WEEK 5 | SLOW TO ANGER
Exodus 34:6-7
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
“A God merciful and gracious, slow to anger…”
Many atheists and non-christians will calm that we serve a God that is quick to anger, sends people to hell, and destroys cities. Yet here in Exodus we see that God is slow to anger. The term slow to anger is not used in the Hebrew language. But the phrase in Hebrew here is “long of nose.” This verse is basically saying that God has a long nose. (As an Italian with a big nose this is offensive lol). The Hebrew does not mean that God has a long nose instead the phrase “long of nose” is an indication of someone who is slow to anger. Our faces at times get red when we are angry, someone who is long of nose takes a long time to get red and burn with anger. God is very slow to anger. Even in the harder Old Testament passages we learn that God gives everyone and every city a chance to repent and turn from evil. God then gives them time to respond to His messengers and if they don’t after decades, that is when God will punish. God always gives people a lot of time to change, but God is also angry when He sees injustice and sin. God will punish all sin and injustice that is not repented for.
Righteous Anger
When evil is taking place we get angry. God is very similar to us in this sense. God seeks justice for His children. Remember God is compassionate, merciful, and gracious. These qualities effect His anger. These qualities are why God is slow to anger, but they are also why God will not let sin go unpunished. He seeks righteous anger. The key to remember here is that God always gives people a chance to repent and turn from evil. God longs to see everyone come to Him, but there are those that will choose evil over Him.
REFLECT AND QUESTIONS
What is the difference between righteous anger and regular anger?
How does knowing that God gives everyone a chance to repent, change how you view his anger?
Why is repentance key to God’s anger?