Straight Talk on Anger

I have been studying the use of the words “anger, wrath, hatred, fury, indignation” in the New Testament of the Holy Bible.  Although, there are several words used in the original languages (Greek) that correspond to these translations, there are three common Greek words and their derivatives. Orge-noun and orgidzo-verb which are translated wrath, anger, indignation, fury-but most commonly “wrath”; miseo/misos which is translated as hate, hatred, etc.; and thumos  which is translated passion, wrath, or anger (I only referenced the passages referring to “passion that stirs up anger”, not sensual passion).

Although these words are used at times interchangeably, they are not completely synonymous.  I won’t go into the details of the comprehensive word searching and studying of each passage, but I did want to draw a few applications  from my study.

Thirty one of the ninety-three instances (or thereabouts) refer specifically and uniquely to God’s wrath and anger in judgment.  Most if not all of those references refer to ultimate or final judgment upon unbelief. Fifty-one instances reference mankind and anger, wrath, or hatred.  I broke down these instances categorizing them as Command/Principle and Example/Illustration.

When interpreting the Bible, NT commands and principles receive a greater degree of attention than do examples or illustrations.  The simple reason for this is that commands and principles are easily determined as right or wrong.  Illustrations or examples are usually more difficult to discern whether right or wrong.  (ie. Jesus raised the dead, walked on water, went to a mountain to pray, etc.  Obviously, we cannot nor should imitate everything about Christ especially those things are particular of his Divine Nature—in fact, if we claim to be God we would be guilty of gross blasphemy).  I further categorized the passages of Scripture according to positive or negative. Sometimes this was not as easily discernible and some seem neutral, but I believe I have done justice to the texts.

I find it that when one only considers commands or principles regarding men and their wrath, anger, or hatred there were only four such principles with a positive bent to them.  We will examine these four first.

Luke 14:26—“ If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. “

This passage has perplexed students of the Word for ages.  Most conservative theologians and exegetes have concluded (and I believe correctly) that Jesus is not suggesting actual hatred for family, but that the love and devotion to Christ should be far greater the devotion for family, so that it appears as if it were hatred for family.  This is a principle emphasizing supreme love and devotion to God at the expense of family (note only family are mentioned here).  It would be the utmost in foolishness to suppose that Christ were violating the rest of Scripture which teaches love for our families.  And someone who would use this passage to stand for “truth” against their family had better be certain it is God’s Truth, not their own.

John 12:25—“He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.”

This passage is very much like the previous one in that Jesus is talking about a comparison of loving and hating.  It is speaking of one’s own life.  So in essence even if Jesus were talking about truly hating your own life, it would be obviously opposed to hating another’s life.  The very essence of love is self-denial and other’s joy.

Romans 13:3-5  “For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:  For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. “

Obviously wrath is looked upon as a positive when it is God’s ordained institution of government using it correctly. This passage cannot be twisted to suggest it is ever okay for individuals to personally be angry and demonstrate wrath.

Ephesians 4:26-27 “Be ye angry and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath:  neither give place to the Devil.”

This is the only NT passage that seems to indicate it is okay to be angry.  Robertson says that this Greek is the “permissive Imperative” meaning that it is not a command to be angry, but rather a reminder that when we are agitated, do not let those agitations and passions overwhelm us bringing us into sin.  Some twist this verse and use it as an argument that as long as some injustice or wrong has been committed, they have a right to be angry.  This is sloppy interpretation at best.  The purpose of this passage is not to prove the freedom to be angry, but is rather a warning that anger leads to sin.  Be careful that when you sense anger rising that it is dealt with immediately (let not the sun go down upon your wrath) so that no ammunition, quarter, or habitation is given to the Devil to destroy you and the other.  So we see this passage is actually teaching to control the wrathful tendencies, not to excuse them.

Three examples/illustrations are given in the NT concerning a positive account of anger/ wrath/hatred.  Examples are less persuasive than commands or principles, but they can assist us in our study.

Romans 7:15—Paul describes his personal hatred for his sinful flesh.  Notice that this has nothing to do with any other saint or individual, but his own detesting of his sin.

Revelation 2:6—Christ commends the church a Ephesus for hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans.  Notice again that they are hating the deeds, not the individuals.  This example also leaves us no indication how this hatred manifests itself.  It doesn’t mean there were angry words or violent opposition (nor does it say there wasn’t), but their hatred could have been just refusing to give audience to or to support their teaching.  We are speaking of false teachers as well, not personal issues or other saints.

Mark 3:5—Here Jesus is angry at the Pharisees and specifically it says, because of the hardness of their heart.  There are a few things to consider.  First, Jesus never got angry over personally being insulted or attacked, he was only angry over recognizable, known, clear sin-specifically unbelief.  Second, Jesus had the right to be angry as God has a right to be angry at sinners (the OT is replete with this teaching).  Third, must we follow every example of Christ, are there aspects of Christ that we cannot emulate or should not emulate?  (That will be examined in the next point).

John 2:13-18—Twice Jesus cleanses the temple by using a whip and driving out the money changers from the temple.  I believe that with great zeal and passion Jesus showed he was no wimp and executed this prophetic task.  However, note that in none of the occasions, do the words for anger, wrath, or hatred even appear.  Instead, the disciples notice the zeal for the house of God. Note the deliberation as Jesus made the whip.  Certainly this was a very forceful and powerful example of Christ’s manly and Godly zeal, but neither does the text indicate Jesus was in a rage or was yelling or using biting language.  Yes, he used a short scourge and not doubt he did so with seriousness and a certain level of hostility.   But all the while, he was in control. It never was personal it was about the glory of God, with no sense of righting injustices to himself.

As a parentheses to this thought, are we commanded to emulate Christ in his Divinely appointed works and role?  The disciples noticed that he drove them out because of his zeal for God’s house.  The Jews ask him what authority he has and he tells them that the authority is his because the temple is his.  This indicates that it was God’s job and specifically Jesus’ as the revelation of God to do this task.  No where do we see it was Peter’s or John’s job to do so.

These are the only positive commands or examples of anger in the NT.  On the contrary, multiple commands abound concerning the negative aspect of wrath, anger, and hatred and we will look at those in the next article.

What do we learn for now?  We must not be quick to think we have a right to be angry, even against those who have done wrong the most to us.  We have a right to forgive and love and no Scripture gives us license to practice otherwise, even if we don’t “feel” like it.

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