THE RETRIBUTION OF GOD AND COMBATTING INJUSTICE – THE CHRISTIAN POSITION ON RETRIBUTION: WHAT DO WE DO? - PART 5
[A]. THE CHRISTIAN POSITION ON VENGEANCE AND INJUSTICE
Having looked at various examples from the Old Testament and drawing certain conclusions from them, we now turn the spotlight to consider the point of view of Christians to the matter of retribution. Should our attitude be the same as that of the pre-Calvary saints? Should our prayers be fashioned after theirs? Is not our God an unchanging God who has the same standards and execution of retribution as He did in David’s day? The problem of what is the correct way to react to injustice and to deliberate hurt or vexatious attacks, is not an easy one to work through because deep emotional feelings are often involved. This message today comes from my own personal experience.
The Christians who want to live for the Lord and do what is pleasing in His eyes often struggle to know the guidelines and the boundaries for their behaviour. I am not suggesting anything here as a blueprint to follow but certain principles, I believe, are indicated in the bible and as this subject is investigated, let us find the principles most applicable for us.
The whole benchmark for the Christian must be measured against the positions adopted by Jesus Christ and Stephen. Paul will be considered, too. Right from the beginning of His ministry, Jesus lived and taught the righteousness of the Law though His enemies did not understand because their hearts were hardened. He lived out the Law perfectly and therefore fulfilled its righteous requirements. What a contrast His ministry and authorative teaching was to the ritualistic Pharisees. How strange several of the sayings must have seemed to some, in a culture of seeking your own solution or exacting your own justice. Here are excerpts from Matthew 5:6-43 {{“Blessed are the merciful - - - Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness - - - Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely - - - You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” but I say unto you - - - You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbour, and hate your enemy - - -.” But I say to you, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. - - -.”}}
We can’t help but see a change of emphasis coming out in these verses as we step out of the Old Testament days of mixed reactions to injustice. They are certainly not in support of self-motivated retribution or self-seeking revenge. What Jesus is saying, in effect, to His followers is, “You live out your life before God in love, and leave the whole matter of retribution to Him.”
For a moment, let us consider God’s own son who could have summoned twelve legions of angels to annihilate His enemies in the garden. How those angels must have watched, waiting for the precise moment to strike in the garden, waiting for the retributive command from the Lord, but it never came. He allowed Himself to be humiliated before His enemies; He, the creator of all things and the eternal God, taken and bound by unholy servants of the Pharisees, while His own angels observed in bewilderment. How could this be?
Great is the mystery of godliness - God was manifest in the flesh, etc. Peter did not understand, nor did any of the disciples then, the events which were unfolding, leading up to the crucifixion. Later, though, they fully understood and Peter wrote these words from experience and inspiration, {{1Peter 2:22-24 “Who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, HE DID NOT REVILE IN RETURN; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously. And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, for by His wounds you were healed.”}}
Later they could understand that all these events were in the predetermined counsel of God and unfolding precisely according to the will of His Father. We must note that there was no retribution then, no revenge, not any reviling. The word tells us that even the passers by reviled Him, casting abuse (Matthew 27:39). The ones executed with Him, reviled Him (Mark 15:32). While on the cross He uttered those immortal words, not of pious ignorance, but of true Godly intention – {{Luke 23:34 Jesus was saying, “FATHER, FORGIVE THEM for they do not know what they are doing,” and they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.”}} That would have to remain the pinnacle of Christ’s example in all our attitude to, and consideration of the matter of retribution. Surely it challenges us as to the level to which we should also attain.
[B]. THE SHINING EXAMPLE OF STEPHEN IN PERSECUTION AND DEATH
A few years pass and Luke writes of an incited crowd acting in devilish hatred with a Hamas attitude as they stormed upon Stephen and rained stone after stone upon him until his life ebbed away. During the stoning, he called on the Lord and kept doing so until near the end when his last recorded statements in scripture were, {{Acts 7:59-60 They went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” and falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “LORD, DO NOT HOLD THIS SIN AGAINST THEM!” and having said this, he fell asleep.”}}
How many of us could have followed the example of our Lord as Stephen did? Perhaps for us, as the stones came one by one, a feeling of anger or resentment would slowly arise and we would want heaven to open up and God to take vengeance upon those who were inflicting such cruelty and injustice on us. That is the way of the flesh - the “get back at them” desire. We are given a hint that Stephen’s Christlike attitude was strongly related to his behaviour displayed throughout the ordeal. It is written that he was praying through it! He had his mind wonderfully transfixed upon the Lord. There was just Christ and Stephen, and to him all the events transpiring around him were of no importance. That was the perspective which altered everything for him.
