I watched another video clip of people marching in the streets. Some raised their voices together in responsive chants. Others walked silently with posters expressing their views, their demands and their concerns. One poster, above all others, caught my eye.
But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! - Amos 5:24
I have seen that particular Scripture verse show up at multiple marches.
I used to think this Scripture verse was rather clear & precise, but two conversations I have had recently left me concerned about how people today understand justice. One conversation produced the observation, “I am so glad more churches are embracing social justice.” Just a few days later, during another conversation I heard, “I am concerned that our church has gotten caught up in this social justice stuff.” If you do an internet search on the phrase “social justice”, you will find some who praise it, while others condemn it to the fires of hell. I don’t propose to deal here with that wide range of opinion. I do know this: while the term ‘justice’ occurs hundreds of times in the Bible, the descriptive phrase “social justice” does not appear in the Bible (the noun ‘justice’ being modified by the adjectival use of ‘social’ in English translation or Hebrew texts or Greek texts).
However, the words ‘justice/judgment’ occur hundreds of times in our English language Bibles, depending on which translation/version we prefer.
KJV judgment 285x justice 28x
RSV judgment 160x justice 121x
NIV judgment 128x justice 132x
NLT judgment 173x justice 171x
Along with Amos, the Hebrew prophets often included the word ‘justice’ in their prophecies.
“Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” - Is. 30:18
“ . . . but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” - Jer. 9:24
“For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. You oppress the righteous and take bribes and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts.” - Amos 5:12
“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly [to do justice] and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” - Mic. 6:8
“Therefore, the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.” - Hab. 1:4
“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.” - Zech. 7:9
“So, I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me,” says the LORD Almighty.” - Mal. 3:5
“Therefore, I cut you in pieces with my prophets, I killed you with the words of my mouth; my judgments flashed like lightning upon you.” - Hos. 6:5
“O LORD, are you not from everlasting? My God, my Holy One, we will not die.
O LORD, you have appointed them to execute judgment;
O Rock, you have ordained them to punish.” - Hab. 1:12
In each of these verses from the prophets, whether the English says ‘justice’ or ‘judgment’, the Hebrew text uses the term we would pronounce mishpat.
Depending upon context, mishpat can mean: judgment, verdict, determination, justice, build up, govern, rule, just, right, ordinance, decree, command, court/place of justice. In its various forms as noun, mishpat appears 425 times in 407 verses of the Hebrew Scriptures. The verbal form shaphat appears 204 times in 182 verses of the Old Testament. At the heart of both the Hebrew verb and noun is the intent of God to build up, not to tear down. The application of mishpat within the legal judicial system is to judge each person on the evidential merits of the case before them, regardless of ethnicity (Hebrew or goyim) or of socio-economic status (rich or poor). All persons who commit the same crime should be given the same punishment. The guilty should be punished and the innocent should be acquitted. Since Yahweh was fully aware of the human tendency to bend toward wickedness, He often prompted the prophets to identify particular people groups who needed special attention to be protected from unjust treatment.
But mishpat was not limited to the areas of punishment and acquittal, it could also mean that God wants people to be given the rights that He accords to them. Yahweh instructed that the priests who served at the tabernacle should be supported by a certain percentage of the people’s income. This financial support was called the ‘mishpat of the priests’, which means what is their due or their right.
“This is the share (mishpat) due the priests from the people who sacrifice a bull or a sheep: the shoulder, the jowls and the inner parts.” - Deut. 18:3
When Moses revealed aspects of the LORD in his song, he sang:
“I will proclaim the Name of Yahweh. Praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just (mishpat). A faithful God who does no wrong, upright (tzadiq) and just (yashar) is he.” - Deut. 32:3-4
The Psalms display Yahweh as the judge who protects the rights of the innocent, as He makes righteous verdicts.
“For you have upheld my right (mishpat) and my cause; you have sat on your throne, judging (shophat) righteously.” - Psalm 9:4
Yahweh’s throne exists (in part) for the purpose of determining right from wrong in order to be a refuge for those wrongfully oppressed (Ps. 9:9), while declaring punishment upon those who are wicked (v.5).
“The LORD reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment (mishpat).” - Psa. 9:7
The LORD desires His children, and those who lead them to habitually practice doing what is right and doing what is just.
