806. "And He has avenged the blood of His servants shed by her hand." This symbolizes a retribution for the injuries and violence done to the souls of worshipers of the Lord.

His avenging the blood of His servants shed by her hand symbolizes a retribution for the injuries and violence done to the souls of worshipers of the Lord, because His avenging symbolizes retribution. To shed blood means, symbolically, to do violence to the Lord's Divinity and to the Word (nos. 327, 684), in this case to worshipers of the Lord, who are meant by His servants. Roman Catholics inflicted injuries and violence on their souls by transferring Divine worship of the Lord to themselves and preventing their reading of the Word.

The Lord is said to have avenged or exacted retribution for the blood of His servants as though He did this to take revenge or punish; but still He does not act to take revenge or punish, just as He does not act out of anger or wrath, even though anger and wrath are occasionally attributed to Him in the Word (see nos. 525, 635, 658, 673 above).

Anger and revenge are attributed to the Lord when evil people are separated from the good and cast into hell, as happens at the time of a last judgment. That time is therefore called wrath and a day of wrath, and a day of vengeance. Not that the Lord is angry or vengeful, but that those people are angry at the Lord and filled with vengeance against Him. The case is like that of a criminal after sentence has been passed, who is angry at the law and filled with vengeance against the judge. For the law is not angry, nor is the judge taking revenge.

[2] Vengeance is meant in this sense in the following passages:

...the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come. (Isaiah 63:4)

The reference there is to the Lord and the Last Judgment.

...the day of Jehovah's vengeance, the year of retribution for the case of Zion. (Isaiah 34:8)

Behold, your God will come for vengeance; for the retribution of God He will come, and He will save you. (Isaiah 35:4)

...these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. (Luke 21:22)

The reference there is to the culmination of the age, when the Last Judgment takes place.

The Spirit of the Lord Jehovih is upon Me... to proclaim the day Jehovah's good pleasure, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn. (Isaiah 61:1-2)

Shall My soul not take vengeance... for this? (Jeremiah 5:9, 29)

I will take vengeance (on Babylon), and will not allow anyone to intercede. (Isaiah 47:3)

...His thought is against Babylon to destroy it, because it is the vengeance of Jehovah, vengeance for His temple. (Jeremiah 51:11, cf. 51:36)

Sing, O nations, His people, for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and visit vengeance on His adversaries; He will purge His land, His people. (Deuteronomy 32:43)