Three Beautiful Injustices

We (humans) sure are concerned about justice, and it is not just in the present day. Justice has been a concern since the first capital crime. When God banished Cain after murdering his brother Abel, Cain cried to God, “My punishment is too great to bear!” (i.e. It’s not fair.) In reality, he was still alive, and that was not fair.

However, my attention is not on Cain, but three extreme occasions in which it was not fair, yet God did not step in. He allowed the injustice.

Esau and Jacob:
We are more accustomed to thinking Jacob before Esau, yet Esau was the first of the twin brothers. We say Jacob and Esau because the prophecy was fulfilled that said, “The older shall serve the younger.” But it was not fair.

When Isaac, the father of Jacob and Esau, was old and near death, he asked Esau to prepare him his favorite meal. He then planned to bless him. In the blessing the promises that God had first given Abraham (land, descendants, and a great future blessing) would be passed forward.

However, at his mother’s bidding, Jacob disguised himself as Esau and tricked his aging father into giving him the blessing. When Esau returned with the meal for his father, they were both alarmed at what had happened. Yet, acknowledging Jacob’s deceit, Isaac told Esau, “He (Jacob) shall be blessed.”

Why didn’t Isaac say, “Hey, that was deceitful on Jacob’s part; it didn’t count”? Why didn’t God step in and bring justice!?

Isaac’s word stood, just as he had spoken. In that day, you just didn’t break your word. Ever!

Job:
Job was a man who was devoted to God. When you read the descriptions of Job that are peppered throughout the book, you come away with one thought: Job was a good man. Yet, he suffered greatly, and God allowed it.

You might remember that the accuser had accused God of going easy on Job. That was his explanation for Job’s faithfulness to God. So, the accuser proposed that if God had not blessed him so richly, Job would curse God.

God allowed the accuser to bring terrible hardship into Job’s life. And that was NOT fair!

Of course, Job did not curse God, though he really didn’t understand what was going on. So, why didn’t God step in and stop the suffering?

Sometimes God allows our faith to be tested. The testing of our faith produces endurance and maturity—and that’s a good thing. (James 1)

Jesus:
Considering how much I benefit from the sacrifice of Jesus, I don’t often think about the injustice of the cross. I know that all the things that happened to Jesus leading up to His death were a terrible injustice. Yet, I really don’t want to ask why God didn’t step in and stop the cruelty. I depend on this injustice because of my sin!

And yet, I must ask, “Why? Why did God allow the awful injustice of the crucifixion of Jesus?”

The answer: Love and Life!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

The injustice Esau suffered reminds me to always be a man of my word. The injustice Job suffered encourages me to endure hardship. The injustice Jesus suffered—is LIFE!

Maybe I should take a different view toward the light injustices that I suffer in this life.

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

--2 Corinthians 4:16–18 (NLT)

Mark Stinnett

January 31, 2021