God's Heart

The middle of Exodus is a list of rules. They seem harsh and brutal and barbaric and in some cases they are. But, they were written for a brutal and barbaric people in a brutal and barbaric time.

Still, in the midst of them you can see God's heart. When dealing with oxen or murderers or sorcerers, God tells the people what the proper judgment and punishment should be and how to carry it out. These rules were about keeping the peace and keeping order.

When God gets to wrongly dealing with sojourners, widows and the fatherless, things change. The punishment isn't talked about, isn't discussed. God basically says, "If anyone messes with these people, you leave them to me. I'll take care of them."

The shift is subtle, but significant. God wants to be intimately involved in bringing justice here. He wants to play a part. He wants to make things right.

These are the people who cannot fight for themselves. These are the people who are marginalized. These are the people who fall through the cracks. These are the people who break God's heart.

They should break our hearts too.

Obadiah's Part

In the overall story, when things need to be settled, God handles it. That's his part. When we try to do his part, that's when we get ourselves into trouble. Historically, when the church tries to do God's part we get things like the Crusades and the Inquisition. God doesn't need us to bring justice, thinking that is our job or even our right is foolish and dangerous.

Our society (especially the typical guy) revels in seeing a person do God's part. We love the hero who serves revenge as a cold dish, who (often through violence) makes right the wrongs that have been done. We celebrate the gory spectacle of warriors bringing down those who have brought others down and we salute them as they stand over the fallen oppressors.

"On the day you stood aloof

while strangers carried off his wealth

and foreigners entered his gates

and cast lots for Jerusalem,

you were like one of them.

You should not look down on your brother

in the day of his misfortune,

nor rejoice over the people of Judah

in their day of destruction,

nor boast so much

in their day of trouble.

You should not march through the gates of my people

in the day of their disaster,

nor look down on their calamity

in the day of their disaster,

nor seize their wealth

in the day of their disaster.

You should not wait at the crossroads

to cut down their fugitives,

nor hand over their survivors

in the day of their trouble.

The day of the Lord is near

for all nations.

As you have done, it will be done to you;

your deeds will return upon your own head."

We should recognize what we celebrate for what it is. Our part is not to create some bloody thing that vaguely resembles justice. Our part is to create mercy.