Consider the words of chart-topping singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, "the times they are a changin’…” In many ways, those words ring true, but in many other ways they do not. I think of how in older days people had to wait lengthy periods of time for the holy scrolls to circle back to their town that they might find themselves within earshot of God’s word. The idea of pulling out a device that fits in your pocket and searching the scriptures wasn’t yet a thought. I think of the letters that Apostle Paul wrote to the church. They were mostly in response to the questions asked of him; these questions and responses took place over many months, sometimes years. The idea of quickly flicking off an email and receiving a timely response would have been a dream. The time it took to get a response forced the church to press-in, pray, and wait on God. It is easy to fall prey to the thinking that those slower days and ways of life were a disadvantage which is quite the contrast to the times we are living in today with respect to the superabundant, lightning-quick channels of communication readily available at relatively low costs. Perhaps Dylan was onto something?
But our technological achievements are not the focus. I draw attention to things that have not changed much—if at all—over time. That is, the nature of the way in which humans are treating each other. Our actions today seem almost indistinguishable to the manner in which people treated each other in Old Testament days. It seems sin is still sin and the cruelty of man—over the longer arc of time—still ravages us today, drawing from us a cry for justice and a need for some kind of loving restraint or guided instruction as to how we ought to achieve and maintain justice while living amongst each other. Thankfully, the God of the Old Testament responded then, and still does today.
Would it be fair to suggest that we have in common with the people of the Old Testament, the same God of the Old Testament? He was in the past exactly who He is in the present and precisely who He will be forever, says Hebrews 13:8. And so, would it be fair to suggest that how God expected people to treat each other then would be applicable still today? What was the Godly approach to social justice in the days of old and how has it shaped our approach today?
Defining The Terms
To understand social justice, first, we must consider what is meant by justice. Secondly, we cannot discuss justice without attaching to it the word judgement. According to Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary, the Hebrew word mišp̱âṭ generally presents as “justice” or “judgment,” and as one would expect, the word carries with it a legal or judicial connotation. And this is often the framework for the word when we ponder it; a passing of judgement on those at fault and sentencing an appropriate retribution on the perpetrator.
This is not a false thinking. However, I offer that it is not a finished thinking; certainly in view of God’s idea of justice. Mišp̱âṭ is more than mere consequence of our actions, it also speaks to the intention or the determination of our actions. It speaks to the way in which we seek to disarm our disputes and live on from those moments in harmony. We read in Exodus 18:13-23 that the people came to Moses to inquire of God when there was a dispute, and it was Moses’ job to remind them of God’s statutes and His laws as he sought to do what was just (mišp̱âṭ) and right amongst the people so that they would go in peace. Social justice simply defined is the way in which we treat other people; doing what is right by them. This would be especially true for the most vulnerable sectors and members of the communities we do life within. Mišp̱âṭ is directly connected to social justice.
Endless Disputes
Given the broad and quick access to information readily available to us today, it won’t take much time at all for the cries for justice to be heard. When the people came to Moses with their disputes, it says in Exodus 18 that “they were with him from morning until evening” and that because of the excess of these disputes (and the way that Moses was handling them) it would ultimately wear out Moses and the people around him. Today, from morning until evening, you will hear the cries for justice. It is all over the headlines, in every newspaper, on all blog posts of aspiring journalists, in all the television newsrooms, the local supermarket bulletin boards, social media posts, topics of the one-on-one coffee dates between friends, and the list goes on. Formal and informal platforms alike, where there is space to air ones cares or concerns, rest assured, the varying disputes across the globe will be presented, and consequently, a cry for justice will be heard. This is not a sign of changing times. It is not a phenomenon exclusive to our day. Justice, or the lack thereof, has been an issue in every society throughout history and we continually need to be reminded of God’s statutes and law in order for it to go well with us. The biblical story has brilliantly and vividly laid this out for us.
Rising And Falling
All throughout the history of Israel’s rising and falling, we have seen that it had been a direct result of their idolatry. Be that as it may, the injustice of the strong oppressing the weak had also been a contributing factor in the repetitive fall of the nation. Social justice amongst the people of Israel needed attention. The people of Israel needed to be reminded time and again of God’s statutes and laws. The biblical text is a gripping documentation of how the weak and the most vulnerable are taken advantage of, but it is also a demonstration of God’s heart for the lowly through the outcries and denunciation of this kind of oppression through the prophets. Fast-forward to when Jeremiah delivered a strikingly similar message from the Lord to the king of Judah. In Jeremiah 22:1-3, he called the king to “Do what is just (mišp̱âṭ) and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed.” Through the prophet, God called the people to “Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow”, and to “Not shed innocent blood in this place.” (English Standard Version, 2001). And then He continued on to say in Jeremiah 22:4-5 that “If they practice these things (justice and righteousness) the kingdom will endure. But if not, they were headed for destruction" (English Standard Version, 2001).
Mišp̱âṭ And The Mount
With respect to the way in which God expects us to treat each other, Jeremiah’s call harkens back to the tablets that came down from the Mount in the days of Moses. Emblazoned on the stone tablets were ten loving restraints (Exodus 20) for His people to practice; the framework for life amongst each other with peace. Fast-forward even further into the New Testament, Jesus highlighted His heart for social justice when during His Sermon on the Mount, He proclaimed the “Golden Rule” that was, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” which would serve as the foundation for mišp̱âṭ or social justice. Jesus later expanded on this when questioned by the lawyer in Matthew 22:36-40 when He was asked, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied in emphasis, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." Jesus’ expectation is not just that judicial justice would prevail, but that acting justly toward others would also be a priority. Jesus demonstrated that with His perfect life and exercised mišp̱âṭ by washing the feet of the lowly; a hostile act that challenges the powerful who use the weak to their own advantage becoming wealthier at the expense of their most vulnerable members of society—the very cause of social justice.
Mišp̱âṭ Through The Ages
Proverbs 31:8-9 meant something to the ancient Israelites, it certainly meant something to Jesus, and it should still be meaningful for us today. It calls us to “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.” It continues, “Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy” (English Standard Version, 2001). The great prophet Isaiah made a case for mišp̱âṭ, or social justice when he said in Isaiah 1:16-17, “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause” (English Standard Version, 2001). To reference Jeremiah again, we read in Jeremiah 22:15-16, “Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the Lord” (English Standard Version, 2001).
Called That It Would Go Well With Us
The heartthrob of these words echo out into an account of Jesus in Matthew 19:21 when He asked a man to “sell what you possess and to give it to the needy” (English Standard Version, 2001). Jesus continued to say, “and you will have treasure in heaven”, and with it, He offered the invitation to follow Him; knitting together our followership of Jesus with a heart for social justice. I conclude by saying that the people of God are called to love God, love people and to do unto them what we would hope they would do unto us, to practice mišp̱âṭ, and to continually remind each other—as the prophets did—that should we live by God’s statutes and laws, doing what is right by others, what is just, it will go well with us. Did not our forefathers do justice and righteousness for it to go well with them? Did they not judge the cause of the poor and the needy, then it went well? Is this not to know the Father? Is this not to follow the Good Shepherd? Social justice is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. It is to love your neighbour, doing what is right by them. Social justice is ancient but not dated. As per the approach of social justice in the days of old, might we still today bring justice to the fatherless and plead the widows cause as we endeavor to do well with the precious lives that we have been given. Would todays approach to social justice be informed by the two great commandments that once came down from the Mount with Moses, and reiterated during the most important sermon ever given on the Mount, by Jesus.