Short story: A Rabbi talks about God, anger, and love
By emptychair
@innertalks (23744)
Australia
October 29, 2023 6:24pm CST
Rabbi Anton Ionislev, had been asked a question about God, by a student, who was in one of the religious classes, that he was holding every Friday night, in the community hall.
The student asked the Rabbi to explain to him why was a so-called loving God sometimes just viciously angry.
He gave this verse as an example:
"Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless."
This is from the Old Testament book of Exodus, chapter 22, verses 22 to 24.
Then, he added these to questions too, to his enquiry.
Is God such an angry murderer then?
Was this really God, or was it really just Moses, who was thereby trying to put words into God’s mouth in order to scare, and to discipline, his people?
Rabbi Anton answered him like this:
God is a God of love, and he never uses a sword to administer death to anyone, and this shows the wrong interpretation of God’s words, as Moses beefed them up to scare his people, when all God really said was that these people will meet their own comeuppance, in the future for neglecting the widows, if they do not change their ways.
God can appear to be angry to those with little understanding of him, but, in fact, God, is always loving.
God’s full power of his fiery love can burn those not pure enough to receive it, and so God loves each person in his own way, suited towards them, but always changing, in its power, towards them, as they grow wiser in their understanding of love, and how best they can live from love, in their own lives too.
God's demeanour then has both power, and love, within it, but never does he use anger, in a non-loving way.
In fact, God is never angry. It is only us that sometimes interpret his actions in that way.
Photo Credit: The photo used in this article was sourced from the free media site, pixabay.com
God is never angry. God is only ever love, as personified in himself. God is love.
3 people like this
3 responses
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
30 Oct 23
I disagree.
God is a loving God. However, He will always punish the disobedient as He did with His children in the Wilderness. His anger is always filled with love. He can't not love the people He created and like a loving father, He will discipline His children when they're disobedient. His anger then is righteous since everything God does is from the standpoint of love.
When parents discipline their children, they do it out of love.
God is never angry for the sake of being angry. It's never misguided. His anger brings His children back to Him.
Even Paul in his letter to the Ephesians said, Ephesians 4:26 "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, (NKJV)
Jesus took a whip to the money changers on the temple porch. His anger toward them was justified because the people turned the temple into a place of merchandise when it was supposed to be a house of prayer. They were disobedient to God.
I agree with your statement that God never uses anger in a non-loving way.
@just4him (323168)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
30 Oct 23
@innertalks God doesn't like it when we make excuses for what He called us to do. Moses made many excuses before he would trust God in the purpose, He called him to do - lead His children out of Egypt. However, God already had a solution for Moses's excuses. He knew Moses would make excuses and sent Aaron to help him, though Moses was the one God called and would use to lead Israel out of Egypt.
2 people like this
@innertalks (23744)
• Australia
30 Oct 23
Thanks,
Yes, there is a difference between killing, and murdering, I guess too. Murdering someone always has an evil intent. Killing can be lawful, sometimes, perhaps.
God is often angry in the Old Testament, and he often kills people too.
It is hard for me to understand how God could order his angels to kill the firstborn male children of the Egyptians, for example.
"Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses." Exodus, chapter 4, verse 14.
It seems that God was angry with Moses here because he was making excuses about his following of God's will for him.
Perhaps God, has the wisdom to be angry without sinning, but for the rest of us, this is very hard to do.
Once we are angry, we usually sin too.
@innertalks (23744)
• Australia
30 Oct 23
@just4him Yes, I liked the fact that God did not force Moses to speak, but came up with that solution.
God is creative in his plans then, and works out plans for us tailored to who we are at that time then too, it seems.
@RasmaSandra (98106)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
30 Oct 23
God is love I agree, He is also understanding, and forgiving depending on each situation. It feels good to pray each morning and night I feel good and closer to the Lord,
2 people like this
@innertalks (23744)
• Australia
30 Oct 23
Yes, prayer draws us closer to God, and we feel his power of love coming into us stronger, then too.
@Shiva49 (28394)
• Singapore
30 Oct 23
God means business then if what is quoted from the Old Testament book of Exodus, chapter 22, verses 22 to 24 is taken literally,
If God himself comes out swinging, firing on all cylinders, at the perpetrators of non-love, then the world will be a better place but we have to watch our backs too just in case we are at the wrong place, at the wrong time.
However, we are testing God's patience with our devil-may-care approach to life making a mincemeat of even children.
1 person likes this
@innertalks (23744)
• Australia
30 Oct 23
The Old Testament of the Bible is full of instances of God killing people.
Genesis, chapter 38, verse 7.
"And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him."
It does not say how God killed him here though.
God, it seems, was more hands-on here with his Israelite peoples.
Perhaps, every soul lives in a body for a certain period, then is destined to leave that body, but when it sins in God's sight, God can make it leave early right away, so that sin is not seen by others as an example for them to follow, but it is then more shown to others as an example of how God deals with sin.
@innertalks (23744)
• Australia
31 Oct 23
@Shiva49 Yes, the fear of God is subtly related to the love of God too. We need to revere God in awe of his might, and this includes some fear, to keep us honestly compliant too. It is said in the Bible that God is so powerful, that nobody can see the face of God and live.
Exodus, chapter 33, verse 20 to 23, has this interesting story about God and Moses.
'But, ”God said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me, and live.” And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.”'
@Shiva49 (28394)
• Singapore
31 Oct 23
@innertalks People have forgotten how God deals with sinners.
They are badly in need of a reality check right now.
A swift action here and more to follow later will put the fear of God in them!
1 person likes this
