In today’s world, a sense of justice dictates that if you are guilty of wrongdoing or have caused harm to another, you should be punished. The one who is offended tends to be satisfied when the offender is declared guilty and punished, because punishment brings closure and justice is served.
Scripture says, “The judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” (a) [See endnotes for Scriptures] What is true and righteous in the eyes of the Eternal One? How does Scripture define God’s view of righteous judgement? Is God’s sense of justice like ours?
Judgement vs. Punishment
In the midst of giving Israel the Ten Commandments as guidelines for relationship, God shed light on His view of justice, stating: “I, the Lord Your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me…showing loving kindness to thousands…the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.” (b)
Hebrew scholars point out that when ‘thousands’ is compared to the ‘third and fourth generations,’ God demonstrates His lean toward forgiveness is five hundred times greater than punishment.
When Moses repeated God’s words in a prayer, he confirmed God’s sense of justice: “But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression…visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’” (c)
As Moses spoke of visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, he references the fact that children tend to repeat the attitude and actions of parents. You may be surprised to learn that the Hebrew word (naqah) translated “unpunished” in this verse actually means “unclean.” God really said He will not leave offspring to continue in the error of parents, but will seek to clean them up.
Clarity comes as the prayer of Moses continues in the next verse: “Pardon…the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” (d) God continually forgave Israel’s rebellious stubbornness and cared for them in their wandering. God does not hate sinners, He forgives His wayward kids.
We tend to overlook this description of God’s love and forgiving nature. His sense of justice is not to punish, but to correct. While correction can appear as judgement, it is for our good. It is meant to deliver us from our captivating sin, restore relationships, and encourage us to be better.
The judges in old Israel were appointed to discern between disputes and facilitate a resolve. Justice was administered for wrong actions by seeking to restore what was lost or damaged and by seeking to correct bad attitude and behavior. Justice was “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” (e) The pattern God gave Israel sought to restore what was lost and turn the offender toward right behavior. In some cases, the offender might become a servant to the offended until the harm was restored.
God will not leave offspring to continue in the error of parents, but will seek to clean them up.
God’s Forgiving Grace
In the latter days of Israel’s function as a nation, their sense of justice had greatly faded. Children were being punished for the error of their parents. God addressed their misunderstanding and reprimanded them for using the proverb, “The fathers eat the sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are set on edge.” Israel responded to God’s correction with “The way of the Lord is not right!” God replied to their blindness, “Is my way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right?” (f)
The prophet Isaiah stated: “The Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice.” (g) What justice? Rather than punish the children for their parents’ errors, God visits the next generations with efforts to help us improve.
Scripture even says “When the earth experiences Thy judgements the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.” (h) Many times the corrective activity we experience is the difficult times we bring upon ourselves. When we reach what appears to be our end, we tend to be more open to improving adjustments. Again, God’s judgements are intended to turn everyone to righteousness.
God actually understands why we 
come up short of the goal of His “image and likeness.” (i) God’s sense of justice considers our earthly beginnings: parentage, culture, environment, and experiences. As His wandering offspring and responsive children, (j) God always seeks to help us be better. (k)
As a perfect Father, God’s sense of justice and treatment of us is full of loving compassion. He intends to restore and reconcile us into right thinking and activity. (l) His justice always seeks to improve His offspring because His heart is full of forgiving grace, even while we are rebellious. (m)
Much of the ill activity we endure is a result of our own or someone else’s erroneous action. Do we really understand the cleansing effect of God’s forgiving love? God’s corrective measures are meant for our good, to help us become more mature images and likenesses of His nature.
As a perfect Father, God’s sense of justice and treatment of us is full of loving compassion.
God’s Cleansing Power
When did our misperception of God’s justice begin? It started with our first parents in the Garden of Eden when they chose to turn from God and focus on natural experience as their primary source of wisdom. (n) A newly acquired sense of fear began to confuse their view of God’s love and forgiving nature. In their confusion, expecting to be punished, our loving Father became a fearful God!
When their erroneous thoughts were exposed, God looked for repentance, the desire to change. This would have restored their deteriorating view and helped them mature into better reflections and resemblances of His nature. Rather than punish, God allowed them to experience what they chose.
To our harm, we continue to think God is like us. We forget He created this temporal system as a place to birth and raise offspring. What child does a good father not seek to correct and restore? (o)
Some people think God’s forgiving nature is limited to this natural life. However, Scripture is clear: “Neither death, nor life, nor angels…nor principalities (Greek – beginnings), nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers…nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in (expressed in) Christ Jesus our Lord.” (p)
Yes, we can ignore, deny, and turn from God’s love, but His love for us remains steadfast. The Apostle Paul put it this way: “‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” (q)
Furthermore, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.” (r) Scripture declares “As in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.” (s) God’s will is more powerful than our will and reaches further than we tend to think.
Hundreds of thousands of Near Death Experiences (NDE) confirm this insight on God’s justice. Of the recorded NDE, a vast majority of people report seeing a more robust light and feeling a more intense love than anything they knew on earth. People from all faith persuasions and skeptics alike report the same intense sensation of love, joy, and peace with no sense of fear or condemnation.
Despite our ideas, neither God nor the eternal realm is like this created world. Eternity is the habitation of our unchanging Father. While every person has a deposit of eternity in us (spirit of life), our ideas and developing beliefs are often confused by the limitations of this temporal world.
Is it time for us to reconsider our perception of God and what we understand to be His sense of justice? God’s correction does not punish but is a corrective and cleansing factor. This is amazing!
What a difference this Scriptural understanding can make in our daily lives!
We can ignore, deny, and turn from God’s love, but His love for us remains steadfast.
a) Psalm 19:9; b) Exodus 20:5-7; Deuteronomy 5:9-10; c) Numbers 14:17-18; d) Numbers 14:19; e) Leviticus 24:17-21; f) Ezekiel 18:1-3, 25; g) Isaiah 30:18; h) Isaiah 26:9; i) Genesis 1:26-28; j) Acts 17:22-27) k) Ephesians 4:13-16; l) 2 Corinthians 5:18-20; m) 1 John 2:2; Romans 5:10; n) Genesis 3:6; 1 Timothy 2:14; o) Hebrews 12:5-10; Proverbs 29:17; Proverbs 3:11-12; p) Romans 8:38-39; Lamentations 3:22-23; q) Romans 9:15-16; r) 2 Timothy 2:13; s) 1 Corinthians 15:22
Keith Carroll, “The Relationship Guy”
Relational Gospel Founder