Leave ‘FINAL JUSTICE’ into the HANDS of GOD!
February 27
Bible Reading: Deuteronomy Chapters 19-21
Leave ‘FINAL JUSTICE’ into the HANDS of GOD!
"If a false witness rises against any
man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both men in the controversy
shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who serve in
those days. And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the
witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, then
you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put
away the evil from among you. And those who remain shall hear and fear, and
hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. Your eye shall not
pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot
for foot." (Deut 19:16-21)
One of the key elements that is emphasized in the
Old Testament laws is that taking personal
revenge was forbidden for the Israelites (see Lev. 19:18; Deut. 32:35). The
Old Testament laws exacted ‘just’
punishment for all offenses: “life shall
be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot”
(see Exodus 21:23-25). So, for any
offense that was committed in those days, the accuser and the accused were
required to “stand before the Lord,
before the priests and the judges who serve in those days” (v. 17) as the
plaintiff and the defendant.
God’s desire
for us clearly is not to judge others and
exact personal revenge, and this was stressed to a greater degree all
through the New Testament. We are instructed to "repay no one evil for evil" (Romans 12:17). Taking this
a step further, God has told us specifically not to judge others: "Judge
not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be
judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you."
(Matt 7:1-2) Instead, we are required to forgive
others when they wrong us, so that our Heavenly Father will forgive us as
well when we wrong Him (Matt. 6:12, 14-15).
Still taking
this another step further, we are required to repay evil with good, as Jesus tells us not to resist an evil person (Matt. 5:38-42), but rather try to be
perfect as God Himself by loving our enemies, blessing those who curse us,
doing good to those who hate us, and praying for those who spitefully use us
and persecute us (Matt. 5:43-48; 1 Peter 3:9).
As God’s
children, instead of carrying out a personal vendetta against others who wrong
us, we are required to live by Christ-honoring alternatives guided by the Holy
Spirit. We should try our very best to live at peace with everyone (Rom.
12:18), submit to a spiritual mediator within the church (1 Cor. 6:1-6), and
ultimately leave the ‘final justice’
to the hands of authorities who are ordained by God, and God Himself who is
coming soon to “judge the world with
righteousness and the peoples with His truth” (Psalm 96:10, 13).
