Monday: God Is Slow to Anger
Daily Lesson for Monday 27th of January 2025
God becomes angry at evil because God is love. God is so compassionate and gracious that one biblical prophet even chastised God for being too merciful!
Consider the story of Jonah and reflect on Jonah’s reaction to God’s compassionate forgiveness of the Ninevites, in Jonah 4:1-4. What does this tell us about Jonah, and about God? (See also Matthew 10:8.)
Image © Kim Justinen at Goodsalt.com
Jonah’s reaction to God’s mercy is telling in two primary ways. First, it displays Jonah’s own hardheartedness. He hated the Assyrians so much for what they had done to Israel that he did not want God to show them any mercy.
What a lesson for us! We must be careful to guard against this same attitude, however understandable it may be. Of all people, those who have received the grace of God should recognize unmerited grace and thus be willing to extend grace to others.
Secondly, Jonah’s reaction reinforces how central God’s compassion and grace are to His character. So familiar was Jonah with God’s mercy that—precisely because God is “gracious and merciful” and “slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness” (Jonah 4:2, NKJV)—Jonah knew that the Lord would relent from bringing judgment against Nineveh. God deals justly and mercifully with all peoples and nations.
The Hebrew phrase translated “slow to anger” or “longsuffering” could be literally translated “long of nose.” In Hebrew idiom, anger was metaphorically associated with the nose, and the length of nose metaphorically images how long it takes for one to become angry.
References to God as “long of nose,” then, convey that God is slow to anger and long-suffering. While it does not take long for humans to become angry, God is exceedingly long-suffering and patient, and bestows grace freely and abundantly, yet without justifying sin or turning a blind eye to injustice. Instead, God Himself makes atonement for sin and evil via the cross so that He can be both just and the justifier of those who believe in Him (Romans 3:25-26).
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Have you ever failed to show mercy or grace to someone who has wronged you? How can you best remember what God has done for you so that you become more gracious to others in response to the abundant grace God has shown you? And how do we show mercy and grace without giving license to sin or enabling abuse or oppression? |
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I am certainly glad that God is "slow to anger"! Speaking from a human perspective, some of my biggest regrets is when I have reacted to situations rather than taking the time to reflect and think about them. As both a teacher and a parent, I think of when my students or children have done something that has caused me an angry reaction. Usually, I was the one who ended up in big trouble. Often it would end up in a shouting match, both claiming the higher moral ground.
How much better it would have been to back off and say that we need to think about it and leave the resolution to when both sides had calmed down.
Now, I am not saying that God needs time to back off so that he has more control over his anger. Rather he is using the metaphor of controlling human anger that we all know about, even if we don't practice it to help us understand him better.
The story of Jonah is too close to our attitudes for comfort. Jonah was focussed on condemnation and the execution of judgement. I am sure that if Jonah was cooking toast, he would not wait for 4 minutes until the toast was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. He would have used a blow-torch and had a pile of ashes in seconds.
He had to admit that God had a different agenda:
Paul adds:
Today's topic is so applicable to everyone. Internalize the message, deep think the last part which is the question portion " How can you best remember what God has done for you...." realizing our personal situations and applying the message, we can be avoided abrupt angrily to a situation. This will give us think twice before our blood pressure goes up. God slow to angry to his children because He love us . He wanted each of us to be away from sin. I experienced how God slow angry to me. While am walking, I take sides on the left I know it is wrong but I continue, I don't bother if is negative results, until at the end of my walking in the left, I realized God has already punished me. I wronged. He punished me because He loves me. God does not want me to walk in the wrong sides. Yes, I accepted His punishment and I regret. I know He got angry , but it is slowly that I realized, God slowly to anger. I love you Lord please keep hold my hands. 🙏
This reminds me of my favorite verses Ps 103:8-12.
The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
In a wonderful and beautiful way, the Bible demonstrate God holding his nerve with the strength of steel in great provocation. God is not like a spoiled child who outburst into tantrums with the slightest excuse. God does not respond to human disobedience with impulsive anger and frustration. But the Bible show God as patient, longsuffering, merciful, compassionate, slow to anger, forgiving, and steadfast in love. God is always seeking to bring all humans beings into a relationship with Him. Without God’s enduring loving, hardly anyone will see the salvation of the Lord. On this account, those who will be lost will stand condemned for rejecting persistently the enduring love of God.
The story of Abraham pleading, interceding and bargaining with God for mercy for the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah very illustrative of God’s patience (Genesis 18:23-33). I find in this story a God who is full of compassion and very prepared to be slow to come to anger in order to save. On the background of “slow to anger”, I want to share my thoughts.
1. The absolute wickedness of the two cities was in the open. God allowing Abraham to intercede and plead for them in the first instance was an act of pure longsuffering. God knew how deeply wicked they were and yet he was willing to give Abraham a chance to bargain with Him. God does not write-off anyone from his saving grace.
2. God is not a dictator. He loves to engage in dialogue. God who is all powerful and knowing permitted Abraham to engage in a bargaining exercise testing God’s patience. God did not dismiss Abraham’s plea but allowed him to bargain from 50 to 10 righteous people to the save Sodom. It must be noted that it was Abraham who fixed the highest number 50 to start with, which illustrates how accommodative God is in trying to save us.
3. In the conversation, at every stage, God agreed to Abraham’s terms. God’s patience was stretched from 50 to 10, this mathematically tells us that God was willing come down by 80%. How much flexible and accommodative is our God?
