Learning about God’s justice in the world I. (Jer 25:1-14)

Judgment is not a popular topic, and many feel a tension between God’s love and grace and the idea that He might judge. At the same time, it is interesting how much the concept of justice has gained traction in secular society. When people hear of oppression, of others treated unfairly, cheated out of what was rightfully theirs, they want justice done – and rightly so. If we ourselves have been hurt by others, we are likely to feel angry, too. God has created us with a sense of justice and, even if it is skewed by our sinful nature, our outrage over (perceived or real) injustices testifies to an objective framework of justice. So, what might we learn about how God exercises justice in this world?

Injustice against God

At the end of the first part of the book, Jeremiah summarises his message of 23 years (Jer 25:3), the people’s attitude and God’s reaction. It is the first year of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 25:1), the Babylonian king who is going to take Judah into exile, so an appropriate time to take stock. Although our focus is often on human injustices, Jeremiah calls attention to abuse against God through the worship of other gods and to Judah’s unwillingness to listen and repent (Jer 23:3-6). Imagine confronting a wayward spouse who regularly commits adultery month after month, year after year and then with a shrug of the shoulder ignores the pleading and warnings that this will destroy the marriage. Not even the possibility of losing the house shared with the injured party seems to make any difference. Such a person may not believe that the loyal spouse would ever go through with the threats. This was Judah’s story with God, the betrayed partner.

Judgment mediated: consequences and agents of judgment

Not only was God provoked to anger, but the people’s sinful actions brought harm on themselves (Jer 25:7). When Judah relied on human power (manoeuvring between Egypt and Babylon) and on made-up gods of the human imagination, created and shaped by human hands, then they trusted in what could not save and had no reality. Both sieges of Jerusalem were triggered by Judah’s political rebellion against Babylon (2 Kings 24:1, 10, 20) so that the disaster that followed was the people’s own doing (e.g. Jer 2:17, 19; 4:18). Their lack of trust in God meant being without help in trouble.[1]

At the same time, God also brought about justice by sending Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon as His servant (i.e. instrument; Jer 25:9) to punish His people. God’s will is worked out in this world through agents and events in a mediated way. The Lord does not take over people’s will so that most of the time these agents follow their own plans and God does not approve of everything they do. Thus, Babylon is sinful and arrogant against God and will be punished in turn for the destruction wrought on Judah (Jer 25:12; 50:29, 34-36). Finally, God’s judgment is tempered by mercy and God will limit Judah’s exile and the power of Babylon to ‘seventy years’ (Jer 25:11-12).[2]

Implications for us

Jeremiah implicitly teaches us that we cannot have it both ways. If we want justice for others, it inevitably means that we fall under the same standard of judgment. Neither can we limit justice to the human level but must recognise that it is also due God, and both these aspects should be acknowledged. Further, in this world, God’s justice is not worked out exactly but happens indirectly through the consequences of sin on the sinner and often mediated by agents who follow their own agenda (though God will ultimately hold them responsible). This means that innocent people may also be caught up in the punishment and suffer the effects of someone else’s sin (like the prophet and other godly individuals who lived through the devastation of Judah). Nevertheless, God’s purposes are achieved, so that mysteriously, all things work together for the good of those who love God (Rom 8:28). Finally, even in judgment there is mercy in this life and a limit placed on punishment so that sinners might repent. Our God wants us to have life and to be restored.

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[1] Paul makes a similar connection between sin and its consequences. When people worshipped the creature instead of the Creator (Rom 1:23-27), their rebellion against God’s order led to the subversion of His design for intimate relationships, too. God allowed it (‘gave them over to their lusts’, v.24), because these carried their own destructive consequences (v.27). It is the nature of sin that it eventually destroys the sinner.

[2] Seventy years is not an exact figure. Babylon ascended to power in 605 BC and was taken over by the Persians in 539 BC, after sixty-six years. The exile for Judah was an even shorter time. Counting from the first deportation (597 BC), the exile lasted 58 years until Cyrus, the Persian king, allowed the Jews to return home (539 BC). Or calculating from the second deportation (587 BC), the exile was only 48 years. We get the closest approximation if we count the exile from 587 BC to 515 BC when the Jerusalem temple was rebuilt (72 years). Given these discrepancies, it is more likely that the number seventy (7×10) has symbolic significance as the fullness of time (both seven and ten tend to be associated with completeness) or it may also stand for a lifetime (Ps 90:10).

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