Witnesses, attorneys, judges, and jurors have had their say regarding justice this week. Neither was God silent:
"But let justice roll down like waters, And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24
In Amos 5, God told the prophet to tell the people (and you and I) to keep your worship and offerings this Sunday; the noise of your anthems and the sound of your harps. Unless your justice rolls like mine, I will not accept your church.
What is that justice, that mishpat? It is divinely righteous action, whether it be of man or God, that promotes equality, uplifting the righteous, and denouncing the promoters of hate.
Who is called to do this justice? Look to the major verb of Amos 5:24—let justice roll—nd its mood. Grammatical mood shows the action of a verb from the speaker’s point of view. Here, the speaker—God—His point of view is that of a sovereign God giving a command. The command to His wayward people is to “let justice roll”. They had dammed up righteousness and turned off the spigot of fairness to the whole expanse of the social order. Many were disenfranchised, left out. God expects His people to be full participants and recipients of His justice. Mishpat is not a suggestion. It is a command.
And how is this justice to be administer? Justice is to be a continuous flow. It is not to flow like the mighty Mississippi one day, then ebb to a trickle like a drying wadi the next, as it suits men and their motives. Justice is not intermittent, but an ever-flowing, mighty stream.
The fact that God had to admonish His people for their inconsistent justice, and command them to do justice without interruption and partiality, tells us that mishpat may not always be on everyone’s agenda on this side of terra firma. But justice will have its day.
12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Revelation 20:12-13
As we dress up in our finest this Sunday, tune up our Hammond organs for passionate praise and worship, and power up our power points for poignant preaching, know this, Church: Unless we open up the dammed-up gates of justice to let it flow and flood everywhere over everyone, God is not accepting your worship noise and sacred anthems.
Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. Amos 5:23
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