B-A-C
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- Dec 18, 2008
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One of the big things that changed between the testaments, was vengeance. In the old testament, you could do "paybacks" yourself.
In the old testament, God told people to stone other people for certain sins.
Exod 19:13; 'No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.' When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain."
Lev 20:27; 'Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.'"
Lev 24:23; Then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. Thus the sons of Israel did, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Num 15:36; So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Jos 7:25; Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day." And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
1Kin 12:18; Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.
If someone did something to you, you could do the same thing back to them.
Exod 21:24; eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Lev 24:20; fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him.
Deut 19:21; "Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Even false prophets were killed.
1Kin 18:40; Then Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape." So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
But in the New Testament all this changes...
Matt 5:38; "You have heard that it was said, 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.'
Matt 5:39; "But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
Matt 5:40; "If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.
Matt 5:41; "Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
Matt 5:42; "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.
In the New testament, we aren't supposed to "pay back" people who have treated us badly or hurt us.
Rom 12:19; Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.
Heb 10:30; For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE."
Now perhaps people weren't really treating the original offenders equally bad. Perhaps they were adding a little bit more, perhaps they were "paying it back" with interest? I don't know for sure.
But for whatever reason, God wants to be the one to "pay it back". Possibly because He knows He will do it fairly, or possibly these people did something we don't know about and they deserve a worse punishment?
In any case, we aren't suppose to pay back evil with evil.
Rom 12:17; Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.
Rom 12:21; Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
I admit, when I was younger, this was a real problem for me... If you did something hurtful to me... by George you were going to get it eventually. But thankfully through God's grace,
I have become a lot more forgiving in my old age.
Matt 6:15; "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
Mark 11:26; ["But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions."]
I think people love watching movies or television shows where the "good guy" wins. We like to see good triumph over evil, we like to see the bad guy get it in the end.
In the western movies, we like to see the "shoot-out" at the end, and see the hero get the bad guy. In Star Wars movies, we love to hate Darth Vader and the Evil Empire.
In Star Trek movies, we hate Khan, or the Borg, or the Klingons, or whoever this years villain is. Popeye always gets Bluto in the end.
Why are all these super-hero movies so popular these days? Why do we hate Thanos? I think it's because they resonate with us... we like the see the bad guys get defeated in the end.
Even in women's romance movies, there is always a villain, someone who is trying to keep the romance apart.
But some of us want to be the hero. We want to be the "Equalizer".. the "hero". We want to be the guy who does the payback. Yet Rom 12:19; says we are supposed to leave room for God's vengeance.
When we "take it out" on someone, we are actually robbing God of His chance to "pay it back".
Now most of the time, we don't actually want to kill someone (although sometimes, I'm not so sure).. but we do want to have the last "laugh" so to speak.
The last insult, the last word, the last say.... Often people are passive-aggressive and at least get the last dig in before they turn the other cheek. But by then, it's already too late.
What do you do when someone mistreats you or treats you unfairly? Do you take things into your own hands? Or do you trust God to take care of it?
Even if He doesn't do it the way you would have done it, or as quickly as you would have liked Him to.
Do you lay away at night hoping something bad will happen to them... or do you truly forgive them? Even if they never apologize.
The good news is... one day, the "bad guy" who is trying defeat God's children. ..one day, he gets what's coming to him.
In the old testament, God told people to stone other people for certain sins.
Exod 19:13; 'No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.' When the ram's horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain."
Lev 20:27; 'Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.'"
Lev 24:23; Then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. Thus the sons of Israel did, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Num 15:36; So all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Jos 7:25; Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? The LORD will trouble you this day." And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones.
1Kin 12:18; Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.
If someone did something to you, you could do the same thing back to them.
Exod 21:24; eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Lev 24:20; fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him.
Deut 19:21; "Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Even false prophets were killed.
1Kin 18:40; Then Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape." So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
But in the New Testament all this changes...
Matt 5:38; "You have heard that it was said, 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.'
Matt 5:39; "But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
Matt 5:40; "If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.
Matt 5:41; "Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
Matt 5:42; "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.
In the New testament, we aren't supposed to "pay back" people who have treated us badly or hurt us.
Rom 12:19; Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.
Heb 10:30; For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE."
Now perhaps people weren't really treating the original offenders equally bad. Perhaps they were adding a little bit more, perhaps they were "paying it back" with interest? I don't know for sure.
But for whatever reason, God wants to be the one to "pay it back". Possibly because He knows He will do it fairly, or possibly these people did something we don't know about and they deserve a worse punishment?
In any case, we aren't suppose to pay back evil with evil.
Rom 12:17; Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.
Rom 12:21; Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
I admit, when I was younger, this was a real problem for me... If you did something hurtful to me... by George you were going to get it eventually. But thankfully through God's grace,
I have become a lot more forgiving in my old age.
Matt 6:15; "But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
Mark 11:26; ["But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions."]
I think people love watching movies or television shows where the "good guy" wins. We like to see good triumph over evil, we like to see the bad guy get it in the end.
In the western movies, we like to see the "shoot-out" at the end, and see the hero get the bad guy. In Star Wars movies, we love to hate Darth Vader and the Evil Empire.
In Star Trek movies, we hate Khan, or the Borg, or the Klingons, or whoever this years villain is. Popeye always gets Bluto in the end.
Why are all these super-hero movies so popular these days? Why do we hate Thanos? I think it's because they resonate with us... we like the see the bad guys get defeated in the end.
Even in women's romance movies, there is always a villain, someone who is trying to keep the romance apart.
But some of us want to be the hero. We want to be the "Equalizer".. the "hero". We want to be the guy who does the payback. Yet Rom 12:19; says we are supposed to leave room for God's vengeance.
When we "take it out" on someone, we are actually robbing God of His chance to "pay it back".
Now most of the time, we don't actually want to kill someone (although sometimes, I'm not so sure).. but we do want to have the last "laugh" so to speak.
The last insult, the last word, the last say.... Often people are passive-aggressive and at least get the last dig in before they turn the other cheek. But by then, it's already too late.
What do you do when someone mistreats you or treats you unfairly? Do you take things into your own hands? Or do you trust God to take care of it?
Even if He doesn't do it the way you would have done it, or as quickly as you would have liked Him to.
Do you lay away at night hoping something bad will happen to them... or do you truly forgive them? Even if they never apologize.
The good news is... one day, the "bad guy" who is trying defeat God's children. ..one day, he gets what's coming to him.
