Is God mad at me?

God gets out the punching bag

Sometimes God gets really angry! You don’t believe me? Read it for yourself in Hosea 11:1-11. And it’s not just that he’s grumbling away in these verses. He’s been at it since chapter 4 of the book of Hosea: God’s longest tirade against Israel.

When you take a closer look at God’s list of complaints, he really does have every reason to be angry:

“There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.” (Hosea 4:1-2)

Even the priests are no exception. On the contrary, they’re the worst of all:

“They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness.” (Hosea 4:8)

And God has the prophet go one step further:

“When they go with their flocks and herds to seek the LORD, they will not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them.” (Hosea 5:6)
“Destruction to them, because they have rebelled against me!” (Hosea 7:13)

Israel turns away from God, even though he has cared for it so lovingly. It turns away, even though God called it out of Egypt and led it through the desert. Turns away, even though God was gracious again and again despite all its failings.

Is God at the end of his rope?!

Isn’t it an almost unbelievable thing, the way God is described to us here? God seems to be at the end of his rope. At the end of his hopes that Israel will turn to him, love him? At the end of his love? The way some parents may lose patience with their children when disappointment, frustration and anger are stronger than anything else? Or like a spouse after being cheated on…

Is it even okay to talk and think about God like this? In such human terms? Aren’t anger, rage and feelings of revenge at the very least immoral, or even un-Christian?

God, thank God, doesn’t seem to be a moralist. According to the Bible text, he has these feelings of disappointment, of anger… What’s fascinating now is to watch how God deals with his feelings:

“How can I give you up, Ephraim?” (Hosea 11:8), God asks himself, putting his feelings to the test. “My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused.” (Hosea 11:8)

“My heart, my compassion turns against my rage and disappointment,” God says. That’s why he puts a stop to his own anger. Because, he explains, “I am God, and not a man” … “the Holy One among you. I will not come against their cities.” (Hosea 11:9) He remembers his holiness. And that love, faithfulness and forgiveness are part of who he is, but violence, punishment and destruction are not. With God, love and mercy have the last word.

The rest is history

Hosea announces God’s judgment to Israel. Only about 20 years after Hosea appears, Israel is conquered by Assyria under Shalmaneser V in 722 BC and partly carried off into exile. But that isn’t God’s last word: in 538 BC, under Cyrus II, the return of the Israelites begins.

I like the angry God who loves anyway

Isn’t it incredibly encouraging that God simply gets angry sometimes? That God doesn’t play the goody-two-shoes, and that we don’t have to feel guilty about all our angry feelings? That we can be honest with ourselves? That God doesn’t expect us to be more “godly” than he is himself?

So I’m allowed to be angry when children or women are abused. I’m allowed to be disappointed about child poverty in our country and around the world. I’m allowed to want to scream at the top of my lungs and lash out when I hear reports of wars, pollution, poverty, loneliness and climate change.

If God is “the Holy One among you,” right among us and in us, then it makes sense that we, too, notice anger and thoughts of revenge in ourselves. Better still is not to let ourselves be led by them, but to make God’s love the standard.

How can that work if even God has to wrestle with himself? The drive of God’s love is so strong that God himself becomes human in Jesus. He comes as someone who has every right, all power and the necessary anger to condemn us. But at the same time, he wants nothing more than to forgive us and take us back into his family. In Jesus, God’s heart turns against his anger once and for all. That, and only that, makes it possible for us, too, to feel anger, rage and disappointment and yet (or precisely because of it) let God’s love determine what we do.

I think we can assume that God can still be angry and disappointed today, just like back then. Angry when he sees abused children and raped women. Disappointed because of child poverty. On the verge of lashing out because of wars, pollution, poverty, loneliness, climate change and me, because I do nothing about it.

What does it mean to let myself be led not by anger, rage and disappointment, but by God’s love?

  • Would I then stand up as a Christian and show solidarity with abused children and women?
  • Would I then actively fight child poverty?
  • Would I then stand up for justice to prevent wars?
  • Would I then start with myself in putting a stop to pollution, and support companies that care about the environment?
  • Would I then tackle loneliness and truly share my life with people?
  • Would climate change then be slowed down through me?

What would my life look like if anger, rage and disappointment didn’t have the upper hand and didn’t paralyze me?

What would my life look like if God’s love, faithfulness and forgiveness had the last word in me?

PS: Anger Management is a great movie on this topic, and it works well, in full or in clips, to illustrate it.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used with permission. All rights reserved worldwide.