First off, let me tell you how excited I am that so many people are following along. I hope you still enjoy the reading. I'm sure by now you've noticed that it's not hard IF you keep up daily. It's about 15 to 20 min. a day, so if you miss a day, the next day it's 30 to 40 min. of reading! That can easily add up. If you fall behind, don't get discouraged. You can either pick it up on the current week and come back later, or try to catch up. Weekends are good to catch up. The reading is about the same as any other day, but it's spread out over 2 days, so there's some extra time.
This week we'll finish the book of Numbers:
- Weekend: Numbers 13 - 16
- Monday: Numbers 17 - 20
- Tuesday: Numbers 21 - 25
- Wednesday: Numbers 26 - 30
- Thursday: Numbers 31 - 33
- Friday: Numbers 34 - 36
The people of Israel arrive at the border of the Promised Land. But their faith has been tested, and they haven't done well on the tests... When the 12 explorers come back from exploring Canaan, they bring back good news and 'bad' news. The good news is that the Promised Land is indeed what God had promised: a land of milk and honey. The bad news is that the land is inhibited by seemingly mighty people and giants. Apparently, they have forgotten how mighty their God is, and that He was the one who fought for them against the Egyptians and the Amalekites. Again their faith is lacking.
How are you doing when your faith is tested? Do you believe that Almighty God has power to overcome any obstacles in your life? I hope you do.
The Israelites don't and the result is disastrous. Read for yourself in Numbers 14. All this is not easy on Moses, the mediator between God and the people. Moses faces some serious opposition from the people, and even from his own brother and sister. Must have been a very lonely position for him from time to time.
And there is the story of Balaam and the talking donkey. Again a week full of interesting and detailed stories. What an amazing book the Bible is!!
Dick
Last week Steve posted some questions and concerns about the Bible’s portrayal of God’s anger and wrath in certain instances. I would therefore like to attempt an explanation…though it is impossible to answer every question or satisfy every objection…
ReplyDeleteFirst, I will offer a word or two about anger as a legitimate emotion in both humans and God. Second, I will demonstrate that the portrayals of God’s anger in the Old Testament show up in the New Testament as well. In other words, the claim that some people make about the God of the Old Testament being grumpy and wrathful and the God of the New Testament being patient and gentle is without merit. Finally, I will conclude by suggesting that displays of God’s anger (whether in the OT or NT) are manifestations of appropriate expressions of anger.
Anger is a legitimate and appropriate emotion. As image bearers of our Creator, we share in the full range of emotions. In fact, one could argue that, alongside our mental faculties (such as imagination, creativity, common sense, memory, and cognition), the capacity to experience and express emotion the way we do is one of the principal characteristics of Imago Dei (God’s image manifest in human beings). Animals experience emotion to some degree. But human beings uniquely experience…and express a wide range of emotions.
Like God, human beings experience joy and happiness, grief and heartache, resolution and determination, consolation and relief, betrayal and jealousy…and frustration and anger. None of these emotions is illegitimate or inappropriate in either God or human beings.
Anger is an appropriate emotion in certain circumstances. But anger is also one of the most difficult emotions to manage…and that is due largely to the Fall. Cain committed the first murder because he did not manage his anger well…even after God warned Cain that his sin was about to get the best of him (see Gen. 4:6-8). Whenever we do not manage our anger well, we give the devil a foothold.
Scripture is clear about the fact that anger and sin do not have to coexist. Psalm 4:4 is instructive: “In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.” Note that this passage implies that it is possible to be angry and not sin. The Psalmist suggests how to do this…by taking time at the end of the day to search our hearts and be silent. The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:26-27 quotes the first line of this passage (“In your anger do not sin”) and then adds his own (Spirit-inspired) commentary: “…do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”
The point in both Psalm 4 and Ephesians 4 is that we manage anger appropriately by taking steps to address the emotion as soon as it occurs. In some cases, the best way to process anger is alone…and in silence. At other times, it is giving appropriate expression to it “before the sun sets.” In other words, we express anger sooner rather than later…and express it at the immediate cause...whatever that might be. This in contrast to suppressing anger repeatedly until it becomes impossible to contain…in which case we often react in a manner that is disproportionate to the immediate situation.
There are times when anger provides the motivation to say what needs to be said…or to do what needs to be done. When anger is appropriately focused on the issue that produced it in the first place…and without the residual buildup of unresolved anger-producing occurrences of the past…it is more likely that the anger will help to produce words and actions that are proportionate to the precipitating event. In other words, we will be angry and not sin. If on the other hand, we manage our anger poorly, then we give sin a foothold and it is more likely that we will let it get the best of us. Our emotions take over and, rather than acting out of reflective intentionality, we will overreact.
When God manifests anger, God is not being “more human” and less “God-like.” Both Old and New Testament Scripture portray anger as a legitimate expression of God’s personhood. More than 30 passages in the New Testament describe God’s wrath as vividly as any Old Testament text.
ReplyDeleteWhile the NT book of Romans, for example, offers the most thorough explication of God’s grace in Christ, the theme of God’s wrath also appears in bold relief: “The wrath of God,” says Paul, is “being revealed against all godlessness and wickedness” (1:18). Human stubbornness and unrepentant hearts are “storing up wrath…for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed” (2:5). For “those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger” (2:8). We are enjoined not to take revenge into our own hands, but to “leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (12:19).
I could go on, but the point is that there is no discrepancy between the Old and New Testament’s portrayals of God.
That brings us to the question of whether God in certain OT passages appears to be capricious, passive aggressive, or “too human” in expressing anger. The same accusation, by the way, has been leveled against Jesus for the way he cleansed the Jerusalem temple, overturning the merchants’ tables and driving out sheep and cattle (and presumably people) with a makeshift whip (see Matt. 21:11-13; Mark 11:14-16; John 2:14-16). The temple cleansing incident in fact serves as an ideal exemplar of God’s expressions of anger.
Jesus acted out of reflective intentionality. He acted. He did not overreact. But if you were one of onlookers at the temple that day, you might not have understood what set Jesus off. And that is just the point…
When God displays anger it is always for the right reasons. Sometimes, however, those reasons are not immediately apparent (and in some cases, Scripture does not give us every reason). But God knows what is at stake. God is fully cognizant of the underlying motives…and the long-term consequences of undisciplined behavior…both to individuals and groups (such as the nation of Israel).
For example, when Achan stole some of the plunder from Jericho, after God specifically commanded the people to keep their hands off it, Achan and his household were put to death (see Josh. 7). A harsh punishment, to be sure! Was it God’s intended punishment? The text clearly indicates that it was. Why so harsh a judgment? God, better than any human being (then or now), knew what was at stake.
What are we to take away from such stories? The moral truth that we serve a God who takes our behavior seriously. God in both testaments is merciful, loving, tender, and holy…which means that God is incompatible with human sinfulness in any form. God is at once kind and stern (see Rom. 11:22). “Therefore,” as the writer of Hebrews puts it, “since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire’” (Heb. 12:28-29).
Thanks Chuck for an excellent answer. It helps me to think about how to have anger and not sin. Often, as Christians, we think that we need to not react angrily in a situation, but hold it in and respond "appropriately" later. However, for me, often that means I react out of proportion to a later situation because I didn't really deal with the anger at the time and in the situation it occurred.
ReplyDeleteIt is also important for me to remember that the whole of human history and God's interaction with all of it is not in scripture. Often we don't know the whole story. But, we know enough to understand how much God loves us and also how much he wants us to live well.