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Getting It Done

Monday, August 17th, 2009 | Author: Skip Moen

who executes judgment for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. Psalm 146:7

Executes – Do we really believe God takes care of things for the oppressed? If we knew the Hebrew verb here (‘asah) is a verb that usually means a deliberate action with distinct purpose, would that change our expectations about God’s intervention? Perhaps it would be helpful to realize the oppressed in this verse are not the poor, the downtrodden or the wretched of the earth. In this verse, the root word is ‘ashaq. It means those who have been cheated or exploited or extorted. These people have been defrauded or abused, usually because someone in power took advantage of them. Do you know people who could be described as ‘ashooqim? I certainly do. Pensioners, investors, buyers, mortgage holders, lenders – the list is long. The psalmist tells us that God Himself will bring judgment upon the reprobates responsible for such abuse.

Do you believe that? Do you believe God will take deliberate action for the purpose of bringing judgment on those who defraud others? Of course, that doesn’t mean God will strike down the abusers with lightning bolts. But it does mean God will not allow them to act without consequence. David suggests God’s judgment is one reason why I can hope to God. God is not passive or impassible. He hears my cry and feels my anguish – and He does something about it. I move toward Him in prayer and outcry. He moves toward me in justice and mercy. Those who think they are getting away with it will encounter the God who protects and vindicates the righteous.

But do you really believe this?

It’s so easy to think I have to create my own lightning bolts to rectify things. It’s so easy to discount the invisible God. It’s so easy to take on the operation of judgment myself – “to get even.” The expression itself is Greek. “To get even” implies to set the balance back to zero, to make someone else carry the appropriate weight. But God doesn’t make things “even.” He makes things holy. Perhaps we need to reflect on the difference. Holiness doesn’t always imply a return to the previous distribution, but it always implies redeeming action that glorifies God. Is that what we are looking for?

I believe God executes justice. I believe fraud is a sin (it is, after all, a lie). I believe God is glorified when I take redemptive action on behalf of the oppressed. But I don’t know precisely what that means until I run to Him for guidance. And that implies movement over and over and over again until I meet Him on the road.

Let the journey to righteousness begin, Lord.

Topical Index: executes, oppressed, ‘asah, ‘ashaq, defraud, judgment, Psalm 146:7

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Breaking All The Rules

Monday, July 13th, 2009 | Author: Skip Moen

“Let YHWH judge between me and you.”   Genesis 16:5

Judge – “What consumes the word of covenant.”  How can this imagery be true of the Hebrew word shaphat (Shin-Pey-Tau)?  This word picture must be wrong.  Isn’t judging about restoration?  Didn’t we just learn that mishpat (from shaphat) is intended to bring reconciliation?  Stop.  Think about this.  Think deeply.  In what way does the action of judging consume a covenant?

When I make a covenant, I obligate myself to behave in ways prescribed by the agreement.  In other words, I promise to do something.  As long as I maintain my obligation, there is no need for a judgment.  The covenant remains undisturbed.  But what happens when I do not keep my promise?  Now there is a need for judgment.  The very fact that judgment surfaces in a covenant relationship means that the covenant has been or could be broken.  Therefore, judgment itself consumes what the covenant established.  This is exactly what Sarah implies in her statement.  “You, Abraham, have broken faith with me.  You have acted against our agreement.  Now God will judge between us.” 

But what about God’s covenant with His people.  Since God made the covenant with Himself, there is never any possibility that the Abrahamic covenant will be broken.  Judgment will never be executed against the parties of that covenant.  But this is not the only covenant God made.  On Sinai, God made a covenant with His people.  It is a covenant between two parties – one party is God, the other is the people of Israel.   All the people swear to uphold their part of the agreement by being obedient to God’s instructions.  The Mosaic covenant is a covenant about blessings and curses.  It is a covenant about the purpose of God’s people on earth, not the presence of God’s people on earth.  That purpose is to act in such a way that His people become a nation of priests.  And that requires obedience.

When God’s people are not obedient, they fail to uphold their part of the Mosaic covenant.  Their failure does not jeopardize the covenant with Abraham.  It can’t.  Only God is party to the Abrahamic covenant.  Judgment comes on the basis of the failure to uphold the Mosaic covenant.  That judgment acknowledges the breaking of the covenant for the purpose of restoring it.  The Abrahamic covenant never needs to be restored because it cannot be broken, but the covenant of blessings and curses is often broken and often needs restoration.  Therefore, the judgment that consumes the word of the covenant is the means by which the covenant of purpose is renewed.

You and I are members of both covenants.  Our father is Abraham because we have been adopted through Yeshua HaMashiach.  But we are also part of the Kingdom that God established at Sinai.  Therefore, we are governed by the rules of the King.  Paul reminds us that our previous disobedience has been turned aside so that we may enter into the covenant of purpose without hesitation.  The gracious God who saved us now brings us obedience through His Spirit.  What a day for celebration.  Judgment has been fulfilled – twice!

Topical Index:  shaphat, mishpat, judge, judgment, Genesis 16:5, covenant

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Hebrew Thinking

Sunday, July 12th, 2009 | Author: Skip Moen

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  Romans 8:1

Condemnation – So, now you know that the Greek word katakrima is about a judicial pronouncement of guilt.  In Greek, Paul tells us that we are not one bit guilty.  We are not judged worthy of death.  But what would that mean to Paul’s audience, an audience that was schooled in Hebrew thought patterns?

The investigation reveals that katakrino is related to the Hebrew mishpat.  That changes everything!  Why?  Because the Hebrew mishpat means both “to judge” and “to rule.”  Maybe that doesn’t sound too startling, but the impact becomes clear when we realize that in Hebrew thought the purpose of judging is not to reach an unalterable verdict but rather to restore a relationship.  Look at Genesis 16:5 or Isaiah 2:4 or 1 Samuel 8:20.  Grace and rescue go hand-in-hand with the process of judgment.  To rule is to provide mercy. 

How can this be?  Isn’t condemnation a sign of exclusion?  Doesn’t it mean that I am removed from the camp (or society)?  Of course it does.  But that isn’t the end of the story.  Since all law is ultimately God’s law, the purpose of judgment is to restore the guilty to right relationship.  All of God’s judicial decisions serve His covenant promises.  What God wants is relationship.  Punishment never serves the ultimate purpose of the covenant.  It may be the inevitable consequence of refusing God’s offer of covenant peace, but it is not God’s desire.  Condemnation must serve a higher purpose – to be restored.

This Hebrew point-of-view changes the way we look at Paul’s declaration.  No condemnation is not simply the removal of deserved punishment.  It is first and foremost the restoration of relationship.  Not to be condemned means one thing above all else – peace with God!  The Law serves its real salvation purpose only when it brings me to the end of myself and I recognize that I stand guilty before the Holy One.  At that moment, the Law has done its job, and at that same moment, mishpat points me toward restoration.  I give up on myself as the source of my worthiness and I discover that the same Law that brought me to the end of myself is now the signpost toward reconciliation.  What condemned me now becomes the vehicle for what rules me in my restored relationship.  Mishpat is “the gracious revelation of God which is the basis of his relationship not merely to the chosen people but to all peoples.”[1]

The covenant (and all its implications) is never far from Paul’s mind.  It cannot be far from ours either.  Judgment and rule go together.  My condemnation serves as the doorway toward my restoration and in reconciliation I am once more ruled by the very thing that revealed my sin.  Isn’t God great?  Who could have ever thought this up but Him?

Topical Index: condemnation, katakrima, mishpat, rule, judgment, Romans 8:1, Genesis 16:5


 

[1] Herntrich, TDNT, Vol. III.

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