Pathways Press.com

Written by Emma Tweitmann, a contemporary writer and marketing coordinator.  This is an excerpt from the book “A Beautiful Year in the Bible.”

Western views of justice are primarily focused on how things should be done—laws, rules, and what should happen when laws are broken. In Hebrew thought, justice is focused on what life should be like. Justice is not a balance sheet on which enough “good” cancel out the “bad.” Rather, what matters are the intentions of our hearts. Are we actively pursuing good? When we make a mistake, do we work to make it right?…God’s justice is about bringing creation back into tune. Those who were abandoned are found and nourished. Those who did wrong are corrected and given the chance to learn from their mistakes. It is not about “earning” a reward or restoration – redemption is offered for God’s glory and the good of the world. Justice is the means through which God moves us all back toward Shalom… Let us lift up our voices to champion the divine vision for creation defined by peace, reconciliation, and care.

I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy.^[a] I will feed them in justice. [Ezekiel 34:16]