Ok, this one is amusing, I wish I could start college over again and work harder on some papers. Although I have only given you papers from my freshman/sophomore year..... It has some good ideas, but I did not write it very well (also it was 8 pages, so feel free to read in multiple sessions). You be the judge..... ;)
04/29/2005
Justice Paper
Throughout the Bible we are commanded and entrusted by God with many things. With these things He hopes that we would do our best to be righteous in our actions and to give him the Glory. These things that we are to do are spread throughout the Bible and are sometimes hard to determine what we are actually to do. This is especially true in the writings of the Old Testament. For the purposes of this paper we will be dealing with the book of Isaiah and God’s wish for us to use Justice, not only in the times of Isaiah but also today.
When we hear the word justice today in our society we tend to think of our court system, the way we determine if someone is breaking the law, and the way we treat the criminals. We have tried to come up with a system the makes the criminal pay for the crime they have done. This is not thought the kind of Justice that the Bible speaks of. This is why the topic of Justice is one that is hard to determine what God wants us to do. Because of the culture that we live in today, we assume that the word Justice means what our government has labeled it as, whether it is capital punishment, jail time, fines, or any other type of punishment. This is not what is meant when Isaiah speaks of Justice. After learning about the book of Isaiah, we will then conclude what is meant by this word.
Isaiah is one of the books of prophecy in the Old Testament. Isaiah was a prophet of the southern kingdom of Israel. This was during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah which is in the 8th century B.C. The contrast between the rich and the poor reached an alarming state, which brought threats of a revolt from those who were deprived of their lands and other possessions. There was an added threat from the Assyrians against northern Israel. This all brought about a change from being holy in God’s eyes to being sinful. Isaiah has a vision in chapter 6 that is of the Lord sending him to minister to the people in Israel in order that they would stop turning from God. In the book of Isaiah we see the strategy and words used to try and succeed at this.
In the book of Isaiah we start out in a setting of Judah and Jerusalem, this is shown in chapter 1:1. In this first chapter we see that God has refused his people because they are sinners and will not stop. This is the basis for the book of Isaiah. Justice is used as a solution for the end of all of this sin. The first time Justice is used is in 1:17, “learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.” The first time it is mentioned we are ordered to do this. Justice in this passage is grouped with things like rescuing the oppressed, defending orphans, and pleading for widows. The reason why Isaiah tells the people to do this is because at one point they were doing this and they were considered righteous and they were prosperous. This is shown in 1:21, “How the faithful city has become a harlot, she that was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murders. The only way that things may be restored is by the city returning to justice as stated in 1:27 “Zion shall be redeemed by justice.” This Justice seems to be a very import thing when it comes to pleasing God and be righteous in his eyes. Isaiah 5:16 says that “the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice.” In order to exalt God then, we must know what the meaning of this justice is and how to go about being just.
This book starts to clear up the meaning of justice starting in chapter 10, “to turn aside the need from justice and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be your spoil, and that you may make the orphans your prey.” This is the second time the word Justice has been grouped with stopping oppression, helping widows, and helping orphans. There must be some kind of a connection. In chapter 16 it is explained that in order to grant justice one must “hide outcasts, not betray fugitives, let the outcasts settle among you; be a refuge to them from a destroyer.” This is when the word justice starts to become clearer. In chapter 59 we see that those that are unjust, that is those that are oppressors, those that shed innocent blood, those that bring iniquity, those that bring destruction, and those that do not know a way of peace, are blocked from the saving hand of God. Then in 59:15 we see flat out that the Lord is displeased because there is no justice. We can again see that this justice is a very important part of a follower of the one God.
To make sense of the meaning of the word justice in the Bible we had to see what was going on in the times it was used. We know that the city was being unjust, but how? To know this we go back to chapter one. Verse 2 says that Israel had rebelled against God. Verse 4 says that the people were laden with iniquity, offspring who do evil, children who deal corruptly. In verse 10 Israel is compared to Sodom and Gomorrah. We also see that the people were being idolaters. Throughout this chapter and book we see that the people have put there trust in evil things. It seems that when there is no justice, there is also the worship of idols in some form. In chapter 1 starting in verse 11 we see that the sacrifices that the people have been giving have been detested by God and not accepted by him because the people have been practicing iniquity. After all of this Isaiah prophecies that the Lord will bring forth a new king for them who will bring justice to his people.
In chapter 9 verse 6 to 7 we see that there will soon be peace, justice, and righteousness. “ For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time onward and forevermore.” This is not the only time Isaiah writes of the bringer of justice. This is also said in chapter 11, chapter 16, chapter 32, and in chapter 42. This king is to be from the throne of David and is to be the bringer of peace and justice. We now know that this king is Jesus. Jesus teaches in the same way that Isaiah speaks of justice. Jesus taught us to love our neighbors, Jesus taught us to share with the poor, to not outcast the diseased and hurting and needy, but to love them. This is justice. Jesus, prophesied to be a king, was not rich like a king, nor was he in great political power. His job as king was to finish what Isaiah started by getting rid of injustice and turning his people back to God.
