God and Justice

Exodus 21:23–25 (HCSB)

If there is an injury, then you must give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound.

This may seem like strange words for a devotion. These verses are found in a section giving instructions for civil society. The revelation here is this: God is just. He reveals His justice in His laws. Our behavior as individuals and collectively as a community must reflect of God’s just character. God is a God of Justice. We must be a people of Justice.

We do not subscribe to this very well. Our problem is our sin. We call it our “civility.” We believe we are being just by showing compassion and tolerance. The truth be told we live by the black rule: “Do to me as I do to others.” It goes like this: “Since I have demonstrated tolerance and compassion when others mess us, show the same tolerance and compassion to me when I mess up—‘cause I’m going to!”

Well, we all mess up. But when the rules bend we tend take things further than they should go. We flirt with the boundary, and the further we extend the boundary the further we will go. The fear of judgment and punishment helps to keep us in line. Rules also help to remind us of the ideals of our society—the sanctity of life, the right to private property, the sanctity of marriage and family, the right to a reasonable expectation of personal safety, etc.

God is just and He expects His creatures to behave justly.