Behind the Old Testament concepts of righteousness and justice stands the very character of God: “his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he” (Dt. 32:4). Again, “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works” (Ps. 145:17) and “righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne” (Ps. 97:2). God is the source of all righteousness and justice; therefore, knowledge of God is the basis of their implementation.
Righteousness and justice are interconnected, relational terms that can only be properly understood within the context of the covenant. That is to say, God’s special relationship with his people carried with it certain obligations regarding how they were supposed to relate to him as well as how they were supposed to treat one another. In fact, Amos seems to use the two associated terms as a way of summarizing all of these moral and legal responsibilities.
Righteousness (tsedaqah) – means matching up with an ethical or moral standard; namely, obedience to God’s law and conformity to God’s nature. The term in its most basic sense is that which is right or that which ought to be so. Thus, to be righteous was to keep the covenant, to be faithful to follow God’s ways in all aspects of life (religious, social, political, and commercial).
Justice (mishpat) – designates the proper functioning of civil or religious government. It primarily refers to the judicial system and the process of litigation, including the verdict along with its implementation. However, the term also denotes the legislative process and the enactment of laws, statutes, and ordinances. In short, justice is a legal proceeding that is in conformity with righteousness or what needs to be done to make things right (i.e., restore righteousness).
No comments:
Post a Comment