Hebrew Jihad

Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, Psalm 149:6-7 NASB

Execute Vengeance – David sounds like a contemporary imam. If they don’t follow YHVH, kill them all! What? Certainly David was a warrior king, but is this thought holy Scripture? The Hebrew phrase is hard to avoid. la’asot neqama’, in other words, make revenge! Are we appalled? Are we offended? Is our modern moral consciousness concerned that God (or David) would express such a thought? We have been educated (or uneducated) with the moral paradigm of the Enlightenment. In most cases, that means we do not see the world like ancient Semites. But the Bible does. The Bible sees the world, even the world of vengeance, quite differently. Consider the remarks of the TWOT on the word naqam (vengeance):

Although this root, including its derivatives, is only used about seventy times in the ot, it expresses a truth that is theologically important, but greatly misunderstood. Vengeance and revenge are ideas that would appear to have no good ethical validity whether coming from God or man. But such is not the case when the use of this root is properly understood in its ot setting and nt application.

The concept of divine vengeance must be understood in the light of ot teaching about the holiness and justice of God and its effect on man as a sinner. In terms of the presuppositions of some modern “Christian” theologies, such a God of vengeance will be labeled unchristian and unethical. Understood in the full orb of biblical revelation, balanced as it is by the mercy of God, divine vengeance is seen to be a necessary aspect of the history of redemption.^[1]

Most of the uses of nāqam involve God as the source of vengeance. The classical passage is Deut 32:35, 41, “Vengeance is mine … I will recompense them who hate me.” God cannot be true to his character of holiness and justice if he allows sin and rebellion to go unpunished. The prophets stressed “the day of the Lord’s vengeance” (Isa 38:8; 61:2; 63:4) as times in history when the Lord sets the record straight. This was Jeremiah’s view of the fall of Jerusalem. Since in the course of history the record can never be totally straight the prophetic eschaton or final day of the Lord’s vengeance is called for. Such a day is in mind in Isa 63:1–6. Here God treads out the winepress alone and tramples his enemies in his wrath (Rev 19:15). Likewise in the nt retribution, a notion essential to its message, belongs essentially to the future world rather than the present.

The Bible balances the fury of God’s vengeance against the sinner with greatness of his mercy on those whom he redeems from sin. God’s vengeance must never be viewed apart from his purpose to show mercy. He is not only the God of wrath, but must be the God of wrath in order for his mercy to have meaning. Apart from God himself the focus of the ot is not on the objects of his vengeance but on the objects of his mercy, his special possession (sĕgûlâ), his very own people with whom he has an eternal covenant.^[2]

I have often remarked that the Hebraic view of the world is far closer to Islam than it is to Christianity. This is only one case where we see the parallels. Of course, this does not mean that Allah is the same god as YHVH. Smick’s comment about the mercy of God demonstrates the radical difference between the demonic god Allah and the holy and just God, YHVH. Anyone who studies the Tanakh and the Quran can readily see that these two gods are not the same. But some characteristics of Allah are certainly borrowed from the One true God of Israel, and the element of necessary vengeance as a concomitant of holiness is one of these.

David is right. Praises for God are accompanied by the sword. But God reminds us that vengeance is His, not ours. That makes a considerable difference. Armed and ready, we wait for the day of His wrath. In the meanwhile, mercy prevails.

Ah, but wait. Something else needs to be said. Tomorrow.

Topical Index: vengeance, wrath, naqam, Allah, Psalm 149:6-7

^[1] Smick, E. B. (1999). 1413 נָקַם. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (598). Chicago: Moody Press.

^[2] Ibid.

WHERE’S SKIP in 2015?  NEW CALENDAR and available dates.  CLICK HERE.