This coming week the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to determine the future of Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh. There has been heated disagreement about how to proceed with a last-minute accusation of abuse against him brought by a woman who knew him in High School thirty-six years ago. The resulting political circus has created considerable tension throughout the country.

It seems to me committee members would be wise to consult the Bible’s specification for earthly justice. Since justice is one of the primary characteristics of God, it’s not surprising that God’s Word gives a detailed prescription for due process in human courts. There were guidelines for protecting the victims of abuse and injustice. There were guidelines for convicting and punishing the guilty. There were also guidelines for protecting the accused against false testimony.

Listed below are nine guidelines for administering justice that God laid out for His people. It is not an exhaustive list, but it is a relevant one. A Scripture is quoted to support each principle, but many other passages from both the Old and New Testaments could be cited as well.

1. 1. Earthly justice is important to God and should be extremely  important to us. (Isaiah 61:8) “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing…”
   2. Justice should be administered with complete disregard to status. (Leviticus 19:15) “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.”
   3. Those in leadership positions should be thoroughly vetted, and any accusation against them should be taken seriously. (1 Tim 3:2 & 7) “Now the overseer must be above reproach….he must also have a good reputation with outsiders so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.”
   4. Justice is always to be administered quickly. (Eccles. 8:11) “When a sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.”
   5. To testify against a person is a very serious matter, entailing responsibilities of truthfulness and penalties for falsehood. (Proverbs 19:5) “A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever pours out lies will not go free.”
   6. There must be at least two witnesses to a violation of the law. An accusation by just one witness is not sufficient to convict. (Deut. 19:15) “One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
   7. The testimony of a witness is to be subject to cross-examination and to corroboration. (Deuteronomy 19:16-18) “If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. The judges must make a thorough investigation…”
   8. Anyone guilty of making false accusations is to receive punishment commensurate with the one that would have been administered to the accused. (Deuteronomy 19:18-19) “If the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him as he intended to do to his brother.”
   9. Those found guilty are to be punished without mercy. It’s up to God to grant mercy, but human judges are to administer justice. (Deuteronomy 19:19-21) “You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

Joseph was falsely accused of attempted rape by Potiphar’s wife. She had begged Joseph, “Come to bed with me!” “But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.” When her husband came home, she told him this story, “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” Potiphar was a powerful man; one of Pharaoh’s officials. He believed her story and Joseph was imprisoned unjustly for two years based on one single false testimony. (See Genesis 39)

On the other hand, in John 8:2-11, a woman was accused of adultery by a host of Pharisees. However, the man who shared her guilt was not brought forward as required by Jewish law. When the Pharisees demanded she be stoned because of her immoral behavior, Jesus suggested those without sin be the ones to cast the first stone.  However, the witnesses ultimately failed to press the charges so Jesus asked the woman, “Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”  (John 8:10-11)

The feet of Jesus is a place where we can receive grace, but the human courtroom is to be a place of justice. That’s why for years it has been common for an American judge pronouncing a guilty sentence to add, “And may God have mercy on your soul.” Let’s pray that the Senate Judiciary Committee this week will make right decisions and that justice will be served.

And may God have mercy on us all.

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