Mishpat: Social Ethics in Jeremiah

Mishpat: Social Ethics in Jeremiah

"[The LORD] defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing."

~Deuteronomy 10:18 [NIV]

"Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice..."

~Deuteronomy 24: 17 [NIV]

One of Yahweh's main concerns in making his covenant with Israel, after worshipping him alone, was maintaining social justice. Throughout Deuteronomy and subsequently in Jeremiah, we see the cry for mishpat, "justice," for the orphan, the widow, the poor, and the alien. Yahweh cares about these groups that cannot care for themselves, and he expects those in a right relationship with him to care as well. In Jeremiah's day, this key aspect of the covenant had been forgotten by Israel; injustice joined with idolatry and religious formalism to complete the indictment against the stubborn nation. The following discussion will trace the theme of mishpat throughout Jeremiah in light of God's justice, the justice he demands for the innocent, the widow, the orphan, and the alien.

The just nature of Yahweh is clearly seen in Jeremiah. Jeremiah 5:4-5 states that the people do not know the way of the LORD and his mishpat, and neither do the leaders know his mishpat--the justice he requires. "Let him who boasts boast about this," says Yahweh, that he understands "that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, mishpat, and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight..." (9:24). Moving into the Book of Consolation in chapters 30-33, Yahweh tells Israel that he will punish them for their guilt, "but only with mishpat" (30:11, cf. 46:28). Yahweh is a loving but just God, and he wants his people to be the same way.

Unfortunately, they were not. In Deuteronomy 16 a...

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...g the hungry, giving a drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting the prisoner. Also in the New Testament, James admonishes believers to examine themselves in this area when he asks, "If one of you says to [a needy person], `Go and I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?" (James 2:16) In today's society where so many have so little, we who have been entrusted with much should care for those less fortunate. Compassion without action is not enough. We must stand up and defend the cause of those who cannot stand for themselves: the unborn, the poverty-stricken, the elderly, the widows and orphans of war and disease. This is what it means to be a part of the Kingdom of God...to know Him. Israel learned that lesson a little too late. Will we?