Exodus 23:1-3 - Homiletics

God's care for the administration of justice.

The well-being of a community depends largely on the right administration of justice within its limits. It has been said that the entire constitution of England with all its artifices, complications, balances, and other delicate arrangements, exists mainly for the purpose of putting twelve honest men into a jury-box. Fiat justitia, ruat coelum . Anything is preferable to the triumphant rule of injustice. The present passage clearly shows that God recognises very decidedly the importance of judicial proceedings. By direct communication with Moses, he lays down rules which affect—

1 . The accuser;

2 . The witnesses; and

3 . The judge.

I. WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCUSER . False accusation is to be avoided, and especially capital charges against the innocent ( Exodus 9:7 ).

II. WITH RESPECT TO WITNESSES . Men are to beware of either inventing an untrue tale or giving any support to it when it has been invented by others ( Exodus 9:11 ).

III. WITH RESPECT TO JUDGES .

1 . They are not to act like Pilate and "follow a multitude to do evil" ( Exodus 9:2 ).

2 . They are not either unduly to favour the poor ( Exodus 9:3 ); or

3 . To wrest justice against them ( Exodus 9:6 ).

4 . They are not to oppress strangers ( Exodus 9:9 ). And

5 . They are, above all things, not to take a bribe.

Accusers, beware! Be sure that your charge is true, or do not make it. A false charge, even though proved false, may injure a man for life—he may never be able to recover from it. Particularly, be careful, if your charge is a serious one, involving risk to life. You may, if successful, "slay the innocent and the righteous" ( Exodus 9:7 ). Nay, you may slay a man by a false charge which does not directly affect his life—you may so harass and annoy him as to drive him to suicide, or "break his heart," and so shorten his days. Even if you have a true charge to bring, it is not always wise or Christian to bring it. St. Paul would have us in some cases "take wrong" and "suffer ourselves to be defrauded" ( 1 Corinthians 6:7 ).

Witnesses, beware! Do not give untrue evidence, either in the way of raising false reports yourselves, or of supporting by your evidence the false reports of others. The witnesses who cause an innocent person to be condemned are as much to blame as the false accuser. Be very careful in giving evidence to speak "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Depose to nothing of which you are not sure. If you are uncertain, say that you are uncertain, however much the adverse counsel may browbeat you. In cases of personal identity, be specially careful. It is exceedingly easy to be mistaken about a man whom you have seen only once or twice.

Judges, beware! On you the final issue depends. Be not swayed by popularity. Yield not to the outcries either of an excited mob, or a partisan press, when they shout, "away with him!" Hold the scales of justice even between the rich man and the poor, neither suffering your prejudice of class to incline you in favour of the former, nor a weak sentimentality to make you lean unduly towards the latter. Be sure not to oppress foreigners, who must plead to disadvantage in a country, and amid proceedings, t hat are strange to them. Above all, do not condescend to take a bribe from either side. A gift is a weight in the scales of justice; and "a false balance is an abomination to the Lord" ( Proverbs 11:1 ).