Justice: God, Nations, and Systems

Why a Book on Justice? Whether reading in the Pentateuch, the books of history, the prophets or the teachings of Jesus, Justice is the central ethical message of importance that runs throughout the Bible. A fact attested to by some 2,000 justice related verses dealing with: poverty, homelessness, employment, immigration issues, and political, religious, economic and judicial corruption. Why Justice as it Relates to Nations? Nations consists of systems (governmental, judicial, economic, political, social etc.), institutions (banks, hospitals, schools, law enforcement etc.) and leaders, the people who run them. Nations are only as strong and moral as it's systems, institutions and leaders are just. God desires a society where, "a mighty flood of justice and an endless river of righteous living" (Amos 5:24 NLT) would saturate the people and the systems which govern their lives. Why Be Concerned With Systemic Injustice? When injustice infects nations to the point where oppression and exploitation are institutionalized, thereby becoming systemic, God in the absence of repentance, destroys those oppressive systems (political, economic, religious, judicial, military etc.) which often leads to the fall of that nation. God does so because systemic evil is far greater than personal evil in its capacity to destroy the souls of men. The Egyptians of the Bible, the Roman Empire, Nazi Germany, and Slavery of the Confederate States of the South all serve as examples of the evil and consequences of Systemic Injustice. The Redemptive Power of Justice! God is not only interested in the redemption of the souls of men, but also in the redemption of the systems which govern their souls. Justification, a grace of God, redeems the soul. Justice, the duty of nations, redeems the systems of nations. Therefore the redemptive story of Justice in the Bible is how well nations, systems, institutions and the men and women who ran them would, "do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God" (Micah 6:8).