Judges

 

I’ve been listening to as much of the political conventions as I can deal with.

It’s noticeable that the winners in both parties are saying the same things to the losers in their respective parties:

If we lose the election, the other side will pick several Supreme Court justices!

So it’s all about the judges.
It’s all about the two hot-button issues they’ll decide.

  1. women’s health issues
  2. the right to defends ourselves

I wonder – what would Jesus say about this?

After all – Judges were important in the Bible – going way back.
In fact – all the way back to the Exodus, when Moses (through God) led the Israelites from slavery under Pharaoh –

Ex 18:13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. 14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”
Ex 18:15 Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and laws.”

Ex 18:17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.”

Ex 18:24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26 They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.

Look closely at verses 21 and 22 –

Ex 23:21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you.

Even the lower judges were supposed to be “men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain”.  
These would be like today’s municipal, state, and federal district judges.  
Already, as you can see, we’ve got problems as far as today’s lower court judges meeting those qualifications.

And what about the “Supreme Court”?  
That would be Moses.
Yes – Moses!
Moses – the man who met with God.

I ask again – what would Jesus say about this?

For one thing – Jesus wasn’t politically correct.

If He had been – maybe the Jewish leaders wouldn’t have been out to get Him killed.

On the other hand – if Jesus hadn’t suffered and died that horrible death –
we’d still be waiting for the Messiah that God promised way back in Genesis.
Jesus would have come to earth for nothing.

That should tell us something –
political correctness may not be such a good thing.
Jesus wasn’t politically correct.
And we’re supposed to be like Him.
Should we not tell the truth and make clear where we stand?

So –
let’s revisit the two hot-button issues –

  1. women’s health issues the right to kill babies, when there’s no life threatening situation – merely for convenience. (I’m not talking about the life threatening issues here!)
  2. the right to defends ourselves the right for everyone to own and use assault rifles – that have no useful purpose other than to kill other people.

That’s the un-politically correct version of the hot-button issues.

What would Jesus say to that?

To the supporters of these issues, He may very well say something like this –

Mt 12:33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

So – where do you stand on my three hot button issues –

  1. women’s health issues the right to kill babies, when there’s no life threatening situation – merely for convenience. (I’m not talking about the life threatening issues here!)
  2. the right to defends ourselves the right for everyone to own and use assault rifles – that have no useful purpose other than to kill other people.
  3. Jn 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

 

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