4. God’s deepest desire is to save and not destroy. God’s divine judgment is saturated with abundant mercy. God was willing to delay judgment to give mercy a chance (2 Peter 3:9).
5. “Slow to anger” is not a sign of God being indifferent. God’s judgment has never been hastily or impulsive. Even in the worst-case scenario, God’s mercy is well pronounced.
6. How can a mere human being (Abraham) cause a Mighty God to slow down his anger to give mercy a chance? God’s judgment was delayed, showing God’s readiness to suffer a little longer for the sake of saving human souls. To you Lord, I give you true worship for being patient with me from time to time.
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” – John 3:17 (NIV).
Slowness is not an attribute that one would readily identify with. However, the lesson points out that God is slow to anger but abounding in mercy.
Lord please help me to be slow with my anger but quick with my forgiveness in Jesus name!!!!
Misinterpreting God's inaction during times of apostasy can lead to misunderstandings of His character and purposes. People may assume that God's silence or delayed intervention means He is indifferent, powerless, or unconcerned with sin and rebellion. However, Scripture often portrays God's patience as an expression of His mercy, giving people time to repent (2 Peter 3:9). His apparent inaction may be a period of testing, a demonstration of grace, or part of His larger plan that operates on a divine timeline rather than human expectations. Misinterpreting this can lead to frustration or doubt, but recognizing God's sovereignty and long-suffering nature helps believers maintain faith during difficult times.
If God weren't slow to anger this planet would be a barren world. Even in God’s justified anger his response is measured. This is something to be grateful for indeed.
If only we, were more like He! May we follow the counsel of James 1:19-20. If we did, the world, as well as our part of it, would be a better place.
Jonah was a skilled preacher. He was able to influence a ship full of people to seek prayer and to throw him overboard as a solution to their problem. Jonah was also able to preach to an entire city and influence them to turn from their wicked ways in three days. Noah took 120 years to do the same thing but influenced no one outside of his family. Jonah even got the king to turn to God. However, the problem with Jonah was that he was determined to ignore God's instructions.
When I think of Jonah, it is like so many church-going people today. Some people make all kinds of excuses and drum-up all kinds of explanations to justify not doing what the bible (the word of God) says. What has God appointed you to do today because of your skills? Are we humble enough today, to asked God to use us "AS HE CHOOSES," so that his name could be glorified? This is evidence of true Christianity!
If Jonah had listed all of the mercies God had shown him throughout his life it might have looked like this:
*God brought me into this world a part of the covenant people, a part of Israel, with parents who believed in God
*God led my parents to place me in prophet school. I grew up with the truth in the Scriptures, I was entrusted with His Word my whole life. I learned of God's true character in prophet school.
*God gave me a prophecy that King Jeroboam II would win a battle and regain territory in Israel's north to restore Israel's ancient boundaries (2 Kings 14:23-25). God made me a hero throughout the nation. I appreciated the way God lifted His own people up (while bringing judgment against the surrounding pagan nations).
*God next gave me a big preaching assignment to Ninevah - a great city in size, population and influence...and also great in evil deeds. It was the mercy of God to be counted worthy for the task. God asked me to be a Minister of Grace.
*God, the Hound of Heaven, chased me in a storm to bring me back to Himself.
*God sent a giant fish to swallow me so I wouldn't drown and have time to repent.
*God heard my prayer asking for life and had mercy on me and ordered the fish to spit me out safely on dry land.
*God commissioned me AGAIN to go preach and complete the Ninevah assignment as part of His global mission to save people.
*God used me in a great revival in Ninevah...a city-wide revival where even the heart of the king turned to God.
*God gently questioned me with the purpose of turning away my rebellious wrath..."Do you really want to be angry?"
*God next sent a shade plant to teach me a lesson about His mercy. The cooling shadows felt so good on a hot day.
*God sent a worm to cut down the shade plant and in His mercy I felt the heat of the sun scorching me and the wind pummeling me so that I could experience loss afresh and have a window into God's heart for the creatures He made.
*God continued on with me asking more questions as I still hadn't learned....I continued to tantrum against God...now praying to die instead of praying to live, which had been my prayer of repentance in the fish belly.
Jonah was correct in being angry about the sin and wickedness of Ninevah. God was angry about it too. The difference is, God was focused on the good He wanted to do for the Ninevites. Whereas, Jonah was focused on the bad in their history. God focused on His goodness. Jonah focused on the people's badness.
This is an amazing story to me. It reminds me that as I draw closer to God I see sin more clearly too. Jonah was a prophet. He spent a lot of time with God listening to His Word. His theology was all correct. But if I stop at being angry at the sin I see in people around me, if I'm mostly frustrated at the rebellion of those I love who won't accept Jesus, if what I see and talk about revolves more around the sin of others and my anger about that, if I feel even a bit of annoyance that God shows mercy on those who are clearly rejecting Him....
if I stop at being angry at the sin around me without focusing on how God responds to sin - the Cross - and humbling myself before that grace and mercy....then am I really angry at sin or am I angry at God? Jonah was not really angry at sin, He was angry at God. Jonah was sticking his finger in God's face accusing Him of screwing things up, of being too merciful .... he preferred it when God called him to prophecy about war....Jonah was more comfortable being a Minister of War than a Minister of Grace. Jonah preferred the hymn "Onward Christian Soldier, marching as to war" over the one "Great is They Faithfulness,... morning by morning new mercies I see." Do I, like Jonah....and like the self-righteous, "good boy" older Prodigal Brother,... have the audacity to think that I know better than God in how He relates to each one of us? God's anger at sin leads Him to show MORE love......"pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide..."