Remember the story of the Golden Calf? After God led His people out of Egypt and through the Red Sea, after they were delivered from their slavery and Pharaoh’s armies, they found themselves at Mt. Sinai. Moses was up on the mountain talking to God. He had come down once to tell the people about the Ten Commandments, and the people had said, “Everything the Lord has said, we will do.” (Ex. 24:3) But then He went back up and was gone for a long time: 40 days and nights. God was giving him instructions on building the Ark of the covenant, the Tabernacle and all its furnishings. While Moses was getting these detailed instructions, the people were growing restless. Some even thought that Moses wasn’t coming back, that he might have died up there. So they persuade Aaron to make an idol for them. He gathers all their gold and makes an idol in the shape of a calf, telling people that was the god who delivered them from Egypt. Of course, God knows what is happening, and tells Moses He is so angry that He is going to wipe them off the face of the earth. Moses conveys that anger as well when he gets down there and sees the calf for Himself. They had broken one of the commandments, the first one, before they even had the written copies!

One thing we know about God’s Law is that it produces wrath (Romans 4:15). God’s wrath. Justifiable anger. God displayed His wrath when His people, whom He had just rescued from Egypt, tried to give credit for their salvation to an image of a Golden Calf. God got angry at their sin. That is what we call righteous or holy anger. The same kind of anger Jesus displayed in cleansing the Temple.

I think it is safe to say that most of the anger you and I experience is not holy anger. We often have unholy anger in response to God’s laws and values. We rebel at any kind of imposition of a standard. And we can be very passionate about our unholy anger! That is the natural reaction to God’s Law! This reaction comes because the Law exposes sin and even multiplies it. In the account of the Golden Calf, the people were angry when their sin was exposed.

What does this say to you? You should ask yourself if you are living your life on the basis of what you feel, your emotions, or on the basis of what God would have you do, what He tells you in His Word. When you are confronted with God’s Law, you may feel some of that unholy passion and anger. That is the normal response to being confronted with your own sinfulness. How are you going to deal with that anger?

What good is the Law? The story of the Golden Calf shows us that the Law is good. Not only is God’s Law good, but it is good for you! When you follow God’s Law, your life goes well. It is when you follow your emotions that you get into trouble. The Law is good for you in this way. But there is an even greater good in the Law. The Law shows you your sins. It shows you the need for help. It prepares the way for the good news of Jesus. And that is the answer to our unholy anger: the forgiveness that Jesus gives.

More on this tomorrow!