Romans 2:9 – Affliction and distress

Affliction and distress, on every human soul which is effecting evil, both of the Jew first and of the Greek…

GOD judges righteously. His judgments are a means to repay, that is, to pay what is due to each one. And where justice has been violated, there He restores it. That is also the primary meaning of the term ‘vengeance’: legal restoration. Bringing back to the straight relationship. The Hebrew word for vengeance is “naqam” and it contains the word for “to rise” (qam). That wich has been thrown down is raised GOD.

However, GOD’S judgments are so much more than just retribution. They also correct and educate. It is precisely because GOD’S judgment has such a comprehensive purpose that makes the process so fierce. “Affliction and distress on every human soul which is effecting evil …”. “Affliction” comes from without, “distress” from within. Both experiences refer to ‘being uncovered’, to “the books” that will open and all the works that will come to light (Rev. 20:12). Anyone who thought that his evil practices would go unnoticed or could go free will then painfully find the opposite.

Only when the ‘criminal’ becomes painfully aware of what has been done to the other, can legal restoration take place. That is what GOD is going to work out at the “great white throne”. Fair, effective and universal!

Delen: