Day 11 of Lent: Seeing God’s Heart for Justice.

From Lyn Woodruff, posted in the River Prayer Reflections Texting Group. If you'd like to join, write to info@riversouthbay.org or post a comment.

Wealth" can be found 1,453 times in 1,273 verses of the Bible

"Justice," in contrast, appears 1,576 times in the Old and New Testament in 1,379 separate verses.

Justice is mentioned twice as many times as "love" or "heaven" -- and seven times more often than "hell."

By the numbers alone, it's obvious that justice is a pretty big deal to God.

But what exactly is God’s heart for justice?

Skye Jethani has currently unpacked this attribute of God in his “With God Daily” meditations and he has given me permission to share them with you all!!!  Thanks, Skye!!

We hear the term Social justice all of the time.  And today, it has become a ubiquitous phrase that speaks more about politics than faith.

Case in point:” A very popular news commentator recently told his audience, “I beg you, look for the words ‘social justice’ or ‘economic justice’ on your church website. If you find it, run as fast as you can…. 

And this warning found resonance with some Christians! The commentator was warning Christians that churches speaking of justice were perverting the gospel. 

This view, however, is rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Bible actually says about it. 

So, to understand God's heart for justice, we must first recalibrate our definition of the word and rediscover its place in Scripture. 

The Hebrew word for “justice” is sedeq, but in many English versions of the Bible it is often translated as “righteousness”—a word that saturates both the Old and New Testaments. Sedeq means “right standing and consequent right behavior within a community.” To pursue righteousness/justice means to put things in their right order; the order which God intends. Sedeq is exactly what we see at the beginning of creation. The newly ordered world is declared by God to be “very good.” All things were rightly ordered to flourish, beginning with humanity’s relationship with God. When a sinner repents and turns to God, he is forgiven and declared sedeq(righteous)—his relationship with God is made right again. Similarly, when a thief is caught and stolen property is returned, sedeq (justice) has been done—the relationship between the owner and his property is made right again. One might say that the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is about sedeq; it is about the restoration of God’s right relationship with his creation and the amazing, loving, self-sacrificing lengths he is willing to go to establish it. 

So, when you encounter the word “justice” don’t “run as fast as you can.” Instead, swap in the word “righteousness” or the phrase “rightly ordered relationships.” 

That may help you see that justice isn’t a perversion of the gospel, but at the very​

heart of it.  

Www.​withGodDaily.com​

Eloyah Misphat:  Help us to see with your eyes of justice-to see ALL people and the desire to restore rightly ordered relationships in our world- to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with you.  Micah 6:8.  For righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.  Ps. 89:14 🙏🏻