{"id":935,"date":"2021-04-18T13:49:13","date_gmt":"2021-04-18T03:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/?p=935"},"modified":"2021-04-18T13:49:17","modified_gmt":"2021-04-18T03:49:17","slug":"08-how-does-god-act-when-he-is-angry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/2021\/04\/18\/08-how-does-god-act-when-he-is-angry\/","title":{"rendered":"08 How does God act when He is angry?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Our Situation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Ephesians 4:26 we are commanded, \u201cBe angry and sin not.\u201d If you really were honest with yourself, can you ever think of a time when you were angry, and did not sin in your heart? Personally I don\u2019t think I can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, what is righteous anger? And how often have we justified our behavior under the guis of \u201crighteous anger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Passage: John 2:13-22<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What angered Jesus when he entered the temple and what did He do about it? <\/li><li>How did His disciples interpret what they saw? <\/li><li>How did the religious leaders respond to Jesus\u2019 actions?<\/li><li>Seeing that Jesus is The Word, and therefore His actions are God Himself at work through the body of Jesus, what does Jesus\u2019 actions here reveal about God?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Scene:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus revealed Himself to the lowly and the poor in the little town of Cana. But, it was now time for Him to make Himself known to the rest of the nation. What a better time to do that than in Jerusalem during the Passover celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus had been to Passover celebrations many times. As a child, with his family, or maybe just with his father on some occasions. As an adult, he would have attended every year. He knew the scene well. He had seen it many times. Those desiring to fulfill their expected duty were being taken advantage of. And the only place that gentiles could worship was a circus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fruchenbaum gives some more insight into what was happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Upon arrival in Jerusalem, Jesus observed two groups of people in the Temple (<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/ref.ly\/logosref\/Bible.Jn2.14\"><em>Jn. 2:14<\/em><\/a><em>). First were those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, which were sacrificial animals, and second were the changers of money. What Jesus observed is also recorded in some detail in Pharisaic writings, and the Pharisees did not like what was going on either. All of this was the business venture of one man, the former high priest, Annas. Annas and his family essentially took firm control of the Temple and turned it into a private family business. The Pharisees referred to it as \u201cthe Bazaar of the Sons of Annas.\u201d Annas was a Sadducee. Josephus described him as being a hoarder of money, very rich, and despoiling the common priests by open violence.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>If a person brought his own sacrifice, the priests appointed to inspect the animals would invariably find some spot or blemish. So with his sacrifice disqualified, the owner had two options. The first option was to go home and get another animal, which was fine if he lived near Jerusalem, but not so fine if the journey home was long. The second option was more convenient. In the Temple, there was an area of stalls where the oxen, sheep, and doves which had passed inspection were sold. Of course, these were sold at highly inflated prices, and the money went into the private coffers of Annas and his family.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>It was during Passover that everyone had to pay the annual half-shekel Temple tax. However, because Roman coinage was imprinted with an image of Caesar, it could not be used to pay the Temple tax. The money had to be exchanged by the changers of money (<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/ref.ly\/logosref\/Bible.Jn2.14\"><em>Jn. 2:14<\/em><\/a><em>), and there was a service charge with each exchange. The service charge also went to the family of Annas.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, as His first act in revealing Himself as the Messiah to the nation, Jesus walks into the temple and begins over turning tables and throwing the merchants out of the temple court. Jesus was very clear, He wanted God\u2019s house to be a place where people of both Jew and Gentile, could worship His Father without distraction!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Purpose:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t know how you have pictured this scene in your mind. Ken Gire in his book, \u201cMoments with the Savior,\u201d eloquently describes how he pictures the scene. Many of us picture this as a very intense scene. And I have heard many people use this scene as an excuse for anger. \u201cWell, Jesus got so angry in the temple that he turned over the tables, therefore I am justified in my anger too.\u201d If that is the conclusion you come to from imagining this scene, you would be wrong. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God is always consistent with His character. He never acts contrary to Himself. Jesus is the perfect representation of God on earth. He is the living, breathing, acting Word of God! So, when God is angry, how does He act?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>God has never and will never sin in His anger. <\/li><li>God\u2019s anger is ALWAYS self controlled (controlled by God). <\/li><li>Gods anger will ONLY display or manifest fruits of the Spirit, fruits of God-Likeness!<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, taking those 3 things, how does that affect your perception of the scene that took place in the temple? I have to be honest and tell you, I have a really hard time picturing what that would look like. Why? Because I don\u2019t think I have ever, nor have I ever seen a man act in anger in the way it describes what Jesus did, and not be sinful!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, what is God talking about when he commands of us in Eph 4:26 \u201cBe angry and sin not&#8230;?\u201d What are characteristics of \u201crighteous\u201d anger? Here\u2019s a few things that we see in Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Jesus focused on God\u2019s name <\/li><li>Jesus focused on God\u2019s rights<\/li><li>Jesus focused on God\u2019s kingdom<\/li><li>Jesus was self controlled\u2026 not out of control<\/li><li>Jesus displayed the fruits of the Spirit Gal 5:22-25<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In contrast, here are some characteristics of sinful anger<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Focused on self and what I want<\/li><li>characterized by more talking than listening<\/li><li>attacks the person rather than the problem<\/li><li>speaks harsly and rashly<\/li><li>manifesting sinful tendencies Gal 5:19-21<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Plan:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, what does righteous anger look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Anger at injustice should lead us to show God\u2019s love to those who experience it, instead of becoming a activist.<\/li><li>Anger at sin in a brother\u2019s life should lead us to correct with the motivation of restoration and Christlikeness in their lives, instead of judgment or punishment for being sinned against.<\/li><li>Anger at sin and disobedience in our children should lead us to correct so that Christ is the center of their lives and He is the motivation of their behavior, rather than punishing them because their actions affected our reputation or because we are tired of their sinful behavior.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Self should never be the source for our response to anger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When people witness our anger, the response should be like the disciples response to Jesus\u2019 anger, They remembered that He said, \u201cZeal for your house will consume me.\u201d Zeal for God\u2019s righteousness, Godly characteristics, Godliness, should be what motivates us in our relationships with others!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>My Prayer:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>May we display God\u2019s righteousness in every situation. Even when we are wronged against. May our passion be for God\u2019s name, God\u2019s character God\u2019s kingdom and filled with the fruit of the Spirit. May the things we are passionate about never be driven by our self and what we want.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our Situation: In Ephesians 4:26 we are commanded, \u201cBe angry and sin not.\u201d If you really were honest with yourself, can you ever think of a time when you were angry, and did not sin in your heart? Personally I don\u2019t think I can. So, what is righteous anger? And how often have we justified [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-935","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/935\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/david-watters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}