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A River of Redemption Flowing from Eden – Justice
Contemplation of Justice by James Earle Fraser – US Supreme Court building

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

Paradise by Lucas Cranach the Elder – painter, draughtsman, printmaker and court painter – 1530

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.

Ma’at Ancient Egyptian goddess of justice

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.

Sir William Blackstone
- US Constitutional Law
- 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
Hammurabi a Babylonian code of 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.
Genesis 9:6 CSB

“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

reign of Jehoshaphat ~873–849 BC

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 7:11
He will judge your people with righteousness
and your afflicted ones with justice. – Psalm 72:2

Psalm 111:9 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
⁹He has sent redemption to his people.
He has ordained his covenant forever.
His name is holy and awe-inspiring.

To be continued…
August 17, 2018
A River of Redemption Flowing from Eden – 7 – Upstream in History

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” – John 1:45 ESV

What does it mean to look upstream in history? Those seeking eternal truth look back through the eyes of scripture.

A Basis of Law and Justice

Looking back on the source of law somewhat resembles our search for Eden and the basis of life. We move from the still waters of a river with visible bottom to swim upstream against torrents of the unseen. How can we see justice and redemption, so distant to our own existence?

The answers of justice rest not in the law, but in the Lawgiver and relationship of the redeemed.

Before the incarnation of the Messiah, yet long after the fall of Jerusalem the Prophet Isaiah [יְשַׁעְיָה] had proclaimed: 1:27 צִיֹּון בְּמִשְׁפָּט תִּפָּדֶה וְשָׁבֶיהָ בִּצְדָקָֽה׃

Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness. But rebels and sinners shall be broken together,
and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed. – Isaiah 1:27-28

Even Isaiah had looked back upstream through the torrent of sin, just as Moses had warned in Genesis.

9 If the Lord of hosts
had not left us a few survivors,
we should have been like Sodom,
and become like Gomorrah.

10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom!
Give ear to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!

These warnings to obedience refer not to the law, but a broken relationship with the Lord and sinful relationships with other men. Law has basis in the relationships of men and women to each other; but above all, law requires a relationship to the commands of the Living God.

Do godless men and evil women desire judgment?

Their contempt for authority reflects the darkness of a mortal life lacking fear of The Almighty God. They neglect, trespass and try to circumvent the law.

Evil men and godless women rebel against righteousness, without regard of consequence for others or their own inevitable punishment when convicted. Do you rebel against righteousness?

Justice fails when licentiousness claims all sin as freedom.

Though we tend towards lawlessness, we are free to choose obedience to the Lord. A humble sinner desires mercy and the repentant law-breaker wants restoration of relationship with the Lord. And this in addition to redemption with a community of loved-ones.

Returning to Joseph, further upstream

Moses, giver of the Law, was educated in Egypt and instructed by the Lord. In our previous look at these two men we learned that Joseph was educated by Israel in Canaan, but also apprenticed under Potiphar and Pharaoh in Egypt.

GENESIS 41:

28 “It is just as I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do…

… all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will devastate the land… the matter has been determined by God, and he will carry it out soon.

34 Let Pharaoh do this: Let him appoint overseers over the land and take a fifth of the harvest of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.

Does anyone note the 20% tax here? It allows the administration of government to help its citizens in the seven years of struggle ahead. Of course, the tithe (tenth) to the Lord was long established.

Even in Egypt the King may have just required a double-portion to balance the years ahead when major markets would fail. No crops, therefore no income for the country. In addition, the people would need help or they would perish.

We cannot think of law separate of its authority, intent and righteousness.

Joseph, with God’s help, redeems not only Egypt, but also its struggling neighbors (for a small price). These would include his own brothers and father.

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. – Proverbs 29:18 KJV

Prince Zaphenath-paneah

41 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “See, I am placing you over all the land of Egypt.”

… 45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah and gave him a wife, Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest at On. [Heliopolis] And Joseph went throughout [Joseph gained authority over] the land of Egypt…

50 Two sons were born to Joseph before the years of famine arrived. Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest at On, bore them to him.

53 Then the seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end, 54 and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every land, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food.