We must have, in that event, the feature that becomes the key to a spiritual man of maturity. Being occupied with the Lord is the focus that alters our whole judgment, outlook and attitude. It is the solution to vengeful desires. Stephen speaks not one word of revenge or calls for vengeance upon his enemies. They will have to answer for it of course, and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD could have had the retribution of God partially set in it but for Stephen, the matter was fully in God’s hands. Stephen’s entire peace through his trial and ordeal characterized the very presence of God in his life. The nearness of God’s presence should be our goal as well. It is the secret communion by which much that is confusing is better understood. It alters all our perspective and behaviour.
Christians through the last two millennia have suffered terribly at the hands of torturers, persecutors, State churches and through just plain injustices in this anti-God system we are called to live and witness in. Our attitude to wrongs, injustices and oppositions in the light of the retribution of God, is one we may not have thought very much about.
When we are wronged we want God to justify or vindicate us; when we are persecuted we want Him to deliver us; when we are hurting, we want God to notice those who are hurting us. I suggest it is not wrong to think this way but it is most edifying to keep Stephen in mind. Remember his godly perspective was evident because his occupation was with the Lord. Everything must be evaluated from the heavenly viewpoint, then the earthly perspective can be better understood.
Let us consider for a moment the situation where you have been placed in the hot seat and have suffered an injurious conspiracy against you. People have ridden over your head and you feel grossly mistreated as you suffer the wrong against you. What can the Christian resort to? (In the next section the practical attitude to injustices will be considered.) We are exhorted to pray. But then you may wonder, “Am I supposed to pray that God will show His hand in my delivery or am I expected to see God’s retribution for the hurt done to one of His saints? Should I work towards that objective, thus ‘helping’ God to bring it about?” All these are legitimate questions and involve an area of our lives where emotions are strong and where guidance is often difficult to discern. It is quite natural to try to resolve these matters ourselves in our own way when a Christian is so affected, but is that the attitude of Christ?
Sometimes we hurt so much that we want to pray, for example, that a brick wall might fall down and demolish our enemies. Or perhaps we “hope” it might fall down and accomplish that end, or “trust” that God might allow them to have a heart attack, etc.
Where do we cross the line from the legitimate to the revengeful? This is one of the most difficult of our experiences personally to evaluate. I am going to suggest that once we find ourselves hoping for, and wishing that some misfortune or evil comes on an enemy, we have crossed over into forbidden territory. That is where the flesh wants to reign. We have been overcome by the desire for revenge. How strongly then must the word of God overpower us so we know for certain, “Vengeance is Mine,” says the Lord. “I will repay.” Again, measure it up according to the Lord and Stephen.
The question is not whether God’s retribution has been abolished or not (indeed retribution is certain when a saint has suffered at the hands of evildoers) but it is, “With whom does the matter of retribution lie?” The answer can only be, “With God alone!” Therefore we are dismissed from any efforts on our part to avenge ourselves. And if we persist, we open ourselves up to the works of the flesh, and in Galatians 5:16-21, these works are very ugly.
Perhaps it might be instructive to consider a text found in Leviticus 19:18 which contains some familiar wording. {{“You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF; for I am the Lord.”}} The Lord through Moses is commanding his people not to be vengeful or bear a grudge. The New Testament attitude is not only foreshadowed in Leviticus - it is a restatement of it. Many Old Testament saints, no doubt, with a sincere knowledge of that passage, operated by it, portraying a forgiving attitude. The right to dispense retribution and the means of executing it always remained in the province of God. James actually takes up that commandment first penned by Moses, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself,” and terms it the “royal law” or “the law of our King.” He also adds in chapter 2 verse 8, that his readers are doing well if they are fulfilling that law.
Earlier we looked at the way God used a foreign power often to chastise or judge His earthly nation, Israel. Today God still permits similar actions against His saints for the purposes of correction or chastisement, but, although in His permissive will He still allows it, the one taking the action against His saints will be requited for that action as no one can lift up a hand against God’s own without God’s judgment ultimately confronting them. The saint may see God’s response in his lifetime or he may not. If he does he can recognise God’s hand in it; if not, it hasn’t been forgotten. The timing and method of retribution is a matter solely within the prerogative of God.
