Amos 1:11-15: a reflection

Among the nations Amos names for judgment is Edom, and the charge against Edom is striking: he pursued his brother with the sword, cast off all pity, and kept his anger and wrath forever, a warning about the danger of nursing anger and refusing to let a grudge go. Edom pursued his brother, Amos says, and cast off all pity, and his anger raged continually, and he kept his wrath forever. Edom's sin was not a single act of anger, but a settled, unrelenting wrath: he cast off all pity, and nursed his anger, keeping it burning continually, refusing ever to let it go. This kept, cherished, unrelenting wrath is what Amos names, and what stands under judgment. This shows the danger of nursing anger and keeping wrath forever, casting off all pity. Do not nurse anger or keep your wrath forever; let the grudge go. Unrelenting, cherished wrath casts off pity and stands under judgment. Anger kept burning and never released hardens the heart. Let go of the grudge; do not keep your wrath forever.

Notice the specific charge against Edom: he kept his wrath forever. It was not simply that Edom grew angry; it was that Edom nursed his anger, kept it burning continually, cast off all pity, and refused ever to let it go. His wrath became a settled, cherished, unrelenting thing, held onto forever. And this kept, unrelenting wrath is named as his sin, standing under God's judgment. This holds a searching warning for us about anger held onto. Anger may come; but there is a great danger in nursing it, cherishing it, keeping it burning, refusing ever to let it go, casting off all pity toward the one we are angry with, holding onto our wrath and our grudge forever. Such kept, unrelenting anger hardens the heart, poisons us, and, as with Edom, stands under God's displeasure. We are called instead to let go of our anger, to release our grudges, not to let the sun go down on our wrath, not to keep it burning forever, but to forgive, to release, to let pity soften what anger has hardened. We do well not to nurse our anger or keep our wrath forever, but to let the grudge go, releasing what we have held onto. Do not nurse your anger or keep your wrath forever; let the grudge go. Cherished, unrelenting anger hardens the heart and stands under God's displeasure. Release the grudge you have held onto; do not cast off pity. Let go of anger rather than keeping it burning forever.

That is worth taking to heart, for nursing anger and keeping wrath forever, casting off all pity, hardens the heart and stands under God's judgment, and we do well to let the grudge go, as the charge against Edom warns. We can nurse our anger, cherish our grudges, and keep our wrath burning forever; but Edom's kept, unrelenting wrath, which cast off all pity, is named as his sin. Let it go. Do not keep your wrath forever or cast off pity; release the anger and the grudge you have held onto, letting it go rather than nursing it. Do not nurse your anger or keep your wrath forever, casting off all pity, but let the grudge go, as among the nations Amos named for judgment was Edom, whose charge was striking, that he pursued his brother, cast off all pity, and kept his anger and wrath forever; for Edom's sin was not a single act of anger but a settled, unrelenting wrath, casting off all pity and nursing his anger, keeping it burning continually and refusing ever to let it go, this kept and cherished wrath being what Amos names and what stands under judgment, which holds a searching warning for us about anger held onto, since anger may come, but there is a great danger in nursing it, cherishing it, keeping it burning, refusing ever to let it go, casting off all pity toward the one we are angry with, and holding onto our grudge forever, since such kept, unrelenting anger hardens the heart, poisons us, and stands under God's displeasure, so that we are called instead to let go of our anger, release our grudges, not let the sun go down on our wrath or keep it burning forever, but to forgive and release and let pity soften what anger has hardened, so that we do well not to nurse our anger or keep our wrath forever but to let the grudge go.