Jeremiah 36:20-32, Are You Angry at God?

Yesterday’s post sets the stage for the next few posts.  I find the story of Jehoiakim cutting up Jeremiah’s scroll and burning it in the fire to be one of the most powerful stories of hard-heartedness in the Bible.  Clearly the king was angry.  Why was he so angry at God?

Generally, people get angry at God when they are convinced He has let them down in some specific way, in some matter that is important to their plans and expectations. For example: marital separation, divorce, abuse in any realm, family inheritance squabbles, church fights, other fights, the rejection of friends, bad business deals, job loss, death of loved ones and cancer.  That is just the beginning but illustrative enough of the fact that it happens often.  We often hear of professing Christians turning away from God because of some event in their lives.  We often hear from the unsaved that the reason they do not believe is because of some failure of God in their lives.

You may think you are too good to be angry at God, that you would never get that bent out of shape.  But it is quite possible you do not recognize it in your life.  You may cover it up with your sense of humor or by assuming that, in time, it will all clear up.  We are aware, are we not, that bitterness (deep-seated anger) towards any person is ultimately anger at God.  Unwillingness to forgive means we are angry at God who tells us to forgive as Christ forgave us; who tells us to love our enemies.  Think about those “ten times” Israel complained about various disappointments in the wilderness: in every situation they were angry at God!  When Israel told Samuel they didn’t want his sons to follow him in leading the nations but wanted a king instead, a king like the nations around them, God told Samuel not to feel bad because they were really upset with Him (1 Samuel 8:6-8). 

To one degree or another, Job, Moses, King David, Elijah, Jeremiah and Jonah all got angry at God.  The thing about each of them is that they came to humble themselves before the Lord.  They resolved the issue in righteousness.  Cain, King Saul, King Jehoiakim and others were angry at God and they never recovered.

One of the most grievous matters I know of is that of what we call “prodigal” children, children of brothers and sisters in Christ who turn away from the Lord.  Sometimes the only hope we can offer is that their children are still alive and thus there is still time for them to return.  When we meet the grieving parents at the funeral of their prodigal, then words fail us completely.
Thus, we come to the story of Jehoiakim, which also provides the setting for Jeremiah.  Both of these men were sorely disappointed with God’s plan and work.  One never recovered; one did and left us a marvelous record of how he came to be reconciled to God.  We are hopeful this will be useful to each of us in placing our trust in the faithful God of Scripture.
Are you angry at God?