FMF: Stay

A stay of execution is the postponement of punishment through a court system.  Don't think execution as in death penalty; think about executing an order.  A stay of execution is a great thing if you or your loved one is receiving punishment.  It does not feel as good if you are the one who has had injustices committed against you.  In the Job 24*, the author wrestles with the idea that there are people doing evil deeds who are not punished: thieves, murderers, and other wrong doers.

In the American court system, intent factors punishment.  We differentiate between those who commit murder ("premeditated") vs manslaughter ("no malice aforethought").  Sometimes a case hinges on that distinction.  In verse 13 the author makes a similar observation, “There are those who rebel against the light, who do not know its ways or stay in its paths."  Some rebel because they do not know the right thing to do, and some rebel because they have chosen to do the wrong thing.

By the end of the chapter, the author has gotten to his point.  These rebels are not really getting away with evil deeds.  A time will come when their stay of execution will end.  As the author writes, "For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone; they are brought low and gathered up like all the others" (v. 24).  Sometimes justice only rests in the hands of God.

*Read the whole chapter HERE.  I think it's beautiful.

This post is a prompt from Five Minute Friday and was written in approximately five minutes. For more information, visit fiveminutefriday.com.