In Leviticus God says:
"Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD." Leviticus 19:10
Also, in Romans:
"Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord."
Romans 12:19
Then, in the book of Revelation:
"9And 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: 10And 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?"
Also, David said:
"Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Before our eyes, make known among the nations that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants."Psalm 79:10
God's stance about revenge is clear, but I can't get it..... do martyrs want to avenge their blood? And how come a great prophet like David is waiting for God to take revenge for God's servents? Is waiting for God's revenge is a sin? Verses are contradicting to me!!!! Any explanations?
Comments
It has seemed to me that when it is a matter of an individual then it is better to leave everything to God and not worry as far as is possible. I mean in the sense that when the robbers where stealing from the Father in the desert he helped them load their donkey and then ran after them with a small bag they had forgotten to steal. When it is a matter of our own souls it is perhaps easier - not that I have learned this lesson - to let injustice pass.
But when it encompasses others and destroys the lives of those who cannot make such a decision to rest in God then it seems to me that our hearts do cry out - Lord, where is your justice.
And it seems to me that we do not sin if our hearts seek the righteous judgement of God and not the violent and passion-filled vengeance of men. But we must be careful, because the judgement of God is coming and will come upon us all. If we ask that the wicked be judged then we must be aware that we also will be judged and if there is wickedness in us then we are in danger ourselves.
And it seems to me that we should not doubt that if God minds the death of a small sparrow he is even more concerned for his children. How a nation lives is important and does bring judgement in this age. Those who recently burned Christian families to death in Pakistan will be judged, we should not doubt that. But it is not our place to take vengeance, because we prevent God's holy judgement.
It is wrong to desire that God will act against someone if there is sin in our heart, then we will be judged ourselves. But if an army has just passed through your town and brutally murdered all the Christian children and raped all the Christian women then it seems to me to be without sin to cry out to God to judge those who have acted in such a way against the powerless. The vengeance of the Lord is not spiteful, it is righteous judgement. When we take revenge we are selfish and enjoy inflicting pain and hurt. If we ask God to avenge the weak with such an attitude then we sin, but if with a broken heart we ask God to make a true judgement then it seems to me to be without sin.
This is a difficult matter though, and we must have in mind our own sinfulness when we ask God to judge others. I am not sure that it is something that we should often do either. In many of the caes where we are treated badly at work or school or college or even in the Church there is rather a place for fervent prayer for the person who is harming us. In these cases you have pointed out in the Scripture the issue seems rather to be one where the faithful people of God have been killed and are being killed, and the Scripture seems to teach that rather than defending ourselves with violence we should turn to God and ask him to defend us.
Father Peter
It is a difficult matter as you mentioned. It’s also susceptible to fall into. There is a very fine line between asking God for His fair judgment and the desire to see it taking place in order to be relieved from injustice. It is really hard to let injustice pass.
It’s more compelling from the angle of God’s judgment is coming upon us all and since we are all sinful, then we all need to be cautious and take care of our sins instead of focusing on others even if we were hurt by them.
God bless