Anger – Part 3
Scriptures: Ephesians 4:26-32; 5:1-2; Numbers 20:1-12; Matthew. 17:1-4
Introduction
This message is part 3 of my series on anger. Last week I told you that there are people who have gotten angry on their jobs, spoke out their supervisors and got fired. These same people ultimately got another job and testified about how good God was that He promoted them to another position and company. In reality, God probably had nothing to do with them getting fired, but it was a result of their own anger. My point with this is that we often justify the results of our anger by saying the end results were a blessing from God. Our anger, when released in a sinful manner, is never a blessing of God. We need to understand this now. This morning we will examine a situation where someone’s anger caused them to be terminated from what God had called them to do. Yes, our anger and get us to a point where God may not be able to fulfill His plans for our lives. Before we go there, please turn with me to the book of Ephesians, chapter four. We will begin reading at verse twenty-six.
“BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.” (Ephesians 4:26-32; 5:1-2)
Paul wrote that we should be angry and not sin. Now, do you recall the story I shared with you in part two from Numbers chapter sixteen about the 250 princes of Israel who came against Moses and Aaron? Remember how Moses responded? He became very angry but he withheld himself from doing anything against those men. What he did do was go to God in prayer. It was God who handled the situation on Moses behalf. We may not experience those “Moses” moments, but the Spirt of God who dwells within us is able to help us experience a level of control over our anger that we otherwise could never achieve on our own. This is why Paul could say “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.” It is possible that we can get angry and not sin.
During our last Bible study we talked about these verses. I asked the class why we tend to believe that if someone is angry with us and they are “going off” on us either through a live conversation, phone call or text message we feel obligated to listen to them and hear them out. We talked about the fact that we are not required to stand or sit by and allow someone to verbally abuse us because they are angry. Why do I say this? Because many times their anger is transferred to us in how they are talking to us. We might not be angry at the level that they are but half way through their yelling we too have reach the boiling point and respond in kind. What I shared with the class is that we should always keep control of ourselves. When we allow someone else to get into our heads through their anger and influence us to act like them we release control of ourselves over to them. We should never allow someone else to control us and cause us to step outside of the boundaries that we have set for ourselves. When we allow someone to control our emotion and our responses, we do exactly what Paul said we should not do, “…give the devil an opportunity.” Our enemy will take that small opportunity and before we know it we are caught up in a situation that causes us to sin against God.
This is the situation that Moses and Aaron found themselves in when leading the Children of Israel out of Egypt. For thirty-eight years they had led these people through the wilderness because they refused to enter the Promised Land when they first arrived. Moses and Aaron therefore could not enter either and had to wonder the wilderness with these people until the adults who originally refused to enter died off. In this next example, we will see how easy it is to allow the anger and frustrations of others to make us angry and frustrated to the point where we actually sin against the God we are serving. The first example we discussed in part two where Moses had men coming against him and he went to God in prayer, he responded correctly. Now turn to Numbers chapter twenty. This situation with Moses happened after the 250 princes had come against him and perished.
“And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. And there was no water for the congregation: and they assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people strove with Moses, and spake, saying, ‘Would that we had died when our brethren died before Jehovah! And why have ye brought the assembly of Jehovah into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our beasts? And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.’ And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tent of meeting, and fell upon their faces: and the glory of Jehovah appeared unto them. And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, ‘Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and their cattle drink.’ And Moses took the rod from before Jehovah, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said unto them, ‘Hear now, ye rebels; shall we bring you forth water out of this rock?’ And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice: and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their cattle. And Jehovah said unto Moses and Aaron, ‘Because ye believed not in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” (Numbers 20:1-12)
Let me first speak to Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron were both greatly honored of God, Moses especially so; yet God punishes them for their sin. We see clearly that God treated their sin in the same fashion as he treated the sins of others. How Moses and Aaron handled this situation cause them both to not be able to enter the Promise Land. So why did Moses respond the way that he did and why was Aaron implicated with Him? First and foremost Moses was one of the holiest and noblest men that ever lived and yet here he sins against God. He had a noble heart and he was meek and humble. But he was not infallible and under the strain of the provocation of these perverse and rebellious people, he did, fall into sin. After thirty-eight years of this tedious journey in the wilderness the armies of Israel advanced towards Canaan again. However, there was no water for the congregation and they complained. What is unique about these complainants is that they were the new generation. All of the original Israelites who had refused to go into the Promised Land had died. These were their descendants and this was the first trial and failure of the new generation, thirty-seven years after, on the same spot. What is also of note is that they said in verse three “Would that we had died when our brethren died before Jehovah!” They were so frustrated and thirsty that they actually stated that they wished they had perished before the Lord as those who had disobeyed the Lord and died in the wilderness. And after saying this they once again blame Moses for bringing them to a place that had “nothing” for them. They did not remember that thirty-seven years earlier Moses had brought them to this same place and their fathers refused to go in which led to them being in the wilderness for forty years. For me personally, this probably explains the bitterness of Moses when he realizes that same old spirit of their fathers was living in the children (the new generation.)
