Avenge Our Blood
by David Hurst
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 19 No. 2, June 1993
Vengeance is a greatly misunderstood subject in the Bible. Our understanding of the word is described with words such as retaliate and punish. Most of us view it as an undesirable trait. We fight feelings that desire to see someone get what is coming to them. Yet, in the book of Revelation, saints whose blood had been spilled for Jesus in death cried, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:10 KJV). The Bible does not indicate that this was an ungodly prayer, but it was a cry for vengeance. How may we understand this?
The Bible speaks of vengeance as good when we understand what it is. In the verse above, "avenge" is the word used, but it comes from the same root word as "vengeance." The biblical root word is "justice." Therefore, vengeance is giving someone what they actually deserve: justice. This writer is reminded of those old Saturday afternoon westerns. When the guy in the black hat drops, the fellow in the white hat will say something to the effect, "That was for my brother!" The idea being that he was paying the fellow back. In the "white hat" fellow’s mind, he committed an act of "justice," that is, "I am giving you what you deserve."
Is it right for us to do this? No. God explicitly condemns a man for taking this role of becoming an "avenger." In Romans 12:19, Paul writes, "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but (rather) give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Why does God say this, if vengeance is a good and holy thing?
Perhaps one reason is that man cannot render true justice. Humans don’t have the wisdom or the capability to set their emotions aside to avenge themselves. For example, when someone does us wrong, we will probably want to pay him back too much. On the other hand, if it is a loved one, we will not want to give him enough payment. It is not uncommon when a crime is committed to see the victim begging for justice, while the family of the individual is begging for mercy: "He has always been a good boy."
Therefore, God has taught that it is sin for man to take revenge unto himself; instead, we are to render good to all. "See that none render evil for evil unto any; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all" (I Thessalonians 5:15). God will be the one who will render justice, "That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified" (I Thessalonians 4:6).
It is this attitude of vengeance that we must put aside. We cannot know what one deserves, but God does. If we use wisdom, we must be careful that our motives, even in taking proper actions, are not ones of vengeance seeking. When we withdraw from a brother, there should be no vengeance involved in our motives; instead, a desire to help him back into the right way. When we turn someone in for a crime, again, it is not out of personal revenge. Instead, it is done with the understanding that justice must be done by God (sometimes through his servants, such as civil government, Romans 13).
The forces persecuting the Christians in the book of Revelation refused God’s grace and were unrepentant in their continuing crimes. The saints rightly asked God for justice. However, when someone wrongs us and we "strike back," we have taken God’s place as the avenger. We have allowed our passions to move us to this place, and we need to repent if we wish to receive our hope of eternal life.
We must take these warnings against taking vengeance to heart. We should learn also learn the traits of grace, love, and mercy. We want these from God, and He demands them of us. It should be our prayer that all would repent and receive mercy for their actions.
