God Has a Name by John Mark Comer

Author:John Mark Comer [Comer, John Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2017-03-27T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

“The LORD [Yahweh], the LORD [Yahweh], the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

Why we actually crave the wrath of God

Okay, we just hit the halfway mark. Well done. I feel like we’re getting somewhere, and the best is yet to come.

For this chapter, first we’ll talk about human anatomy,

then Daniel Day Lewis,

then an obscure Hebrew prophet,

then axis points, bumper stickers, Jesus kicking over tables,

and finally, what it all means for tomorrow morning when we get out of bed.

Sound like a plan? I hope so . . .

Next up on the list is “slow to anger.”

This is a fun one. In Hebrew, it’s erek apayim, and it literally means “long of nostrils.”

True story. Not making this up. God’s nostrils are loooong, believe you me.

Contrary to popular opinion, there is no such thing as a literal, word-for-word translation of the Bible. It’s impossible to directly translate one language into another, especially an ancient Semitic language like Hebrew into modern English.1 But “slow to anger” does a great job of capturing the meaning behind this ancient word picture.

Think about what happens when you lose your temper: your chest sucks in a gulp of air and your nostrils flare out as you verbally unload on your victim.

But . . .

If you’re slow to anger, when you get mad, you shut your mouth, purse your lips, and breathe in through your nose.

You’re erek apayim.

Long of nostrils.

Slow to anger.

This phrase is used twice in a collection of ancient Hebrew wisdom sayings called Proverbs. In each example, we learn more about this aspect of Yahweh.

In Proverbs 14, we read:

Whoever is erek apayim has great understanding,

but one who is quick-tempered displays folly.2

Here, the antonym of slow to anger is “quick-tempered”—you get mad quickly and easily.

There’s a similar maxim in Proverbs 16:

Whoever is erek apayim is better than the mighty,

and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.3

In this verse, the synonym for slow to anger is “rules his spirit,” or what we call self-control. If you’re slow to anger, it’s not that you don’t have feelings of frustration; it’s that you don’t lose it and explode when you get worked up emotionally; you have control over your feelings of frustration and anger and even rage.

So here’s the basic idea: you can make God mad, but you really have to work at it.

Now, there are two sides to this part of Yahweh’s character . . .

On the one hand, God is slow to anger.

Unlike the other “gods,” Yahweh doesn’t have a temper. He’s not volatile or edgy or spasmodic. He doesn’t fly off the handle or slam the door and storm out of the house in the God version of a temper tantrum.

When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, the Hebrew scholars translated erek apayim with a Greek word meaning “patient.

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