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. (Nahum 1:2)
Having written my posts on justice and mercy, I got thinking about revenge. Revenge is not compatible with mercy. It’s the antithesis of mercy. You can avenge your enemy or you can have mercy on him, but you cannot do both.
The Bible frequently portrays God as vengeful. The above quote from Nahum is one of the most obvious, but there are plenty of others (see the list at the bottom of this post, and please excuse the gruesome scenes depicted in some of them).
A few things stand out from the Bible’s portrayal of revenge. First, it’s not generally considered acceptable for God’s people to take revenge on their own kind (“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.”, Leviticus 19:18).
This scripture does not seem to pertain to all people, but just “your” people – to fellow Israelites. Indeed, this much is clear elsewhere in the Bible, where God and his servants often take revenge on other tribes (see Judges 31 and Deuteronomy 32, for example).
At the very least, then, we have some examples of God engaging in vengeance, meaning that he has not always been merciful. The idea of God’s perfect mercy therefore fades even further into impossibility.
Sadly, this does not seem to be a wholly Old Testament theme, either. Do not forget the famous line from Romans, which itself quotes the passage on revenge from Deuteronomy 32:
Do not take revenge, my dear 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)
Paul is not discouraging revenge because it is immoral. He is discouraging it because God wants it all to himself.
Paul’s questionable motives are shown again in the next verse, where he quotes Proverbs 25:21-22:
On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” (Romans 12:20)
Why are we being encouraged to do something that is akin to heaping burning coals on someone’s head?
But I digress.
It is rather astonishing that, on the whole, the Bible does not speak of revenge as something inherently immoral, but as something better left to God. God is vengeful, and believers are expected to see this as morally virtuous.
Ultimately, this is all quite understandable given the context of the culture in which the Bible was written. Echoes of this culture are seen today in Middle Eastern societies that practice honor killings and other acts of revenge.
The Bible should really give us reason to be optimistic – optimistic because we have learned, at least to some extent, to control our urge for revenge, whether it is directed at our “own” people or not.
The urge is still there, though. You see it on the anguished faces of parents whose children have been kidnapped or abused or murdered. They will not rest until they see the person who harmed their children brought to justice. And who can blame them? It is a natural human instinct.
But as natural and compelling as the urge for revenge is, its benefits are questionable. Perhaps it makes the revenge-seeker feel better (and this is not an advantage to be put aside lightly) but it also causes further suffering and destruction.
We should be seeking more productive ways in which people can cope with the anger that drives the desire for revenge. This is a big challenge, perhaps one of the toughest to stand in the way of lasting peace today.
It is mine to avenge; I will repay.
In due time their foot will slip;
their day of disaster is near
and their doom rushes upon them (Deuteronomy 32:35)
But the Lord said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” (Genesis 4:15)
When Saul’s servants told him what David had said, 25 Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’” Saul’s plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines.
When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed, 27 David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins. They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage. (1 Samuel 18:24-27)
Samson said to [the Philistines], “Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. [Samson is then handed over to the Philistines, who intend to kill him, but God saves him.] (Judges 15:7-8)
Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived. (Judges 16:28-30)
This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “Because Edom took revenge on Judah and became very guilty by doing so, therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will stretch out my hand against Edom and kill both man and beast. I will lay it waste, and from Teman to Dedan they will fall by the sword. I will take vengeance on Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they will deal with Edom in accordance with my anger and my wrath; they will know my vengeance, declares the Sovereign Lord.” (Ezekiel 25:12-14)
May the praise of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
to inflict vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples (Psalms 149:6-7)