55 When the whole land of Egypt was stricken with famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh told all Egypt, “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”

Moses and Pharaoh would have both spoken Egyptian (the language that became Coptic, not modern Egyptian Arabic). Moses would have almost certainly spoken Hebrew too. – source

As Moses looks upstream toward this time he reminds the Hebrew people, who have not yet entered the promised land of Joseph. It would be accurate in Hebrew to say this.

41:55 וַתִּרְעַב כָּל־אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם וַיִּצְעַק הָעָם אֶל־פַּרְעֹה לַלָּחֶם וַיֹּאמֶר פַּרְעֹה לְכָל־מִצְרַיִם לְכוּ אֶל־יֹוסֵף אֲשֶׁר־יֹאמַר לָכֶם תַּעֲשֽׂוּ׃

Yet in their native Egyptian language, now the fluent first language of Joseph, these God-spoken words through Pharaoh would have been heard and later told in all the land:

Pharaoh told all Egypt, “Go to Zaphenath-paneah and do whatever he tells you.”

A familiar Redeemer we do not understand

Later, Israel will send his other sons to Pharaoh to buy the grain they must have for survival of their animals and for food.

The ruler of Egypt they hear (actually, Joseph) speaks a different language. He looks different than these poor men who humbly raise sheep and trade for those things they require. This redeemer they hear speaks through others in a foreign language.

Genesis 42:

“Where do you come from?” he asked.

“From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied.

“You are spies. You have come to see the weakness of the land.”

“No, my lord. Your servants have come to buy food,” they said.

17 So Joseph imprisoned them together for three days.

18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “I fear God—do this and you will live.

Moses’ hearers knew the outcome of redemption as we do; but Israel’s other sons did not.

Read this reunion story again, as experienced from the fear of these men now humbled, hungry and imprisoned by a rich foreign ruler.

Their Redeemer Revealed

Time passes as Israel’s sons return to him in Canaan, but the famine continues and they again run out of food. No alternative but to return to Egypt, ruled by Zaphenath-paneah, whose word is law of the land.

Genesis 43:

But the men were afraid because they were taken to the house of Zaphenath-paneah. (Of course, Moses tells us his true identity even before this redeemer of Israel reveals the Lord’s purpose.)

… they brought him the gift they had carried into the house, and they bowed to the ground before him.

27 He asked if they were well, and he said, “How is your elderly father that you told me about? Is he still alive?”

28 They answered, “Your servant our father is well. He is still alive.” And they knelt low and paid homage to him.

32 They served him by himself, his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, since that is detestable to them.

Are you, poor sinner, detestable to the rich? Would they choose to disavow you because they do not know the God we serve?

Everyone leaves and they depart the next morning. Then yet another deceptive plot to bring them back once more.

Judah pleads: “My lord, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh. [44:18]

Genesis 45:

Joseph could no longer keep his composure in front of all his attendants, so he called out, “Send everyone away from me!”

No one was with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers. 2 But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and also Pharaoh’s household heard it.

You know the rest, but have you weighed justice by the measure of the Lord’s purposes?

Do you truly believe that God provides a redeemer not only through your own sufferings, but through suffering and injustice to another?

‘Why does God allow evil?’ we ask.

The Redeemer of Israel gives us the Lord’s answer.

Moses tells a people who have endured forty years in the wilderness after the passing of a generation who turned against the Law, which they both heard from the Lord and read on tablets of stone from the finger of God:

Listen to Joseph’s words to his brothers of why this evil has happened.

4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please, come near me,” and they came near. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt.

7 God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God.

And consider the weight and Authority in Joseph’s next words about Providence:

He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

A ‘father‘ to Pharaoh; not only as Jacob is their father but also in authority, even loving authority, as God IS our Father.

Later Joseph will give the reason for their redemption:

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people[fn] should be kept alive, as they are today. – Genesis 50:20 ESV

22 Joseph and his father’s family remained in Egypt. Joseph lived 110 years.

To be continued…

August 9, 2018
A River of Redemption Flowing from Eden – The Ten Commandments
Then all the people responded together, “We will do all that the Lord has spoken.” So Moses brought the people’s words back to the Lord. – Exodus 19:8 CSB

Everyone knows The Ten Commandments –

As we noted previously, commandment implies both authority and relationship. Jesus’ answer to a lawyers’ question, “Master, which is the greatest commandment?” did not mention even one of the Ten Commandments, but rather pointed toward our relationship to God.

