Righteousness and Social Justice.

This is part of an email I was sent tonight. Because I’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t had much mental space for blogging, but I did think this was worth posting:


Righteousness and Social Justice
One of the main themes of the Bible is righteousness. One dimension of righteousness is that we repent of our sins and do what is right. A parallel dimension of righteousness is that we are cleansed of guilt by the atoning blood of Yeshua (Jesus).
These two “halves” of righteousness can be seen in Abel, who was the first “righteous” man. He was righteous because of the blood sacrifices that he brought before God.

Hebrews 11:4 – By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts.
He was also righteous because of his good deeds.

I John 3:7, 12 – Let no one deceive you. He who does righteousness is righteous.
Cain was of the evil one and murdered his brother. Why did he murder his brother? Because his deeds were evil and his brother’s deeds were righteous.
We need to see both sides of righteousness. Believing in blood atonement without a demand for repentance and right actions is deception; attempting to do good deeds without the intervening grace of God is vain.

Righteousness also comes in a third dimension: social justice. Social justice is extremely important in the Bible, and is often ignored by modern preachers. Social justice is determined primarily by judges in the courts. The foundational rule of social justice is very simple: convict the wrongdoers and acquit the innocent.

Deuteronomy 25:1 – Approach the court that the judges will judge them. They will justify the righteous and condemn the wicked.

If the biblical principle of justice is so simple – convict the wrongdoers and acquit the innocent, so is the biblical principle of injustice simple as well: convict the innocent and acquit the wrongdoers.

Proverbs 17:15 – He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them are an abomination of the Lord.

Moral justice is a foundation of the kingdom of God. David was chosen by God to be king, not only for his faith and psalm-writing, but for his righteousness in running the government.

II Samuel 8:15 – David ruled over all Israel and David did justice and righteousness for all his people.

The mistake can be made on either side. We can be too “light” on criminals, or we can be “condemning” of those who have not done wrong.

In Israel today, five major government leaders are under criminal charges: Former Prime Minister Olmert is being indicted; current foreign minister Liberman is under investigation; former president Katsav has been charged with sexual abuse; two cabinet members, Benizri and Hirshzorn, went to prison this week.

Some would say that the federal prosecutors are “head hunting,” trumping up charges to attack these leaders for political reasons. Others would say that corruption is finally being purged out of the government. In either case, a new “fear” of being caught for corruption is certainly spreading throughout the Israeli political system.

Igniter Media.

Subscribe. They’ve got some really good stuff from both the comedy side and the serious.

Here’s a serious one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNLYW13177g

I think when we watch this video and also watch what’s happening to the world around us, it’s important to ask the question: “Who is this G-d that I serve?” There’s no denying that He’s real or that He’s in control. It’s not about how WE PERCEIVE G-d, it’s all about WHO HE REALLY IS.

Just a thought.

Righteousness.

After a discussion about righteousness on Thursday, I felt the need to go look up the word to make sure I knew what I was talking about (actually a really good idea!).

Wikipedia was the first on the google search, and it came up with some interesting facts about the word. I learnt a few things, such as how righteousness is important to not only Christianity, but also to Judaism and Islam. “It is an attribute that implies that a person's actions are justified, and can have the connotation that the person has been "judged" or "reckoned" as leading a life that is pleasing to God.” I find it interesting that another god demands righteous living.

Also, there was a man called William Tyndale who came up with the word righteous from a previous, silly looking word that would take me forever to learn how to pronounce. In modern language it would mean something like, “rightwise” or “rightways”. I later looked up Tyndale on Wiki and he is pretty interesting himself. He came up with many “christianese” words and phrases such as: Jehovah (yes, I thought this was a Jewish word, but apparently not. Don’t tell the JWs...), atonement, scapegoat, passover, “let there be light”, “the powers that be”, “the salt of the earth” and my personal favorite; “the signs of the times” ( I have a thing for phrases that rhyme..) among others. In fact, check out his Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Tyndale.

Anyways, as I was reading along, this line really hit me. “In the Book of Job the title character is introduced to us as a person who is "perfect" in righteousness. This does not mean that he is sinless."Perfect" in this sense means that his righteousness permeates every relationship of his life as his working principle.” For some reason, this brings the word a little closer to earth, a little easier to attain. So what does it mean to let righteousness permeate every relationship?

According to some concordance that Wiki found, it means “’tzedek’ —righteous, integrity, equity, justice, straightness. The root of tseh'-dek is tsaw-dak', —upright, just, straight, innocent, true, sincere. It is best understood as the product of upright, moral action in accordance with some form of divine plan.” Notice that this is what G-d was trying to achieve out of His people when he gave His Law. How can we separate the Old Testament laws with the New Testament’s teachings? It’s all trying to attain the same thing: Righteous living. Imagine if everyone lived this way!

