Understanding "the LORD Who Gets Angry Slowly" A Little Bit Better

Honestly, I do not recall ever preaching a sermon focused on the "anger" of the LORD, even if it was focused on "slow to anger."  So as we began to organize our What's In A Name sermon series based on the LORD's revelation of Himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7 for Winter of 2025, I knew I would get the chance to learn and share more on something I had managed to avoid for a good while.

Wow!  Has it ever been enlightening for me.  I've learned more than I will be able to speak to on Sunday, but at the heart of my preparation has been several wonderful resources produced by the BibleProject.com.  They are linked below, but let me get to a marvelous 3 paragraph summary that I have been pondering all week.  It is from page 21 of their Character of God: Slow to Anger Study Notes. (Link Below)

Conclusions from the Portrait of God’s Anger and Judgment in the Torah (Old Testament)

• God’s anger is his just and measured response to the covenant betrayal of his own people. It is not a volatile or unpredictable explosion of abusive violence.
• The most consistent response of God’s anger is to give people what they have chosen, even if it leads to self-destruction. This anger is expressed either as exile from God’s presence or in the hiding of God’s face and the removal of his protective and order-creating power.
• God is slow to anger, which means:
• God will put up with people’s betrayal for much longer than is reasonable.
• God will always accept people who turn to him with soft hearts and genuine humility no matter what they’ve done.

*     *     *     *     *

There is a lot in those paragraphs to consider and probably on a topic that most - like me - often want to NOT consider and avoid.  Below are some additional resources from my week.

CLICK HERE to download the entire 33-page document.  Sure it will take some time and reflection, but I'm glad I took the time.  I'm hoping you will as well.

CLICK HERE for a 5-minute YouTube summary of key texts on this topic in a visual format.

CLICK HERE for an Amazon.com link to the book God Has A Name: What You Believe About God Will Shape Who You Will Become by John Mark Comer.  It is another VERY helpful parallel resource for our sermon series.

A Memorial Memoir - Siegfried Michaelis

I had the opportunity to get to know Sieg and Arlene Michaelis when I moved to Holland to lead the Celebration Community of Harderwyk Ministries in 2018.  After Arllene passed away in October of 2023, I would see Sieg on Sundays at worship, and occasionally visit and share conversation with him.

He was quiet, gentle and over time let me piece together the amazing story of his early life and personal faith.  He had written out that story several decades ago as he made public profession of his faith while joining a new church.  It was read by his son Eric at Sieg's memorial this month.  I'm thanful for their permission to share it with the body of Christ at Celebration-Harderwyk in this way.

A Memorial Memoir by Siegfried Michaelis

The time is World War II and the place is Berlin, Germany, and I was born. My father, a Jew, and mother, the gentile both of my parents became Christians early on in their marriage, through my father's brother, who was a believer.

My father, a tailor, was forced to close his shop and was used as a forced laborer in a factory and later on tearing down buildings that were bombed out. My father lost all his civil rights. He was arrested for several days and then released, while others were not released. We could not own a radio. His ID card read Herbert Israel Michaelis, adding the name Israel because he was a jew.

As a child I took a lot of abuse from other children and adults.

The last two years of the war, Berlin was bombed day and night, allowing for little sleep, and spending many hours in a bomb shelter.

We experienced many close calls that today I recognize as God's grace and protection. One time a bomb hit right next to the bunker and we were not harmed.

Another time the air raid warning was late and in the panic that followed, 27 people were trampled to death. We were already safe inside the shelter. Our building was bombed and my father repaired what he could for our living.

By the end of the war, my father lost three brothers, one sister, a mother, and many cousins in concentration camps.

The end of the war brought many hardships. No food, no water, no utilities. My father raised rabbits in the basement for food, traded cloth for food. Many times I went to bed hungry. Yet God provided even the few things that we had.

In 1947, I spent three months in Norway with a family. The churches had provided families for children from Berlin, with the new with the same background that I had. It was quite an experience. These families opening their homes to us. They fed us and clothed us.

I remember in 1948 the Soviet Union imposed a land blockade on Berlin. Allied forces had to airlift food and coal for almost a year. All food and coal was rationed. God provided again in that my aunt sent us care packages from America.

In 1949, my parents and I were able to emigrate to America, and came to Chicago. One thing that I remember when we were in camp, awaiting to be set on a ship - some men were having a discussion, which included my father, how they wanted revenge of what they did to them. I remember my father saying we need to forgive them.

During my high school days, I realized I had to accept Christ as Lord and savior. On my own, I had to make it my faith, and not my parents' faith.

I was involved in a youth group at the church I was attending. There I met a wonderful girl. We've been married for 30 years.

We had four wonderful sons. Kevin, our first child, had Down syndrome. He went home to be with the Lord at the age of 6. The others are all married and have wonderful wives.

There are many things I don't understand.

-- Why did my relatives die in concentration camps?

-- Why did I have to go hungry to bed?

-- Why did Kevin have Down syndrome and die?

All that I know is that God is a loving God, and his plans are not always our plans. But, he is the Master Planner.

I want to leave you with two verses.

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

The other verse has meant a lot to me over many years:

Psalm 37:5 - Commit yourself to the LORD, trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass.