When someone asks you about the Ten Commandments, what is your immediate response?

Do you know them? (It likely depends on your religious upbringing.)

I was raised in a family which worshiped the Lord where children and youth were weekly schooled in a primer of faith. Therefore, from my Sunday-school training I instantly regurgitated, ‘Exodus 20,’ as response of quick recall about the Ten Commandments. Exodus 20 is actually just one place the Commandments are mentioned, but let’s start there.

How many of the Ten Commandments can you name?

How did you do? According to a source quoting a USA Today poll, if you could name five Commandments you did better than six out of ten Americans. If you correctly named all Ten Commandments, you are one of only fourteen in one hundred Americans [14%] who could do so. Sadly, this knowledge of Scripture is even lower in many countries on other continents.

Background and Context of the Ten Commandments

Did you realize that the Ten Commandments appear multiple times in the Bible? Though not listed every time, the record of the Ten Words gives context to their application and emphasis to their authenticity.

Exodus 20

Exodus ^24:3Moses came and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people responded with a single voice, “We will do everything that the Lord has commanded.”
- 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD… 7 He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people.
- 12 The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay there so that I may give you the stone tablets with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”
From the Hebrew:

24:12 וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה עֲלֵה אֵלַי הָהָרָה וֶהְיֵה־שָׁם וְאֶתְּנָה לְךָ אֶת־לֻחֹת הָאֶבֶן וְהַתֹּורָה וְהַמִּצְוָה כָּתַבְתִּי לְהֹורֹתָֽם׃

Law – תּוֹרָה – Torah and Commandment – מִצְוָה – Mitzvah
- Exodus 31:18 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
The Two Stone Tablets

¹⁸When he finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God.

“…and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.”

The word of the LORD, of His chosen nation.

Violation of the LORD’S spoken Word!

Exodus 32:

7 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Go down at once! For your people you brought up from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly. 8 They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them…

9 The Lord also said to Moses: “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone, so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God: “Lord, why does your anger burn against your people you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a strong hand? … Turn from your fierce anger and relent concerning this disaster planned for your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel…

¹⁵Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides—inscribed front and back.

¹⁶The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was God’s writing, engraved on the tablets.

19 … Moses became enraged and threw the tablets out of his hands, smashing them at the base of the mountain.

We will not here today dwell on Moses’ role as the hand of the Lord’s vengeful wrath. You may recall a sanitized image of the idolatry of the golden calf, but consider from scripture what took place.

25 Moses saw that the people were out of control… 26 And Moses stood at the camp’s entrance and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.”

… “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘Every man fasten his sword to his side; go back and forth through the camp from entrance to entrance, and each of you kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’”

28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and about three thousand men fell dead that day among the people.

Did you remember this terrible refining of the camp of the Hebrews and slaughter of three thousand men?

I didn’t, for I had not read this scripture recently.

31 So Moses returned to the Lord…

33 The Lord replied to Moses: “Whoever has sinned against me I will erase from my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I told you about; see, my angel will go before you.

But on the day I settle accounts, I will hold them accountable for their sin.”

Would you have been among those slaughtered for your idolatry? Or would you be among those enduring earthly plague, never entering the promised land?

Is it not a fearful for us to be held accountable for our sin?

The Lord Again Writes Down The Ten Commandments

Exodus 34:

The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.

4 Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones. He got up early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hand, he climbed Mount Sinai, just as the Lord had commanded him.

34:5 וַיֵּרֶד יְהוָה בֶּֽעָנָן וַיִּתְיַצֵּב עִמֹּו שָׁם וַיִּקְרָא בְשֵׁם יְהוָֽה׃

5 The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed his name, “the Lord.” 6 The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed:

The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, ⁷maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin.

But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

8 Moses immediately knelt low on the ground and worshiped.

Ten Words and More Commands

10 And the Lord responded: “Look, I am making a covenant… 11 Observe what I command you today…

27 The Lord also said to Moses, “Write down these words, for I have made a covenant with you and with Israel based on these words.”

28 Moses was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat food or drink water. He wrote the Ten Commandments, the words of the covenant, on the tablets.

This hearing of the Law: To be continued…
July 17, 2018