All His Ways are Justice

“You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge, but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.” (Deut 24:17-18)

“The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” (Deut 32:4)

Some time ago, I witnessed a grave injustice, committed against people whom I love, committed by people whose duty it was to protect them. It was hard to watch those people hurting, and confused and angry. I am also angry. I am angry that I live in a world where injustice can be easily perpetrated against the disadvantaged. I am angry that those who have been placed in positions of authority can often abuse that authority with impunity. I am angry for the dishonour shown and harm done to those I love.

It is good to remember that these issues are not new ones. Biblical law frequently reminds and requires the people to care for widows, orphans, and foreigners. Each of these groups was without the protection of family, and without land to provide sustenance and income. None of these groups had legal standing in the ancient world. And while we theoretically have a system today where all people are equal, our society remains imperfect, and is administered, even at best, by imperfect people. We still judge people by their resume, by their skin colour, by their finances, by their nationality, by their education.

We should seek justice. God calls us, in the world today, to be a just people. But he also knows that because of our sinfulness and our fallen natures, we will never truly have a just society. So while we do what we can, our hope is not in people and systems, but in the God who is perfectly just, the God who has never sinned, the God who is faithful to his people. We have the promise that our King will come to finish what he started. The one who dealt the deathblow to sin and evil is going to come again, and he will be at last victorious. That is the day when all of this will make sense, when we will see how what feels like defeat has been redeemed and used in God's plan. That is the day when all wrongs will be righted. That is the day when the crimes committed against God's people will be avenged. He will heal our wounds, wipe our tears, and make all things new. Until then we wait, and we pray. Come, King Jesus.