Daily devotions: Seeking Justice - Acts 28

Acts 28:4         When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live."

“Justice has not allowed him to live.”

Recently I wrote about the fate of Sakineh Ashtiani, the Iranian woman who was due to be stoned to death for adultery. Like many other bloggers, I expressed my anger at such a barbaric punishment being applied to a woman in the 21^st century. All over the world, there has been a public outcry and just last week hopes for clemency were raised when the Iranian government decided to not to stone her to death. The fact that this coincided with President Ahmadinejad’s visit and speech to the United Nations seemingly had nothing to do with it.

However, now that Ahmadinejad has returned to his own country, the Iranian Court has decided to hang Sakineh for murder. Here’s how the news was released:

“According to the court’s ruling, she is convicted of murder and her death sentence has priority over her punishment for committing adultery”, the Tehran Times reported, citing Mohseni-Ejei, Iran’s national prosecutor general.”

The fact that Sakineh was cleared of murder at a previous trial has no bearing on this tyrannical, oppressive, and misogynistic judgment. She has no right to appeal and the sentence, unless commuted, will be carried out soon. Her family and supporters have also been warned that if they continue to protest on her behalf, they will be treated as usurpers of the government and tried for treason. It seems that Iranian justice, for what it’s worth, will not allow her to live.

When the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked on the beautiful island of Malta, the natives thought that he was a murderer when he was bitten by a viper. They fully expected him to keel over and die. He may have escaped death from the shipwreck they thought, but justice would prevail and the snake would make sure that he got his just desserts. But when the poison didn’t take and Paul shook off the snake, they thought that he was a god. Paul would soon dispel that notion by using the opportunity to preach the gospel and give Christ the glory.

I don’t know if Sakineh Ashtiani will ultimately be given clemency and shown real justice. I doubt it, but it won’t stop me from praying for her and her family.

Prayer:                        Lord Jesus, we pray for Sakineh today and ask that You will support her in prison and give courage to her beleaguered family. We pray against those who would use their power and religion to oppress their people. We ask for Your Light and Gospel to illuminate those dark places of Iran, so that the people shall know the truth and at last be set free. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Lady Liberty

God grant courage and liberty to the Iranian people!

Political Cartoon: Holy Hypocrisy

Ahmadinejad is one of the biggest hypocrites on the planet...



he should practice what he preaches in his own country first...

Daily Devotional: Defying Dictators - Why Lee Bollinger was right

Audio version here

Daniel 2:18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. (NIV)

A lot has been made of yesterday’s visit by the President of Iran to Columbia University in New York. I watched the live debate yesterday because it was an historical moment. Right from the beginning, Ahmadinejad was put on the hot seat by the university’s President Lee Bollinger. Instead of courteously introducing the Iranian president to the audience, Bollinger interrogated the guest speaker and castigated him for the many human rights abuses that are taking place in Iran. In my humble opinion, it was a courageous and probably career-busting move to make.

The media, however, have condemned Bollinger for his discourtesy and undiplomatic confrontation of Ahmadinejad. A leader of any nation should be accorded respect because he or she represents their nation. Any insult against the president is taken to be an insult against the Iranian people. And sadly, into today’s divided world, any insult to an Islamic leader is considered an insult against the Moslem faith.

However, no matter what the diplomatic repercussions are, I believe that Lee Bollinger was right to do what he did. Ahmadinejad is a tyrant whose political regime terrorizes his people. A recent article in Time magazine, written by a female Iranian journalist, expresses some of the major concerns that free-thinking intellectual Iranians face in their country. People are imprisoned for expressing political views; women are killed for being raped; and young teenage boys are hung for being homosexuals. Much of what goes on in Iran is reported by Amnesty International. Ahmadinejad is a callous despot who only cares about power, not people.

When Daniel and his companions faced the possibility of execution, they turned to God for deliverance. They lived under a tyrannical king, whose anger at his advisers caused him to send forth an order to kill all of the wise men, clever teachers, and mathematical scholars in his nation. And that’s usually how tyranny manifests itself – by killing the educated people, in order to rule by fear and ignorance. In modern times, the names of Hitler, Stalin, and Phol Pot have been synonymous with such vicious cruelty. Perhaps Ahmadinejad name will also be entered into that Hall of Shame one day.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You alone know the hearts and minds of all people, so You know all of the atrocities that the president of Iran may have committed. If he is such a monster, then allow free people to castigate him for what he really is. Remind us that we have all promised never to let the Holocausts of the past happen again. Keep us from being bystanders and help us to confront evil wherever it exists. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.