August 24, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“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.” (Joel 3.4)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

“Vengeance is Mine, and the determination of repayment belongs to Me alone.” (Deuteronomy 32.35) Let’s keep that verse in mind. It appears in various forms in the Bible, most notably in Romans 12.19 which concludes “…if you enemy is hungry, feed them; if your enemy is thirsty, give them drink; in doing so you will heap hot coals on their head [not to blister their scalp but rather to provide warmth in the winter of the discontent which has turned their hearts cold against you] remembering that you are not to be overcome by evil but rather to overcome evil with good.” This is a hard teaching which the Apostle Paul put before the Christ-followers in the Rome (and throughout the Roman Empire wherever persecution was being enacted.) Remember that Paul himself was under house arrest for his steadfast refusal to denounce Christ, to surrender his desire to complete the work given to him to spread the gospel to the corners of the world and profess the faith of his father to be his rule and guide (his father was a Roman and his mother a Jewess). Paul knew the power of the “word of law” for both Romans and Jews. He was, however, more convinced of the power of God’s law which is “love, mercy and grace.” Paul would not make it to Spain nor to England which was his missional desire. Paul would be executed by Rome literally losing his head for the sake of the gospel and the cause of Christ. If anyone believed they had a right to avenge the wrong being done to himself or herself, one could make a case for Paul. Yet, Paul eschewed vengeance and embraced forgiveness as he himself had been forgiven by the Resurrected and Glorified Christ on the Damascus Road. If anyone had cause for vengeance would it not have been Jesus Christ? He was innocent of any crime against humanity and sin against God. His claim of being the Son of God was truth but denied by those who “ruled Israel” and sought to wrestle control of the Temple from the hand of God. For His faith and faithfulness to His Father’s will, He was crucified. He was also resurrected by God in glorious favor to minister again on earth as He would in Heaven. In those moments, Christ could have sought vengeance against His “enemies.” He did not. Instead, He released the power of “love, mercy and grace” to fall upon the world like, using Paul’s words, “heaping hot coals on their heads.” In the winter of their discontent, the age of unrepented sin, the warmth of God’s forgiveness would be a stark reminder of God’s desire to reconcile, redeem and restore. After all, the greater wrong is the one wrought against God who is the creator and sustainer of life throughout all creation.

In today’s verse from Joel, God asks of the enemies of His people, “Are you seeking to take vengeance on Me for something I have done against you?” There was no sense of true accountability for those who were coming against Israel with the intent to come against God. They believed they were in the right by the measure of the world’s ideology. They were guided by the thoughts that 1) they were gods themselves and therefore were in a battle for power against others who considered themselves the same or 2) they were the emissaries and “strong arms” of the god/s they worshipped. How dare this God of the Hebrews, the Jews, present themselves as superior to the rest of the world! How dare they proclaim that Yahweh Elohim (the God of gods) was the One True God! God’s presence presents an accountability as no other. His authority had been proven throughout the history of Israel in whatever land they found themselves (Babylon, Egypt, the Arabah, Canaan, etc). God’s actions were undeniable. If they were not, then why did His “enemies” work so hard to deny them and Him? The day is coming when the final judgment will be presented in His presence on earth and in Heaven. He alone will be the authority which others can only claim themselves to be. What will His actions be? To quote from Mark 4 and Luke 6, “The measure you give will become the measure you will receive.” The context of that verse in both presentations speaks of “judgment” and “judging others.” A harsh judgment, and usually an unfair one, will be reciprocated with equal harshness. To judge unfairly another person invokes an unfair judgment in return. The loss of objectivity is clear. Most judgments rendered by human beings is flavored with emotions. Recognize “judgments” are not discernments but the carrying out of a sentence of punishment or the desire for recompense. This is the common understanding of “justice” as it is espoused today. It is not the true “justice” as we see enacted by God and promised by Him. Today’s “justice” is vengeance with a price to be paid as compensation plus “interest.” Here is the confrontation of mercy and grace with the presence of our own sinfulness. At the hands of God, we have not received what we deserve because of our sin against God. We know from scripture, “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6.23) We also know from scripture, “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5.8) Can you imagine the scene when the Resurrected Christ who sits now at the right hand of God comes back into the world? He will see us all by how we presented ourselves to God (for and against) and how we presented God to others (for and against.) We will be judged by the same measure we used to judge the validity of God’s “love, mercy and grace.” It will come to us in the same force of spiritual passion as we ourselves exhibited before all the witnesses seen and unseen. We will end up judging ourselves with an inescapable judgment. What is the truth of the gospel? Do our lives represent it or refute it? Do our actions reflect or deflect? Mighty ones of God, take heed of the power of God’s word and the work of it in the world. God is seeking to save us. He does not wish to condemn us. How then shall we be known on “that Day”?

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.