Justice
At the beginning of this series I outlined topics which included justice. Here we will explore their linked applications.
- Commandment
- Law
- Justice
- Judgment
- Penalty and Sentence
- Redemption
Justice – n. 1) fairness. 2) moral rightness. 3) a scheme or system of law in which every person receives his/ her/its due from the system, including all rights, both natural and legal. – source: dictionary.law.com
The multi-branched tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
“but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” – Genesis 2:17 CSB
We move now from relatively calm waters of Adam knowing the difference between good and evil to a more tumultuous current of original sin flowing through the generations.
Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you. – Deuteronomy 16:20
Justice in the Egypt of Joseph and Moses
Recent research from Yale Law, The Representation of Justice in Ancient Egypt, confirms concepts of justice learned by the Hebrews. I have quoted it extensively below.
The concept of “law” and “justice” are intimately associated with the proper behavior of kings and were embedded in every royal ritual.
Could common citizens expect an example of morality from their leaders? Even the Pharaoh and King?
In a word, ‘yes.’ According to research of ancient civilizations predating Rome and Greece, a natural ‘connective justice’ was presumed in law.
The imperfect branches of connective justice
Again, the research of J.G. Manning in the Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities:
Ma’at (“connective justice,”) governed personal moral behavior, as can be seen in religious texts, as well as the proper relationships between gods and men, between kings and society, and between individuals. Thus it literally connected everyone from the gods, through the king, down to the lowliest farmer. It was the mirror of the divine order of the world and also the foundation of private ethical behavior. Ma’at was the most persistent and pervasive idea in ancient Egyptian society.
Importantly, the most visible and the longest lasting image of Ma’at in
a private context, at least to the modem observer, is the famous “last
judgment scene,” in which an individual faced his or her mortality by
having his or her life deeds weighed in the balance against the symbol of justice, the ostrich feather, in front of all of the gods in Egypt.
If found wanting, the person’s soul was devoured and his or her existence was extinguished. On the other hand, if found “true of voice,” one gained eternal bliss in the afterlife. This was not the public representation of state justice, but, rather a more intimate depiction of the expectations of private moral behavior.
Do you recognize this universal connection to the truth in the Law given to Moses on Sinai by the Lord God?
Delegated authority of the Law
Application of law ultimately leads back to the same question Adam would have to judge after gaining ‘knowledge of good and evil.’
What is right? Is this good or evil in the eyes of the Lord?
Basic precedents of law include English Common Law and other fundamental documents.
- of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, … and secure the Blessings of Liberty … ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
- The Bill of Rights & evolving societal amendments
- Religious Law
The contemporary legal systems of the world are generally based on one of four basic systems: civil law, common law, statutory law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique history and so incorporates individual variations.[1]
A Stream Towards Justice
We have examined the role of authority in the law. It is here that the roles of God, government, family and community all come into play.
The basis of all law is the authority by which it is given. Justice requires effective application and fair administration of remedies by a righteous and impartial judge. – Roger Harned
A commandment comes directly from Almighty God. Call it ‘religious law,’ but an absolute over-riding Authority connects God’s word to man’s actions.
Hebrew followers of Moses heard the Lord speak directly and were afraid. Even so, they disobeyed the direct command of God even before Moses later descended Sinai with the stone tablets – the Law, carved by the finger of God in stone.
This inviolable Law would be carried in the Ark of the Covenant; not as reference, but as witness to their own promises to God. Yet many would violate (trespass) their solemn covenant promises to God many times and in many places throughout the long history of Israel.
Penalty of the Law
Even though prescribed specifically for certain violations in specific contexts of the Law, ‘penalty’ is not mentioned by name in the King James Version of the Bible. The overriding issue, simply, is innocence or guilt and not particularly the punishment.
A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment. – Proverbs 16:10 KJV
Have you ever considered that the ‘sentence’ of the court is the spoken judgement against the convicted violator of the law?
Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. – Ecclesiastes 8:11 KJV
Perhaps you have even noted the legal principle of a right to a speedy trial in the wise advise above.
Now note the usage of the Hebrew root for the consequence of guilt:
דָּם – dam
- blood (342x),
- bloody (15x),
- person (with H5315) (1x),
- bloodguiltiness (1x)
- bloodthirsty (with H582) (1x),
- vr blood (1x)
Again, this goes to the higher authority of Almighty God. Perhaps a good Biblical example of commanded penalty would be ‘capital punishment.’
“Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans his blood will be shed,
for God made humans in his image.
“But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it,”[Gen. 9:7] God commanded Noah and his family who were spared by the judgement of the earth.
Looking upstream through the generational sins even in the time of Moses, redemption from bloodguilt against God hardly seems attainable.
Kings and Nations under God
And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against the LORD, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall not trespass. – 2 Chronicles 19:10 KJV
From later records of Israel (and Judah after David), we learn of the continued importance of the Law or Commandment of God to this ‘chosen’ nation. The above quote from 2 Chronicles is recorded in the time of Jehoshaphat, in the 9th century Before Christ.
Note the distribution of authority given by King Jehoshaphat to others from 2 Chronicles 19:
A King’s delegation of justice
4 Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and once again he went out among the people from Beer-sheba to the hill country of Ephraim and brought them back to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. 5 He appointed judges in all the fortified cities of the land of Judah, city by city.
6 Then he said to the judges, “Consider what you are doing, for you do not judge for a mere mortal, but for the Lord, who is with you in the matter of judgment. 7 And now, may the terror of the Lord be on you. Watch what you do, for there is no injustice or partiality or taking bribes with the Lord our God.”
8 Jehoshaphat also appointed in Jerusalem…
- some of the Levites and priests
- and some of the Israelite family heads…
Delegated authority from the Lord to the King, then to officials responsible for religion, for community and for family. Even warning of how to manage outsiders (foreigners and servants), all under delegated authority of the Lord through others. Not freedom, as we know it. Certainly not license to choose whether to obey or defy any law or regulation.
10 For every dispute that comes to you from your brothers who dwell in their cities—whether it regards differences of bloodguilt, law, commandment, statutes, or judgments—you are to warn them, so they will not incur guilt before the Lord and wrath will not come on you and your brothers. Do this, and you will not incur guilt.
11 “Note that Amariah, the chief priest, is over you in all matters related to the Lord, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all matters related to the king, and the Levites are officers in your presence. Be strong; may the Lord be with those who do what is good.”
God will judge
God is a righteous judge
and a God who shows his wrath every day. – Psalm 7:11He will judge your people with righteousness
and your afflicted ones with justice. – Psalm 72:2
Psalm 111:9 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
9 He has sent redemption to his people.
He has ordained his covenant forever.
His name is holy and awe-inspiring.
To be continued…
The book of Kings records the history of a United Israel and division into the kings of Judah and kings of Israel. Kings reveals which kings ‘did evil in the sight of the Lord’ or what good they accomplished. It continues with defeats, captivity and restoration in an account nearly parallel to Chronicles.