#CHURCHTALK 21: Objectivity and God's incredible sense of social justice

One usefulness of retaining the old testament books of Moses in today's scripture is that they show firsthand God's incredible sense of social justice!

This, of course, is in addition to the fact that they give more light and meaning to the things recorded in the later portions of the old testament (the acts of the kings, and the prophets), and the new testament.

If you ever want to learn of the workings of God's mind in matters of human affairs, interactions and social justice, the books of Moses are the perfect guide for you.

Moses says of God:
Deuteronomy 32:4 [NLT] 
He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!

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In this week's edition of #ChurchTalk, we want to take a close look at an incredible example that gives an insight into the workings of God's mind in dispensing social justice. This is found in Deuteronomy 21.

Deuteronomy 21:15-17 [NLT] 
15. “Suppose a man has two wives, but he loves one and not the other, and both have given him sons. And suppose the firstborn son is the son of the wife he does not love.
16. When the man divides his inheritance, he may not give the larger inheritance to his younger son, the son of the wife he loves, as if he were the firstborn son.
17. He must recognize the rights of his oldest son, the son of the wife he does not love, by giving him a double portion. He is the first son of his father’s virility, and the rights of the firstborn belong to him.

The most valuable lesson about God's sense of social justice that we can learn from this passage is that God does not leave justice to the whims of sentiment.

Breathtaking! Isn't it?

In His sense of justice, He doesn't just require that the right thing be done, but He also requires that it be done in the right measure too.

What God's sense of social justice requires 

It requires that everyone receive their due, regardless of sentimental parameters of preference.
The man is not allowed to transfer the birthright of his firstborn son arbitrarily, simply because of he doesn't love his mother.

When Reuben lost his birthright as Jacob's firstborn son in Genesis 49, he didn't lose it because his mother, Leah, was not loved as her counterpart, Rachel. Rather, Reuben lost it because he showed so much disregard to his father by sleeping with his concubine. In fact, the particular concubine was the one that belonged to Jacob's favorite wife, Rachel. It seemed as if Reuben wanted to spite her.

In our interactions with people, we should be careful to give to everyone what is their right, without regard to sentimental preferences. That is God's personal example which we should follow.

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It requires that everyone be treated based on their own merits. God does not endorse transfered aggression. 
God's mind is that the man's relationship with his wives should not dictate his relationship with his children borne by them when making a decision on something that is their due. God apparently sees both relationships as being mutually exclusive to each other.

God does not endorse transferred aggression. Just because you do not like a person does not give you the license to treat the people under him/her like trash. That is not just. Everyone should be treated based on the merits of their own individual selves and actions. That is God's sense of social justice.

This is one reason why things like racism, ethnic and religious bigotry can never glorify God, because structurally they are built on transferred aggressions.

God endorses objectivity over the sentiments of love and hate.
In life and living, God's sense of social justice always endorses the doing of what is right only, not the doing of what is preferred.

God demands that the right thing be always recognized and done by all, and in right measure too. The reason is that preferences are man-made, arbitrary, and fickle as man. But what is right is set by God Himself, and man can know it by looking into his God-given conscience.

This is how God maintains His rulership over the affairs of men. So, to deviate from this order would be to remove God from the affairs of men: an idolatrous and prideful recepie for destruction.

When sentiments clash with what is right, go for objectivity. That is God's sense of social justice.

What is the exception to this order? 
This order relates to the civil and social liberties of men. It is not in play when issues that relate to God's divine order are under consideration.

For example, when God picked a king for Israel out of Jesse's children, he didn't pick the firstborn son, because though he was firstborn, kingship was not his birthright, for their father (Jesse) was not a king.

God picked David, the last born, as an act of divine ordination for what He had purposed for Israel, and based entirely on the strength of his character for the assignment.

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Also, at various times in scripture, God took away the birthright of kingship from various princes, and gave same to one of their brothers, not because He disliked their fathers or mothers, but because of the personal actions and lives of those princes themselves which dishonored them before God and made them unqualified for kingship.

God tries the reins, and weighs the motives of the hearts of each man, and by them dispenses justice to each person. Thus, it is your personal responsibility to ensure, through your motives and actions, that you do not lose God's favor and that which is your due; for God is a God of justice, and He is always fair.


Chukwubuikem Paul Anunaso is a CNBC Africa opinion writer and civil/structural engineer in Lagos, Nigeria. He is also the editor of The Paul Anunaso Blog, and can be reached at anunaso.cp@gmail.com



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