Love Versus Justice
Read Hosea 11:1–14:9
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1. The people of Israel feed on the wind; they chase after the east wind all day long. They pile up lies and violence; they are making an alliance with Assyria while sending olive oil to buy support from Egypt.
2. Now the Lord is bringing charges against Judah. He is about to punish Jacob for all his deceitful ways, and pay him back for all he has done.
3. Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother; when he became a man, he even fought with God.
4. Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won. He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him. There at Bethel he met God face to face, and God spoke to him—
5. the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the Lord is his name!
6. So now, come back to your God. Act with love and justice, and always depend on him.
7. But no, the people are like crafty merchants selling from dishonest scales. Hosea 12:1-7
The issue of reducing crime presents many dilemmas. Some believe that spending more money on social programs will help reduce the number of people who turn to crime as an alternative lifestyle. Others believe building more prisons and increasing the length of prison sentences will deter people from committing crimes. Each view has good and bad points. But neither is balanced. One involves love or caring without justice—the other uses justice without love or caring.
Hosea brings a simple message to God’s people in this passage regarding the love-and-justice tug-of-war. As you read, look for God’s desire that his people concern themselves with both love and justice.
Hosea’s people neither looked out for others nor transacted business honestly or fairly. God’s prescription for their sins involved making a simple, two-sided adjustment: living by love and living by justice (Hosea 12:6).
Love and justice lie at the very foundation of God’s character. If we are to live rightly at all, we must begin there. Some people love others so much that they excuse all wrongdoing. Others insist so vigorously on being just that they ignore the effects of their actions on people. But love without justice, because it aims at a low standard, leaves people in their sins. Justice without love, because it aims at an impossibly high standard, drives people away from God. We need to live by both principles, in imitation of God’s character.
Consider your relationships at work, in the community, at church, and in your home. How should you act in order to be more loving? What should you change to be more just?
