RUSHWAVE: Establishing Believers in the Christian Faith

Chapter 17: God can be Provoked

God’s anger is roused on account of man’s rebellion, but it is always just and appropriate.

The realization that an all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful God can get angry is truly a frightful and terrifying thing. After all He is always there, and can do anything, at anytime, in anyway He pleases. But God becoming angry must be viewed in light of His other attributes, and what scripture teaches about His anger.

God’s anger is always right. If it were not so, He could not be righteous. But everything God feels or does is always right — it is impossible for it to be otherwise. So if God is angry, it is an expression of His righteous, loving character just as much as all His other attributes.

Anger is often viewed as a negative, unrighteous emotion, and this is understandable in light of man’s anger. Men not only get angry for illegitimate reasons, but even when they are angry for the right reason they can channel their anger in ways that are disproportionate to the offense. A person who is called a derogatory name can physically assault the name-caller. Man’s anger is therefore often unrighteous and a reflection of his fallen nature.

God does not share in the weaknesses of man. He does not act rashly and out of proportion with the offense. He only becomes angry when there is just cause to be so.

God’s righteous anger is rooted in His love of justice and truth, and His hatred for injustice and evil. When God is angry it is because something has gone seriously askew in the created order, and that something is that which He hates. And that which He hates are the evil works of men who engage in practices He despises and abhors.

There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers. Proverbs 6:16–19
“Let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate,” declares the Lord. Zechariah 8:17

The scriptures above are by no means exhaustive of what God hates. Nor should it be thought that unless God specifically says He hates something, He therefore either approves of or is indifferent towards it. God’s hatred of evil works is evident from various accounts in scripture where He was “provoked to anger.”

Over the course of Israel’s history, God was repeatedly provoked to anger by Israel’s worship of false gods. This worship involved various abominable practices, human sacrifice often being one of them. Given God’s loving, just, caring nature, He was infuriated over these depraved practices.

With abominations they provoked Him to anger. They sacrificed to demons who were not God, To gods whom they have not known, New gods who came lately. Deuteronomy 32:16–17
The sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals, and they forsook the Lord … and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the Lord to anger. So they forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. The anger of the Lord burned against Israel. Judges 2:11–14
The Lord said to the sons of Israel, “Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines? Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hands. Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress.” Judges 10:11–14

These passages are just a small portion of a recurring theme in scripture: man’s rebellion and evil arouse God’s anger. And He has a strong aversion to evil deeds because they bring into His creation that which is contrary to His very nature. God’s character is life, blessing, fullness, righteousness and truth. But man’s rebellion brings evil, suffering, heartache, injustice and death. God therefore becomes indignant and is minded to enforce justice to rectify the situation.

God is slow to anger. Of Himself God says:

The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth. Exodus 34:6

God being slow to anger means He is patient and forbearing. He does not immediately judge those who rebel, even though He is within His rights to do so. He gives opportunity for sinners to repent so they can avert judgment, and He sends His messengers to warn of that judgment.

The Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets again and again, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear, saying, “Turn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds … and do not go after other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will do you no harm.” Yet you have not listened to Me, declares the Lord, in order that you might provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. Jeremiah 25:4–7

God sending His servants to warn is born of His taking no pleasure in the death of the wicked. God desires to grant life, and He would rather the wicked turn and be spared. In His forbearance, He patiently and repeatedly warns those over whom judgment is hovering.

God being slow to anger means He is not quick-tempered. When considering human behavior, being slow to anger is cited as a virtue and contrasted with those who are easily angered. “He who is slow to anger has great understanding, But he who is quick-tempered exalts folly” (Proverbs 14:29). “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, But the slow to anger calms a dispute” (Proverbs 15:18). Even so, God is not one to react irrationally or impetuously in outbursts of wrath. His anger is aroused in the context of His having patiently endured being continually offended; of His having exercised great restraint against those to whom judgment is due.

God’s righteous anger, if not appeased, ultimately culminates in judgment. He determines what is the just and fair punishment for those who defy Him. And He, in accordance with His infinite power over all creation, ensures that penalty is put into effect. And He can impose that penalty in a variety of ways.

Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. Genesis 19:24-25
And the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt … The hail struck all that was in the field through all the land of Egypt, both man and beast; the hail also struck every plant of the field and shattered every tree of the field. Exodus 9:23–25
The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up. Jonah 1:4
The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. Numbers 21:6
So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel; 70,000 men of Israel fell. 1 Chronicles 21:14
The Lord sent lions among them which killed some of them. 2 Kings 17:25

This is just a small portion of the many scriptures detailing God’s wrath against those who rebelled against Him. God employed other means to bring judgment such as earthquakes, flooding, insect infestations, barrenness, and invasions by hostile armies. God rules heaven and earth, so He is able to use all these, and any other means He chooses, to effect His righteous judgment.

We must be careful not to err on either side of what scripture teaches about God’s anger. It is a very serious error to think every natural catastrophe, animal attack, illness, war, or other tragedy is God punishing people. This is utterly false. But it is also untrue to say God never employs these things as punishment. God does become angry over man’s rebellion, and He has used these things in the past, and will continue to use them in the future as He deems appropriate.

In this fallen world there will always be people in authority who act corruptly. Whether it be dictators who rule countries, employers who manage employees, or parents who manage households, there will be those who oppress, abuse and take advantage of those over whom they have oversight. We fear making those who rule us angry, knowing what those leaders or managers can do. After all, they may have the authority to unjustly deny a valuable privilege, unfairly release us from employment, blackmail us, impose a harsh fine, imprison us without cause, or even sentence us to death.

Should the fear of provoking a corrupt leader compare with the fear of provoking the righteous, almighty Creator of the universe? To make corrupt human leaders angry is one thing; their anger is a display of their own unjust judgment and depravity. But to make a righteous God angry is to arouse the wrath of Him who patiently endured our rebellion and is poised to judge with absolute power.

It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:31

Indeed, how fearful it is to be subject to the wrath of God.

God can become angry on your account. His anger is always righteous and in keeping with His love for justice and truth. He does not immediately judge you on account of your rebellion, but desires to grant mercy and forgiveness. This is ultimately the message in John 3:16.

from The Nature and Character of God

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