I cherish this Scripture passage. I have been deeply hurt, defrauded, abused, victimized and mistreated by countless wicked sinners throughout my life. Humans equal pain! We are all guilty sinners. This passage promises that we will someday see God avenge us of our enemies. God will settle all scores! 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.” God will recompense (avenge) all evil (cf., Ecclesiastes 5:8).
The inspired Holy Bible teaches in 1st Corinthians 6:1-3 that we as saints will judge the world and angels in the future. Yet, sadly, Christians drag each other into secular heathen courtrooms, unable to judge matters between themselves because of pride (Proverbs 13:10).
Let's just face it, the book of Psalms is the most vindictive book in the whole Bible. David prayed for God to “Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD. Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.” (Psalms 58:6-7). David wanted to be avenged, and I don't blame him. I have often felt exactly the same way toward ungodly sinners who've hurt me. David essentially said:
“Don't worry about the wicked because they're going down! God's going to destroy my enemies. They are going to perish like the grass. They're going to regret ever being born. God will punish them! I'm going to live to see what bad things happen to them!”
That is the way the book of Psalms is written. The words “enemy” and “enemies” appear 104 times in the book of Psalms. Psalms 25:2, “O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.” You're singing for God not to let the bad guys win. It is a vindictive type of song. This is as Christian as the Gospel. Yes, we are commanded to forgive others, but there is nothing wrong or unscriptural with desiring to be avenged of those who wrong you. Even if someone hurts you with their words, Jesus warned that all men will be held accountable for their words (Matthew 12:36).
We have a biblical precedent for rejoicing over enemies who get what they have coming to them. Revelation 18:20, “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.” It is very normal to desire to see our enemies crash and burn! But wait a minute, doesn't the Scripture warn against rejoicing when your enemy falls? Proverbs 24:17-18, “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.” So, we have a striking paradox here, a clear contradiction.
To clear up this matter, I found some helpful Bible commentary for Revelation 18:22 from Dr. John R. Rice in his book titled, “Revelation: Behold He Cometh!”...
“Rejoice over her, thou heaven” (vs. 20). Jesus said, 'I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.' (Luke 15:7). Then again He said, 'Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth' (Luke 15:10). In Heaven they rejoice over souls saved; but here they are to rejoice when sin is avenged and when they wicked are put down.
In Revelation 6:9-11 we read of the great concern of saints in Heaven in Heaven after dying as martyrs:
'And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.'
Now they will rejoice that their patience is rewarded, that their death is avenged!
Angels in Heaven must rejoice also with those who rejoice 'in the presence of the angels.' How their gladness peals out in that beautiful chant at the birth of Christ when the sky was filled with them! Angels are the guides and the servants, the protectors of Christians (Heb. 1:14; Matt. 18:10; Ps. 37:7; 91:11, 12). Will they not rejoice when those they love and serve rejoice? Holy beings as they are, will they not rejoice that sin is punished and God is vindicated?
So angels, with the apostles and prophets of all ages, will rejoice that sin is put down and in the destruction of that great city of sin, the spiritual Babylon of the tribulation time.” —Dr. John R. Rice, “Revelation: Behold He Cometh!,” pp. 270-271; © 1977, Sword of the Lord publishers
Proverbs 24:17 differs from Revelation 18:22 in that there's a big difference between rejoicing when your enemy falls, versus rejoicing when God avenges you of your enemy.
I humbly think a great example of this truth is found in the story of Joseph and what his wicked half-brothers did to him, selling Joseph into slavery...
Genesis 50:14-21, “And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.”
Joseph forgave his Brothers, but he also acknowledged that he had placed the matter into God's hands for judgment. Joseph reminded his brothers that he was not God, so it wasn't his place to judge iniquity. James 4:12, “There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?”
Heaven rejoices in Revelation 18:20 because God has judged Babylon (which I humbly believe is the United States) for the wrongs she inflicted upon the saints, signifying divine justice. In sharp contrast, Proverbs 24:17 warns against rejoicing over an enemy's downfall to promote mercy and humility, highlighting different contexts of judgment and justice. So, yes, we have every right to expect for God to avenge us of our enemies; but at the same time we should have the forgiving spirit of Stephen, who while being stoned to death by a mob of angry Jews cried out, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” That is, Stephen died from his injuries.
There should be a burning desire within the soul of every child of God for sinner's to come to repentance. 2nd Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” This is the great heart of God.
Deuteronomy 32:43, “Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.”Psalms 96:11-13, “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.”Revelation 19:1-2, “And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.”
Part of my soul desires to see those ungodly sinners who have stole, hurt, lied, defrauded and conspired against me to burn in Hell. I desire to see the rotten carnal pastors who kicked me out of their churches, who threw me under the bus for dead in my loneliness and suffering, to suffer horribly. I want to see them crash and burn! I often feel like Jonah the prophet, who became angry when God repented not to destroy the Ninevites. Jonah wanted them to burn in judgment! I know how Jonah felt.
Yet, I would be delighted someday to find out that the unsaved men who persecuted me in the workplace got saved. I would be delighted to know that the wicked pastors who persecuted and drove me from their corrupt churches, had later repented of their Lordship Salvation and then started preaching more doctrinally sound because of my calamity which they caused. I would delight in my painful losses and long time suffering, if it led to their salvation and edification in the LORD. 2nd Corinthians 12:15, “And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.”
I humbly think this is the proper mindset for every saint of God. While we have every right to expect for God to avenge us of all evildoers for their unethical behavior and wrongdoing toward us; contrariwise, at the same time we should equally have a sincere desire for their repentance unto salvation, or repentance and growth in grace if they are already saved. Although I want my enemies and the hundreds of mean people who have deeply hurt me throughout my lifetime to be punished severely by God, I much more desire for their salvation and spiritual wellbeing in the Lord. So, there is a balance, and that I think is the key word.
It's okay to pray impreccatory prayers toward our enemies, but at the same time we are not right with God as believers if we don't also feel some desire for those people to come to Christ for salvation, and then to grow in grace as Christians. Nothing would make me happier.
I and my wife Alice like to sit by our firepit in the yard. We sat outside tonight. It was about 55 degrees and I got a nice fire going. As we ate pizza that I cooked in our convection oven in the garage, I made mention to her that I felt bad over something that I had said to someone. As she often does, she spake some comforting words to calm my soul. She said, the fact that you feel bad shows you have a good heart. She's right.
Dear reader, if you feel like you fail God continually, you are likely a much better Christian than you think you are. Ungodly people don't care. They don't feel bad when they hurt the feelings of others. Ungodly pastors don't think twice about kicking people out of their church (it's not the Lord's church). They don't feel bad because their hardened hearts have grown calloused and cold. People just want to be loved.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.