Devotions: Always Angry?

 

The Lord answered the angel who was speaking with me with gracious words, comforting words.

Zechariah 1:13 New American Standard Bible 1995

 

When this was written, Israel had been exiled for almost 70 years. They had sinned and God punished them, but that was not the end. During Zechariah’s vision, as he stood speaking to an angel, the angel asked God why He had no compassion on Israel. They had suffered horribly at the hands of the nations, and been displaced all over the world. These were His chosen people, the ones He chose from the beginning to bear His name. In response to the angle, God said that He would restore them and punish the nations who had harmed them, which is a satisfying “end” to the story, but I think the way He responded is even more important. He responded with good, beneficial, happy, compassionate, comforting words. Keep in mind that Zechariah and the angel had just been looking over the devastation of Israel. Zechariah had also seen first hand what his people had gone through. The angel’s question was not a flippant or indifferent question to pass the time. They were in distress over what they saw and what had happened. It was more a plea born of agony and long suffering. It would not be unreasonable to imagine God as still being angry, or even of being cruel or malicious. After all it had been almost 70 years, a lifetime. But God was gracious and compassionate. He didn’t recount everything they had done wrong to justify His actions or their discipline. He didn’t chide them for questioning Him. He had compassion. That is our God; though He disciplines, it is out of love, though He is angry, it is just and not over done. Not only would He end their exile and restore them, but the restoration would be so great it would wipe out memory of their exile. He longs to heal, restore, and be good to His people, but like a good Father, He does what is best for us and sometimes that includes discipline. It is important to remember that His love and goodness last forever, but His anger and discipline do not.

Are you feeling the weight of God’s discipline? Do you imagine that He is angry with you? First it is important to find out if that is true or not. Sometimes our suffering is from discipline, but not always. If He is not disciplining or angry with us, then we need to live in light of the truth and not our feelings. If He is disciplining us, we need to submit to His discipline so that we can learn to be obedient and remember that it will not last forever.

 

 

 

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Translations of Greek and Hebrew words taken from blueletterbible.org