So once again we find Moses and Aaron seeking God’s guidance. God is patient and merciful and He gives Moses and Aaron specific directions on what He wanted them to do and how He would receive the glory from the people. God told them, “Take the rod, and assemble the congregation, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, that it give forth its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock; so thou shalt give the congregation and their cattle drink.” (Vs. 8) The directions were simple. They were to go before the people and speak to a rock and the rock would bring forth the water they needed and God would receive the glory. But this is not what they did. Moses and Aaron went before the people and did something else because Moses was frustrated and angry at the people. Now listen to what he tells them, “And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said unto them, ‘Hear now, ye rebels; shall we bring you forth water out of this rock?” Did you hear it? When Moses stood before the people he called them rebels. In his anger he addressed them as he saw them, ungrateful, rebellious people who were always complaining about something. I am sure that his anger increased as he stood before the people knowing that God was getting ready to give them what they want. Have you ever experienced anger when someone came against you demanding something from you and then when you were told to give it to them you got even angrier as they looked at you with satisfaction that they were getting what they wanted? Maybe you have seen this with your kids when you made one child give up something to another child as you taught them the lessons on sharing. As Moses stood before the people there could have been some who were smirking at him because they knew he was yielding to their desire for water. If this was the case, I can easily see Moses getting angrier.
As Moses and Aaron stood before the people, in his anger Moses disobeyed God. Instead of speaking calmly to the rock, he took the staff and hit the rock twice. I do not believe that these were light taps against the rock. Moses hit those rocks with some frustration and anger. It is similar to someone getting so angry that they punch a hole in a wall. I believe that Moses hit that rock with all of his strength allowing the boiling anger within him to exit. When Moses struck the rock twice, God in His mercy allowed the waters to flow. He did not withhold the water because Moses disobeyed Him in how he was supposed to do it. God showed mercy to the people even through Moses and Aaron disobedience, but there was a price.
Verse twelve records the following: “And Jehovah said unto Moses and Aaron, ‘Because ye believed not in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” Moses and Aaron were not allowed to enter into the Promise Land. There was a price that had to be paid for their disobedience to God. They had led these rebellious people for almost forty years and because of one fit of anger, they lost their jobs. It was their appointed jobs to bring the people into the Promise Land but their anger caused them to be fired. Are you seeing this?
All of us will have or have had times when we released our anger in the wrong manner. Sometime the impact was minimal but at other times it was much worse. As a child of God and someone who is supposed to bear the light in the midst of a dark world, we cannot afford to allow our anger to block what God is attempting to do through us. We can have a calling on our life to do something great and our anger will stop us from completing it. It was never God’s desire that any of the Israelites would not enter into the Promise Land, but some could not enter because of their sins against God and Moses and Aaron could not enter because of anger.
Before I close this morning I want to give you something to think about. Moses made a mistake and it cost him his position to take the Israelites into the Promised Land. However, before he died, God led Moses to Mount Nebo and showed him all the lands that He had promised to Abraham. God allowed Moses to see the Promise Land and after seeing it, Moses died and entered into God’s presence. Moses anger cost him his position here on earth, but because of his heart, it did not cost him his position in God’s eyes. How do I know this? In the seventeenth chapter of the book of Matthew the following is recorded: “And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart: and he was transfigured before them; and his face did shine as the sun, and his garments became white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with him. And Peter answered, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, I will make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (Matthew 17:1-4) You see, when Moses got to heaven God was still using him – Praise God!
I will conclude this series next week.
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
