What is so cool about Scripture...

by Ben

I read Proverbs 23-24.

Sometimes when reading Scripture a verse will just hit me weird, and so I try to find out more about it. The verse today was Proverbs 24:24-25.

"Whoever whitewashes the wicked gets a black mark in the history books, But whoever exposes the wicked will be thanked and rewarded." (The Message)

At first, this hits me as "Wait, isn't that what God is doing?" And aren't we frequently told in the Bible to forgive? (As early as Genesis, and certainly through the Israelites desert trek)

Wait. To be fair, I should look at another version. Ooh, I'll pull out my copy of The Interpreter's Bible.

"He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him: But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them." (KJV)

And to give you what our commentators said, "Wicked and righteous are forensic terms. Better, "guilty" and innocent."

So it would read, "He that saith unto the guilty, Thou art innocent; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him: But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them." (KJV)

Okay, to be clear, we should look at the meaning of "rebuke." Dictionary.com suggests that as a verb, rebuke means "to express sharp, stern disapproval of; reprove; reprimand."

Why, in this book about love and forgiveness, is this line regarding justice present? The verse leading up to it gives us some clues:

"It's wrong, very wrong, to go along with injustice." (Proverbs 24:23)

So, if we bring justice into the picture, we as mere men and women can comprehend what Solomon is suggesting. However, we, as followers of Christ, begin to get a little more confused. What is justice? God is certainly working with a sense of justice, in that He required for there to be an ultimate death to cover the sins of all humanity.

I think this is where my logic runs out. How can that be just? That an innocent man - God incarnate, should take the punishment for all of the sins of every murderer, rapist, liar, thief, and every other person who has turned their back on God, including me - it doesn't seem like justice.

I think Solomon would have understood this feeling, but would still have seen Christ's sacrifice as appeasing the wrong, which is part of what justice represents. If God had merely forgiven sins without the punishment and death of Christ, it would have been injustice and against God's way of being.

So, I somewhat understand this Proverb, but it also leaves me very confused. And that is what is so cool about Scripture: it gives you some answers, but leaves you with many questions to seek the answers to.