The Need To Appoint Satisfactory Judges (Deuteronomy 16:18-20).
Crucial to enjoying blessing in the land was the establishing of a satisfactory system of justice. There can be no question that a fair and effective justice system produces the maximum benefit for everyone, even though some prefer to be without it because they are greedy and in their hearts godless. To distort justice is to dishonour God, and He will eventually call to account all who do so. As we have already noted, in Deuteronomy 1:15-17 a fair system of justice was declared by Moses to have been one of the great benefits that Yahweh had given their fathers, and their failure to respond to Yahweh was in the light of it seen to be most culpable.
Analysis in the words of Moses.
a Judges and officers shall you make yourselves in all your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes (Deuteronomy 16:18 a).
b And they shall judge the people with righteous judgment (Deuteronomy 16:18 b).
b You shall not wrest justice, you shall not respect persons (literally ‘you shall not recognise faces'), nor shall you take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous (Deuteronomy 16:19).
a That which is altogether just shall you follow, that you may live, and inherit the land which Yahweh your God gives you (Deuteronomy 16:20).
Note that in ‘a' judges were to be appointed ‘ in all your gates which Yahweh your God gives you ' and in the parallel they were to follow all that was just ‘ and inherit the land which Yahweh your God gives you '. In ‘b' they were to judge righteously and in the parallel they were reminded how.
‘ Judges and officers shall you (thou) make yourselves in all your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.'
Once they were established in the cities and towns which Yahweh was about to give them, and were no longer under military jurisdiction, they must appoint judges and officers to watch over legal affairs. Each city and town was to have its civil judiciary, usually selected from among the elders of the town because of their wide experience, their acknowledged ability and their knowledge of God's Instruction (the Torah), who would meet at the gate of the city or town where there would be an open space. With them would be officials appointed to ensure that justice was carried out (compare Deuteronomy 22:13-19; Deuteronomy 25:2; Deuteronomy 25:5-10; Ruth 4; Hosea 7:7; Hosea 13:10; Isaiah 1:26; Isaiah 3:2; Micah 7:3). These would then be responsible to tribal leaders over the tribal areas (Joshua 14-19). And all must judge righteous judgments (compare John 7:24). They must judge according to His Instruction. Obedience to His Instruction (Torah - ‘Law') is the foundation for much of what follows.
‘ You shall not wrest justice, you shall not respect persons (literally ‘you shall not recognise faces'), nor shall you take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous.'
Note the threefoldness of the command, ‘You shall not wrest (or pervert) justice, you shall not respect persons, you shall not take a bribe'. This is a charter for the justices. They must neither distort or pervert justice (compare Deuteronomy 24:17; Deuteronomy 27:19; Exodus 23:6), nor take account of who the litigants were, whether influential nobles or relative nobodies, whether wealthy or impoverished, nor must they take a bribe or sweetener (God does not and neither should man - Deuteronomy 10:17). Nor must they allow such things to change their view of the evidence, nor use their skills to distort the honesty of righteous men. Alternately the last idea may be that the bribe might make even the righteous give false witness.
Injustice and corruption are a shame on any country, and the unfortunate lot of all. ‘A bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and perverts the word of the righteous.' If we had seen this by itself we could easily have taken it as being from the book of Proverbs (although it is not. Proverbs could not conceive of the wise behaving like this) and was possibly a saying that was current in the camp, compare Exodus 23:8 from where it is taken.
Taking these two verses along with Deuteronomy 17:8-13 note the parallels withdeu Deuteronomy 1:15-18. These are (1) the importance of impartiality in administering justice, (2) the way that the judges and officials were to be appointed with the approval of the people, (3) the link with the tribal system, and (4) the fact of a God-provided authority which could be appealed to. In the final analysis the last appeal was to Yahweh through His chosen representatives.
But note also the difference in the description of the officials. Here we have an organised system for ruling the towns and cities which they were shortly to possess, while Deuteronomy 1:15-18 described more a system overruled by line commanders over groups, more suitable for journeying. All fits into place.
Through the ages justice has been commonly distorted by all these methods described, and in general is as much so today. The use of influence to obtain decisions is commonplace in local authorities (in spite of the pretence that it is not), people with influence, or who have the right friends, get their own way, while others are relatively ignored; bribery and corruption of different kinds are influential at all levels of society, while political ends regularly sway decisions. Regularly local courts do not have time to consider the true merits of individual cases and judgments are arbitrary and in favour of legal representatives, and tribunals heavily favour one side or the other. The truth is that in our society true justice is too expensive for lower level situations. ‘Justice' is run on the cheap. Fortunately in the larger cases there is even today a general regard for justice in many democratic countries, but it is the only in that sphere that it can be confidently expected to be obtained in most cases.
‘ That which is altogether just shall you follow, that you may live, and inherit the land which Yahweh your God gives you.'
Rather than perverting justice they were to follow it assiduously. It was vital that Yahweh's people be absolutely just in all their dealings, aware that Yahweh knew their very thoughts and the genuineness of their actions. Thus by truly following justice they would inherit the land that Yahweh their God was giving them. The reverse implication is that if injustice prevailed they would lose their land.
These verses bring home to us all, that God looks for us to deal fairly and righteously in all circumstances. Anything else is displeasing to Him. He does not practise positive discrimination.