Be angry, and yet do not sin
The ira, as any other
feeling, it is sin. The question is: by which we are angry and as we face the
wrath?
The Eternal himself is
angry:
·
"God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with
the wicked every day." (Psalms 7.11).
·
"And the anger of the LORD was kindled against
Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he
can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he
seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart." (Exodus 4:14).
·
"God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the
LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his
adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The LORD is
slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the
wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the
clouds are the dust of his feet." (Nahum 1.2,3).
·
"And God's anger was kindled because he went:
and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he
was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him." (Numbers 22.22).
·
"The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the
fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel." (Psalms 78.31).
Note that the wrath is
a divine attribute. The wrath of the Eternal One shows that everything
that happens in this world moves inside Him. However, there is a difference
between the wrath of the Eternal One and the wrath of man:
•
The Eternal One is angry because He loves the sinner and does not want
to be obliged to allow the evil that His justice requires that falls on them;
we, however, we have pleasure in evil and want this fall on those who
we find merit it;
•
While the wrath of the Eternal One is related to the manifestation
of all that is contrary to His nature (purity and
holiness), the wrath of every
human being is related with everything that has nothing to do with them (with their
concepts and values selfish and evil).
It isn’t in vain that James
says:
·
"For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of
God." (James 1:20).
See, for example, the wrath
of Jesus:
·
"And when he had looked round about on them with
anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the
man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was
restored whole as the other." (Mark 3.5).
Jesus, grieving with the
hardness of heart of individuals, was pissed. and see how he
proceeded: instead of sending some Prague against the hard of heart, He chose
to heal him who had the withered hand.
Likewise, we are invited
to anger:
·
"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down
upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil." (Ephesians 4.26,27).
And the reason for this is
simple:
·
"Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou
shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him." (Lev 19:17).
·
“Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the
house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning
from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou
givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to
save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his
blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he
turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his
iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, When a righteous man
doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a
stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him
warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done
shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.” (Ez 3.17-20).
·
"Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD
deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood." (Jer 48.10)
We cannot give place to
Ha-Satan and his accusers, letting the sun go down on our anger. In
other words, nobody can let a situation poorly resolved be neglected. If
it is left for the next day, the anger can grow with the passing of the years
and, in addition to harass the individual and interfere in their other
relationships, such an individual can, with the passage of time, making even a
heinous crime.
We need to rebuke the
neighbor when he sins (Mt 18:15-17), in order to give him the opportunity
to repent, convert and be saved. Otherwise, we're being complicit in their
evil deeds (contradicting Ephesians 5.11) and encouraging it to
continue in this practice.
Comes the question: How,
then, solve the following impasse:
·
"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather
give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will
repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he
thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his
head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12.19-21).
Instead of us be angry for
selfish reasons, we must give place for the wrath of the Eternal One be
manifested through us. In other words, we must love our neighbor as Jesus loved
and loves in order that, when fulfilled our obedience (2Cor 10.3-6), Jesus can make prosper
His Word and character.
Instead of reacting like
robots or irrational beasts, we should seek the action of the Eternal One in
the midst of which has been done.
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