Friday May 11, 2012

Make a list of the injustices that your church could tackle. Ring around and see if anyone else is happy to fight these with you.

Pray lots.

 

Read Deuteronomy 16:18-20

 

Isn’t it fascinating that in a chapter on celebrations and feasts that the Lord had ordained we get a few verses on justice. Either the writer has limited comprehension skills and never re-read his work (which is a terrible conclusion to come to) or something deeper is going on. Let’s assume the latter.

 

When the Israelites entered the Promised Land there would be only one centre of worship - the tabernacle and eventually the Temple in Jerusalem. All other shrines and high places were to be completely and utterly obliterated. This could result in a situation where justice was difficult to maintain in the outlying regions. It could prove costly to travel to Jerusalem to hear minor cases before the Levites and waiting for the three high holy days to travel to the Temple could be impractical, so God brought justice out to the people by the election of judges.

 

Added to that, our God loves justice. See Psalm 11:7, 33:5, Isaiah 1:15-17 and Micah 6:8 and so on. God loves justice. Conversely, He hates injustice. God hates it when His people act unjustly and then come before Him to spread out hands in pleading and prayer. Isaiah makes it clear that God will not listen to such hypocritical prayers. God hates unjust measures, unjust or lying words, unjust decisions that deprive the poor and needy. God hates injustice and loves justice.

 

By placing these verses at the end of the ceremonies and festivals God is reminding us that appearing before the Lord is not just an isolated incident in our lives. When we come before the Lord we come before Him with our entire lives. He sees the injustice and sin in our lives. He sees the selfishness and unjust weights and measures we may have used to rip others off. He sees our greed, which is idolatry.  God wants us to lift up holy hands in prayer. He wants us to protect the rights of the poor and needy and to uphold their cause. He wants us to walk justly, to love mercy and to be humble before Him.

How will you approach your Lord this coming Lord’s Day?

 

Prayer:

Believers in Iran and Iraq are denied justice, simply because they believe in Christ Jesus. Pray that our God will bring justice quickly. Pray for Nadarkhani who has been on death row for alleged apostasy. Pray that justice would be done and that this pastor would be released. Pray for strength and encouragement for this pastor as he waits upon the Lord.

¥ Pray that our government would work for justice and equity. Pray that we would have men and women in parliament who would stand up for what is right and fair and just. Pray that believers in all levels of parliament would lead the charge.