I tuned into my favorite talk radio station (yeah, I'm that guy) this afternoon on my way home from work to hear what everyone is talking about: The death of Osama Bin Laden. I really didn't think too much of it. I was glad, that this man had been brought to justice. But when I opened my facebook page about a half an hour ago I was bombarded by statuses and blog posts condemning those who would rejoice at another man's death. This made me think. Granted, I had not seen the "rejoicing" that was apparently causing this widespread response. But a pendulum swing in whatever direction tends to be hazardous in its own way.
I hear people asking 'what about Bin Laden's family? Shouldn't we be sensitive to them?' or, 'couldn't we just lock him up so he wouldn't commit anymore crimes?' Some point out that his death is not an end, but just another death in a string of deaths, only to be followed by more. All of these have their grain of truth to them.
I also do not mean to condone delighting in the death of a wicked man, or reveling in the feeling of revenge. I do not know which one offends me more.
Hear me when I say I'm trying to stay away from the pendulum.
To those that are mourning Osama Bin Laden's death: Do not devalue the loss of the hundreds of thousands of family members who lost innocent, albeit sinful, relatives by trying to be sensitive to Bin Laden's family. Do not condemn those who would rejoice in the justice of a mass murderer. God's stance on murder and justice is very clear throughout the Pentateuch and the rest of Scripture. God is Love, but God is also Just. Beware to emphasize love to the point that it overshadows justice! For without justice there is no mercy!
To those Christians who would gleefully, excitedly, and rashly proclaim this man's death: remember God's mercy on you. Get down on your knees and thank Yahweh the Just that he has kept you from such evils and judgment, and has even seen fit to see Christ in your stead. For without justice there is no mercy!
Romans 9:
22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?
Rejoice that God does not tolerate injustice. Rejoice that in the death of this man God's glory is revealed. And tremble in your shoes, that God saved you from such a life and from slavery to sin. Vessels of Mercy, Praise your God.
Tidbits on justice:
Deut 16:18-20: “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
Habbakuk 1, Habbakuk cries out to God concerning the injustice in his day. Hab 1:4: "the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted." God's response? He's going to raise up the Babylonians to execute judgment.
Psalm 99, one of my favorites, says in vs 4, "The King in his might loves justice.You have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob."
Psalm 89 is another favorite. Read the whole thing, but especially vs 14: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.
Amos 5:15: "Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the LORD God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph." And later God says that He despises the peoples religious feasts. He says, "Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!"
I enjoyed the post! Honestly when I first heard about Bin Laden's death I didn't think much about it either way. I didn't rejoice over his death and I didn't condemn those who did. I simply just went with it.
ReplyDeleteJon, I like how you brought the light back to God's justice. The Church today tends to put more emphasis on God's love and mercy then his other attributes. We need to remember that although we serve a loving God. He is also a God of wrath and justice. Thanks Jon!