justice

God will wound you.

God will wound you.

Isaiah 30

In this chapter, God declares what will happen to those who don’t listen to Him: He will wound them. Sometimes He does that by simply turning us over to the sinful things we have chosen—as in the case of Israel choosing to trust in their “speedy horses” (vs 16) instead of trusting in God. And I believe that, sometimes, He also wounds us Himself. If we are taking a path that will ultimately lead us away from Him, He makes it very hard for us to continue on that path, in order to give us time to change our minds and turn around.

God knows what is right.

God knows what is right.

Isaiah 11

Oh, we think we’re so smart. We think we’re so enlightened. We look back at what people did in other times and other places and other cultures, and we judge, judge, judge. We’ve come a long way, baby. We would never act so ignorant and unrefined. We are educated and enlightened and politically correct. We look at the world around us, and we know what’s going on. We’ve got the 411.

God is in control.

God is in control.

Ecclesiastes 8

In this chapter, Solomon continues his theme that life isn’t fair: “There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.” (vs 14-15)

God is right.

God is right.

Psalm 97

In this psalm, we find a very famous, very traditional description of God’s throne: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.” (vs 2) We may hear that a lot, but what does it mean? What is righteousness? What is justice? And what does it mean to say that they are the foundation of God’s throne?

God is justly merciful.

God is justly merciful.

Psalm 71

I can’t tell you how many times in my adult life I have heard someone say that God is merciful, but… Why do we always have to include a big but when we talk about God’s mercy? What usually follows the but is the idea that God is also just, and that somehow, His justice is in opposition to His mercy. Thus, in Christ, He devised a way to satisfy His justice so He could be merciful to us.

God is a safe place.

God is a safe place.

Psalm 47

In this psalm, David says, “He chooses our inheritance for us.” (vs 4) When I read this, I remembered how, after the birth of our first child, my husband and I suddenly realized we didn’t have a will and that we needed to get one put together. Of course, we wanted to make sure that if something happened to us and we weren’t around, our children would be taken care of (without too much red tape!).

God has His own Occupy movement.

God has His own Occupy movement.

Psalm 37

Do you remember the Occupy Wall Street movement? If it seems like a distant memory, that might be because it happened nearly 10 years ago now, and there have been a lot of news cycles since then! But for a time, in 2011, the Occupy movement was just about the only thing people were talking about.

People were angry. They were upset and frustrated about the dismal state of the U.S. (and global) economy and the bankers and big corporations who contributed to the financial mess of those times. Calling themselves the “ninety-nine percent,” they accused the “one percent” of greed and corruption, claiming that they had unjustly and unfairly enriched themselves at the expense of others.

God believes in equal justice.

God believes in equal justice.

Job 24

There is a lot of talk about justice these days—especially in the "enlightened" and "educated" culture of the West. And this topic of discussion is not limited to any particular arena. You hear it discussed both inside and outside of the church. There are a lot of different ideas about justice. What is it? When is it achieved? How is it achieved? Is justice achieved at the level of treatment (that is, how people are treated) or at the level of outcomes (that is, what happens to people)?

God doesn't punish sinners.

God doesn't punish sinners.

Job 11

I have a feeling that the title for this blog will pique the curiosity of more than a few. There may be some who are inclined to "tune out" right from the get-go, but... please don’t! If you disagree with what I have to say about this chapter of Job, I want to hear from you! Please leave a comment, and let’s have a discussion about this important topic.

God is truly just.

God is truly just.

2 Chronicles 19

I was recently having a conversation with friends about justice. Particularly about our "justice" system and whether it correlates to God’s definition of justice. I don’t believe so, and I’ll tell you why. In this world, we are typically limited to a style of "justice" that is more retributive than anything else. For instance, if one person murders another, the only option available to us is to inflict some sort of punishment on the perpetrator for their wrongdoing—whether that be prison time or even sentencing them to death.

Justice for the Unjust {ex22:1,4}

Photo © Unsplash/Niko Manuelides

Photo © Unsplash/Niko Manuelides

What does it matter
if the thief
kills your sheep
or it's found alive?

Why should
a sheep that has vanished
be worth
twice as much
as one that's been repoed?

Maybe it's all about
God getting justice—
not so much for the victim
as for the perp.

For to sneakily get rid
of the trace of your crime
suggests a hardness
not known to the
heart with red hands,
one so inexperienced
as to be caught with the goods.

The harder heart
requires the harsher penalty
in order to
once again
fracture the hull.

Justice for the offended
is a foregone conclusion,
but recasting the offender's heart
is much more difficult
than replacing a sheep.

 

God is beautiful on the inside.

God is beautiful on the inside.

2 Chronicles 3

All I saw in this chapter was gold, gold, gold. Gold on the floors, gold on the ceilings, gold on the walls. Gold, gold everywhere. It must have been something to walk into that dazzling temple, with every surface sparkling and shining. It must have been incredible to walk into the Most Holy Place (if you were the high priest) and see the wings of the sculptured cherubim spanning the room from wall to wall.

God exercises true power.

God exercises true power.

2 Samuel 20

There is an interesting parallel between this chapter and 2 Samuel 8. Both contain a list of David’s officials. The list in 2 Samuel 8 comes after David has advanced to the throne, subdued the enemies of Israel, and returned the ark of God to Jerusalem. In other words, he has followed God’s leading all the way to victory for Israel. The second list (in this chapter) comes after the mess David created for himself with Bathsheba, Uriah, and the ensuing family chaos. See if you can spot the difference between the two lists:

God loves those who hate Him.

God loves those who hate Him.

You love those who hate you! This was the accusation Joab leveled at David after the big battle where David’s son Absalom was killed. David was absolutely devastated by Absalom’s death, so instead of celebrating the victory of his "enemy," David returned home, weeping over the loss of his child. Apparently, Joab didn’t like that:

God is not prejudiced.

God is not prejudiced.

2 SAMUEL 11

Sometimes, Bible chapters seem scant on the information they provide about God. However, there is a very clear statement about God at the end of 2 Samuel 11. After David’s affair with Bathsheba and the ensuing cover-up (which included the premeditated murder of Uriah), the chapter ends with this declaration: "The thing David had done displeased the Lord." (vs 27)

God's justice is different than ours.

God's justice is different than ours.

2 SAMUEL 3

Sometimes it’s difficult to make a statement about God from a chapter in the Bible that doesn’t really mention God at all. However, in this particular chapter, one of the small (and often overlooked) events really stood out to me, and I realized it was a great opportunity to draw a contrast between our type of "justice" and God’s justice.

Perchance to Dream {gn40}

Photo © Unsplash/Johannes Plenio

Photo © Unsplash/Johannes Plenio

If Potiphar
had believed his wife
Joseph would have been put
in the ground

not in the prison
    /which was Potiphar's prison/
    /probably below his house/

which he was then put in charge of
    /because Potiphar wasn't going to let/
    /a false rape allegation/
    /deprive him of his best help/

Potiphar knew Joseph was innocent
but was content to let him languish
    /God knew Potiphar was spineless/
    /but wasn't content to let him starve/

Sometimes
the concessions of weak men
may be all the justice
we can procure
but the God of our fathers
keeps sending dreams

 

God is all about the evidence.

God is all about the evidence.

JOSHUA 20

So, the cities of refuge are finally established in Israel—you know, the places a person could flee if they had accidentally caused a person’s death and were on the run from the blood avenger. In the city of refuge, they would find a haven where they would be safe; there, they would be given the opportunity for a hearing on the incident in question.