They didn’t say it out loud, but the people in line resented me as I was ushered to the front and given the best seat on Space Mountain in Disneyland.  “Hey, Buddy, we been standing in line for an hour…”  They didn’t say it because they assumed I was some important celebrity who naturally would receive special treatment.  (Actually, I simply knew a guy who worked the ride.)  We have gotten used to it when so-called important people get the best seats, free tickets, etc.  I suppose all that, as screwy as it is (because they could most afford to pay for those perks…), is relatively harmless.

But, in fact, those same important people sometimes also get a free pass when they break the law.  Most of us grudgingly accept that, too, knowing there is little we can do about it.  Perhaps it would help to know that God is angry about it too.  He says,

²² Woe to those …
²³ who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
but deny justice to the innocent.    (Isaiah 5:22a & 23)

Those who get away with breaking the law, who think they deserve special treatment because they are better or more powerful than the rest of us, should pay careful attention to the first word quoted above, “Woe…”  “Woe” may not seem to be such a deal unless you remember that it was dictated by Almighty God.  If your neighbor’s kid says, “Woe…” to you, you might shrug it off.  But if it turns out he’s a champion fighter in the UFC, well, then you got a problem.  But if God says, “Woe…” you’ve got a whole lot more than a mere problem.  Here’s what God has planned for those to whom He says, “Woe…”

²⁴ Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw
and as dry grass sinks down in the flames,
so their roots will decay
and their flowers blow away like dust;
for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty
and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.  (Isaiah 5:24)

There will come a day, God says, when the corrupt will be destroyed as with fire and will no longer be able to propagate their injustice (their roots and flowers will decay and blow away).  If you have been angry about someone getting treated as though the laws do not apply, take heart.  However, while you are taking heart, also take note:  this outcome is for those who “have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned [His]… Word.”