Bonus post: The Samaritan Woman
I have been reading again the story of King Saul and David in the time before David became king. The behavior of both men is a story filled with emotion and drama. There is disobedience on the part of Saul and a struggle within David to do the right thing. There is also a lot of anger displayed in the story, and that is the focus of our thoughts.
The center of my thoughts is not about this particular story but on the anger and the results brought about by anger. Paul says in Ephesians 4:26, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.” This is a repeat of a statement by David in Psalm 4:4, “Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.”
Anger is simply the feeling and expression of displeasure with something. According to the dictionary, it can include anything from annoyance and displeasure to hostility. Sadly, hostility is often where anger leads.
The consequences of anger provide us with the reason we need to pay attention to our anger. Genesis 4 is the first place we see the results of anger. Cain and Abel offered sacrifices, but Cain’s sacrifice was not acceptable to God. Verse 5 says God had “no regard” for Cain’s sacrifice, and Cain was very angry. Hebrews 11:4 says that Abel’s sacrifice was more acceptable than Cain’s, and Abel was commended as righteous. Jude 11 condemns those who “have gone in the way of Cain.” They were displaying pride, disobedience, and rebellion. John also used Cain as an example when he said, “We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous.” Cain killed his brother because he was angry.
Consequences of anger don’t always cause someone to murder. Sometimes, they do cause long-lasting, even permanent results. Such was the case with Moses and Aaron. Though the children of Israel had seen one miracle after another, they continued to complain about what they didn’t have. In Numbers 20, the people suffered the loss of Miriam. After they had buried her, they found that there was no water. So, they gathered themselves together and complained to Moses and Aaron. They used the same hateful attitude with their leaders that they had used since they left Egypt. “You made us come out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place. There are no grains or figs, no vines or pomegranates, and once again, no water.” Moses and Aaron left the people and fell on their faces before God. The Lord came to them, and told them to gather the people before the rock, speak to it, and they would have water. I would suppose that when they returned to the presence of the people that all of Israel continued to complain. Moses lost his temper, drew back his staff, and struck the rock, not once but twice. The people got the water they needed, but the price was a heavy one. “And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, Let Aaron be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land that I have given to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah.” Neither was Moses allowed to enter the promised land.
Both Cain and Moses lost control. They were angry, and they sinned. That leads us to the rest of Paul’s instruction on anger. He gives three qualifiers: sin not; examine yourself at day’s end; and don’t give place to the devil. He realized people are going to get angry, but we have to do it without sinning. Examine yourself, and refuse to let anger grow. When it grows, the devil will take the opportunity to grow that anger into something evil.
Cain needed to own his disobedience in offering the wrong sacrifice. Had he done that, God would have forgiven him, and Cain could have saved himself from the curse that was placed on him.
Moses had dealt with the complaining Israelites before, and should have left the punishment to God. He spoke in anger and struck the rock out of anger. His punishment could have been avoided.
At the closing of each day, we need to examine the thoughts of our hearts so that we won’t be caught up in sin. “The wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.”
Sandra Oliver