“So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

The wrath of God

God’s wrath features quite often in the bible. God is perfect in holiness and righteousness, and cannot have any compromise with sin. But since God is perfect in knowledge, and is the source of truth and wisdom, his wrath is perfectly just and merciful, it is simply the absence of anything sinful or evil.
Churches are sometimes slow to talk about the wrath of God because they picture it to be like man’s anger, but man’s anger is the very opposite of God’s wrath or zealous righteousness, as stated in verse 20.

Man’s knowledge

The reason for this is listed in verse 19, where we are commanded to be swift to hear and slow to speak. Man’s knowledge is so severely limited that the only area where mankind is nearly perfect is in ignorance! Even if we could perfectly interpret the information we have, current estimates are that is limited to only 5% of the universe, as the rest is unknowable dark matter. But even with that 5%, mankind misrepresents the information we have, for our own purposes, just like in the garden of Eden where they mis-stated God’s command.

Douglas Adams stated this tendency in the quote that, “If human beings don’t keep exercising their lips, their brains start working.”. But here in the letter of James it is stated more clearly, that it is only as we stop speaking that we can hear and follow God’s leading.

Man’s zeal

But things get worse when man combines his ignorance with a zeal for righteousness. When man strives for righteousness by his own effort, it produces a fervent legalism in opposition to God.
A prime example of this was the Pharisees in the New Testament, who were ardent in their zeal to obey God, but took onto themselves God’s authority of judgment. They became blind to the presence of God amongst them in Jesus, they were violently opposed to Him, and eventually crucified him.

Mark 15:11 explains how they fostered this combination of ignorance and anger amongst the people, “and the chief priests stirred up the crowd, so that he (Pilate) should rather release Barabbas to them. So they cried out again, ‘Crucify Him!’”
And that continued in Acts 13:50, “the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.” These people were not easily swayed rabble, they were devout and prominent leaders, who failed because they were not sufficiently slow to speak or slow to anger.

Sound advice

Verse 19 gives practical advice to avoid this pitfall, which is to stop presuming we have God’s wisdom and judgment, and instead to imitate his patience and wait on his guidance.
This reading is not only for the benefit of people who have to put up with us, it also protects us from being manipulated and controlled by worldly powers. Our modern world, and especially our mainstream media, tries to persuade us to “speak out” or proclaim judgments on all kinds of issues that don’t concern us, and on which we will never have complete information. Moreover, much of the so called “information” we are given, and its implicit assumptions, are blatantly false. To allow ourselves to be persuaded not just to make decisions, but to proclaim those decisions to all who will listen, and become fervent on these issues, is a submission to the worldly powers who strive to manipulate our thought and behaviour.

We need instead to wait on understanding and guidance from God, and to follow him only.
So, it’s time for me to stop speaking and resume listening!