Week 7 - Rebellious Spirits of Injustice
When the women and men God created in his image are being oppressed and call for help, he comes to the rescue, and restores peace and prosperity to them and the land, and invites all of us to join him in this work.
This week we'll read about the last foundational key to understanding biblical justice - the influence of rebellious spirits, or "demons" on spreading injustice and oppression in the world.
Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, they became heavy and sleek. They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior. They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. Deuteronomy 32:15,16
This Week's Justice Reading Plan
- Numbers 17 - 34
- Psalm 45 - 51
Bible Project’s “One Year Reading Plan”
Justice Resources
?Books
"Demons: What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness" by Micheal Heiser (Amazon)
Heiser's book on Demons is part of a series about supernatural entities detailed in the Bible, like angels, demons, and more. Heiser makes it clear that the scriptures say that rebellious spiritual beings influence the human nations to oppress their people. Heiser writes: The spiritual beings "...became corrupt administrators and, in so doing, sowed chaos in the heavenly realm as well. Yahweh created a world characterized by righteousness (ṣedāqâ) and well-being (šālôm)."
Heiser then quotes another scholar who wrote about the same idea: “The gods are condemned to death for their failure to carry out justice in the human realm.…[T] he cosmic realm also depends upon justice in the social order. Indeed the very foundations of cosmic order are shaken in the presence of injustice.”
"Evil and the Justice of God" by NT Wright (Amazon)
In the chapter, "Naming the Powers", Wright discusses a few ideas about the demonic beings that the Bible says influences people, systems, and nations to commit evil and injustice. Wright doesn't land hard on any one view, but he does seem open to Walter Wink's writing about the "powers" that exist in society, and the spiritual beings that either represent or promote those powers.
"Naming the Powers: The Language of Power in the New Testament" by Walter Wink (Amazon)
Theologian and pacifist Walker Wink wrote about the spiritual struggle behind reforming institutions:
"I had never been able to take demons seriously. The idea that fallen angels possessed people seemed superstitious. But if the demonic is the spirituality produced when the angel of an institution turns its back on its divine vocation, then I could not only believe in the demonic, I could point to its presence in everyday life. And if the demonic arises when an angel deviates from its calling, then social change does not depend on casting out the demon, but recalling its angel to its divine task."
?Podcast
Interview with Matthew Croasmun, on his book "The Emergence of Sin: The Cosmic Tyrant in Romans"
From the show notes:
"Instead of people having total autonomy over their lives, Dr. Croasmun notes, they are always in service to something. We are either in service to systems of sin or to systems under Christ.
The systems of sin would be examples of rampant, violent nationalism, racism, or discrimination against vulnerable people, animals, and nature.
Dr. Croasmun shares that it’s important to think of sin on three levels: an individual level, a large, super-organism and corporate level, and on a cosmic, supernatural level. All three ways will help a person to more fully understand these issues."
Last Week
In week 6 of Justice Year we learned about God's concern for all of creation, from the animals to the land. A full view of God's justice includes peace and redemption not just for men and women, but for everything God has created.
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