NUM213 The belief that anger is always illegitimate continues to be embraced by many religious people … there are times when anger is an appropriate response to others' cruel or otherwise wrongful behavior, and any lesser response is wrong. Among the instances of morally appropriate anger expressed by God and human beings in the Bible are the following: ● Against those who misuse their talents for evil: God is outraged at the prophet Balaam for taking money from the king of Moab to curse the Israelites (Numbers 22:22). Balaam was a man of immense spiritual and intellectual capabilities. The fact that he used these gifts in this way infuriated God. ● Against those who are ungrateful. Laban prospered from Jacob's twenty-year stewardship over his flocks, yet never thanked him. Instead he tried to lower Jacob's wages. In response, "Jacob became incensed and took up his grievance with Laban." (see Genesis 31:36 – 42). ● Against those who commit slander. Moses was outraged by the rebels Korach, Datan, and Abiram, and their false claim that he used his position to aggrandize himself [this verse]. ● Against those who mistreat the poor: the prophet Isaiah, speaking in God's Name, denounced those who oppressed society's most vulnerable members: "That which was robbed from the poor is in your houses. How dare you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor?" says the Lord, God of Hosts" (Isaiah 3:14–15; see also Amos 5:21–22).● Against those who worship false gods: God is furious at King Solomon, who, in his later years, built idolatrous shrines in Israel. "The Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice"(I Kings 11:9).● Against those who make false, and cruel, claims in God's Name: God is angry with Job's friends for telling him that his sufferings were sent by God (Job 42:7). That God, and people such as Jacob, Moses, and Isaiah on the express anger indicates that this emotion, when expressed properly and justly, is a moral one.