On Wednesday Night, Jan 25^th, we will continue our January Bible Study from the Book of Malachi. In the fourth session of our study, the topic concerns “Justice.”  Biblical “justice” means to do what is right in the sight of God – to do what is right according to God’s Law. In Malachi, the people of Israel were complaining that God was not showing justice. They were saying in Malachi 2:17 that “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, And He delights in them.”   In other words, they were complaining that the wicked are prospering and the righteous are suffering  and God is not fair.

In Malachi 3:5, the Lord responds by showing these people that the reason they are suffering is because He is judging them for their own lack of justice. “I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien [or stranger or foreigner].”

Notice the last phrase on that list of injustices is the mistreatment of a foreigner. This is something that American Christians should consider. One of the campaign themes of our new President was the deportation of illegal immigrants back to their native land.

Many of our “Fathers in the Faith” in the Bible were refugees at one time or another. They left their native country seeking refuge in another country because of poverty or persecution. Some examples were Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and Jesus. In the Book of Exodus, the mistreatment of “foreigners” was strictly forbidden. Exodus 22:21 “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 22 “You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; 24 and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.”

To further complicate the issue, American Immigration Policy seems to change with every President and political party that comes to power in Washington. Some administrations want to legalize all immigrants for political power (more votes). Some administrations want to cater to business interests who would rather keep immigrants illegal so they will work for less money and be willing to do dirty and dangerous jobs without complaining. Other administrations want to remove all national boundaries and live in a One World Order governed by the United Nations (UN Agenda 2030 #29). So for these and many other reasons, the USA has approximately 11 million unauthorized immigrants (according to DHS).

To begin to think about the idea of Biblical justice, please consider the following question:

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