What other scriptures highlight God's justice against nations harming His people? Setting the Stage with Joel 3:19 “Egypt will become a desolation and Edom a desert wasteland, because of the violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.” Here the Lord announces a literal, national judgment for nations that spilled Israel’s blood. Scripture echoes this theme again and again. Echoes in the Law and the Prophets - Exodus 14:13-31 — Pharaoh’s army drowns in the Red Sea while Israel walks through on dry ground. - Deuteronomy 32:35, 43 — “Vengeance is Mine… He will avenge the blood of His servants.” - Isaiah 34:1-8 — Edom’s land drenched with blood; “For the LORD has a day of vengeance.” - Jeremiah 25:31-33 — “The LORD brings a charge against the nations… the slain of the LORD will be in that day from one end of the earth to the other.” - Ezekiel 25:12-17 — Judgment on Edom and Philistia “because they acted in vengeance against Judah.” - Obadiah 10-15 — “For violence against your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you… As you have done, it shall be done to you.” - Nahum 1:2-3 — “The LORD is avenging and wrathful… He will not leave the guilty unpunished.” - Zephaniah 2:8-11 — Moab and Ammon become “a perpetual desolation” for taunting God’s people. - Zechariah 2:8-9 — “He who touches you touches the apple of His eye.” - Zechariah 12:2-9 — All nations attacking Jerusalem will be cut down. Songs of Justice in the Psalms - Psalm 2:1-12 — “Nations rage” but the Son will “break them with an iron scepter.” - Psalm 9:5-8 — “You have rebuked the nations… blotted out their name forever.” - Psalm 83:1-18 — Prayer for God to make conspiring nations “like whirling chaff.” - Psalm 94:1-23 — “O God of vengeance, shine forth!” - Psalm 137:8-9 — Babylon’s downfall promised for destroying Zion. Prophetic Snapshots of Judgment - Isaiah 41:11-12 — “All who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced.” - Isaiah 54:17 — “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” - Jeremiah 51:24 — “I will repay Babylon for all the evil they have done in Zion.” - Amos 1–2 — Fire sent on Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab for cruelty toward Israel. - Micah 5:15 — “In anger and wrath I will execute vengeance on the nations that have not obeyed.” New Testament Confirmation - Matthew 25:31-46 — The Shepherd-King separates nations by how they treated “the least of these My brothers.” - Luke 18:7-8 — “Will not God avenge His elect who cry out to Him day and night?” - Romans 12:19 — “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” - 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9 — “It is just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you.” - Revelation 6:10-11 — Martyrs cry, “How long… until You avenge our blood?” - Revelation 16:5-7; 18–19; 19:1-3 — Plagues and Babylon’s fall hailed as righteous judgments “because they poured out the blood of saints.” Heart Takeaways • God’s justice is not abstract; it lands on real nations in real history. • He tracks every act of violence against His people and responds in His time. • Judgment is both a warning to oppressors and a comfort to the faithful: God sees, remembers, and will set things right. • The cross shows His mercy, yet those who persist in attacking His people will meet the same certainty of judgment Joel announced. |
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