When you see this, your heart shall rejoice,
And your bones shall flourish like grass;
The hand of the Lord shall be known to His servants,
And His indignation to His enemies.
For behold, the Lord will come with fire
And with His chariots, like a whirlwind,
To render His anger with fury,
And His rebuke with flames of fire.
For by fire and by His sword
The Lord will judge all flesh;
And the slain of the Lord shall be many.
“For I know their works and their thoughts.
It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory.
(Isaiah 66:14-18)
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Take a moment to absorb the imagery of this passage. The rich description of a day of wrath, a day when vengeance will be served by God, the Lord of the universe.
the hand of the Lord shall be known…
His indignation to His enemies
fire… whirlwind… chariots
render… anger… fury
rebuke… flames of fire
His sword…
the slain of the Lord shall be many…
…and they shall come and see My glory
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It’s just beautiful. It is so expressive of the power and wrath of God against evil and His enemies.
This may sound politically incorrect, but I love God’s vengeance. Yes I do. I want revenge on the injustices that happen in life, the crimes, evil, and oppression that the children of God experience.
Yes, life is not fair. Life is full of difficulties and situations where we are wronged.
And guess what- it is healthy to want to be revenged when you are wronged. It is not Biblical to deny the reality of the need for justice and revenge, and pretend pacifism when something is wrong. Saints in the Old Testament and even in the New Testament asked God to avenge them too! And the Lord did not rebuke them for it.
Here are some examples.
Jeremiah:
“You know, Lord;
remember me and take note of me.
Avenge me against my persecutors.
In Your patience, don’t take me away.
Know that I suffer disgrace for Your honor. (Jeremiah 15:15)
David:
It is God who avenges me,
And subdues the peoples under me;
He delivers me from my enemies. (2 Samuel 22:2).
And David had many other Psalms where He asked God for vengeance, like this one.
Nehemiah:
Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity! Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You
(Nehemiah 4:3)
Samson:
Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” (Judges 16:28)
Paul:
Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil; may the Lord repay to him according to his works (2 Timothy 4:14)
Martyrs in Revelation:
And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Revelation 6:10)
Now, let me qualify the statements I made above. Yes it is healthy to want revenge, but God also commands us to never seek to do justice on our own.
“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19)
But here is the thing most people do not realize- we are allowed to pray for vengeance on evil (not on our brethren). Prayer is powerful. It is so comforting to know- to be certain, that there will be a final day of vengeance, by the Almighty Ruler of the universe, where all the injustices will be righted and punishment served. It does my soul good to know that I can leave it all up to the One who will bring holy and ultimate vengeance for everything throughout history.
And you know what? The righteous will cheer when they will see God’s vengeance on their behalf:
When you see this, your heart shall rejoice,
And your bones shall flourish like grass (Isaiah 66:14)
Have you ever thought of vengeance in this way before? What things would prompt you to ask for God’s vengeance?
Thank you so much, this is exactly what I needed. I am currently in a women’s shelter after my husband tried to kill me and abused me badly. I was struggling with whether I am ‘allowed’ to feel like I want God to avenge me. You showed me that I am and that it is even healthy. I think about how Jesus prayed for forgiveness for those who crucified Him and I thought that I should pray for my husband in that way too. Of course I want to follow Jesus, but I also really want God to avenge these great evil acts my husband did to me. Reading this opened up my heart to the emotions I was not allowing myself to feel. I am sorry to shock people reading this, but I am so hurt and I needed to let you know. Thank you for writing truth and not politically correct.
Dear Emily,
Thank you for sharing your story and your heart. I cannot pretend I would know what to say to you in such a dreadfully painful situation…the truest and deepest words of comfort come only from “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” (1 Cor 1:3). So I am giving you these verses:
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18
“He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3
“The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble” Psalm 9:9
“You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” Psalm 56:8
The Lord sees our tears and knows how to heal our hurting best. I prayed for you and I encourage you to find refuge in the Scripture, read it daily. May the Lord be with you.
Dear Rebekah,
Thank you so much. I will memorize these verses. The Lord does heal the broken hearted. He told me several times that he feels sorrow when I do and that I have a hopeful future (Jer 29:11). Thank you for your understanding and encouraging words. God bless you.
Hi Emily,
Yes, I love the verse from Jer 29:11, often encouraged me. I will continue to pray for you, and know that you are always welcome on the blog. I would be happy to get feedback from you whenever you can!
Have a blessed and safe week in Christ,
Rebekah
Very well put! I love how you have a very biblical worldview of vengeance. 🙂
Thank you Hilery