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by Charlie Wolcott

Jehovah Gmulah: The God of Recompense

I recently saw a meme on FB that if God exists, and He knows and sees everything, then He knows about every child molestation and rape that has ever happened. The meme is a strike against God that He is powerless to do anything and thus unworthy to be worshipped. It is an extremely foolish statement to make, because there is a side of God that wicked man despises. God is a God of recompense, a God of vengeance, and a God of justice.

Those who cite these memes and think they have won an argument against God are also those who will whine and complain about how and when God DOES carry out judgment. When nations made it their religious practices to burn living babies alive to death to appease the god Molech, He sent Israel to wipe them out. These scoffers then whine against God committing genocide. It’s not as well known, but one of the reasons for that conquest was not because Israel was so special, but because those nations were actually committing the sexual sins listed in Leviticus 18 (see verses 24-30 in particular).

God will execute judgment against the wicked. All those innocent child molestation victims are crying out to God for justice and they will receive it. Why doesn’t God carry it out immediately? The answer is simple: He longs for those criminals to repent. He does not want anyone to perish, but rather seeks they all repent and be saved. If God were to carry out judgment immediately, there would be no opportunity for Him to showcase His mercy.

“But, but, that’s letting criminals off the hook!” Yes, that is an argument I’ve heard, even recently. I had a scoffer tell me that the cross is nothing more than a “get you off the hook” excuse to do whatever you want. That is not true at all. I told that person that he really doesn’t understand the cross at all, let alone what is coming on Judgment Day. But there is another aspect I bring up. If God were to immediately punish every child molester, every thief, and every murderer, then He would also have to immediately punish every idolater, every mocker, every doubter, and anything and everything that scoffer did himself. If God were to prevent every crime the scoffer sees as evil, God would also have to prevent that scoffer from even being able to scoff, let alone question God. They are all the same ultimately: sin. That’s the big picture. In the same way speeding and murder are still violations of the civil law, every sin is violation of God’s laws. Not every sin yields the same punishment, but every sin does prevent man from entering paradise with God.

God is going to avenge His people. He will avenge the weak, the innocent, the downtrodden, and the poor. He cherishes those people, so when the nations or even us as individuals look down upon them, God is going to make a case for them. He still allows us to make our choices and lets our choices ripple down to affect others. The scoffers who whine about “rich churches” in America while the starving in Africa are perishing don’t realize many things. They put the blame on God for that, when they should be putting it on corrupt governments preventing that aid from getting there. What is more is that they don’t see WHO is actually giving them the most aid: the Christians.

God is going to avenge those who have been stolen from. He is going to give justice to those governments who refuse to take care of their own people. He is going to take revenge against those who have harmed His precious ones. Jesus did not mince words when He warned about causing a little one to sin. He said it would be better to have a millstone tied around your neck and cast into the depts of the sea than to cause one of His own to sin. That’s why I take what I teach and write so seriously. I refuse to allow false teachings to enter in, and often I am not always the “nicest person” to be around when I see it. Why am I so strong against them? Because I am a watchman (as every Christian is), and anything that gets past me is my responsibility. If I allow false teachings into my circles, it basically means I have endorsed them. I gave their approval to come in (or simply was asleep on the watch, which in most militaries is a treasonous action deserving the penalty of death). Either way, if I let them in, even if they come with a fellow believer, I am held responsible for letting them in. That said, I also must let in anything that is truly from God. It is a HARD job to do, which is why it is critical I check with the Holy Spirit on what is approved and what is not. I don’t want to know what is worse than that millstone, yet so many take that position so frivolously.

Because God is the God of Recompense, we do not have to stand up for our own rights and our own privileges. We don’t have to make a stand for ourselves when we are mocked and ridiculed. It’s tough. The Apostles were frequently insulted and jeered by the ruling authorities, let alone the mobs, yet they rarely made any stance for themselves. Paul did a couple times, but there were others where he took a beating when it was illegal for it to happen (due to him being a Roman citizen) and did not complain. This is a tough one for me because of what I just described above. I can’t stand false teachings being presented, so it often becomes a battle of “who is right” instead of “what is truth.” But if I am working under the Holy Spirit and am partaking in a move of God, I don’t need to defend God. He does a fine enough job without me. All those mockers and scoffers will get what they desired: that justice be done. But they will also get it upon themselves unless they repent.

When God summoned Jehu to wipe out the line of Ahab, two of Jezebel’s servants went to meet him, and Jehu ordered them to stand with him or perish in the cleansing. This is a small picture of what God calls for us: to stand with Him when He comes to wipe out evil or perish with it. It is a frightful thing to fall into the hands of a Holy God. He is Jehovah Gmulah, the God of Recompense. He will see justice done for all the evil done against us, but also for all the evil we have done too. Let that make us turn to the cross and plead for His mercy because we need it more than all those we think need to repent.

This post concludes my series on the Names of God. There are others I could have addressed, but I sense this is where this series needs to end at this point. I pray this series has helped you get to know who God is better and to pursue Him with all you have.

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