NOTES for Pro 14:1-35

The Bible says a great deal about both anger and hatred. At first glance it may seem that these are, if not the same things, then at least so similar that the words "anger" and "hatred" can be used as synonyms. And yet, as we can see, this is not so. Indeed, hatred toward a person, judging by the sacred writer's word, arises when he deliberately does evil. But a hot-tempered person may, in a burst of anger, and the meaning of the corresponding Hebrew word points specifically to a flash of anger connected with impatience, commit a foolish act that he will quite possibly have to regret later. Yet, as we can see, he does not provoke hatred, or at least the author of the aphorism says nothing about it.

The point here is not that a burst of anger is only an insignificant episode: impatient people are inclined to such outbursts, and they may recur regularly for all sorts of reasons. The point is another one, namely the spiritual depth of what is taking place. Outwardly, on the psychological level, the manifestations of anger, especially in emotional people, and hatred may sometimes look similar, though a person not inclined to show emotion may not display his hatred openly. But a person who consciously does evil has clearly decided for himself that he has a right to this evil, or has justified his action in some other way. In any case, this is precisely a matter of choice, of conscious intention, and therefore of the properly spiritual sphere. It is no wonder that such behavior evokes nothing but hatred: hatred means first of all rejection of a person and drawing away from him, an unwillingness to communicate and a desire to exclude the person from one's life. In our world, a person who consciously does evil cannot evoke anything else in anyone; only someone who has already become a participant in the Kingdom and lives by its life can desire good for such a person.

A burst of anger caused by impatience, however, is not so hard to forgive, especially since the person who flared up will most likely regret his action himself. There is no conscious intention here. Such outbursts certainly darken spiritual life, but they do not distort it irreversibly the way consciously chosen evil does. Therefore, as a rule, such anger does not provide spiritual grounds for hatred in response.

We are used to connecting fear only with negative sensations. Fear makes our life unbearable, binds us hand and foot, paralyzes every initiative; because of fear people end their lives by suicide, and driven by fear, they kill others. Fear is one of the most terrible consequences of the fall, almost death. And suddenly it is said that fear is a source of life, turning one away from the snares of death. Could this be speaking of another kind of fear?

Yes, there is a clarification here: the fear of the Lord. How is it different, and why does it help one live? All our fears are the dread that something bad will happen to us (or be done to us). From this comes paralysis or something still worse, for "fear has big eyes." But the main biblical Revelation consists in the fact that God is good, He is love. Therefore only good can be expected from Him. The fear of the Lord is not that if we do or fail to do something, things will go badly for us, but that if we act wrongly, something good will not happen. And that is an entirely different matter. It frees rather than enslaves; it leads to fullness of life. More than that, since God is almighty, there is no need to fear anything else. And in this again are life and freedom.

But does it not happen to us that we fear even God as if He were a thunderstorm or a fire? Do we really believe in the goodness of God?