How the early church must have wondered when God was going to act from heaven as the groaning church watched, decade after decade, while martyrs were multiplied and the blood of Christians ran freely in the arenas of the empire. The horrifying cruelty of torture, burning at the stake, being torn by wild beasts while the blood-lust audience carelessly revelled in the despicable atrocities committed by their rulers, is too much to contemplate. God’s lightning bolt did not fall in the arena, rather, all that time the Roman emperors seemed to prosper. But there was a day of reckoning for the empire but nevertheless God has not forgotten and His retribution is stored up for those responsible, for “Vengeance is Mine,” says the Lord. “I will repay.” The great white throne will see a lot of vengeance coming from the Lord of the Church.
We recoil from the horrible things done in the past to many Christians and from the atrocities widely committed today. Many times in our country and in those of the so called enlightened, civilized world, the injustices to Christians are more subtle. We are not to hate our enemies - we are commanded to love them and do good to those who despitefully use us. The flesh would want its own way and must come under the control of Christ. Remind yourself again and again, “Vengeance is Mine . . . ”
[C]. THE EXPERIENCE OF THE APOSTLE PAUL
The Apostle Paul faced an evil man’s vendetta against him and against the work of the Lord. It is recorded for us in {{2Timothy 4:14 “Alexander the coppersmith did me MUCH HARM; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.”}} Paul states that this man did him much harm and I think as he wrote to Timothy he chose the word, “much” very carefully. The man, Alexander, was Paul’s enemy. Paul recognized this as fact then wrote the remarkable statement, “The Lord will repay him according to his deeds.” It would not be difficult to imagine Paul being distressed about the evil done to him by Alexander, but his desire was not to return evil. Certainly it was noteworthy that Paul acknowledged the certainty of retribution but that that retribution lies with the Lord. There Paul let the matter rest and in similar situations, so must we.
“The Lord will repay.” We must not go beyond that, even though the desire to effect our own justification is strong enough to compel us to take matters into our own hands. A lovely verse from Psalm 22 is most comforting for the Christian when placed in a similar situation to that of Paul’s. David could write from the position of answered prayer which made his experience totally instructive. {{Psalm 22:24 “For HE HAS NOT DESPISED NOR ABHORRED THE AFFLICTION OF THE AFFLICTED. Neither has He hidden His face from him, but when he cried to Him for help, He heard.”}}
That verse was a key one in the great trials I had been through. All that great testing was instrumental in producing this whole study of the Retribution of God.
Inherent in this verse, I believe, is God acting against His child’s enemies, raising a bulwark against them. He has noticed those afflictions. He has not despised them. The God of retribution heard when the cry to Him was made. He is on the side of His child. Further to that David continues with the comforting fact that the face of God is not hidden from His despised children. That fact needs to be fully appreciated and then the overriding comfort will result.
Paul has some very direct and inspirational statements to make in 2 Thessalonians. That church was undergoing persecution and affliction and many severe trials had come upon the Christians. He proudly commends them in chapter 1 v 4 for their perseverance through all these adversities, but takes steps to inform the Christians what lies ahead for those who were dealing out the evil to them. He pens it in this way in {{2Thessalonians 1:5-9 “This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. For after all IT IS ONLY JUST FOR GOD TO REPAY WITH AFFLICTION THOSE WHO AFFLICT YOU, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire DEALING OUT RETRIBUTION TO THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW GOD and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.”}}
[D]. GOD WILL DEAL OUT RETRIBUTION TO THOSE WHO HAVE AFFLICTED THE SAINTS OF GOD
Among other truths, these verses reveal that God will return affliction upon the heads of the givers and that God’s retribution is just. Clearly then, Paul states that it is just or righteous for God to recompense their affliction. He then extends that to the sweeping retribution of God upon the godless which will happen at His glorious appearing when He returns to reign (associated with the Battle of Armageddon in Revelation 19). That event is covered also in Zechariah 12:2-4 and Zechariah 14:1-4. Even in Thessalonians 2Thessalonians 2:12 Paul links the retribution with the judgment upon those who did not believe the truth and revelled in the pleasures of wickedness.
When God’s design is to act against our enemies, we must allow Him to do so. It is not our prerogative in any way, and any attempt at avenging ourselves would be wrong. Paul again writes a sublime passage which, if we could appropriate it in a wonderfully correct way with the enabling of the Holy Spirit, we would find peace through distress, sense through affliction and joy through pain. These are not easy verses to live out in our lives and many of us have scarcely begun. Prayerfully consider these words: {{Romans 12:17-21 “NEVER PAY BACK EVIL FOR EVIL TO ANYONE. Respect what is right in the sight of men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” SAYS THE LORD. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil; but overcome evil with good.”}}
In the next section we will study how we can live with injustice, and resources we have. God bless you all.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
