Making It Right

If it hasn’t happened already, it will soon enough: someone will do you wrong. They may take advantage of you, steal from you, even physically harm you. And they’ll get away with it. Maybe the law won’t catch up with them; maybe the law won’t even care. When that happens, you’re going to long for justice. And when that day comes, you’ll find you love something about God that tends to be very unpopular.

Sometimes God finds it necessary to discipline his people, but that doesn’t mean he stops loving them. Sometimes he removes his hedge of protection from them, but that doesn’t mean he won’t bring those who do evil to account. The prophet Joel tells us about just such a time:

“In those days and at that time,
   when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will gather all nations
   and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
There I will put them on trial
   for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel” (3:1-2).

God has used the nations to punish Israel and Judah for their sins. Now God will call the nations to answer for the evil they did of their own free will.

“Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done” (3:4).

The Lord is going to avenge his people. The wrath of God is coming on the nations.

Does this make you uncomfortable? It has that effect on a lot of Christians; we’re told not to take revenge. It has that effect on a lot of modern people who think that taking, even desiring, revenge is wrong — mostly because of centuries of exposure to Christian teaching.

And we’re not supposed to take revenge. Jesus taught us to love our enemies, to turn the other cheek, to go the second mile.

But does that mean we can never desire justice? No. The scriptures don’t teach to give up on justice but to leave it to God:

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. (Rom 12:19)

When God avenges, it’s not Hatfields and McCoys revenge — “You stole our pig, so we’ll steal all of your cows.” It’s taking everything into account and meting out justice.

And that’s why we aren’t allowed to take revenge. We don’t know everything and wouldn’t take it into account if we did. We’d want our pound of flesh. God sees when someone hurt us out of their own hurt, when they honestly didn’t know any better, or when they actually thought they were doing the right thing. And he knows when they just don’t care or actually enjoy hurting people. God knows, and he knows what the appropriate justice is.

Does this still make you a little uncomfortable? Good. The justice of God is terrifying. That’s why Christ went to the cross, to take the justice we deserve. And in Christ we can forgive. If Christ has borne the justice you deserve, I can forgive you because he also bore the justice I deserve.

But if Christ has not borne the justice of those who oppress, who steal, who kill, it’s not wrong to cry out, like the souls of the slain in Revelation 6, “How long, O Lord, until you avenge us?”

When God forgives, he does not just wink at sin; justice has been served. He does not expect us to wink at sin, either. We forgive because we trust him to see that justice is done.

So when the day comes that you are wronged terribly, feel no shame when you cry out to your Heavenly Father for justice. Our God is a just God. He will make it right.


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