Word of Encouragement (11/04/2021)

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been” (Rev. 6:9-11).

The prayer of the martyred souls in heaven in this passage is imprecatory prayer. How should we apply this prayer to our lives? Should we pray this prayer against all our “enemies”?

It is interesting to note that, while we find many instances of imprecatory prayers in the Old Testament (particularly during the time of Israel under the Mosaic Covenant), we don’t find such prayers in the New Testament (prior to this prayer in Revelation, that is). Paul does pronounce “Anathema (Let him be cursed)!” to those who preach a different gospel. He also says that we can heap burning coals on the head of our enemy (Rom. 12:20). How? By feeding him when he is hungry and giving him drink when he is thirsty (Rom. 12:20)! In fact, he says right before that, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord’” (Rom. 12:19). And regarding Alexander the coppersmith, he says, “Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds” (2 Tim. 4:14). Here, Paul is not praying for vengeance; he is simply stating a fact.

Instead of imprecatory prayers, we see the opposite. Most notable is the prayer Jesus prayed for those who were crucifying Him: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). The first Christian martyr, Stephen, prayed for those who were stoning him to death, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). We can see how this was in imitation of his Lord Jesus.

This phenomenon signals a new era Jesus Christ has ushered in—the era of grace: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). This was powerfully reflected in His Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:43-44). The old age of hating our enemies (under the Mosaic Covenant) has passed; a new age of loving our enemies and praying for those who persecute us (under the new covenant in Jesus Christ) has arrived.

Though Jesus came as the Seed of David, of the tribe of Judah, of the nation of Israel, He came as the Savior of the world. So, at the time of His ascension, He charged His disciples to take the gospel to the ends of the earth and make disciples of all the nations. With the globalization of Jesus’ gospel, the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile could not be maintained. The old battleline along the ethnic lines had to be removed. During this age of grace, yesterday’s persecutor can be your fellow saint, and yesterday’s enemy can be your beloved brother, as was the case of Paul. Lacking God’s secret will regarding a person’s eternal destiny (which the Apostles had glimpses of under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in some cases), we treat everyone as a potential brother or sister in the faith. So, we do not resort to imprecatory prayer in the age of grace.

The way to apply this imprecatory prayer, then, is not to pray this prayer against our enemies for vengeance; rather, it is to pray for their repentance and salvation. For there will come a time when we will join with the martyred souls in heaven and pray this prayer. (It is not that the souls in heaven are just vindictive. This prayer occurs in the context of God’s judgment on the world. Surely, this is not the only prayer they pray in heaven!)

In application of this prayer, let’s think about whom you can include in your prayer and start praying for them!