Thieves of Vengeance

To me belongeth vengeance and recompence…vengeance is mine; I will repay!”

Saith the Lord.

 Many attempt to thief the role of God by having vengeance themselves. This only leads to more trouble. Below in one such story… 

   Long ago, in the middle of the east, lived a wise man called Ahithophel. He was so wise that the king of the land employed him as his counsellor. His counsels, in those days, were as if it had come straight from God.

   He had a son called Eliam, who also worked for the king. Eliam was one of the thirty mighty men of the king.

   One day, as Ahithophel was sitting in his house, his servant brought him terrible news. There was a complicated turn-out of events with the king that he should know.

   Firstly, the king had made a married woman pregnant.

   Secondly, the king had ordered and killed her husband, who is a soldier in the king’s army.

   Thirdly, the king has pronounced the widow as his new wife.

   Fourthly, the widow is Eliam’s daughter. That means that the widow is his grand-daughter, and her dead husband is Ahithophel’s grandson-in-law.

   Finally, the king never sought Ahithophel’s wisdom on the current turn-out of events.

  Ahithophel was hurt, but he chose to say or do nothing against the king. Instead, he started planning very carefully his revenge.

   As time passes by, calamity fell upon the king’s house. Since the king had many wives, he had many children too. One of his sons was so full of lust for his half-sister that he raped her in the palace. The sister was so ashamed that she ran to the comfort of his true brother’s house. The brother comforted her, and told her to remain silent, hoping that their father the king would reprimand the offending brother.

   The king, however, remained insensitive on that matter, so the girl’s real brother took the law into his own hands, to take vengeance and repay hurt for hurt. He killed that half-brother who raped his true sister. Then he fled from his father’s presence. It was only after five years that the king forgave and accepted him back.

   Forty years after he was accepted back into his father’s court, he began revolting again against his father. He started gathering armies, and in the process, he managed to employ Ahithophel the king’s counsellor, as his own. That was when the wise Ahithophel saw that his time has come to take revenge upon the king for raping Bathsheba his grand-daughter, and murdering Uriah his grandson-in-law.

   By that time, King David had fled from Jerusalem in fear of Absalom, his revolting son. However, he left ten of his concubines behind. When he heard that Ahithophel is now working for Absalom, he was scared. So he begged God to turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. God answered his prayer, and sent his friend Hushai to him. David then sent Hushai to go undercover into the camp of Absalom.

   When Absalom reached Jerusalem, he sought counsel from Ahithophel for his next move. Ahithophel told him to rape his father’s ten concubines in the sight of all Israel. Absalom obeyed.

   Next, Ahithophel advised Absalom to remain in Jerusalem while he (Ahithophel) will gather twelve thousand men to pursue after David and to capture him when he is weary. Ahithophel said that he will kill only David, and bring all the people back to Absalom. Not only was this his personal revenge, but it was a wise plan; one that would have worked had Absalom harkened unto his counsel.

   But Absalom decided to seek another opinion. Who do you think he sought second opinion from? It was Hushai, David’s undercover agent.

   Hushai advised otherwise. He said that David is a mighty man of war, and so Ahithophel’s plans won’t work well. Hushai suggested that Absalom should go in person to fight David.

   So Absalom and all the men of Israel said that the counsel of Hushai is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. But when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was rejected, he foresaw doom. He went and set his house in order, then committed suicide by hanging himself. Obviously, he didn’t want to face a victorious David.

  Well, it turned out that Absalom lost to David, and was killed because he refused to act upon Ahithophel’s advice.  

The lesson’s to learn is that, when the Lord says that vengeance is mine, He meant that it is His. The moment we start taking it into our own hands, to repay hurt for hurt, eye for eye, and punch for punch, we invite a double trouble.

   Ahithophel took revenge for what David did to his grand-daughter Bathsheba and her husband. Absalom took revenge for what Amnon did to his sister Tamar. But they both fail in the end because vengeance is the Lord’s, and only He will repay.

   When David illegally took Bathsheba to wife, the Lord told him through prophet Nathan that an evil shall rise up against him out of his own house. It will be done to him as he had done to others. So we see Amnon raping his half-sister Tamar, Absalom killing his half-brother Amnon, and Absalom raping his father’s concubines. Whoever shall kill with the sword shall be killed with the sword!

   It is interesting to note too that Solomon, who became the wisest man who ever lived, was also of the bloodline of Ahithophel, whose wisdom the bible describes “as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God.”  

Leave all vengeance to the Lord, and He will repay. Our part is to forgive and pray for our enemies and those who do bad things to us. Punishing them is God’s business! 

Study these interesting stories yourself from the Scriptures: II Samuel chapters 11-18; I Chronicles 27:33; and II Samuel 23:34