So, basically, taking all that upright, innocent, true and sincere living, focusing and purposing it towards being just and full of integrity while going after the heart of G-d and following His plan and ta-da! Righteousness.

Easier said than done.

So how did Job do it? I don’t know. So I’m gonna go through Job and look for it and get back to you, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have the magical formula written in chapter something, verse whatever.

From another, just as important perspective, G-d is talked about as being righteous. (Nehemiah 9:8b “And you have fulfilled Your promise, for You are righteous.”) There is no way that we can call Him our saviour without Him being righteous. There’s no way we could trust Him to be a holy G-d if He wasn’t righteous.

He stands for justice - He is our Judge - He must be righteous.
He was punished even though he was innocent - They couldn’t find fault with Him (Mark 14:55) - He must be righteous.
He was filled with purpose and was following a Divine Plan - He must be righteous.
He is sincere in His love for people - He came to redeem sinners - He must be righteous.

I don’t know. There is so much more to say and discover and go through, but this blog will get insanely long if I keep going. Keep the interest up by googling “Righteousness” yourself! It shows many verses and perspectives. Wiki, as usual, has probably the best grip on explanations; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Righteousness. Job is my next stop.

Q: What is your favorite Bible verse about worship and why?

As I started to think about that question that I will have to answer in front of people (gulp) in about 7 hours (double gulp), my first thought was the verse in Revelation 4:8 which says:

"And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, 'HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND IS AND WHO IS TO COME.'"

No jokes, that last part, in my Bible at least, is all in cap lock. Perhaps because it is important and therefore, needs to stand out a little more. Or perhaps, and this is just an idea of mine, these creatures are so big and so incredible that what they say can only be written in larger letters because their voices are booming across the heavens, and to make it smaller wouldn't accurately portray what is happening. Maybe both reasons are relevant.

But the part of this verse that has always stood out to me concentrates on the part that goes: "and day and night they do not cease to say..." They do not cease. As in, never ever forever. That means right now, while you're reading this on the computer, when you're on the bus going to that place you don't like, at 3am when you're asleep ((...well, when you probably should be asleep...)). When you're buying that cheeseburger for that homeless guy or when you're looking at stuff on the internet that you know you shouldn't. Before the throne of G-D, four weird and amazing creatures who can only be describe in similes that compare them with animals, with eyes that see everything around them and inside them are BOOMING; "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME."

Reading or hearing this can only make me think about the eternity that we're currently living in. And how G-d can see all of it spanning out, though it has no end, and no beginning for Him who created us. Actually, in all honesty, even that's too much for me to think about in detail. On a smaller scale I like to think about how there are always people praying, every minute across planet Earth. Because I know there are houses designed for 24/7 prayer in certain places ((www.fotb.com for more info)) I can be assured of this. Besides that, it is always daytime at some place on the planet, meaning the chances are higher for someone, somewhere to be praying, even while I'm sleeping. That thought alone is incredibly encouraging!! But then, when we read this verse in Revelation, and others like it that allude to the same thought, not only is there always someone communing with G-d somewhere on Earth, but there are creatures in Heaven who are also going at it with all their strange beings. There's the connection, "on Earth as it is in Heaven."

This piece of scripture speaks to me about worship because I believe that G-d is worthy of worship at all times, by everything. The most awesome worship is when everyone and everything is united and focused.

The next Hollywood block-buster thriller!

After watching "The Happening" and pretty much hating it, I've found a better thriller story for Hollywood to produce. I can imagine it would be a hit! If only they could work in a clever joke about a pharmacy trip...haha.

1 Samuel 5 ((The Message-cuz it's good for storytelling plus some additional director thoughts by me...))

Threatened with Mass Death

((The opening scene. There has just been a major battle between Israel and the Philistines. You see the bodies of many men in armor laying on the ground through fog. Daunting music plays to show the audience that the battle did not go well for our friends.))

1-2 Once the Philistines had seized the Chest of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod, brought it into the shrine of Dagon, and placed it alongside the idol of Dagon.

((Camera angles up and follows a train of Philistine carrying the Ark up a dusty hill with some sad, Middle East sounding music in the background. Follows them into a temple of Dagon. Camera angles up on Dagon to show how they regard him with respect and think he's amazingly powerful. Music builds to a climax and suddenly cuts to the next scene, which may look like a party in the king's court or something. After all, they did just defeat Israel.))

3-5 Next morning when the citizens of Ashdod got up, they were shocked to find Dagon toppled from his place, flat on his face before the Chest of God. They picked him up and put him back where he belonged. ((May cut to a meeting with the priests, discussing the happening, but deciding it was just a fluke, just to take some artistic license and to make the movie last a bit longer...)) First thing the next morning they found him again, toppled and flat on his face before the Chest of God. Dagon's head and arms were broken off, strewn across the entrance. Only his torso was in one piece. (That's why even today, the priests of Dagon and visitors to the Dagon shrine in Ashdod avoid stepping on the threshold.)

