God is not a God of revenge but a God of vengeance, which is different. Revenge is personal – someone meting out justice because of some personal hurt felt or experienced. It is often cruel, dirty and way beyond the hurt of the original crime. Vengeance has to do with righteousness, justice and honor.
God of love
God is a God of love. He is concerned for every human being, and calls us to obey Him because He knows that is the path to complete happiness, contentment and fulfillment.
God is righteous
God has made the rules, laws and boundaries for human beings to live by, because they are right, good, and logical for man to live in harmony with one another, and with God himself.
God’s justice
God tells us in the Bible that everyone and anyone who disobeys his laws, rules and boundaries will be subject to punishment – no exception. Sadly, everyone throughout the world breaks his laws and is therefore subject to God’s just judgment. But God offers us a way out.
God’s vengeance
As already quoted above, vengeance has to do with righteousness, justice and honor. God’s vengeance is given, meted out to everyone who sins against him, breaks his laws and disobeys him. In Deuteronomy 32:35 God says to his people “vengeance is mine, I will repay”. Further on in the passage, God explains that He will punish those who do wrong.
As Christians and people who love and trust God, we will find that we are often mistreated, persecuted, sinned against or hurt by our fellow human beings. God wants us to understand that He knows and sees everything done against us, and will act on our behalf to punish those who have wronged us. We are not to take the law into our own hands. This would be revenge, and usually when human beings take revenge they are angry and will not stop until they feel satisfied, and no longer angry. Revenge easily gets out of hand, we only have to watch or read the news to see how people respond in anger to the wrong done to them.
Summary
Just as children will be disciplined or punished by their parents when they do something which they know is wrong, citizens of any country can expect to be punished if they disobey the laws of the land – this is just and right.
God tells us many times in His word, the Bible, that He will punish those who sin against him. This is God being just and righteous, doing what is right.
God IS a God of love, He rewards those who follow and obey him. God also is a God of vengeance, NOT revenge. He will punish appropriately those who sin against him or disobey him.