JustifiedSample

Some people seem to think God is sort of like an angry Santa Clause, who comes down from Heaven to get us in trouble anytime we break the rules. Thinking that way can end up making us paranoid about getting on God's bad side. You stop thinking of God as a source of love and peace, and start thinking of God as a giant referee in the sky, judging you on a game you didn't even know you were playing.

You have to wonder if people in Bible times felt the same way, because in the Book of Proverbs, the writer actually gives a list of all the things that make God angry. It's not a long list. Proverbs 6:16—19 says that there are "six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable," and then lists them out.

In other words, yes, there are things that make God angry. If you look over the list, you'll probably see a running theme: God gets angry when innocent people get hurt or oppressed people are taken advantage of. God gets angry when people lie. God gets angry when people stir up trouble among friends.

When you take a look at the list of things that make God mad in Proverbs, you can see that they're not unreasonable. God isn't some sort of bad-tempered hothead looking for any excuse to fly off the handle up in Heaven. In fact, a lot of the things that make God mad are probably the same sort of things that make you mad.