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For me, it was quite a soul stirring, life enhancing experience. God is great and merciful and kind and will come again to receive us onto himself that where he is there we will be also. Soothing words for souls who have to live in a world filled with sorrow and frustration.
However, our discussion did not end as cordial and exhilarating as it began because when we touched on the subject of punishment for the wicked or those who “come short of his glory” my friend’s demeanor immediately changed. His demeanor changed because his position is, God is too good to punish anyone.
Well I am not so sure of that because when you read the scriptures much of it speaks of punishment for those who ran afoul of the law. Speaking of the law, the Bible tells of our first parents, Adam and Eve, being given the law to obey it to which they failed and had to be punished by the same God my friend was talking about.
As much as I would like to think of God as loving, kind, and full of unending mercy, I must also face the fact that He is a God of justice. “Just and true are thy ways thou King of Saints.” Did I say justice? Yes justice! Something my friend conveniently left out. In fact, his response to the justice aspect of our conversation was that the Bible contradicted itself, that the text in question never meant what I sought to clarify. But contrary to what he thought, the Bible did not contradict itself rather; it complemented every statement that came before.
Come to think of it, much of what we read in the Bible has to do with punishment, just to mention a few. The scripture says somewhere in Matthew that if you do not work you should not eat. Startling indeed! If you commit murder that person in turn should be put to death. In the Old Testament if you committed murder and thought it was not intentionally done then you would run to the city of refuge and from there plead your case.
If you thought that your case wasn’t airtight enough then you would have to live in exile until that standing High Priest dies before you can return to normal life; something that is tantamount to a life sentence today.
In most cases High Priests outlived the murderer. Then there is the law governing debt repayment. If someone owed a debt he was required to repay what he owed failing which he and his descendants following him had to work off that debt.
In the fiftieth year called the year of jubilee whether that debt was honoured or not, the debtor was freed of all penalties. What a just God we serve. We touched on another topic–rape, which interestingly enough is a sin that God abhors, not homosexuality as many preachers harp on with their gay bashing.
God’s punishment is most severe with the matter of rape – the penalty death. The transgressor was taken outside of the camp and stoned to death. Interestingly enough, there are no mitigating circumstances with a rape charge.
There is no cause for redress like running to the city of refuge. Once you were guilty of the charge brought against you the sentence was swift and complete. Draconian you will say but that’s how God’s justice in the Levitical system was meted out to the offender. I believe, and my support is in the scriptures, that we as human beings were made a little lower than the angels and God do not take too kindly to those who violate one of his creations.
We are not like the lower animals. We are not cats and dogs where you jump and take a ride. We were fearfully and wonderfully made.
But lest I get carried away with some preaching here I would like to get back to my main discourse and that is what constitutes justice. What constitutes justice or what is fair punishment for the guilty one?
I make mention of a matter engaging the courts right now that is the case involving the carpenter Dwayne Jordan who was found guilty for murdering his wife. The case has reached the sentencing stage and the big question is what should be his punishment, just and fair. Counsel for the accused is arguing that the felon be given some “custodial sentencing” some legal jargon those in the profession are more familiar with, than a death sentence.
Guyana’s law stipulates that a person found guilty of murder should face the death penalty. However, death by hanging is a punishment that has been unofficially outlawed. That form of punishment has been relegated as barbaric, cruel and inhumane. And here is the catch on this; persons convicted to be hanged must spend time in jail pending appeal and all the royal run around that goes with capital punishment.
Now, that time will certainly run way past five years on death row. Once that five year period has expired and that person is not executed then it constitutes cruel and inhumane punishment wherein the death penalty can be commuted to life imprisonment. In order to circumvent this – using the law to fight the law – I offer to go the route of life sentencing, consecutive, not concurrent.
In this case the felon cannot see the light of day or walk a free man in society again. It will serve two things, a deterrent to criminals and two, separate those who do not wish to engage in lawful existence from those who are law abiding. There is no other way. I rest my case.
