Anger often leads to hurting and violence and suffering. But is all anger sin in the sight of God? No. Even God gets angry. There is such a thing as righteous anger.
Though God is love and expresses His love and mercy to mankind in many ways, He also expresses righteous anger at times. He is holy, and He is repulsed by sin. His anger is directed at sin and the harm it does to those He has created. His anger (and the correction that accompanies it) is for the purpose of ending the evil, of stopping the cause of suffering and restoring people to a right relationship with Him.
Consider what the Bible says about God’s righteous anger:
“God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11).
“Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways’” (Hebrews 3:10).
“The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy” (Psalm 145:8).
“Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:4-5).
“‘For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,’ says the LORD, your Redeemer” (Isaiah 54:7-8).
“For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would fail before Me, and the souls which I have made” (Isaiah 57:16).
These scriptures show that God does express anger, but they also reveal that God is slow to anger, and His mercy and love often make His anger quickly pass. He knows that we could not endure for long in the presence of His full anger.
God is righteous and holy and in perfect control of His anger. He gets angry only slowly, and stays that way only for so long as necessary for perfect justice and righteousness to prevail.
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