One side shows that God’s children are not to take matters of
vengeance into our own hands, because God alone has the right to repay justice
for whatever evils have been done to us. The other side shows that the longing
to see vengeance regarding the world’s crimes against the church is seen and heard
by the one who sits on the throne.
God’s answer to his children’s longing for justice fulfilled
is to give them a white robe, and tell them to rest a little longer (Revelation
6:11). This points us to rest in the righteousness we have through faith in
Christ, not in circumstantial experiences of people getting what they deserve.
God also assures his children that the number of believers
who will be put to death for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is in his hands,
not in the hands of their persecutors. While various groups seek to wipe out
every remembrance of Christians from the earth, God will decide when his work
of offering salvation to the whole world has been fulfilled, when the number of
martyrs is complete, and when he will send his Son back into the world.
The ongoing theme is that, no matter what we see of the world’s
unbridled attacks on the church, it is God who decides when he will send his
Son, bring all his children home, and mete out the justice he has promised. The
day of his wrath is coming, and it will fulfill all that qualifies as “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the
Lord.” God’s children can rest in Christ, and wait patiently for that day,
for it is only “a little longer” from
the viewpoint of the one who sits on the throne.
© 2014 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
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