Bread from the Basket: Your Daily Slice

Adar 27

Rage

“Make no friendship with one given to WRATH, And do not go with a man of RAGE, Lest you learn his ways, And find yourself ensnared.” (Pro 22:24-25 ISR, emphasis mine)

Back in the late 1980’s, we were introduced to the concept of “road rage”, and there were those of us (myself included) that just went “HUH????” The idea that such an intense, violent anger could be released to fellow drivers, and even pedestrians, as to incur injury and even death was mind boggling. And yet the incidents of “road rage” increase every year, often ending in vehicular homicide. One report I read spoke of a man in Germany, motivated by “annoyance and frustration with traffic”, fired on more than 760 vehicles![1] People, this ought to never be.

Fast forward to 2018. Just in this year alone (2.5 months), the incidents of rage-related violence have my head spinning. Mothers are killing their own children, simply because they cry[2]. A home caregiver killing an elderly client because of their snoring is another example[3]. And another is that of a woman who said “she was having a bad day, and wanted to kill someone.” This woman ended up pushing a total stranger onto the subway tracks, causing extensive injuries.[4] It is no wonder that “anger management classes” are becoming a critical part of courtroom sentencing.

Referring to “road rage”, the WebMD makes this statement: "Road ragers are selfish, power hungry, angry, and vindictive,"[5]all attributes that are totally opposite to the tenets of Torah. And I perceive selfishness would be the foundational element to all of these types of wrath , anger, and rage; our modern society has great difficulty when their wants are not met and satisfied, leading to anger and vindictive violence.

In our opening verse from Proverbs, we find two different words relating to this type of violent anger. The first one, “wrath” (Strong’s #H639, 'aph), literally has to do with the face, in particular, the nose. The implication is that of one getting more than just upset, to the extent that his/her nostrils open and flare, and the face becomes red – all indications of one who is extremely angry. The second word, “rage” (Strong’s #H2534, chêmâh), has to do with intense, destructive, and violent rage, even intense heat from this type of emotion. The admonition in these verses is to distance ourselves from persons of this ilk, for apparently, these emotions and character traits are highly contagious. Witness, for example, the extreme rage that consumes those members of ISIS waging “Jihad”; it is a cancer that is spreading worldwide.

What concerns me greatly is those who profess to walk this Torah walk, and display this type of angry, violent emotion. Brethren, this behavior is not synonymous with Torah observance, and neither does it bring honor to the One who created us. Please, folks, should you find yourselves becoming irritated and angry, stop and ask, “why am I feeling this way?” And be honest with yourself. Most of the time, whatever it was that caused the initial irritation is fixable: hold that baby that is crying, and love on him/her. Treat the elderly with kindness and consideration, and buy yourself some earplugs if the snoring bothers you. And if you are having a bad day, call someone who exhorts, edifies, and encourages (Rom 14:19; Heb 3:13; 1The 5:11), and ask them to help you. That is what we are all of us here for …

“But now, set them all aside—anger, rage, malice, slander, and foul language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another. After all, you have taken off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self that is being renewed in knowledge, according to the image of the One who created him.” (Col 3:8-10 TLV, emphasis mine)