Genesis 18:25

Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

From Background Notes [BN] for July 5th & 6th written by Pastor Bob Brown:

The quarrel of the colonies with Great Britain appealed to "the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of [their] our intentions", saying as much in its closing paragraph [Declaration of Independence]. This is remarkable language, again found only in the Congressional version before publication.

We sense lurking in the background the ancient idea of the "covenant lawsuit", often brought by the prophets of Israel, seeking justification in the face of crimes against the Torah and against God. In effect, the argument of the Declaration works like this: God gave human beings rights at the time of their original creation; Great Britain's "present king" has gratuitously trampled on those rights beyond decency; therefore, Great Britain's king has trampled on the gift of God and must be held to account in God's courtroom; therefore, the colonists seek a decision in God's courtroom that their action in declaring independence is right and just. Thus the "appeal to the Supreme Judge of the world". Implicit here is the idea that the nations of the world must be accountable to God for their actions toward their own people and toward other nations.  [BN,2-3]

Join us this week in Study, Worship, Praise and Celebration at Chicago First Church of the Nazarene:

* Saturday 6:00pm
* Sunday 8:30am & 11:00am