God and Justice

[newton3005]

Until the Book of Exodus, God took it upon himself to administer justice. He subjected the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to His Justice. Justice is defined as Just behaviour or treatment. a concern for justice, peace, and genuine respect for people, the quality of being fair and reasonable, and the administration of the law or authority in maintaining this. God’s Justice upon Sodom and Gomorrah involved punishing two cities for not acting in His Name. Except for Abraham’s nephew Lot, Abraham could not find even one righteous person in those cities.

To this day, acts of unrighteousness that threaten others, amount to crimes under God. Under God, those who commit them are called to account and are duly punished. But under the fairness doctrine of justice, under God, there is a punishment to fit a certain crime, in fulfilling an act of justice. And God has given a certain amount of leeway as to the extent a person can administer their own justice. So, there is Exodus 22:2 which says “If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him...” That is, the matter is done. There is no penalty for a member of a household who kills the would-be thief, because he has acted in self-defense on behalf of his household. As such, there is to be no vengeance against him for killing the thief. As with all things involving vengeance, vengeance is the Lord’s.

But what if a perpetrator is not a threat in the act he is committing? What if he doesn’t have a weapon or if it is otherwise evident that the perpetrator has shown no hostility that would leave someone hurt? What if those who work for the government, who in turn is a government under God, inasmuch as their authority is from God and as such, those who work for are an extension of God in matters of justice and righteousness, punishes a perpetrator in a way that goes beyond being fair as far as the wrongdoing goes? That would be enough to cause strife within a community and within a nation.

Strife has no place under God. Proverbs 11:29 says, “Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind...” God wants us to be fruitful, but for one who causes strife there is no fruit.

What of those who are critical of the government concerning the justice that is administered? The government has laid out laws to be obeyed. Just as God has given us laws to abide by, if we do not know or love Him enough to know what would arouse His anger, so a government under God has provided a set of laws for those who need to have it spelled out as to what they can do in a society and a nation under God, if they either have no inkling, or, they might have a very good idea of how society and the nation wants them to act, especially if many of them have called others to task for failing to follow what they believe society and the nation expects of them, but they themselves don’t abide by what society and the nation wants anyway.

And there are some who will go out of their way to stand up for those who have broken the law, especially when the perpetrators come to the attention of the government. And there are cases where those who are critical of the government for not acting out of the fairness of justice, especially when the punishment goes beyond the crime committed, are themselves acting as more of an extension of God than the authorities who have so engaged in such punishment. And there are those who are of the notion that any punishment which equalizes those who are a threat to others’ lives, is wrong. Would they also punish the man of the household who kills a would-be robber who is also a threat to the lives of him and his family?

In a nation under God, there should be justice for all, not for just some.

 

[Joyous Song]

Until the Book of Exodus, God took it upon himself to administer justice. He subjected the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to His Justice. Justice is defined as Just behaviour or treatment. a concern for justice, peace, and genuine respect for people, the quality of being fair and reasonable, and the administration of the law or authority in maintaining this. God’s Justice upon Sodom and Gomorrah involved punishing two cities for not acting in His Name. Except for Abraham’s nephew Lot, Abraham could not find even one righteous person in those cities.

To this day, acts of unrighteousness that threaten others, amount to crimes under God. Under God, those who commit them are called to account and are duly punished. But under the fairness doctrine of justice, under God, there is a punishment to fit a certain crime, in fulfilling an act of justice. And God has given a certain amount of leeway as to the extent a person can administer their own justice. So, there is Exodus 22:2 which says “If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him...” That is, the matter is done. There is no penalty for a member of a household who kills the would-be thief, because he has acted in self-defense on behalf of his household. As such, there is to be no vengeance against him for killing the thief. As with all things involving vengeance, vengeance is the Lord’s.

But what if a perpetrator is not a threat in the act he is committing? What if he doesn’t have a weapon or if it is otherwise evident that the perpetrator has shown no hostility that would leave someone hurt? What if those who work for the government, who in turn is a government under God, inasmuch as their authority is from God and as such, those who work for are an extension of God in matters of justice and righteousness, punishes a perpetrator in a way that goes beyond being fair as far as the wrongdoing goes? That would be enough to cause strife within a community and within a nation.

Strife has no place under God. Proverbs 11:29 says, “Whoever troubles his own household will inherit the wind...” God wants us to be fruitful, but for one who causes strife there is no fruit.

What of those who are critical of the government concerning the justice that is administered? The government has laid out laws to be obeyed. Just as God has given us laws to abide by, if we do not know or love Him enough to know what would arouse His anger, so a government under God has provided a set of laws for those who need to have it spelled out as to what they can do in a society and a nation under God, if they either have no inkling, or, they might have a very good idea of how society and the nation wants them to act, especially if many of them have called others to task for failing to follow what they believe society and the nation expects of them, but they themselves don’t abide by what society and the nation wants anyway.

And there are some who will go out of their way to stand up for those who have broken the law, especially when the perpetrators come to the attention of the government. And there are cases where those who are critical of the government for not acting out of the fairness of justice, especially when the punishment goes beyond the crime committed, are themselves acting as more of an extension of God than the authorities who have so engaged in such punishment. And there are those who are of the notion that any punishment which equalizes those who are a threat to others’ lives, is wrong. Would they also punish the man of the household who kills a would-be robber who is also a threat to the lives of him and his family?

In a nation under God, there should be justice for all, not for just some.

JS: you are spit on with your assessment of the judgement of Sodom and Gomorrah. I agree with everything you are saying and pray for the many innocent victims of injustice in our country today.