Is it ok to avenge?

[LayHong_Loves_Christ]

Hebrew 1:13
To which of the angels did God ever say,

“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet”?

If God is an vengeful God, why not us?

If someone killed my parents, am I justified to kill him back?
Avenge the murder of my parents.

Did God show us example not to avenge?

 

[All Becomes New]

Nope. Seeking vengeance is unbiblical.

"Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written,
Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. But
If your enemy is hungry, feed him.
If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
For in so doing
you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.
Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good." (Romans 12:19–21)

 

[Strong in Him]

If God is an vengeful God, why not us?

I don't believe that the Scripture you posted is about God avenging - or getting revenge - but about judgement.

If someone killed my parents, am I justified to kill him back?

No.
You would be committing the same crime as the killer, making you no better than they. You would also be breaking the law and, since the killer was already dead, the only person to suffer would be you - in jail or on death row.

Did God show us example not to avenge?

Yes. Jesus told us to forgive our enemies and, on the cross, prayed "Father forgive them ....".

 

[returntosender]

If God is an vengeful God, why not us?

If someone killed my parents, am I justified to kill him back?
Avenge the murder of my parents.

Did God show us example not to avenge?

"Vengeance is mine saeth the the Lord "

 

[public hermit]

If God is an vengeful God, why not us?

This is a good question, and it's a good reminder that we can't simply take scripture at face value but have to interpret through the revelation of the risen Christ.

If your conception of God is that God is petty, resentful, holds grudges, and seeks revenge, then you are likely to imitate your conception of God.

How did Jesus overcome evil? He did as Paul taught us to do- he overcame evil with good. Let that be your image of God and your interpretive key. If you understand God to merciful and loving, you will imitate Christ who is our primary revelation of God.

ETA: Keep in mind that any act of vengeance of God's part is petty since God is infinite, eternal, perfect, and free of the chain of causal events that bring harm. It's not like God is a Hatfield and we're a bunch of McCoys.

 

[Petros2015]

If someone killed my parents, am I justified to kill him back?
Avenge the murder of my parents.

Did God show us example not to avenge?

In Old Testament Mosaic Law there was the concept of the "avenger of blood"

What is an avenger of blood in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

What is an avenger of blood in the Bible? Why were the responsibilities of the avengers of blood in Old Testament Israel?

www.gotquestions.org

I think this was more of what was allowed within their legal system by Moses though and falls under the same precept of
divorce, which was also permitted, but hated. It's not the standard to live by, but rather the way we live when we have no Life.

There are several passages quoted in support of the prohibition of divorce but perhaps the most commonly cited is Malachi 2:16, apparently because many English versions make it a direct speech from God: "For I hate divorce, says the LORD the God of Israel ..." (RSV)

3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

 

[LayHong_Loves_Christ]

There is justice system on Earth, murderers must be killed for their sins.
Law is vengeful, not merciful.
The victim has the right to see revenge been done.

 

[Petros2015]

There is justice system on Earth, murderers must be killed for their sins.
Law is vengeful, not merciful.
The victim has the right to see revenge been done.

Hmm.

Have you ever read the 1st Epistle of John (John 1)?
It's pretty good. Only 5 chapters.
It might answer your question.
Tell me everything it has to say about vengence.

Bible Gateway passage: 1 John 1 - New International Version

The Incarnation of the Word of Life - That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim...

www.biblegateway.com

 

[Strong in Him]

The victim has the right to see revenge been done.

No, they have every right to see justice done.
Justice is meted out by the law - and if a criminal lives in a country where one possible punishment is the death penalty, they have to face that possibility.
Revenge would be the members of the family getting their own back; taking the law into their own hands by deciding they will stalk the criminal, set fire to his house or injure or kill him.

 

[LayHong_Loves_Christ]

yes, I do mean justice done.
but when there is no justice system, the victim can take revenge.

 

[Strong in Him]

yes, I do mean justice done.
but when there is no justice system, the victim can take revenge.

Who says a person can take revenge?
Jesus didn't.
And the title of your thread is " is it ok to avenge?" Why ask if you know the answer?

 

[LayHong_Loves_Christ]

it is individual right to avenge.

 

[Strong in Him]

it is individual right to avenge.

So, again - why start a thread asking if it is ok to avenge if you believe that this is everyone's right?

Even if it was a human right, it's not Christian.

 

[LayHong_Loves_Christ]

But I prefer to let God revenge on behalf of me.