Vengeance belongs to God. (Deuteronomy 32:37~`43)

Vengeance belongs to God. (Deuteronomy 32:37~`43)

 

³⁷ He will say: “Now where are their gods,
    the rock they took refuge in,
³⁸ the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices
    and drank the wine of their drink offerings?
Let them rise up to help you!
    Let them give you shelter!

³⁹ “See now that I myself am he!
    There is no god besides me.
I put to death and I bring to life,
    I have wounded and I will heal,
    and no one can deliver out of my hand.
⁴⁰ I lift my hand to heaven and solemnly swear:
    As surely as I live forever,
⁴¹ when I sharpen my flashing sword
    and my hand grasps it in judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
    and repay those who hate me.
⁴² I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
    while my sword devours flesh:
the blood of the slain and the captives,
    the heads of the enemy leaders.”

⁴³ Rejoice, you nations, with his people,
    for he will avenge the blood of his servants;
he will take vengeance on his enemies
    and make atonement for his land and people.

Intro)

Today's text is sermon that Mosses gave when before he passed away.  Book of Deuteronomy ends at chapter 34, and chapter 32 has testament meaning of Mosses.

 

However, in Mosses' sermon there are contexts about unfaithful acts of Israel, and God gave them salvation with love, but also there is a sentence“The Lord is a God who avenges”we are going to think about this topic today.

 

 

Body)

a) Vengeance belongs to God.

 

In Deuteronomy 32 God says“`It is mine to avenge”( Deuteronomy 32:35)

Word avenge in Hebrew translated as Naqam. Word ‘Naqam’ means revenge, pay, or retribution. Therefore, vengeance belongs to God.

 

In Genesis chapter 4, there is a man named Lamech he was very vicious person, and after his time, in history people started to kill each other for vengeance.

If we take a look in Genesis 4:23~24

23 Lamech said to his wives,	“Adah and Zillah, listen to me;     wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me,     a young man for injuring me. 24 If Cain is avenged seven times,     then Lamech seventy-seven times.”
23 Lamech said to his wives,	“Adah and Zillah, listen to me;     wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me,     a young man for injuring me. 24 If Cain is avenged seven times,     then Lamech seventy-seven times.”

Lamech does not know how awful revenge is. Lamech was the person who would kill if someone scratches him.

However, God does not wish us to avenge others from unfair treatment, but he wishes us to leave the vengeance to him.

　Psalm 94 is a prayer to God who avenges from victim.

¹ The Lord is a God who avenges.
    O God who avenges, shine forth.
² Rise up, Judge of the earth;
    pay back to the proud what they deserve.
³ How long, Lord, will the wicked,
    how long will the wicked be jubilant?

⁴ They pour out arrogant words;
    all the evildoers are full of boasting.
⁵ They crush your people, Lord;
    they oppress your inheritance.
⁶ They slay the widow and the foreigner;
    they murder the fatherless.
⁷ They say, “The Lord does not see;
    the God of Jacob takes no notice.”

⁸ Take notice, you senseless ones among the people;
    you fools, when will you become wise?
⁹ Does he who fashioned the ear not hear?
    Does he who formed the eye not see?

In verse 8-9 means expect righteous vengeance from God.

In Psalm 94 who are the evildoers? They are who hate justice, make the right things wrong and think God cannot notice every evil act they commit.  They are arrogant. Nowadays, there are people look down and talk bad about Christians, but God will punish them one by one and give justice to who was unfair. In the Old Testament God is addressed as 'el neqamot', which means 'God who avenges.'

B) God who forbids personal vengeance.

 

In book of Deuteronomy 10:18 says ' ¹⁸ He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.'

It says defend in original Hebrew word it means God will bring justice to the weak from society such as orphans, old men, and widows. We have many people like them in our surrounding, and God will avenge them and bring justice. So, to the weak God of vengeance is a hope.

 

Israel forbids personal vengeance, because God will avenge theirs. Joseph was sold as slave to Egypt due to hatred from his brother. Later on, Joseph became Prime Minister of Egypt. When the land of Canaan was having a bad year Joseph's brothers came to Egypt and met Joseph. Joseph brothers were afraid that he would seek vengeance, but he said

 "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Genesis 50:20)”

Joseph is saying he would not avenge, because it is belong to God. This means he would not set his vengeance as priority than God's providence.

 Leviticus19:17~18 talks about revenge for same people or brothers.

¹⁷ “‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt.

¹⁸ “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

　Before David became a king, King Saul was jealous of him and attempted to kill him. David could have killed King Saul and his soldiers, but he didn't touched him. This is written in 1 Samuel 24:1-7

After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi.” ² So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats.

³ He came to the sheep pens along the way; a cave was there, and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were far back in the cave. ⁴ The men said, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

⁵ Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. ⁶ He said to his men, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” ⁷ With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way.

God's word 'It is mine to avenge' also applies all over the world. God can be an avenger for Israel. God gave a prophecy of vengeance which is that he will bring justice on Israel with great force, and punish Assyria.

In book of Nahum1:2-3 it says

² The Lord is a jealous and avenging God;
    the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath.
The Lord takes vengeance on his foes
    and vents his wrath against his enemies.
³ The Lord is slow to anger but great in power;
    the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.
His way is in the whirlwind and the storm,
    and clouds are the dust of his feet.

 

God pays nation's injustice with vengeance. Think about Atomic bomb launched in Japan. Isn't it quite of vengeance for plundering, and murdering innocent throughout whole Asia?

C) Vengeance that Law describes.

 

In the Old Testament it says 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth' you could understand this by to ‘pay back the same way’, but ironically if you read about the rules of the Old Testament there is a reward than revenge to offender.

 

In Exodus 21:22-27it says

²² “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely^[e] but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. ²³ But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, ²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

²⁶ “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. ²⁷ And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.

D) The way of God's vengeance.

How God told us to avenge for us? In today's text verse 41-42

⁴¹ when I sharpen my flashing sword
    and my hand grasps it in judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
    and repay those who hate me.
⁴² I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
    while my sword devours flesh:
the blood of the slain and the captives,
    the heads of the enemy leaders.”

God's revenge is most complete vengeance; he even said he will slay our enemy's leader's heads.

E) Punishment for denying Jesus Christ

 

Saint Paul talks about people who denied Jesus Christ and cursed Jesus in Hebrews 10: 28-31

²⁸ Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”^[d] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”^{[e] 31} It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Meaning if you live your life as a sinner until the end and deny Jesus Christ and persecute him, God will punish the sinner by putting him/her into hell for forever.

Con) today we learned about bible meaning of vengeance. Everyone could have someone to avenge or not, however what is God's teaching?

 

First, do not take revenge yourself.

 

Second, avenge belongs to God, it is his work, and he is a God who avenges.

 

Third, God's avenge is most accurate, fair, and fearful.

We, human, can go through wrong trials. There is a history of someone who took someone else’s guilt and lived 20 years in prison, but it was discovered that he was innocent through DNA test, and he was set free. The world can be unfair, and blinded, however our God knows every detail, no mistake he can make. Is there any trouble going on and need vengeance? Give it to your God, our God will bring justice.