2) Zeal often appears as anger, but it isn't, it comes from a good motive rather than an evil motive. Anger comes to a person when a selfish love is hindered or attacked, while a sense of zeal comes to a person when a good love or a worthy truth is hindered or attacked. Devils and Satans feel anger, and feel it often, and they seek to attack. Angels may feel zeal, and seek to defend. Anger is an emotion so common to people that it requires no definition. However a couple of points of interest can be raised. 1) The Lord is never angry. Anger is attributed to Him because the word is written to make sense to men and it seems as if He should be angry when men are evil. And it doesn't harm people to think in this way. Also when evil people have their plans go wrong, they feel anger toward the Lord and assume that is returned.

7781. 'And all the firstborn of the beasts' means adulterated forms of the good of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'the firstborn' as faith; and from the meaning of 'beast' as affections for good, and in the contrary sense affections for evil, dealt with in 45, 46, 141, 143, 246, 714, 715, 719, 776, 2179, 2180, 3519, 4724, 5198. Such things come to be meant by 'beasts' from representatives in the next life, 3218; and for that reason also such things were meant by the ones used in sacrifices, 2180, 2805, 2807, 2870, 3519. And because 'beasts' meant these things 'the firstborn of the beasts' therefore means the good of truth, at this point when it had been adulterated since it was with the Egyptians, who perverted all truths and forms of good by applying them to evil purposes.