72. Avenge the Elect
Luke 18:7, 8 And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily.
This promise is given to the elect, the believers in Jesus Christ that God will avenge them, and He will do so speedily without repeated requests being necessary. We can be sure that Justice will definitely be done. Trust the Lord and wait for it. “Avenge” simply means that wrongs will be righted; vindication for the innocent will be seen; and evil will be punished.
On the one hand, we know that all things will be put to rights at the Final Judgment so that there will be a fresh start to the Eternal State. We can have no doubt that all things for everyone will work out justly, fairly, properly, and equally at the End. In some sense this can be understood as “speedily,” at least from God’s eternal viewpoint. It is true that injustice, unfairness, oppression, exploitation, mistreatment, false accusations and intolerable persecutions run rampart in this world; but in the next world all of that will end forever.
Indeed, persecutions of Christians (and others) is expected and even predicted, and the persecuted pray for justice. Furthermore, persecutions and injustice will never end as long as this world stands. Those who seem to “get away with it” will someday get their comeuppance. Meanwhile, God, the Just Judge, says, “Be patient. In the midst of injustice we are to pray and expect God’s answer, even “speedily.” The Day will come. The Lord gives us a glimpse of the dilemma in Revelation 6:10: The souls under the altar cry out, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge ourblood on those who dwell on the earth?” They were told to rest a little longer. The answer to this cry for vengeance works out in the events of the rest of the Book of Revelation, and it all plays out in history. So the Elect pray for vengeance, leave it with God, and wait in faith.
On the other hand, there is a sense in which this promise can also be taken to mean that God will avenge even within our time and space. The wheels of justice grind slowly but they do grind. In God’s time it will be speedily; in our time it will require patience and faith. Even persecutions have a way of running their course and vengeance does come. Either in time or in eternity the promise is true: no one gets away with it forever.