Justice and Only justice! (23 November 2020)
(Daily Devotions by Rev. Dr. J.N. Manokaran)
“Justice and only Justice, you shall follow.” (Deuteronomy 16:20) God loves justice, even more than sacrifice. Only in the Temple, sacrifice could be practiced, while justice ought to be in all areas of life and everywhere. Only humans need to offer sacrifices, but God Himself practices Justice as Righteousness is one of his attributes. There are three important tenets when not followed, could make justice bitter like wormwood. (Deuteronomy 16:19-20; Amos 5:7)
1) No perversion: Justice could be perverted by distracting from what is righteous. Justice also could be inverted, i.e. subverted, fundamental blocks of justice are overturned. There was one case in which he requested the shops he owned adjacent to his house to be vacated. But the tenant approached the court and did not vacate. Hence, this man who wanted to sell that property could not. In his application the owner has also informed the court about his two daughters who were about to be married and wanted to sell the property for marriage expenses. The case dragged for twenty years; the girls were married off. In the final hearing, the owner’s plea was rejected as his reason to sell property does not exist as his daughters were married. He had to file another case with ‘valid’ reason. This is perversion and subversion of justice.
2) No partiality: God does not show favoritism. (James 2:9) Partiality is based on bias or prejudice. Bias could be favor in terms of blood relationship or caste or class or clan…etc. Prejudice against certain communities or nationalities or language group is also dangerous. Favoritism played havoc in the family of Isaac, where his two sons lived at loggerheads.
3) No Persuasion: Bribe blinds a person to see truth, evidence and facts. Or bribe makes a judge to willfully ignore the judicial facts. Some officials allow drug cartels to thrive, as they receive bribe. Instead of seeking welfare of youngsters, community and nation, they are self-seekers. Even influential peoples’ recommendations could persuade a judge to deviate from justice.
Do I follow Justice, only justice?
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