Jehovah El Gmolah, The LORD of Retribution

What I Learned in Class

Sandee began her lesson on Tuesday with the definition of retribution.  It means to give something by way of compensation (as for a service rendered or damage incurred), repayment, or restitution. 

Before digging into Scripture where God reveals Himself as Jehovah El Gmolah, Sandee set the stage by giving us a picture of Israel’s history. In Deuteronomy the LORD made His expectations of Israel very clear: “If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth” (Deut. 28:1); “However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you” (Deut. 28:15).  As we have studied this year, the path that Israel chose was one that brought the curses of God upon them. 

In the book of Jeremiah God pronounced His judgment upon Israel and prophesied on their future (see Jer. 25:5-14).  In these verses the LORD tells Israel that they would be taken captive by the Babylonians and that the land of Israel would become a desolate wasteland. He also told them that their captivity would last 70 years.

In Jeremiah 52 we can read about the harsh treatment the Israelites endured at the hands of the Babylonians: the king was harshly maimed, his sons were killed before his eyes, the temple was burned, its treasures were plundered, the priests were killed, and finally they were uprooted from their home to live in a foreign land. Imagine living through this and the hopelessness that could overtake you, especially in light of the strong warning they had previously received from Jeremiah.

Sandee brought us to a verse that most of us have known and held dear; “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11).  The question was, have we ever looked at this verse in context?  She examined the passage that covers Jeremiah  29:10-14,  focusing on  Jeremiah 29:10:  “This is what the LORD says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place” (Jer. 29:10).  The LORD was giving the Israelites hope in the midst of their punishment! The plans He had for them were good! They could hold on to the hope of His promise!

We have learned that the Israelites were under the LORD’s judgment and were harshly treated by the Babylonians.  But God would not leave their oppressors in peace and prosperity.  We read in Jeremiah 50:34, “Yet their Redeemer is strong; the LORD Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon”. 

What I Learned in the Homework

Now we will move on to where God reveals Himself as Jehovah El Gmolah ;

 “A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the LORD is a God of retribution; he will repay in full” (Jer. 51:56).

You might be asking why God is dealing so severely with Babylon? We had learned that it was God who told the Israelites that He would be using Babylon against them as His arm of judgment in the first place. Jeremiah 50:11 gives us the answer: "Because you rejoice and are glad, you who pillage my inheritance, because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain and neigh like stallions”.  The homework makes the point that Babylon had gone too far.  We learned that God is angry at those who take joy in the suffering of those that are His. God will use others as instruments of His discipline but a line is crossed when they go beyond the LORD’s plan.

There is something very important to take note of. According to Jeremiah 51:56, who will repay for the suffering brought upon the Israelites? It was the LORD. The Israelites did not take vengeance upon themselves.  As New Testament Christians it is no different for us.  It says in Romans 12:19: “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord”.  God also speaks to us about retribution in 1 Peter 3:9: “Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9).

The homework gave us a historical context for the words of Paul and Peter that illuminated the above verses.  At the time their letters were penned, Nero Claudius Caesar was ruling Asia. His persecution of Christians was beyond brutal; they were being burned at the stake, torn apart by dogs for amusement….truly horrible. In spite of this, Paul and Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, admonished their readers (and us as well) not to take revenge into their own hands. As a note on God’s faithfulness, Nero himself met with a devastating end. His own people declared him an enemy, he was abandoned and dethroned, sentenced to death.

Now let’s go back and look at the end of the Babylonian story. Keep in mind the promise from 1 Peter 3:9, “so that you may inherit a blessing “. “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing: "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: "'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build a temple for Him at Jerusalem in Judah." (2 Chron. 36:22-23).

Not only did God deal with those who afflicted His people, He restored a blessing (through a pagan king, no less).  His desire was not to destroy but to rebuild and restore. The homework express this well, “While God uses trials and difficulties to shape and mold us, you can rest assured His desire is that they do not go beyond what is needed for our growth and restoration, if they do, they will answer to Jehovah El Gmolah, the LORD God of Recompenses” (A. Solomon, Jehovah El Gmolah).

Wrapping It Up

Earlier this year we studied Jehovah Mekadesh, The Lord Who Makes You Holy.  We learned in that lesson that God has set us apart as His people. Being set apart makes us distinctive.  I couldn’t help but think of this as we studied the God of Retribution. The way we deal with revenge needs to look different than the rest of the world. Sandee reminded us of Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:38-39a, “You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth’. But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person”.  We also learned that our God is the God of Recompenses and we can trust Him to work on our behalf when our enemy plots destruction.  He is faithful. But not only that, but remember what we learned in 1 Peter 3:9?  “so that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:9). Our God is an awesome God!!!