"God of... justice"

    This description of God is found only two times in the Bible, both in the Old Testament: Isaiah 30:18 and Malachi 2:17. In some translations of these texts ‘judgement’ is written in place of ‘justice.’ Let’s take a look at each of these references to see how the description is used and what we can learn from it.

“Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.” (Isaiah 30:18 NKJV)

    In the context of this Isaiah passage we see Israel putting their trust in the Egyptian leader to help them, the same nation that had brutally oppressed their people for 400 years before the exodus (Exodus 1-15). The nation of Israel rebelled against Him so much so that God referred to them as “lying children, children who will not hear the law of the LORD” (Isaiah 30:9).  They told their seers and prophets to not speak the hard truth but to speak smooth words – even deceitful words (consider 2 Timothy 4:3-4) – in the hopes that God would simply go away and leave them be. They preferred foreign oppression to following God’s word and way; they had become so much like the people around them that they were increasingly irked by God’s wholesome commands, boundaries, and standards.

    God did give them over to foreign oppression – Assyrian captivity – and yet even then, the LORD was already telling them that He longed to be gracious to them and be merciful to them and that those who also longed for Him would be blessed (Isaiah 30:18).

 “You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, or “Where is the God of justice?”” (Malachi 2:17 NKJV)

    Here in Malachi, the last prophecy before the 400 years of silence, we find the people of God acting like they were anything but. They have gone after pagan gods and when they, out of obligation, perform their duties before God (sacrifices) they do so half-heartedly at best (see Malachi 1:6-14). Their corruption has permeated even the priests – the ones who were to know and guide the people in God’s law (Malachi 2:7-9) – even they did not regard the holiness of God (consider Leviticus 10:3).

    The people had grown so cavalier and calloused that they disregarded God’s judgement of right and wrong (Isaiah 5:20-21) and declared that everyone is okay in God’s sight because where is God to tell them otherwise? Because a lightning bolt did not strike them for any misstep or wrongdoing they began to grow lax not only about their own service toward God but about God’s standards and rules as a whole, maybe even thinking, ‘the so-called “evil people” around us are not punished, so they must be fine in God’s eyes; what’s the harm of being with them or like them?’

    God’s justice is pure and right. He always ‘rose early’ (well beforehand, Jeremiah 7: 13; 32:33) to tell people that there would be consequences for rejecting Him and there would be reward for diligently seeking Him (Hebrews 11:6). God wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4), for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). He longs to be gracious to all people, but only those who turn to Him and long for Him will find blessing, that is why He is longsuffering and patient, hoping more will open their eyes, grope for Him, and find Him (Acts 17:26-27).

    God’s justice does not change: If you do what He says, you will be rewarded; if you do not do what He says, there will be consequences (Matthew 7:21-23). He has provided all that we need to know to be pleasing to Him (Ephesians 5:8-10, 15-17, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Romans 10:17), to become His child (Galatians 3:26-28), and to walk as Jesus walked (1 Peter 2:21-24, 1 John 2:3-6).

    God is the God of justice. His judgement stands. Don’t think that because God patiently waits for the lost to repent that He is absent – the time He grants us is salvation – it’s an opportunity for all to turn, learn, and submit to Him! He wants to you to cling to Him, waiting for Him in all circumstances, longing for the day that you can see Him face to face (1 John 3:1-3, 2 Peter 3:11-13), because He wants to gracious to you! Be assured of His promises, be wholly aware of His justice and judgement, and be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless (2 Peter 3:14-15)!

You can do it! And so can I!!