Vengeance is Mine. I will repay!


As I heard the Lord speak this, a new understanding began to take place. Before I go into the new understanding, however, let’s take a quick look at the old understanding, because I feel this is one of those “If-Then” statements that we read in the Bible. IF we do this, THEN God can do that.
~~ IF ~~


First of all, the Lord is the only one qualified to take vengeance on anyone for any reason. He is Just, and He can measure out vengeance in a just manner, without sin of His own and without harboring bitterness.

Therefore, every unjust act or offense that has been perpetrated against us must be given over to the Lord for vengeance. He alone can deal with injustice in a righteous manner.

If we have our hands in a situation, it prevents the Lord from fully taking care of the matter Himself, because any action He might take could harm us. It is a little like the wheat and tares that Jesus spoke about. The farmer told his servant not to pull up the tares in the field, because it might damage the wheat. Instead, he let the tares grow up with the wheat and harvested them together. We could be damaged when God is taking vengeance if we are involved in a situation, so rather than cause us harm, He will stay out of the situation.

That’s exactly what we don’t want! So, I urge you to deliberately remove yourselves from situations where the Lord needs to act on your behalf, so that He can move in and do it. Repent to Him for trying to do His job for Him, and instead trust Him with being God.


But, I haven’t been trying to take vengeance . . .


Some of the injustice we are tempted to “fix” ourselves is obvious injustice of one human being or institution against another. Some of the injustice isn’t that clear. It is simply injustice – Who can we hold responsible for a child being on drugs? Who is responsible for a car accident that kills innocent people? There are some things that cannot be addressed clearly, yet the Lord sits on a throne that has “Justice” and “Righteousness” engraved into its foundations.

I point this out, because I think some of us have been tricked and don’t realize that what we are doing is taking vengeance. Without being aware of it, we are trying to exact punishment for something where the place of blame is not clear. (As humans, we like to “blame” someone or something. Things make more sense to us that way.)

Give it up! Put it in the hands of a holy and righteous God, and let Him deal with it. He’s far more qualified than us, and we’ll sleep better at night. Some of our health issues will even clear up when we take our hands off something so that God can pick it up.
He WILL take vengeance! We don't have to do it.

IF we let God take vengeance, THEN what?


The second thing that happens is that God repays. This is where the really good stuff comes in. This isn’t what you think.

We have always thought that when God says He will repay that He will get people back for having wronged us. In some ways, this is right, because He does bring about justice. However, justice doesn’t always look like we want it to look.

Jonah is a classic example of this. He wanted God to take vengeance upon the entire city of Nineveh. And for good reason. These were barbaric people who were doing cruel and evil things to Israel and the other nations around them. If God were going to repay the Ninevehites, then He would destroy the city like He did with Sodom and Gomorrah, right?

It makes sense in my mind. If anyone deserved to be destroyed, it was them. That’s the funny thing about God. He’s not into what we deserve. He’s into grace and mercy. It completely astounds me.

The Lord sent Jonah to warn Nineveh that they would be destroyed in forty days. Jonah never thought they would repent. Never! These people worshipped vile Gods and took part in heinous practices. They didn’t worship the God of Israel. Never would they repent for things that Jonah’s God said were wrong.

But look what happened. The king of Nineveh was moved to repentance, and the entire city followed him. So, God’s vengeance upon Nineveh was not destruction. Instead, God began moving on hearts to change them and bring an entire nation to Himself where He could teach them what is right.

Jonah was ticked off at God, and many of us can relate. We, too, have found ourselves waiting for destruction to only watch God use that annoying weapon of His – forgiveness!

However, let’s look at this for a moment from God’s perspective, because if we do, we might see what He’s trying to say to us today.

From God’s perspective, Nineveh was a powerful and wealthy nation, able to influence an entire continent. So, if Nineveh were simply destroyed, another world power would rise up in its place to antagonize Israel. There was always someone – Philistines, Moabites, Amalekites, later the Babylonians, etc.

However, if Nineveh turned to worship the one true God and began to follow His laws of right and wrong, their influence would be great. The horrible atrocities being committed by the Ninevehites would end. Nations suffering under their heavy hand would be freed. People could prosper again and live without fear.

Yes, God could have destroyed Nineveh, and would have had they not repented. (Their repentance, like others throughout history, was temporary and eventually their kingdom fell, but they were given more time by the Lord, because even Jezebel was given time to repent. That’s the nature of our God – patient and long-suffering not willing that any should perish.)

So, God could have destroyed Nineveh, but since they repented, He did not. If the repentance was for real, and it must have been or they would have been toast, then they must have begun to change their ways. To have a nation in power who now fears and reveres the God of Israel was a much better situation for Israel (and the surrounding nations) than for Nineveh to be destroyed and another god-less society rush in to take its place, thereby perpetuating the violence, idolatry and cruelty, maybe even to harsher levels.

God’s plan of turning the power currently in place to Him rather than destroying it benefited more people for a longer period of time than a human plan of exacting revenge ever could have.


So, what does this have to do with repaying?


We need to see that God’s ways are not our ways. (Isaiah 55:9) When He says He will take vengeance, it might look different than we think, and His repayment might also.

When God says He will repay, we think of how He is going to get back for every wrong ever done to us. So, in other words, we think of it as how He will take it out on the wrong-doers.

However, what I believe the Lord is trying to show us is much greater than that!

When God repays, He restores! The Assyrians (whose capital was Nineveh) eventually took all of Israel away captive and destroyed the land. The Babylonians took away all of Judah and laid waste to their land. Yet, the Lord says to His people that He will restore the fortunes of Judah! (Jeremiah 32:44, Joel 3:1, Zephaniah 2:7) He says that He will cause their barren land to bloom. (Isaiah 35:1-4, Isaiah 35:6, Isaiah 55:12-13) He says that He will give them houses they did not build and vineyards they did not plant. (Deuteronomy 6:11, Joshua 24:13)

This is how the Lord repays! He restores!

What has been lost or stolen in your life? Relationships, money, buildings, spirituality, your sound mind, health, your child, your marriage . . . ?

The Lord will repay! Vengeance is His.

Part 1 – Let Him take vengeance. Give it to Him to exact justice.

Part 2 – He will repay. He will restore. He will heal the waste places.

I’m very excited about what the Lord is showing us here. I’ve never seen God’s repayment in this light before, but it is consistent with His nature. It is just like Him to require repentance and forgiveness of us, so that He can then take care of the issues and bless us.

TODAY, hearken yourselves to the voice of the Lord. TODAY, give your vengeance, your bitterness, your lack of trust to the Lord. Put it in His hands. TODAY, allow the Lord to repay you. Just as the judicial system will compensate someone wronged for their trouble, so will the judicial system of the Lord!

Take heart, the Lord will repay!