A Revolutionary Idea
Exodus 22:7-9
“If a man gives to his neighbor money or goods to keep safe, and it is stolen from the man’s house, then, if the thief is found, he shall pay double. If the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall come near to God to show whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor’s property. For every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a cloak, or for any kind of lost thing, of which one says, ‘This is it,’ the case of both parties shall come before God. The one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor.”
Exodus 22:9 is a nail in the coffin to the notion that biblical justice-theory is primitive and that present justice-theory is progressive. I can’t think of a more graphic proof of our society’s abject regression than this Old Testament civil instructive here. Notice: all arbitration, all judgment, all defense and prosecution for any breach of trust between neighbors is decided by God. No corrupt judges taking bribes behind the scenes. No compromised witnesses with conflicting interests. No prejudiced lawyers obfuscating the truth. And no disingenuous media outlets spinning narratives and smearing one neighbor over the other during the trial.
Oh, how our world needs to get back to this ole’ fashioned justice that depended on God’s wisdom alone! Oh, how we need judges and police officers and district attorneys and prosecutors and preachers and witnesses and jurors and common, everyday saints who run to God for council, whose judgements are founded on the Lord’s uncompromising justice, and whose credentials are not marked by seats of power and special uniforms and unique certifications but by their total dependency on the Spirit for mediation. The more a nation believes it can do justice by replacing God for some novel, highly nuanced theory, the more transgressive that nation will become. The more innocent lives will be demeaned and destroyed. The more the shadow of justice that emanates from Heaven’s throne will no longer bear Heaven’s form, but will just be darkness.
Angry darkness—riotous darkness—hellish darkness. The kind marked by wailing and gnashing of teeth.