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Horizons — Environmental justice

Rosalind Banbury's first reflection on the 2024-2025 Presbyterian Women/Horizons Bible Study.

Let Justice Roll Down: God’s call to care for neighbors and all creation  
Lesson 1: Ezekiel 34: 1-8

A Vietnam veteran broke into a convenience store to steal milk and bread for his family. Caught and charged with theft, he pleaded guilty. The judge sentenced him to job training at the city’s expense, saying, “It is an indictment on our country that a person who put his life on the line for us is reduced to poverty with little means of employment.” The sentence was an act of biblical justice and a broader call to social justice.

After the exodus from slavery, Moses tells the people to choose judges for their communities. The judges are to use God’s law as a basis for judgment and give equal treatment regardless of the wealth or poverty of the people involved.

An Old Testament professor was giving our class an example of biblical justice. She said, “Let us imagine that two men, who are neighbors, come to the judge. We will name them Amos and Zach.”

Amos says to the judge, “Zach stole grain from me one night during the harvest!”

Zach says that it is true but that he had asked Amos for help because he was a carpenter, his business was slow, and his family was hungry. The judge asks Amos if what Zach says is true.

Amos responds, “Yes, but why should I give that for which I labored to someone else?”

The judge inquires further. “Amos, did you leave the edges of your field unharvested so that the poor could gather grain as God told us to do?”

“No,” Amos replies.

The judge says to Amos, “Because Zach asked for help and you did not give it, and because you did not leave grain for the poor to gather as our Lord commands, the theft will not be held against Zach. You, Amos, are to give Zach enough grain to feed his family through the winter.” (Leviticus 19:22)

The kings of Israel were to govern with this kind of justice. God called them to be shepherd kings: protecting the weak, widows and orphans and working for the wellbeing of all the citizens. In Ezekiel 34: 2-6, God’s condemnation falls upon the leaders.

“I, the Lord God, say you shepherds of Israel are doomed! You take care of yourselves while ignoring my sheep. You drink their milk and use their wool to make your clothes. Then you butcher the best ones for food. But you don’t take care of the flock!  You have never protected the weak ones or healed the sick ones or bandaged those that get hurt. You let them wander off and never look for those that get lost. You are cruel and mean to my sheep. They strayed in every direction, and because there was no shepherd to watch them, they were attacked and eaten by wild animals. So my sheep were scattered across the earth. They roamed on hills and mountains, without anyone even bothering to look for them.”

God further dooms the leaders because they eat the choicest grass, drink pure water and then muddy the waters so it is undrinkable and trample the grass so no one else can eat it.

Today, government policies and leaders of corporations abuse their power by making decisions that disproportionally damage racial-ethnic and poor communities. Church and government agencies have documented the strong link between environmental pollution, poverty and racism.

God calls for biblical justice in which those without power are treated equally. Protection of people, land, air and water is also the mission of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of our nation. Environmental justice as defined by the EPA “is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies.” (Let Justice Roll Down, pp. 14-15) Environmental justice requires that the people most affected by toxic waste are an integral part of the discussions of how land is used, and the laws needed to protect it.

“Do justice, love mercy and humbly obey God,” rings out the voice of the prophet Micah. It is God’s call upon us all.


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