“Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.” – Isaiah 35:4b
Revenge doesn’t sound like a very Christian thing. In fact, we are instructed not to seek out revenge because vengeance belongs to God, He will repay. And then we have Isaiah talking about this vengeance actually happening. God coming and there is vengeance, recompense, payback.
So what does God’s vengeance look like? How does His recompense take place? Sometimes, in our fears and doubts we think it might look like boils on our skin or pain and suffering – God striking us down for our trespasses. But that’s not what Isaiah says. What does God’s vengeance and recompense look like? It looks like Jesus coming to save you.
God vengeance is this. He becomes man, and He Himself opens the eyes of the blind and heals the deaf. He makes the lame to leap as a dear and makes the mute sing for joy. His vengeance is not against you, but it is a vengeance against sin and Satan and death to rescue you. The recompense is not pain or suffering for you, but rather Jesus Himself takes that all up upon the Cross to deliver you from it.
God is not some petty tyrant. He is not a nagging relative who is going to sit around and say, “I told you so,” after you do something stupid. The LORD saves. That’s what He does. He saves you, and His vengeance, His might, His power – these are all for your good, to rescue you from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Jesus died and rose so that you would be rescued from sin and death and raised to life everlasting.
