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The filet mignon of the word, part 8, Equality and Justice

There is a tendency among nations and empires to treat people unequally. Inequality establishes fundamental injustice, because it creates a privileged class of people that others do not enjoy. Privilege is rooted in self-interest. When privilege is entrenched as a religious principle, it fails to fulfill the Abrahamic mandate to be a blessing to all nations and to every family in the earth.

Most of the people of Israel and Judah did not seem to comprehend their responsibility to bless all nations. Their conquest of Canaan under the Old Covenant caused most of the religious class to despise idolaters instead of showing them the light of divine revelation. By the time of Christ, this attitude was deeply ingrained in the culture of Judea and Galilee.

By contrast, Jesus’ ministry fulfilled the prophecy of “a great light” that was to be seen in “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Isaiah 9:1, 2). The purpose and result of this light was to “multiply the nation” (Isaiah 9:3) and thereby extend the government of Christ. Isaiah 9:7 says,

⁷ There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

This is not a prophecy about increasing the number of Israel’s slaves but of enlightening the idolaters so that they may become equal citizens of Israel under Christ. What is being established is “justice and righteousness,” not oppression. Jesus’ example proves this point, because He was equally concerned for the enlightenment of Samaritans, Romans, Phoenicians, and Greeks.

When Judah failed to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant, God stripped them of the dominion mandate and gave it to four empires in Daniel 7. It is not that God expected those nations to do any better, of course, but He showed forth the principle of equal justice for all.

The four empires in Daniel 7 were pictured as beasts, predators. Even King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was judged when God made him go insane. He ate grass like the beasts for a period of seven years. “All flesh is grass” (Isaiah 40:6). Beasts devour the people. This characterizes carnal empires as they conquer their neighbors to gain personal comfort, wealth, and power. Empires conquer by force, because other nations would not otherwise want to be dominated by beasts.

The Kingdom of God is different. It is ruled by love and justice. Christ does not forcibly conquer the nations. He sets forth the example of righteousness that gains their respect and admiration, causing them to desire to be ruled by such a righteous King. Unfortunately, many Christians do not seem to understand this, for their eschatological view suggests that Christ will come the second time as a military conqueror to force the nations to submit to His rule.

But Jesus Christ is not a beast, nor is His Kingdom another beast empire. He conquers the hearts of men and nations by love and by doing good. He earned His right to rule by demonstrating His love to the world, as Paul wrote in Romans 5:7-10,

⁷ For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners [including idolaters], Christ died for us… ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

How will this work out in history? John saw a vision of the end in Revelation 5:9, 10, and 13,

⁹ And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals, for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. ¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth… ¹³ And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

The rulers are the overcomers, the remnant of grace, those “chosen” (Romans 11:7) to fulfill the responsibilities of the Abrahamic covenant. Overcomers form a cross-section of humanity as a whole. They come “from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” The king of Babylon actually employed the same principle by taking a few from each of the conquered nations, training them (as with Daniel and his three friends) to be the liaison between their own people and the Babylonian government.

Equality of Justice and Love

Numbers 15:14-16 says,

¹⁴ If an alien sojourns with you, or one who may be among you throughout your generations, and he wishes to make an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the Lord, just as you do so he shall do. ¹⁵ As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the alien who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the alien be before the Lord. ¹⁶ There is to be one law and one ordinance for you and for the alien who sojourns with you.

The laws of God apply equally to all citizens of the Kingdom. Such equality was mandated in the time of Moses and not merely by Jesus Christ. The Jews in Jesus’ day did not believe this. And every time a modern Christian claims that the Jews are God’s chosen people on account of their supposed genealogical connection to Abraham, they show that they too lack understanding. In the days of Elijah there were only 7,000 Israelites who were chosen (Romans 11:3-5). Their status was not based on genealogy but upon their faith.

The law above was given through Moses, and Jesus believed it, even though He was raised in the ultra-nationalist town of Nazareth, which was a precursor to the modern “settler movement” today in Palestine. The law of God mandates equal justice. There is no room for two laws to govern different ethnicities in the Kingdom of God.

Leviticus 19:33-36 restates this law of equality in a different manner.

³³ When a stranger [alien] resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. ³⁴ The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

Not only were aliens to be treated with equal justice but this law is the basis of the second great commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 19:19). Aliens are to be loved as much as “the native,” that is, one’s fellow Israelite.

God reinforces this command by reminding the Israelites how they had been mistreated when they were aliens in the land of Egypt. The implication is this: You know what it is like to be treated unequally as aliens in Egypt, so do not follow that example. Remember the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

The law continues in Leviticus 19:35, 36,

³⁵ You shall do no wrong in judgment in measurement of weight or capacity. ³⁶ You shall have just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin; I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt.

This is the law of equal weights and measures, which Jesus cited in Matthew 7:2,

² For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.

This is not merely speaking about weights and measures in commerce. It is about a way of life in which we judge all things by the same standard. Men tend to judge others by their actions but themselves by their intentions. This law comes on the heels of the command to love the alien as oneself. This law proceeds out of the very nature of God, and to the extent that we practice it we reflect the image of God.

The Good Samaritan

Most Christians are familiar with Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus chose to use the example of a Samaritan because “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (John 4:9). In Luke 10:27 we read about the greatest commandment to love God, and the second which is like it: “and your neighbor as yourself.” A lawyer then asked Jesus to define neighbor. Instead of answering him directly, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan, concluding with a question in Luke 10:36,

³⁶ Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?

Was it the priest or the Levite who did nothing to help the man that was robbed or beaten? No, it was the Samaritan, one whom the Jews despised and considered to be an alien in the land. This tells us that the command to love your neighbor as yourself was not primarily about loving one’s fellow Jew or Israelite but was about loving aliens such as the Samaritans. Today we might substitute the word Palestinian for Samaritan.

Peter’s Revelation

In Acts 10 and 11 we read how Peter was asked to go to Caesarea to minister to Cornelius, a Roman centurion, and his friends. During the meeting, the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 10:44), which took Peter by surprise. We read in verse 45,

⁴⁵ All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.

When they reported this event to the church in Jerusalem, we read in Acts 11:17, 18,

¹⁷ “Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” ¹⁸ When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”

It appears that Peter’s report had caused considerable controversy at first, and that it was only by hearing how God had sent the Spirit upon these Romans that “they quieted down and glorified God.” Nonetheless, the problem of inequality remained a minority view in the church in Jerusalem and especially among Jews outside of Jerusalem who did not hear Peter’s report. For this reason, many continued to oppose Paul when he defended the equal rights of non-Jews.

One wonders why they did not oppose Peter as well!