The phrase “social justice” dates back at least to the early part of the 19th century. The idea was about justice on a societal level (Old Oxford Dictionary). However, social justice has a much longer history than just 200 years. We find calls for social justice back to the beginning of documented history thousands of years ago.

Oppressed and Oppressor

The concern for social justice included the oppressed and those who oppressed them (oppressors) – the conquered and those who conquered (conquerors). The first example of an oppressor was Cain who killed his brother, Abel. God warned Cain to control his jealousy and anger, but Cain did not obey. After the murder of Abel, God delivered justice on Cain –

So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth. Genesis 4:11-12

Cain, the oppressor, quickly complained that God’s justice was too harsh. Cain viewed his punishment as oppression –

And Cain said to the Lord, ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear! Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me. Genesis 4:13-14

Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived “east of Eden” (Genesis 4:17). Cain built the first city and named it after his son, Enoch. Cain built a family legacy that included brutality and oppression.

Cain and Abel’s mother, Eve, wanted another son who would become the “seed” God had promised her in the Garden. She gave birth to Seth, whose name in Hebrew comes from a word that means “appointed.” Seth fathered Enosh, and at that time “men began to call on the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26). Seth and Enosh are both in the lineage that led to the human birth of Jesus Christ through Mary (Luke 3:23-38).

After centuries of living in two camps – the camp of Cain and the camp of Seth – we come upon a time of great injustice. The wickedness of humans toward each other was great in the earth. Every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. The earth was corrupt and filled with violence – “for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth” (Genesis 6:1-12). The society of that time needed some social justice for sure.

Corruption is at the root of much, if not most, of injustice in society. The Hebrew word used for “corrupt” in Genesis 6 is shachath. It carries the idea of “going to ruin.” That’s what happens to corrupt societies – they go to ruin. The societies started by Cain and Seth became corrupt, which led to oppression and violence. That scenario has played over and over again throughout the history of the human race. Corruption leads to ruin.

So, where would the earth find justice? From the only Being who can meet out justice on a world-wide scale – God. His justice included punishment and mercy, which is God’s way.

So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6:7-8

Even as God judged the earth, He also had mercy on it. God judged the earth through a great flood which destroyed most living things on the planet. However, He saved one man and his family, and a large number of animals and birds – to start again.

Then the Lord said to Noah, ‘Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.’ And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. Genesis 7:1-6

After the Flood

Most of what we know from documented history began after the flood. Noah and his wife had three sons who married and had sons who married and had sons who married and had sons. One of Noah’s great-grandsons built the first kingdoms in the post-flood world. His name was Nimrod.

Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, ‘Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.’ And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city). Genesis 10:8-12

If you look at an ancient map of the region, you’ll see that Nimrod’s kingdom stretched over most of Mesopotamia – also known as the “Fertile Crescent.” Nimrod was a conquering king who became a role model for kings who would come after him. You can read more about Nimrod and other conquering kings in our special series Crowns and Thrones: The Majestic of Our God.

The history of kings and queens as we know it from both biblical and secular history demonstrates their power hunger and corruption. In the words of Lord Acton, a 19th-century British historian – “Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” That was true two-hundred years ago, five-thousand years ago, and it is still true today. Powerful people oppress weaker people. That’s history.

Also history is that the oppressed sometimes rise up to free themselves from their oppressors – often using physical force to accomplish that. Many people call that social justice and call those who press for that justice “social justice warriors.” Is that true? Who determines justice and injustice? Who determines oppressor and oppressed?

If the answer is left up to people, we will get millions of different viewpoints. That’s what we find in secular history. People in power want more power, so they’ll use their power to gain more power. They will lie, cheat, and steal their way to power. They often use force to get what they want – including imprisoning and even murdering their opponents. The oppressed are caught in the middle. Throughout history poor people are used and abused by the powerful.

What Is A Society?

Social justice is based on getting justice within a society. So, let’s define a society –

an enduring and cooperating social group whose members have developed organized patterns of relationships through interaction with one another .. a community, nation, or broad grouping of people having common traditions, institutions, and collective activities and interests – Merriam-Webster Dictionary

a large group of people who live together in an organized way, making decisions about how to do things and sharing the work that needs to be done. All the people in a country, or in several similar countries, can be referred to as a society – Cambridge English Dictionary

people in general thought of as living together in organized communities with shared laws, traditions, and values – Britannica Dictionary

The earliest society was the family – including members of immediate families and extended families. Their relationships were based on familial ties. The family of Noah’s son Japheth is one example –

The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations. Genesis 10:2-5

Japheth was a member of Noah’s immediate family. Japheth lived with his father and mother, two brothers, and eventually his wife and his brothers’ wives. Japheth and his wife had children and their children had children, and so on. Some of the extended family became the coastland peoples of the Gentiles, with different languages. Eventually, families became nations.

You see the same thing with Noah’s other sons and their wives and children. Families were social groups that grew into larger social groups known as communities, towns, cities, city-states, and nations.

These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood. Genesis 10:32

So, how did the leaders of those societies (social groups) determine the rules of how their society would function? God gave them rules to follow, which we find in Genesis 8:20 – 9:17. God gave those rules to Noah and his sons. It was their responsibility to enforce those rules in their families and pass along the rules from one generation to the next. However, as we see in Genesis 11, the leaders did a poor job.

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.’ But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. Genesis 11:1-9

Next Time

In the next part of our series, we’ll look at social justice from a biblical and secular historical timeline. It’s important to remember that while world leaders determine what’s justice and injustice, God is at work in the world showing the reality of both.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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