When God’s Judgment is Justice

A closer look at Amos 5:24 shows more than just rolling waters and flowing streams.

But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

(Amos 5:24 ESV)

I’m sure you’re familiar with this verse.

Maybe you’ve heard it quoted by a fiery preacher. Maybe you’ve read it in someone’s social media post.

It sounds so gentle and pleasant in English.

Justice. Rolling waters. An ever-flowing stream. It sounds like something Thomas Kinkade might paint.

But is the verse, in context, meant to be a feel-good Instagram quote graphic? Here are three things to consider when reading this oft-quoted verse:

1. The word translated here as “justice” is mishpat in Hebrew, which can also be translated as “judgment.”

Mishpat occurs in Hosea 2:19; 5:1, 11; 6:5; 10:4; 12:6; Amos 5:7, 15, 24; 6:12; and Micah 3:1, 8, 9; 6:8; and 7:9. These three books are attributed to prophets who confronted the incongruity between the religious practices of Israel and Judah and the social injustices they had allowed to fester.

In instances where mishpat is translated as “justice,” it is usually an item in a series of items that are good and godly:

• righteousness, justice, love, and mercy (Hos 2:19)
• love and justice (Hos 12:6)
• justice and righteousness (Amos 5:7; 6:12)
• good and justice (Amos 5:15; Mic 3:1-2)
• and justice and might (Mic 3:8).

In instances where mishpat is translated as “judgment,” it is often the result of a cause-and-effect relationship:

• “judgment is for you, for you have been a snare” (Hos 5:1)
• “Ephraim is crushed in judgment, because he was determined to go after filth” (5:11)
• “therefore…my judgment goes forth” (6:4-5)
• “with empty oaths they make covenants, so judgment springs up” (10:4)
• and “because I have sinned… (he) executes judgment for me” (Mic 7:9).

Can the occurrence of mishpat in Amos 5:24, which is translated as “justice” in most English translations including the ESV, NIV, NRSV, CEB, NLT, MSG, and HCSB, be translated as something that encompasses both “justice” and “judgment,” perhaps as “justice through divine judgment”?

In Amos 5, mishpat appears toward the end of a lament over the sins of God’s people:

• They “abhor him who speaks the truth” (5:10)
• They “trample on the poor” (v. 11)
• They “afflict the righteous,” take bribes, and “turn aside the needy” (v. 12)

And they did this while worshiping God with feasts, solemn assemblies (v. 21), offerings (v. 22), and songs (v. 23) that were unacceptable to God because their worship was not backed up by their hearts or their deeds.

These could be seen as causes, and mishpat could be seen as the effect: judgment. Later, in verse 27, God’s pronouncement to “send you into exile” (v. 27) does sound like judgment.

And for you King James Version diehards, the KJV renders mishpat as “judgment.”

2. The word translated as “stream” is nachal, which is more than just a bubbling brook.

Nachal also refers to a wadi torrent, or a flash flood that occurs in the Middle East when rain falls at a higher elevation some distance away and the water comes rushing down a ravine or valley, unexpectedly to those downstream.

These wadi torrents can be devastating if they catch you off-guard. Imagine hiking through a desert ravine on a bright, sunny day, unaware of a heavy rainfall miles and miles away, in the hills.

Then, suddenly, a torrent of water appears out of nowhere, rushing down a dry gorge and threatening to overtake you.

This gives a whole new meaning to “rolling waters” and “ever-flowing streams,” doesn’t it? It’s more disaster movie than Thomas Kinkade.

And, by the way, the word translated as “waters”—mayim—can also refer to tears or urine.

3. This verse is in the context of an admonishment against injustice by the outwardly religious

“O you who turn justice into wormwood and cast down righteousness to the earth!”

Amos 5:7 ESV

The prophet Amos was a farmer and herder from the southern kingdom of Judah. He spoke out against those in the northern kingdom of Israel who had grown wealthy by morally questionable means, often at the expense of the poor, but acted pious and were smug about their religiosity.

A poor Southerner denouncing rich Northerners? That’s whom God chose as a prophet to deliver a stinging rebuke to those who turned justice into bitter fruit and threw righteousness to the ground (v. 7).

To them, God said, through the prophet Amos:

I hate, I despise your feasts,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
I will not look upon them.

Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

Amos 5: 21-24 ESV

And to paraphrase verse 24:

But let mishpat (justice/judgment) roll down like waters/tears, and righteousness like an unexpected, thundering torrent.

What does all this mean for the church today—when those who cry out for justice are often ignored, dismissed, or bullied into silence by outwardly religious churchgoers?