Rights Cause

(Proverbs 29:7 KJV)  The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.

The KJV talks about the “cause” (1779) of the poor.  The NASB uses the word “rights” (1779).  The KJV does not use the word “rights”.  That is probably because it was translated in a time of Divine Right of Kings and common people did not really have any rights.  When modern people think of rights they think of something that they have coming to them.  In the Bible all we have coming to us is hellfire and brimstone.  Grace has no room for rights.

We need to get a Biblical grasp of rights.  We live in a day when everyone talks about their rights.  In the Bible it means justice.  That means, as Proverbs repeatedly says, that when you pay for a pound of wheat you have the right to a pound of wheat.  It does not mean that you have freedom of speech and definitely not freedom of religion.  By implication it would mean a fair trial but not by a jury of our peers. 

So?  As followers of Jesus we have duty, we do not have privilege.  We do not have rights we have the responsibility to treat people justly according to the law of God.