Scripture:
Genesis 4:23-24
Lamech said
to his wives,
“Adah and
Zillah, listen to me;
wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for injuring me.
24 If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times.”
wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for injuring me.
24 If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times.”
In verses 23-24, Lamech, one of Cain's
descendants, boasts about the vengeance he has taken on another man who hurt
him in a fight. He refers to the fact that Cain was to be avenged seven times
if someone killed him and then, makes himself greater than Cain by saying that
he has, and will, take vengeance seventy-seven times.
Lamech lashed out in anger against someone who
hurt him physically. Putting this in the more common application, how do you
react when someone hurts you emotionally?
Do you become angry and strike back at them with
your words or actions? Or do you keep quiet and resent them internally?
It's interesting how Jesus contrasted this
seventy-seven times' vengeance taken by Lamech. In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asks
if it is enough to forgive someone who sins against him seven times. Jesus
tells him to forgive seventy-seven times in the same day.
As Christians, we know that people will sin
against us and hurt us, but our command is to forgive them, not to seek
vengeance or to harbor resentment.
Notice that in Genesis 4:15, it says that Cain
will be avenged, but not that Cain was to take vengeance himself as Lamech did.
If there is a punishment to be dealt, God will take care of it, not us. As
Romans 12:19 says, "Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room
for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will
repay,” says the Lord."
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