idolatry time and time again, and indeed – God is angry.

•2 Samuel 6:6-7 – Uzzah touches the ark of the covenant, incites the anger of the Lord, and dies because of his irreverence.

•Kings, Chronicles, and the prophetic books – throughout these books there are many references to the anger of the Lord, particularly against evil kings who lead the people further into idolatry and rebellion against God. The prophets repeatedly warn about God’s anger.

In the next post we’ll look more about what the New Testament has to say about God’s anger. For right now, did you notice the repeated themes of why God was angry? Idolatry and rebellion.

“Noodle” on that for a while, and we’ll discuss more soon.  In the meantime, here is your next assignment:

How is God’s “slow to anger” nature seen in the Old Testament? Is God still angry in the New Testament? Do His love and anger coexist?