Links for today’s readings:
Read: Numbers 31 Listen: (5:52) Read: 1 Corinthians 5 Listen: (1:58)
Scripture Focus: Numbers 31.1-8
1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.” 3 So Moses said to the people, “Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites so that they may carry out the Lord’s vengeance on them. 4 Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.” 5 So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel. 6 Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling. 7 They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man. 8 Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
Reflection: Not Our Business
By John Tillman
Vengeance is associated with justice in scripture.
Vengeance is repayment to wrongdoers for their treatment of others. The violent suffer violence. The greedy suffer poverty. The powerful suffer enslavement. The abusive suffer abuse. The vain suffer humiliation.
We are often uncomfortable witnessing vengeance in the scripture but we usually don’t mind it in vengeance-themed films and stories, like John Wick. One reason is that vengeance films work very hard to show us how horrifically bad the villains are and how noble and honorable the vengeance-takers are. As soon as we see the gangster kill John Wick’s puppy, all the violence Wick commits in order to kill that gangster seems justified.
God judged the Midianites’ actions as worthy of vengeance. Why does our culture cringe at vengeance on the Midianites when our ticket-buying frenzy turned John Wick into a franchise with three film sequels, a videogame, and a television spin-off series?
The Bible doesn’t play by the storytelling conventions of vengeance films. We don’t see the Midianites kill the Israelites’ puppy, but we do see them attack Israel when they are vulnerable on their wilderness journey.
They attacked them with spiritual means, attempting to curse them. They attacked them with psychological means, seducing them into the sexual practices of a false god. They attacked them with military means in battle. They consistently acted as Israel’s enemies, intending to harm them. Like Balaam, they persisted despite warnings and despite hearing the words of blessing God forced Balaam to declare.
However, we must not misuse or misunderstand passages about vengeance. However justified vengeance is in a passage of scripture, Israel’s wars are not a model for ours. We don’t have “Midianite” enemies to enact vengeance on. We don’t have enemies of flesh and blood at all!
Rather than crucify our enemies, we are to carry our cross. Rather than carry out vengeance on sinners, we are to carry the gospel to sinners. We have been commanded to set down the sword of vengeance and take up the plow of cultivation.
God’s vengeance is holy. Ours is vain. God’s vengeance is on behalf of victims. Ours is on behalf of ourselves. Our pride. Our anger. Our hero complexes.
Vengeance is God’s business, not ours. We must make room for it, (Romans 12.19) but we must not attempt to enact it ourselves. If we do, we may end up a target of God’s vengeance in the future.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lesons
Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5.6
– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime
by Phyllis Tickle
Read more: Our Vengeance is Repentance
Though we and our nation may suffer as violence and extremism gain more ground, we have hope. This hope transcends vengeance on our enemies.
Read more: Abandon Human Vengeance
Vengeance drives a machine of violent rhetoric which leads to physical violence…Christians have a responsibility to break the machine.