Vengeance belongs to the Lord.

We read in Numbers 31:1, “The Lord spoke to Moses saying, ‘Seek vengeance for the Israelites on the Midianites. Afterwards, you will be gathered to your people.'”

It says very plainly that the Lord Yahweh commanded this punitive action; it did not originate with Moses or his men. They were commanded to “execute the LORD’s vengeance on Midian” (Nu 31:3) by sending against them an army of twelve thousand warriors, one thousand from each tribe, under the leadership of Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron (Nu 31:6). The attack was so successful that without a single casualty (Nu 31:49) the Israelites defeated and killed all five kings of the Midianites and all their men as well. Balaam, the unfaithful prophet of God from Beor, who had been the instigator of the apostasy of Baal-peor, was also killed.

What is most important to realise is that it is driven by and ultimately accomplished by God. Vengeance belongs to the Lord. This is what Romans 12:19 says explicitly: that God is the ultimate judge and that God will bring ultimate vindication. That God will bring supreme justice and that evil will not go unpunished.

The Levitical law prescribed, “You shall not take vengeance” (Lev. 19:18). Only God was qualified to take vengeance because His acts were based on His holiness, righteousness, and justice, which punishes sin and vindicates the oppressed and the poor in spirit.

The terrible nature of the influence that the Midianites had upon Israel in leading them into idolatry merited the destructive judgment of God. God dealt severely and decisively with this cancer. The moral justification for this action is found in the fact that God has the right to give and take life. Since the wages of sin is death, and the Midianites engaged in a terrible sin, they justly reaped the consequences of God’s vengeance.

We are often uncomfortable with the idea of vengeance because it doesn’t seem consistent with God’s love. Yet, in the proper context, vengeance is something good that God pursues.

The Scriptures repeatedly speak of the vengeance of God as a positive thing. Evil comes with the vengeance of man. That God directed Moses to ‘take vengeance’ (NIV, NKJV) on the Midianites reflects one side of the Hebrew verb nqm, which can also mean ‘vindication.’ God directs his vengeance against the immoral, idolatrous, and unjust, and yet his vengeance is often self-limiting according to his great mercy.

We cannot use this as an example to take personal vengeance today. In this circumstance, Israel was in a unique role – with a special call to be an instrument of God’s vengeance upon the varied people of and near Canaan. No individual, acting on their authority, can rightly take this upon themselves today.

The reason the Lord took vengeance was because God wasn’t willing to let the terrible abuse of His people by devious men who tried to destroy God’s plan in and through them remain unanswered and unpunished.

Application Questions:

1. Should you pray for God's wrath on your enemies?

2. What characteristics in your life might indicate that you haven’t fully forgiven past hurts, even if you know what you need to do in your head?

Quote:

“We ought not to keep score of the number of times others have hurt us. God keeps records, and vengeance belongs to him.” – Lehman Strauss.

Prayer:

Lord, help me not to take justice into my own hands but leave it up to You, knowing that You are indeed a just God. Amen.