Angry men are fools full of fury. There is nothing godly, noble, or manly about them, no matter what kind of construction you put on it or excuses you make for it. Angry men are fools. If you want to be a wise man, you will avoid them at all costs, or you run the risk of learning their profane and wicked habits to the destruction of your soul (22:25; 13:20).
Angry men are fools. If you want a peaceful life, you will avoid them, for they will bring conflict into your life without an end (15:18; 19:19; 29:22). Angry men cannot learn new ways of living, so you will be required to get them out of trouble over and over. The best choice is to realize they are helpless slaves of their depraved emotions and avoid them.
You do not have a right to any friends you wish. God has authority to limit your friends. Wise men appreciate His wisdom about friends, and they socialize accordingly. Do not deceive yourself; evil communications corrupt good manners (I Cor 15:33). Angry men will tempt you to learn angry habits yourself, and they will cause you a lot of trouble.
Anger is in the bosoms of fools (Eccl 7:9). Wise men defer anger (Pr 19:11). Wise men rule their spirits and are slow to anger (14:29). Why? Because they know that truly great men know how to rule their spirits and avoid anger (16:32). Why? Because they know that anger never helps them work the righteousness of God (Jas 1:19). Why? Because they know that angry haste in any such matter will bring them shame (25:8).
Angry men often glory in their quick temper as a sign of manliness or toughness; but only fools get angry quickly, because they are weak slaves to their base passions (14:17,29). They cannot rule their spirits, so God and Solomon compare them to defenseless cities without walls – any slight event will trigger their total collapse and ruin (25:28).
The lesson is clear enough. What will you do with it? Cut off acquaintances or friends who get angry quickly or often. They do not deserve friends. Let them live and die alone. Angry men should be left to rot in their own fury. Solomon’s reason is plain enough in the following verse, “Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul” (22:25).
The lesson is clear enough. Avoid angry men. Do not befriend them, associate with them, or be connected in any way you can avoid. Do not go into partnership with an angry man, for you will smart for it. Do not marry an angry man, for he will cause you more pain than you can imagine. Do not buy or sell to an angry man, if you can avoid it. Why cause yourself a perpetual headache? Do not even go to dinner with such a person (17:1; 21:9).
Jesus taught that anger without a cause is murder in the sight of God (Matt 5:21-22). Of course, the effeminate religionists and silly women of the present generation have removed these three words from their newfangled Bibles, leaving the verse to condemn any and all anger (II Tim 3:1-7). However, God and His prophets and apostles got angry at sin and sinners. Paul wrote that it was possible to be angry and not sin (Eph 4:26-27).
Rather than choose angry men for friends or go anywhere with furious men, choose the saints of God for your friends, and go with them to the house of God. The true children of God do not get angry or furious. They are filled with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Gal 5:22-23). Do these nine traits describe you? Do they describe your friends? Do they describe your church?
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