‘Ancient cultures often held fundamental concepts of justice they applied as a matter of culture. The ancient Egyptians had a list of law call Maat. While the Law of the Maat was exemplified in 42 Negative Confessions of Maat. These negative statements of what not to do were expressing the spirit in which justice was applied rather than the detailed legalistic exposition of rules and punishments.

The same is somewhat true of the Mosaic Law.

The Ten Commandments of Israel were just an abbreviated form of these Maat rules. The Ten Commandments are still seen as the fundamental laws over the supreme court as basic and fundamental, yet not always applied equally in all things. The Ten Laws of Israel were to be applied by the heart of society itself through a network of free assemblies or congregations, not an individual or elite group which had become a centralized authority ruling over the people and making new laws often in its own self interest.

The Weightier matters of the Law were the responsibility of every citizen, not a ruling class. What bound society was not social contracts through Consent, but a system of social welfare which functioned by freewill or charitable contributions. For justice to prevail in a voluntary society, the people had to have the law in their hearts, and for the law to be justice it must be tempered with mercy which is born out of forgiveness and love.

If the law is Spirit, and there is a Law of Nature, then the nature of society will conform to the law cultivated in the hearts of society. Nature is the manifestation of the God of Nature and exemplifies the righteousness of nature and of God.

We may want to define God as the Creator of Nature. But Paul the apostle who was a leader of an Intentional Community said there were “gods many”. The gods of society are whoever those societies pray or apply to in order to receive the benefits of society. To know who is the god within a society is we only need to examine the fruit of society. Is there justice and mercy?

Society will bear witness to the gods it serves.’