What Makes God Angry?
The anger of God is a topic every Christian should study and understand because whatever makes God angry gives us a glimpse into His glorious character and nature. Equally as important as knowing God is loving God and living for God. Therefore, whatever makes God angry is something we want to avoid as His devoted followers.
But some people struggle with God’s anger because it infringes on their view of his love and kindness, forgetting that in God’s perfect holiness, His anger is never sinful. He is always right. Always just. Always perfect. Even in His anger.
God’s anger is not a volatile temper or an emotional overreaction. Scripture presents it as His holy, settled opposition to all that contradicts His character. This distinction matters. God’s wrath is not the opposite of His love; it is the expression of His love for what is good, true, and righteous. Because He loves holiness, He hates sin. Because He loves people, He opposes what destroys them.
The Bible does not leave us guessing about what provokes the anger of the LORD. It gives us a remarkably consistent picture from Genesis to Revelation. As you consider your life and seek to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called (Ephesians 4:1), let’s consider 9 things that make God angry, and avoid them like the plague!
1. Pride and Self-Exaltation
Proverbs 6:16–17 opens with what God hates most: “haughty eyes.” Pride is not merely a minor personality flaw; it is cosmic rebellion. It is the sin of Satan (Isa. 14:12–15), the root of humanity’s fall (Gen. 3:5), and the posture God consistently opposes. “The LORD is opposed to the proud” (Prov. 3:34; cf. James 4:6). Pride dethrones God and enthrones self. It seeks glory apart from grace. No sin is more fundamentally anti-God.
2. Lies and Falsehood
Proverbs 6 lists “a lying tongue” and “a false witness who breathes out lies.” God is truth (Num. 23:19; Titus 1:2). Satan is “the father of lies” (John 8:44). To lie is not merely to break a rule; it is to align with the enemy of God. Throughout the Old Testament, false prophets stirred God’s anger by speaking peace when there was no peace (Jer. 23:16–17). In the New Testament, judgment is pronounced on those who “exchange the truth of God for a lie” (Rom. 1:25). God’s anger burns where truth is twisted because lies enslave souls.
3. Violence and the Shedding of Innocent Blood
Proverbs 6:17 also names “hands that shed innocent blood.” From Cain’s murder of Abel to the bloodshed condemned by the prophets, violence provokes divine anger because it assaults the image of God in man (Gen. 9:6). The prophets repeatedly connect God’s wrath with injustice, oppression, and bloodguilt (Isa. 1:15–17; Amos 1–2). God is patient, but He does not ignore cruelty. His anger rises when the strong devour the weak.
4. Hearts That Plot Evil
God is not only concerned with actions but with intentions. Proverbs 6 condemns “a heart that devises wicked plans.” This echoes God’s grief in Genesis 6:5, where humanity’s thoughts were “only evil continually,” prompting judgment. Sin incubated in the heart is not neutral. Jesus later confirms this when He locates murder, adultery, and slander in the heart before they ever reach the hands (Matt. 15:19). God’s anger is stirred not merely by visible evil but by cherished evil.
5. Feet That Run Eagerly Toward Sin
Scripture condemns not only stumbling into sin but sprinting toward it. Proverbs 6:18 speaks of feet that “run rapidly to evil.” This is willful, enthusiastic rebellion. Israel repeatedly provoked the LORD by running after idols (Judg. 2:11–14). Romans 1 describes people not only committing sin but “giving hearty approval” to it. God’s anger burns against eager defiance, not reluctant weakness.
6. Those Who Sow Division Among God’s People
The final item in Proverbs 6:19 is especially sobering: “one who spreads strife among brothers.” God’s anger is uniquely kindled by those who fracture His people. Israel’s rebellions often involved murmuring, grumbling, and factionalism (Num. 16; Ps. 106). In the New Testament, false teachers and divisive persons are repeatedly warned of judgment (Rom. 16:17–18; Jude 19). Christ died to unite His people; sowing discord attacks the very purpose of the cross.
7. Idolatry and Covenant Unfaithfulness
Few things provoke God’s anger more consistently in the Old Testament than idolatry. The golden calf incident (Exod. 32) explicitly describes the LORD’s anger “burning hot.” Idolatry is spiritual adultery—it replaces the Giver with the gift. God’s anger here is deeply relational. He is not offended as a fragile deity but grieved as a faithful Husband betrayed (Hos. 2; Ezek. 16). His wrath flows from covenant love violated.
8. Hypocrisy and Hard-Hearted Religion
In Mark 3:5, Jesus looks around “with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart.” This is one of the clearest windows into righteous anger in the New Testament. What stirred it? Religious leaders who valued rules over mercy and tradition over truth. Jesus’ fiercest rebukes were not reserved for pagans but for Pharisees who misrepresented God (Matt. 23). Hypocrisy provokes divine anger because it places obstacles between God and sinners under the guise of holiness.
9. Persistent, Unrepentant Rebellion
Romans 2:5 warns of “storing up wrath” through stubborn, unrepentant hearts. God is slow to anger (Exod. 34:6), but patience rejected becomes judgment deserved. The flood, the exile, and ultimately final judgment all demonstrate that divine anger is not impulsive but measured. When repentance is continually refused, wrath is righteously revealed.
Thank God for His Anger Upon Sin
What makes God angry is everything that contradicts His holiness, distorts His truth, harms His image-bearers, and hardens hearts against grace. And yet, the greatest display of God’s anger fell not on repentant sinners, but on His own Son at the cross (Isa. 53:10; Rom. 3:25–26). God’s wrath against sin and His mercy toward sinners meet perfectly in Christ. To understand what makes God angry is not merely to fear judgment—but to marvel at grace.
