THE VENGEANCE OF OUR GOD
This article is about
love, but it’s about God’s love for His people and His vengeance on those who
hurt us. This is for real, folks. We are
in a war. It’s a war of attrition. Who’s going to hold out longer, our enemy or
us the devil? Are we going to give up, or try to fight with natural means, or
are we going to take every issue to God for His strategies in life? We don’t
need to be afraid of the word “War.” It’s either going to be a conflict we can
break through or a conflict where we learn
to enter into rest.
If you’ve never been in an
oppressed situation, count your blessings; this article isn’t for you. But some
of God’s people need to know that in situations of oppression, God will be our
avenger. God’s vengeance is not just an Old Testament thing; it’s a promise to us in these times as well. Romans
12:19: “Dearly
beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.’” Note here that
the Lord tells us we are not the ones to repay evil for evil. We’re not the
ones who are to carry out the revenge.
But when God takes
vengeance on people who oppress us, it
has to look like something. I’ve seen it many times where God works in a
stranger or in an unusual physical situation to penalize the perpetrator/s.
The word for
vengeance in Romans 12:19 is taken directly from the Hebrew word in the Old
Testament, so we can learn a lot about God’s revenge from looking at the verses
throughout the Bible where the word is used.
The Hebrew word is “naqam.” It means “the act of revenge, to
punish, to be angry, hold a grudge, inflict a penalty, the primary idea being that
of breathing forcibly.” First of all, it amazes me that our God would hold a
grudge. But it makes sense. God loves us so much;
He is absolutely going to avenge
us. It may take a while, but He won’t forget.
Genesis 8:22 says: “While
the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest . . . shall not cease.” And
Galatians 6:7 tells us: “Be not deceived; God is
not mocked: for whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he
also reap.”
Sometimes it
takes years for the harvest to come, but it will come because God’s Word says
so, and God doesn’t lie. Numbers 23:19: “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”
God will absolutely
avenge us, but like with the rest of His promises, we need to receive them,
take them to heart and expect God to do what He says He’ll do.
Since there’s no sorrow in Heaven, and no
tears, it seems a pretty sure thing that if a Christian is doing the
oppressing, or any other evil against us, they are going to get the payback
while they’re still here on earth.
When David asked God to avenge him of his
enemies, the enemies were often unbelievers, and
God told him that his enemies’ harvest would be hell in the end.
Think about it: What would be an evil doer’s
hell on earth? If they were a person who loved the celebrity and praise of
others, total humiliation would be their
worst nightmare. What about someone who enjoys bullying good people. His or her
hell would be to be thrown in a cell with
a bunch of thugs. You get my point.
God’s vengeance will be profound and personal.
I pointed out to a friend that part of the definition for vengeance is “the
idea of breathing forcibly.” Have you ever been so mad you yelled with all your
might, all your anger and spit blasting
out in your words? Have you ever felt you could melt someone into a puddle with the force of your words? Well,
what about God? God could fry a person in a second with His breath!
Nobody messes with God’s people and gets away
with it. Take a look at Psalm 36, 37, and 83 for starters. There are multitudes
of scriptures that show us how God will stand up for us.
We can’t make the mistake of trying to deliver
the punishment ourselves. If we truly trust God to carry out the penalty He’s
promising, then there is a slight chance we will be a part of His orchestrated
plan, but we don’t get to decide that. He will let us know, and most likely we
will only be watching from the sidelines, or hear about what happened much
later. Our job is to pray, love, tell the truth, and conduct our lives the best
we can by what we learn from the Word of God.
Love, Carolyn
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