“For I have chosen him [Abraham], so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right (tzedaqah) and just (mishpat), so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” - Gen. 18:19
Of the 425 occurrences of the noun in the Old Testament, the Hebrew prophets used the noun mishpat 145 times in 136 verses. Mishpat, in these contexts is giving to people what they are properly due, whether by punishment for crimes or protection from injustice or support in time of need. The LORD commanded the kings of Israel & Judah administer justice from a position of righteousness.
“O house of David, this is what the LORD says: “ ‘Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done— burn with no one to quench it.’ ” - Jer. 21:12
“David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just (mishpat) and right (tzedaqah) for all his people.” - 2Sam. 8:15
“Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right;” - Mic. 3:9
“By justice (mishpat) a king gives a country stability, but one who is greedy for bribes tears it down. [extracting from others for personal gain, status or power] - Prov. 29:4
“See, a king will reign in righteousness and rulers will rule with justice.” - Is. 32:1
Yahweh watched as king after king failed to obey His commandments, so God promised to send The Messianic King who eventually would:
“Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” - Is. 9:7
Until that prophecy is fulfilled, the people of God are to be living a life that is good and pleasing in the eyes of the LORD.
“He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly [to do mishpat] and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.” - Mic. 6:8
Yes, this is true within the legal court system, but also in our neighborhoods, our families and throughout society at large. Mishpat should be a virtuous discipline in our lives, both public and private.
“See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her— but now murderers!” - Is. 1:21
“The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.” - Is. 5:7
“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.” - Is. 10:1:2
“For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them.” - Is. 61:8
“Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.” - Amos 5:15
When I see a Bible verse quoted on a poster in the middle of any public setting, I am glad to see the LORD’s Word proclaimed in the midst of the chaos of this world. I also hope the modern use stands firmly upon the original context, for words only have meaning in context. The Hebrew prophet Amos wrote around 760 B.C., less than forty years before the nation of Israel would fall under the conquest and exile of Assyria. Assyria had already been the powerful oppressor threatening to destroy the smaller nations of the eastern Mediterranean for the past generation. For a short period, the Assyrian empire had internal conflicts that resulted in troops being pulled back from Israel’s borders. During that season, the Israeli crops did well, the markets flourished and import/export business thrived. The religious and national leaders interpreted their booming economy and secure borders as sure evidence that they were pleasing to Yahweh and that is why He blessed them so.
God raised up Amos to expose the delusion of Israel, for Yahweh was going to bring complete ruin to Israel for her disloyalty to the Mosaic covenant, for practicing multiple religions at the same time, for withholding justice from the innocent and for withholding mercy from the poor.
Amos 5:10 “How you hate honest judges! How you despise people who tell the truth. 11 You trample the poor, stealing their grain through taxes and unfair rent. Therefore, though you build beautiful stone houses, you will never live in them. Though you plant lush vineyards, you will never drink wine from them. 12 For I know the vast number of your sins and the depth of your rebellions. You oppress good people by taking bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.”
Amos 5:21 “I hate all your show and pretense— the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. 23 Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. 24 Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.”
The two disciplines that will transform the people’s hypocritical worship into worship acceptable to God are “justice” and “righteousness.” “Justice” and “righteousness” (mishpat & tzedaqah) relate to the day-to-day social order. Only when personal attention to Yahweh’s justice is incorporated into their social structure and “rightness” characterizes their dealings with others will their worship be acceptable. A momentary practice of justice and righteousness will not do. I might try to call this “righteous justice”, or God’s justice in our society. If this is what people mean today when they use the phrase ‘social justice’, then I want to promote it, practice it, and proclaim it as truth. Therefore, I commend a Biblical understanding of mishpat as the justice that the God of the Bible expects His righteous ones to practice in our lives, our families, our churches and in our participation with government/politics. Those of us who confess a faith in Jesus should live a life of righteous justice in society. In other words, the justice of Yahweh demonstrated by us in our social context = Biblical social justice.
Amos 5:14 Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed. 15 Hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the LORD God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people.
Like the full commitment to “good” called for in 5:14-15, justice and righteousness are to “roll on like a river, ... like a never-failing stream.” This is one of the great metaphors in the Bible and one that the church needs to ponder. A momentary flow of justice and righteousness will not do; these virtues are to be maintained in our social order like a river that does not dry up with summer heat.