[Vision2020] Reply to Metzler & Mix on imprecatory prayer

[Taro Tanaka]

Keely, perhaps I can help clarify this point for you. The Book of Revelation 
is vey revealing indeed in this respect. Consider:

1) Jesus says twice in this book that He HATES the Nicoliatans.

2) The book reveals to us a worship scene in Heaven, taking place in the 
immediate presence of God. There "I saw under the altar the souls of them 
that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 
and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, 
dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" 
Does that sound to you like an imprecatory prayer? It does to me. In the one 
place where the Greek scriptures show us by far the most detailed 
description of worship, imprecatory prayer is part of that worship. The 
prayer is offered up by human beings -- the disembodied souls of martyrs, to 
be sure, but they are no omniscient than we are -- and they are calling for 
God's vengeance upon certain evil men who have persecuted Christ's church. 
Moreover, later we see God responding to this imprecatory prayer and doing 
exactly what was requested of Him: ". . . Rejoice over [Babylon], thou 
heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. 
And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into 
the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown 
down, and shall be found no more at all . . . And in her was found the blood 
of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. And 
after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, 
Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our 
God: for true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great 
whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged 
the blood of his servants at her hand. And again they said, Alleluia . . . 
And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his 
servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were 
the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the 
voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent 
reigneth."

So there we have it: imprecatory prayer offered by people, and answered by 
God, in the very model of Christian worship given to us by the Greek 
scriptures. And it is a model for us, because Jesus Himself taught us, "Thy 
will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven." Worship is the Christian's 
warfare, and imprecatory prayers are part of our arsenal. If that causes you 
to stumble as a Christian, I shall be praying for God to work in your heart 
with His Holy Spirit so that you will be able to mature to accept the 
entirety of His truth.

And please remember, I have not forgotten the parts of the Bible that say 
things like "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them 
that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute 
you" and "Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not," etc. But we 
need to come to an understanding of the Bible that is able to simultaneously 
comprehend the God-given reality of warfare through imprecatory prayer on 
the one hand, and praying for he salvation of enemies on the other. When 
properly understood, these two things are not mutually exclusive or 
contradictory. Not in the least.

-- Princess Sushitushi

"keely emerinemix" <kjajmix1 at msn.com> wrote:

>RE:  Your last paragraph
>
>Nope.  Not clear at all.
>
>keely
>(by His grace, a follower of the Prince of Peace)
>
>
>From: "Taro Tanaka" <taro_tanaka at hotmail.com>
>
>I hope and pray that it is clear the Bible not only
>allows but demands the right use of imprecatory prayer.
>
>-- Princess Sushitushi

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