Is It Not for You to Know Justice? By Rev. CB Samuel

Some of my most difficult decisions are decision of selecting a leader. What does one look for? Competence, Commitment, Character are some of the key aspects we look for. Seldom have we diligently inquired about a person’s knowledge of justice or his or her inclination towards doing justice. We are again at the valley of decisions. We will soon choose those who’ll lead this nation. What should we look for?

God, speaks through the prophet Micah to those who are the leaders of Israel and Judah, ‘Hear, you heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice? (Micah 3:1). A leader’s one mandate is to ensure justice. They cannot feign ignorance about justice. Whatever be the limitations of a leader it cannot be in knowing and doing what is just. As a nation we must beware of making other important factors, such as freedom, development, economic growth and even nationalism, as the core of our expectations of our leaders.

‘How does Justice look like?’ a young man asked me, after I spoke about the God of the Bible as God of justice. That set me thinking about the biblical images of justice and injustice. For the Bible, especially the prophets, have an exhaustive list of God’s concerns on violations of justice. And as Christians, we should be well informed about these matters which break the heart of God.

Micah’s list is a good beginning.

Injustice is in the coveting of people’s inheritance, their fields and houses. ‘Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand. They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance.’(Micah 2:1-2).

Land has always been a contentious issue, whether in India or elsewhere. The Bible is clear that God sees as injustice the moving of the boundaries and taking of the land, the land of the poor and the fatherless (Proverbs 23:10). Sometimes our enthusiasm for economic growth and development has been at the expense of the tribal.

Injustice is in destruction of trust, the displacement of people and the robbing of childhood. ‘But lately my people have risen up as an enemy; you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly with no thought of war. The women of my people you drive out from their delightful houses; from their young children you take away my splendor forever. (2:8-9).

Our cities even our villages and tribal areas have become places of violence. Those who live trustingly have become victims of the greedy wicked persons. Women have been displaced from their secure homes; children have been sold and abused. And often the followers of Christ have been totally indifferent to these cries.

Injustice is in the exploitation of people, especially in abuse of labour. ‘You who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones, who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron. (3:2-3)

What a heart wrenching description of the exploitation of people! We have seen images of children and adults who have been robbed of their humanity and oppressed by powerful rulers. Manual labourers working in inhuman conditions are a part of our labour force. God is broken with these images of injustice which we have become accustomed to as they are here to stay!

Injustice is in the silencing of truth by purchasing the prophets, the priests and the judges.

‘Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths. (3:5)

‘Paid news’, that is what it is called today. We can’t trust our news; they have been bought. We hear what the rich want us to hear; and in fact the media seems to be at war with those who cannot pay them. This is not new!! Prophets were silenced, the priests taught according to who paid them and even the judges were bribed to give favourable judgements. Micah says that there is an unhealthy nexus of the ‘princes’ and the ‘judges’ (7:3).

‘Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight, who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, “Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.” (3: 9-11)

God does not see our cities as sites of development but as places built with blood and iniquity. The Apocryphal book of Sirach says ‘Someone who brings a sacrifice that comes from the property of the needy is like someone who slaughters a son in the presence of his father. The needy person's bread means life for that poor person; whoever withholds it is a murderer. Whoever takes away a neighbor's living commits murder, and whoever deprives a worker of wages sheds blood. and another tears down; what have they gained other than hard work? (34:24-27).

Injustice is in unfair trading and deceitful markets.

Finally, injustice is also present in the way we do trade.

‘Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed? Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights? Your rich men are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. (6: 10-12).

Today’s society is run by market. And this is a dangerous phenomenon. As Christians we should heed to alternate voices such as the Harvard scholar Michael Sandel who warns us of this trend. A must read is his book ‘What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets’.

May we as followers of Christ know the way of justice so that we can be the light and salt for our society.