((Rumbling noise is heard. Confusion all around. I'm thinking of clips kind of like from "The Prince of Egypt" when the plagues are happening, but with tumors and rats.))

6 God was hard on the citizens of Ashdod. He devastated them by hitting them with tumors. This happened in both the town and the surrounding neighborhoods. He let loose rats among them. Jumping from ships there, rats swarmed all over the city! And everyone was deathly afraid.

((Another long meeting of arguments among priests. Insert lots of shouting as some would have probably wanted to keep the Ark and try to persuade G-d to use His divine power against their enemies...after all, the Ark was pretty much housing an insane amount of power!))

7-8 When the leaders of Ashdod saw what was going on, they decided, "The chest of the god of Israel has got to go. We can't handle this, and neither can our god Dagon." They called together all the Philistine leaders and put it to them: "How can we get rid of the chest of the god of Israel?"

The leaders agreed: "Move it to Gath." So they moved the Chest of the God of Israel to Gath.

9 But as soon as they moved it there, God came down hard on that city, too. It was mass hysteria! He hit them with tumors. Tumors broke out on everyone in town, young and old.

((Same kind of thing again...))

10-12 So they sent the Chest of God on to Ekron, but as the Chest was being brought into town, the people shouted in protest, "You'll kill us all by bringing in this Chest of the God of Israel!" They called the Philistine leaders together and demanded, "Get it out of here, this Chest of the God of Israel. Send it back where it came from. We're threatened with mass death!" For everyone was scared to death when the Chest of God showed up. God was already coming down very hard on the place. Those who didn't die were hit with tumors. All over the city cries of pain and lament filled the air.

And in typical thriller style, you have the few who survive and start trying to mend their lives. The sun comes out as they hitch the Ark to some cows and send it away. I was trying to find an amazing plot twist, but to be honest, G-d is just too cool for that. Read chapter 6 for the sequel!! =).

Yes, you can quote me.

Think about this: The Kingdom of G-d - "The extraordinary normality".

Yes, I can be deep. =).
I want to go camping.

Interesting.

Well, I still haven't bought my MacJournal, so this blog is being written old-skool! =). ((But not as far back as to waste innocent trees and cramp up my hand...))

In addition to my summer reading I have decided to trek my way through 1st and 2nd Samuel and 1st and 2nd Kings. I started yesterday morning over breakfast, feeling slightly confused and cynical with myself about why I had chosen these particular books. Don't get me wrong, I totally love the stories and yes, I've been told they're more than just non-fiction stories-they have relevance to every day life. Uh huh. Well, let's see what we find then, aye?

To my surprise, I actually found something I thought was pretty profound! In the first chapter!

So, if you don't know, the first chapter of 'The First Book of Samuel' ((that's what my Bible calls it)) is about Elkanah and his two wives, Hannah and Peninnah ((are you seeing the same trend I'm seeinnah..)). Peninnah has tons of children; Hannah's womb has been closed. Peninnah chooses to be a [insert nasty word here] to Hannah because of her lack of children. That's the sitch.

So every year they travel as a family to the city to sacrifice animals and worship G-d ((they lived in the country)) and Hannah would get really depressed and wouldn't eat because this is when Peninnah would "provoke her bitterly to irritate her,"-1:6. Of course her hubby gets concerned and asks "Am I not better to you than ten sons?"-1:8. And at this point I'm thinking her husband is silly, not only for choosing to have two wives who obviously can't get along, but he asks silly questions too!

Anyways, we're getting to the profound bit...Hannah goes to the temple of the Lord to weep and pray because she wants a son so badly. Eli the priest comes and thinks she drunk, but she says she was just praying ((hmmm, why is it that everyone thinks Spirit-filled people are drunk? See Acts 2:13)). He apologizes and blesses her saying, "Go in peace; and may the G-d of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him." Then she goes and sleeps with her husband and nine months later has a baby whom she calls Samuel.

Okay, so after all that background, here's the cool bit. After Samuel has been weaned she takes him to the temple and gives him to the priest so he can grow up in the temple, worshiping G-d, just like she promised. And then in chapter 2 she has this amazing song of thanksgiving that has no bitterness or self pity in it. This is what struck me, she had a different agenda than what is obvious. If I was in her position, I would have gone and prayed for a child too, I may have even taken him to the temple for a little while, but all that would have been to prove my strength. 'I was a barren woman and now I have a child that I can rub in Peninnah's face because she was wrong about me.' or 'I prayed and G-d listened to me and gave me what I wanted so I could be restored in my family.'

However, Hannah caught on to something better than that. She wasn't trying to prove her strength, she was proving G-d's. That's the only conclusion I can come to when I see how she not only went to Him first, but offered her son, what she wanted most, her passion, her restoration, her everything to G-d. And then rejoiced about it. She rejoiced about the hardest thing a mother would ever have to do, because G-d got the glory. Interesting.