A New View of Humanity - From Bullies & Saints by John Dickson

In his book Bullies & Saints, Professor John Dickson provides insightful historical information for comparing conflicting views regarding the value of a person.  I hope this extensive quotation will stimulate your interest in the book.

A New View of Humanity

From: Bullies & Saints by John Dickson - pp. 33-35

There is value in comparing this Judeo-Christian view of the human being with the “pagan” or Greco-Roman view at the time of Christianity’s birth. The comparison highlights something that is often difficult to see today. In the contemporary world there is no practical difference between the Christian estimation of humanity and the secular humanist estimation—the two ideas are historically related. It is easy for us to assume that such a high view of the person, regardless of their talents or contributions, is the default view through every age. That simply is not the case. 

Consider the following letter, dated 17 June 1 BC. A Roman soldier named Hilarion is stationed in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria. He writes home to his wife Alis, promising to send her some of his pay soon, asking her to look after their child, and, poignantly, reassuring her that he has not forgotten her. Some aspects of family life have not changed. In passing, though, Hilarion tells Alis that, if she happens to be pregnant, she should discard the baby when it comes: 

Hilarion to his sister Alis, many greetings, also to my lady Berous and Apollonarion. Know that I am still in Alexandria; and do not worry if they [the army] wholly set out, I am staying in Alexandria. I ask you and entreat you, take care of the child, and if I receive my pay soon, I will send it up to you. Above all, if you bear a child and it is male, let it be; if it is female, cast it out. You have told Aphrodisias, “Do not forget me.” But how can I forget you? Thus I’m asking you not to worry. The 29th year of Caesar, Pauni 23 [17 June 1 BC].

Talk of casting out a child at birth—in a throw-away line in an otherwise normal family letter—is shocking to modern readers. I have read this letter to many audiences over the years, and the feeling in the room is palpable. But in ancient times, this was neither shocking nor illegal. It was not even immoral. Disposing of newborns was regarded as a method of family planning. Throughout the Greek and Roman world, excess children were frequently discarded, especially if the parents felt they could not afford another mouth, or if the child was deformed or disabled, or as in the above case, if it was a girl.

Sometimes removing a child involved direct “infanticide,” killing and disposing of the newborn. More commonly, it involved a practice known euphemistically as expositio or “exposure.” The greatest of ancient Greek philosophers, Aristotle (384–322 BC), had advised, “As to exposing or rearing the children born, let there be a law that no deformed child shall be reared.” The child was simply left outside, whether on a street corner, in the marketplace, or even at the rubbish dump. The child might, of course, be picked up by other parents who would raise it as their own. Sadly, it could also be taken by professional traffickers, killed by an animal, or simply fall victim to the elements. 

Hilarion would be arrested on the spot today. But in his context he was not a moral “monster.” He held the widespread rational view that a child’s value depended not on some intrinsic, ineffable worth but on its capacities or usefulness to the family. The outrage we feel toward the practice of exposing infants just illustrates the very different assumptions we work with today. In the ancient Greek and Roman world there was little ethical reflection on this practice. Jews of the time spoke out against it, of course. In fact, we know of one high-profile Jewish critic of expositio, a teacher named Philo, who happened to be living in Alexandria at exactly the time Hilarion was stationed there. Christians were likewise vocal about it, preaching and writing against the practice, and even collecting abandoned infants and caring for them as their own. (Hundreds of thousands of people are alive today—descendants of rescued foundlings—as a result of this ancient Christian practice. More about all this in chapters 7 and 10.)

In public lectures on these themes I have occasionally asked audiences to imagine being the friend of Hilarion in 1 BC and trying to convince him why it is wrong to “cast out” a newborn simply because the parents do not want it. We might instinctively start talking about equality and inalienable rights. But Hilarion would probably look at us, bemused. In cool-headed fashion, assuming he had read some Greek philosophy, he might turn it back on us: On what basis can you claim that a barely self-aware newborn is equal to other humans? Isn’t that just an arbitrary doctrine? Would you say that all animals are equal? Does all art have the same worth? Are all tools equally valuable? Hilarion might press us further: For what other dimension of life would we argue that items with obviously different capacities and utility all share the same worth? Nature herself has made some people smarter, stronger, better, and, therefore, more useful. The more usefulness, the greater the value. The logic is inescapable. We should prefer the strong and beneficial, and let Nature take care of the rest.

Ancient Jews and Christians had no difficulty explaining why every man, woman, and child was inherently and equally valuable. Human beings, they said, bear the image of God. The Creator regards them as his offspring. The church did not consistently live out this conviction, as we will see, but the doctrine did lead to some remarkable historical developments, including—after three hundred years of trying to persuade Rome—a complete ban on killing infants in a law of AD 374.

Taken from:

Dickson, John. Bullies and Saints: An Honest Look at the Good and Evil of Christian History (p. 33-35). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.  Please note: footnotes and references have been removed in my quotation of John Dickson.

See Also: The Christian Compassion Revolution (Part 1) by Greg Soderberg - I found this to be an interesting post related to God's compassion applied to a very contemporary issue.  CLICK HERE for entire post.