|
|
|
Parshah Shoftim : Deut 16:18-21:9
God’s Call for Justice
|
This week’s Torah Portion opens with this instruction: "You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates that the LORD your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with just judgment. Deu 16:18 (NKJV)
In this verse we see that God recognises humanity’s need for justice and so this is one of the chief concerns of these chapters which go on to deal with the administration of justice. The covenant that God made with Israel was one that brought God and the descendents of Abraham into a dynamic and living relationship. There was an acceptance on the part of both – God took them as His people and they in turn chose to follow God and live by His Torah. This covenant made Abraham’s descendents into a nation chosen by God and to whom He would give a land in which they could dwell.
So God sets in place not just a religious system by which His people would live but one that sets out the boundaries of both personal behaviour and social order. It is a fact of life that a corrupt judicial system can destabilise a nation. On a personal level when we experience injustice it damages our lives and destabilises our relationships. The Torah that God gave is the basis and foundation for the justice that we all need.
In fact one of the greatest truths about God is that He is who He is determines how He acts and how He relates to us. His nature and His character are therefore the pattern for our lives’. We are clearly told by Rav Shaul (Apostle Paul) in the Brit Hadashah (NT) to be imitators of God (Ephes 5:1). To be a follower of God is to learn to live according to the standard that God sets for us in the power of His Ruach (Spirit).
"The Rock! His work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is he.” Deut 32:4 (NASB)
We were made in His image so we are not being asked to be something that is alien to our nature. Yet the power of sin seems so strong and at times we struggle to walk in His ways. But the call of God is clearly heard in this Parshah :
Justice and only justice shall you pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you. Deut 16:20 (NASB)
Why is the word justice repeated? I read a comment about this that said that the emphasis on this word is to remind us that the end does not justify the means and that how we obtain justice is as important as the outcome. I think a good example of this would be convicting someone you know is guilty but lack real evidence: so some is contrived. The outcome is just i.e. the criminal is punished but the means of achieving this end was dishonest.
Through the Torah God is clear about the rules to ensure just behaviour. So often it’s in our hearts that injustice begins; a thought or an attitude that results in an action or behaviour. I really think this is the key to understanding what it means to set our minds on things above (Col 3:12). Actions follow thoughts: so when we focus on God, on His Word and on His Ways this informs and influences our behaviour, the way we act.
The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Lk 6:45 (ESV)
We are told not to seek justice but to pursue it. When we seek justice; it is for ourselves or on behalf of others but the idea of pursuing justice involves more: it is more than the need for justice to come from someone or somewhere else in order that the one in need will receive justice but it demands that we act with justice too.
The Jerusalem Talmud says “The three are one and the same: if the law is upheld, there is truth and there is peace.” The Word of God from cover to cover, again and again reveals God’s compassion for the poor, the defenceless and the weak and repeatedly tells us to reach out to them and minister to them. As we do so we reveal through our lives and actions God’s Truth and minister His Peace - His Shalom which brings healing and wholeness. The Torah is more than just the path to personal salvation because it teaches us that we have a moral responsibility toward others. We are the salt that preserves the world (Mt 5:13)
As a quick aside it good to remind ourselves of the purpose of salt: it makes our food taste better and is used to preserve it. A reminder that as believers we can affect our world by very presence, when we live for God we are a blessing to those around us and as we live out God’s standard we are an example to the world of what true righteousness and justice is. We are to be the fragrance of Messiah.
In Talmud we also read that “ A judge who judges with absolute truth, becomes a partner with God in creation.” An ancient thought that sounds thoroughly modern. I think that this is saying that when we apply God’s truth or give wise counsel, minister His love or uphold someone else’s cause we are his labourers working in His vineyard and so in some sense we labour and partner with God. Mind you it’s clearly a partnership where God is King. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say we are acting as God’s representatives
Returning to our opening verses the children of Israel are told to appoint judges at all their gates and while some translations interpret this as in all their towns, the Hebrew does say gates. There is much discussion by the rabbis down the ages as to why gates is used rather than towns, because it would have been just as easy to say appoint them in all your towns.
The discussion points us back to the idea of the pursuit of justice; where the onus is on us to live lives that reflect God’s justice in all our dealings with people. The rabbis say that the choice of the term gates points to the idea that 4 of our 5 senses have as it were gates: 2 eyes, 2nostrils, 2 ears and a mouth. These are points of entry through which our senses perceive and understand the world around us. The rabbis say that we are reminded only to take in what is good, that we need on guard and be careful about what we allow into our lives.
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Prov 4:23
Just behaviour or righteousness requires a moral absolute; an objective truth by which we can measure our actions. Our desire as followers of God is to reflect His light and truth to the world around us and to encourage others to become followers of God. We want to bear witness to a loving saving God. But we live in a world that hates moral absolutes, whose mantra is that rules are there to be broken, that it’s our right to get as much out of the system as we can and avoid at all costs getting caught.
If we live the kind of life that God asks of us we are choosing to live without compromise we are choosing to live by a moral absolute which is the Word of God. It seems to me that the pursuit of Justice begins with righteousness. Growing up I was told that righteousness was right standing before God and right living. The right standing comes through faith in our Saviour, Messiah Yeshua and right living the choice me make in following Him and living lives governed by the Word of God. Webster’s dictionary defines righteousness as “equivalent to holiness, comprehending holy principles and affections of heart, and conformity of life to the divine law.”
While righteousness and justice are almost equivalent terms their focus differs. Webster’s says of justice that it is “moral rightness in action or attitude; righteousness” and that it’s the quality of being fair. It differs from righteousness because righteousness is God centred. Righteousness causes us to focus on God and on how He wants us to live. Justice calls our attention to the needs of others because it demands that we apply God’s Law fairly, that we uphold the rights and needs of others and do not violate them. It requires us to treat others fairly. I have spent a while mulling this over and the answer is so simple and is found in Yeshua’s own words:
“This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." In other words as we love others we fulfil all the requirements of God’s Torah Matt 22:38-40
Shaul says the same thing in Galatians: The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbour as yourself." (5:14) We find Yacov (James) also saying something very similar:
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbour as yourself,” you are doing right. Jas 2:8 (NIV)
Most translations say that you are doing well but Strong’s points out that the doing well here is has a moral quality which is probably why the NIV has expressed this way. James is dealing with how to treat people fairly; of not showing partiality or favouring someone who is rich while neglecting the poor. So he reminds us of this great principle and tells us that in doing so we are doing right, we are being just.
Justice is a choice, justice is upholding the Word of God not only for ourselves but for others too and just as love is the deepest motivation in the heart of God so to it must be ours. We need to be filled with God’s love in order to truly love others and treat them justly.
We need to heed God’s call to pursue Justice.
|
|
|