Quick Devotional from Ephesians 4:26 (Observation from the Greek)

This is from my daily Greek exercise of sight reading a few months ago, courtesy of Vincent S Artale Jr.

Our text is from the Greek translation (Septuagint) of Ephesians 4:17.  Here is my translation:

“SENTENCE 26 ὀργίζεσθε καὶ μὴ ἁμαρτάνετε
Be angry and do not sin

SENTENCE [TP ὁ ἥλιος TP] μὴ ἐπιδυέτω ἐπὶ τῷ παροργισμῷ ὑμῶν”
do not let the sun go down in your anger

Here are some observations:

1. There are three verbs here in this verse.  All of them are imperatives in form.  That is, they are telling us what to do.
2. Of these three verses the main verb that capture the main idea of what God wants us to do is “do not sin.”
   1. The Greek present tense here is gnomic, that is, it is stating a general principle and not just only for a specific moment or instance.
   2. The active voice reminds us that when we sin, it us as sinners who are sinning.
3. The first command “Be angry” seem to contradict with the flow of the verse about not being angry.  But the imperative verb here is functioning to express a concession (Charles Lee Irons, A Syntax Guide for Readers of the New Testament, 443).  What does that mean?  Think of the example of the English idiom “Give him an inch, and he’ll take a mile.”  In the words of Funk in his Greek Grammar “Give him an inch might be said to be the equivalent of If you give him an inch.”  Thus here the verse is addressing a situation of when we are angry and not so much as saying to us to be angry.
4. The second half of the verse gives us a prohibition that is concerned with the limitation of the duration of anger.
   1. Here figuratively the sun is given a negative imperative of not setting while we are still in anger.
   2. But of course we know the sun will set and not wait for us; it is figurative to make us realize we need to deal with our anger before the end of the day.

Application:

• Do you see the prohibition of not sinning as important in your life?  Realize that is God’s will.  Don’t treat sin lightly.
• Do you acknowledge the fact that when you sin you yourself sinned and violate God’s Will?  Don’t blame your circumstances, others, etc.  Be honest before God and men with your responsibilities with your sin.
• When you are angry be careful to watch out that you act impulsively in the moment and sin.  Sometimes the best way to fight certain sins that concern with the loss of self control is the discipline of avoiding as much as possible of putting ourselves in the situation that tempt us, if we can avoid it.
• Have you taken your anger to the Lord?  First begin by confessing any sins driving your anger.  Then confess your sins that flows out from your anger.  When we are angry we are in less control than we think; pray to God that you don’t further sin because of your anger.
• Often the fuel for anger is because we are hurt; here we need to bring our pain before the Lord.  Go to God in prayer about it.  Also praying about it and meditating on the Gospel is the most powerful way to forgive and let go of grudges and bitterness.  Meditating upon what Christ has done to appease the wrath of God and knowing that you deserve hell because of your sin but that eternal penalty has been paid for by Christ on your behalf is a powerful way to move your heart to not count what wrong others have done to you in a way that hinder your Christian life.  Have you done so?  If you feel “I have already done so and its not working,” then continue to commune with Him!  He wants you to commune deeper with Him!  The goal isn’t for us to merely feel good, but to abide in Him!  Only by abiding in Him do we bear the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
• For further practical help check out our post “Dealing with Anger? Meditating on Bible Verses from Proverbs.”