When the book of Isaiah speaks of justice clearly it isn’t talking about the way we view justice today. Justice is described as protecting the powerless. In today’s world we tend to overlook the powerless, and focus on those with power. We think of people with money and control as better than those who are helpless. When we think of what we want to do with what we have, we never think first of how we may help those who cant help themselves. Instead of focusing on what God wants us to focus on we have shifted our attention just like those who lived in Judah did. Our social system in America is not setup to help the poor either. Sure there is some help, but only enough to keep the poor, the diseased, and the helpless alive. This is not justice. Our social security system should be focused on the protection of our elders, widows, and orphans. Instead we fight to use our money to better our own lives. I believe we have lost track of the prophet Isaiah’s message from God to live life justly. This is even true after his prophecy of Jesus has come true. Jesus was our example as to how we should be just. He was the king of kings. Our government leaders should base everything they do off of how Jesus lived his life, because he was the greatest king of all time.
In the book of Isaiah we see many instances where God is angry with the way his people are being treated unjustly, and the way they are being unjust. The book of Isaiah also talks about the consequences that he has for the unjust. This may be found in chapter 59. Verse 1 and two says that "The Lord's arm is not so short that He cannot save nor His ear too dull to hear; it is your iniquities that raise a barrier between you and your God, because of your sins He has hidden His face so that He does not hear you." This section says that without justice the Lord is separated from his people. Verse 8 to 12 says "They do not know the way to peace, no justice guides their steps; all the paths they follow are crooked; no one who walks in them enjoys true peace. Therefore justice is far away from us, right does not reach us; we look for light but all is darkness, for the light of dawn, but we walk in deep gloom. We grope like blind men along a wall, feeling our way like men without eyes... like doves we moan incessantly, waiting for justice, and there is none; for deliverance, but it is still far away." Because of the injustice the people have, they will not receive deliverance from their pain and anguish. The lord uses the symbols of darkness to stand for this pain. Verse 14 and 15 says "Justice is rebuffed and flouted while righteousness stands aloof; truth stumbles in the market-place and honesty is kept out of court, so truth is lost to sight, and whoever shuns evil is thought a madman. The Lord saw, and in His eyes it was an evil thing, that there was no justice." This section says that because the people are being unjust, everything is becoming unjust. This includes the courts, the market place, everything. The people do not even know that it is evil anymore because of it. Verse 18 through 20 says "High God of retribution that He is, He pays in full measure, wreaking His anger on His foes, retribution on His enemies. So from the west men shall fear His Name, fear His glory from the rising of the sun; for it shall come like a shining river, the Spirit of the Lord hovering over it, come as the ransomed of Zion and of all in Jacob who repent of their rebellion. This is the very word of the Lord." These verses are frightening to those who are not just. God’s wrath and anger and retribution will be poured onto them if they don’t repent and turn from their ways. In chapter 10 verse 1-3 it says "Shame on you! You who make unjust laws and publish burdensome decrees, depriving the poor of justice, robbing the weakest of My people of their rights, despoiling the widow and plundering the orphan. What will you do when called to account, when ruin from afar confronts you? To whom will you flee for help and where will you leave your children?” In these verses we see that because of the injustice and wrong the leaders are doing, the Lord will not be there when they decide they are in their time of need and when they are forced to flee. In Isaiah 26:1 and 2 it says “"We too look to the path prescribed in thy laws, O Lord... for, when thy laws prevail in the land, the inhabitants of the world learn justice. The wicked are destroyed, they have never learnt justice; corrupt in a land of honest ways, they do not regard the majesty of the Lord." This shows that those who aren't just will be destroyed. Isaiah 56: 1, 2 says "These are the words of the Lord: Maintain justice, do the right; for My deliverance will show itself victorious. Happy is the man who follows these precepts, happy the mortal who holds them fast, who keeps the Sabbath undefiled, who refrains from all wrong-doing!" The purpose of this verse is to show that without justice you can’t be happy and you will be in anguish.
All of these verses show the seriousness of God’s focus on Justice. In reading them we conclude that unless God’s justice is served then the unjust will be in anguish, be unhappy, will have to flee with nothing to hope for, and the people will be destroyed. The chapter 59 verses 14 and 15 talking about injustice in the market place and courtrooms reminds me of today. Sometimes I feel that our whole system is corrupt, and because we are corrupt we don’t even know it. This is confirmed by the end of the verse that says “so truth is lost to sight, and whoever shuns evil is thought a madman.” This is very disturbing since we can read the other verses and see what the punishment for being unjust is. Even though the foretold king has come and done his majestic work, the world is still infested with evil and injustice. Today evil and injustice can be seen in all business scandals. The rich people of large companies are trying to get more money and they are taking from those who have less than them. This is seen with Martha Stewart, the scandals at Enron, and many other businesses all over. We still live in a corrupt world full of injustice and the only solution is to turn from our wicked ways and look to Jesus’ and Isaiah’s words for guidance.
In the 8th century Isaiah was trying to spread God’s words around, saying that he was unhappy with the unjust actions that his people were performing. He had to spread God’s anger and wrath with the situation to warn them that if they do not repent and turn from their ways then nothing but bad will come. In today’s world we see some of the same problems, injustice in every aspect of life. We try more and more to create our own ideas of justice when we need to look to God for his definition. He says in many books of the Bible that justice is to show loyalty and compassion to one another, to not oppress the orphan and the widow, the alien and the poor, and to not contrive any evil against one another. Though we may not be as obviously evil as the times described in Isaiah, we have many of the same problems warned against by the prophet himself. God’s word can teach us many things, but if we don’t realize that we aren’t doing what we are supposed to, then God can’t work through the word to help deliver us from our constant injustice.
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