Kingdom of God & Justice #4

This is session 4 of a study that Rob is leading on understanding the Kingdom of God, the mission of God's people, and Justice. What is God's mission? In order for the people of God to be faithful, we must understand what God's mission is. Then we must ask: What is Justice? And what is the relationship between Justice and the Kingdom of God? And what does it mean for you and me? 

Here is the outline that Rob was teaching from 

 

18:16-33 Sodom and Gomorrah

People oppressed and victims of violence cry out to God to save them (Exod 3:7; Ps 34:17; cf Exod 11:6; 12:30; 1 Sam 4:14; Deut 22:24-27)

 

1. Abraham was called to do the ‘Way of the Lord’: _________________ and ___________________
   1. Walking in YHWH’s way is to not walk in the way of other gods or nations
   2. Here it contrasts with Sodom

 

1. Gen 18:19: Doing ‘righteousness and justice’: In Gen 18, YHWH draws Abraham’s attention to His concerns about the suffering and oppressed (Psalm 103:6-7)

1. Gen 18:19: Righteousness: sdq (sedaqa): root means ‘straight’; something that is fixed and fully what it should be; the norm—something by which other things are measured. Comes to mean ‘rightness’; that which is as it ought to be—matches up to the standard; Sdq: when applied to human actions it is a highly relational word; ‘Allows an individual to live in such a way that they respond correctly to the values of a relationship
   1. Accurate weights and measures are sdq (Lev 19:36; Deut 25:15)
   2. Safe paths for sheep (Ps 23:3)

 

2. Gen 18:19: Justice: spt (sapat; mishpat): refers to legal action that covers a wide-range: can refer to a lawgiver, or to act as a judge who arbitrates between parties in a dispute; to pronounce who is guilty and who is innocent in a dispute; in a wide sense it means ‘to put things right’; to intervene in a situation that is wrong, oppressive, or out of control and to fix it
3. Mispat is often used in accord with the mispat of the orphan or widow and refers to their rightful case against those who exploit them
4. Exodus 21-23—Covenant Code; of the Book of the Covenant—is called the Mispatim
5. Thus, Mispat refers to what needs to be done in each situation if the people and circumstances are to be restored to sedaqa
6. Mispat is the actions required; sedaqa is the resultant state of affairs
   1. Gen 18:20: sedaqa: cry of pain or help from those who are being oppressed (Cf Exod 2:23-25; Ps 34:17; Deut 22:24, 27)

 

What was the sin of Sodom?

Ezekiel 16

 

Please "follow" this podcast, give a review on iTunes or Spotify and share it with others so that we can get the word of the Gospel of the Kingdom to more people! 

 

Please share this podcast and let others know about determinetruth. 

 

If you have been blessed by this podcast and would like to see others benefit too, would you please consider giving a tax-deductible contribution to support determinetruth ministries and make possible future podcasts like this? You may give a tax-deductible gift by following this link