In 1983, three teens were arrested for the murder of a fourteen-year-old. According to news reports, the younger teen was “shot . . . because of his [athletic] jacket.” Sentenced to life in prison, the three spent thirty-six years behind bars before evidence surfaced that revealed their innocence. Another man had committed the crime. Before the judge released them as free men, he issued an apology.
No matter how hard we try (and no matter how much good is done by our officials), human justice is often flawed. We never have all the information. Sometimes dishonest people manipulate the facts. Sometimes we’re just wrong. And often, evils may take years to be righted, if they ever are in our lifetime. Thankfully, unlike fickle humans, God wields perfect justice. “His works are perfect,” says Moses, “and all his ways are just” (Deuteronomy 32:4). God sees things as they truly are. In time, after we’ve done our worst, God will bring about final, ultimate justice. Though uncertain of the timing, we have confidence because we serve a “faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he” (v. 4).
We may be dogged by uncertainty regarding what’s right or wrong. We may fear that the injustices done to us or those we love will never be made right. But we can trust the God of justice to one day—either in this life or the next—enact justice for us.
By Winn Collier
REFLECT & PRAY
Where have you seen justice abused or misrepresented? Where does your heart cry out for God to bring justice?
God, I see injustice all around me: in the news, in my relationships, on social media. Thank You for the hope I can have in You and Your just ways.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Much of the book of Deuteronomy (which means “second law”) consists of Moses’ farewell address to the children of Israel, including a recitation of the law that the nation had agreed to forty years earlier at Mount Sinai. At this point, Moses had been leading the nation since their departure from Egypt four decades earlier, but most of the adults who’d been present at Sinai were no longer alive. As such, a repeating of the covenant was very appropriate. This farewell isn’t a victory celebration, however. Soon the people of Israel would enter the promised land—but Joshua, not Moses, would lead them. Moses was prohibited from entering because of an event of spiritual failure during the wilderness wanderings (Numbers 20:12–13). The book that begins with Israel at the Jordan, ready to start a new life, ends with Moses’ death and Joshua’s rise to leadership.
Bill Crowder
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