In the tenth chapter
of Deuteronomy, Israel’s Creator God speaks to those that He intends to bear
His image in the world, thereby communicating what is expected of them, saying
“Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you except to revere Him,
to obey all His commandments, to love Him, to serve Him with all your mind and
being” (10:12). Having said this, He continues to describe Himself, while
also informing those hearing these words how they are to perform in and for the
world, saying that He “justly treats the orphan and the widow, and who loves
resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing” (10:18).
Of course, the theme
of the need to care for the orphan and the widow, along with the resident
foreigner and the poor, is a theme that is taken up on page after page of that
through which the Creator God has revealed Himself. Deuteronomy
twenty-four is particularly focused in this area. In the seventeenth
verse the text reads “You must not pervert justice due to a resident foreigner
or an orphan, or take a widow’s garment as security for a loan” (24:17).
Additionally, “Whenever you reap your harvest in your field and leave some
unraked grain there, you must not return to get it; it should go to the
resident foreigner, orphan, and widow so that the Lord your God may bless all
the work you do” (24:19).
Likewise, “When you
beat your olive tree you must not repeat the procedure; the remaining olives,”
treasure, if you will, “belong to the resident foreigner, orphan, and
widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard you must not do so a
second time; they should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow.
In the twenty-seventh chapter, just before God outlines His program of blessing
or cursing, based upon His people’s handling of their covenant responsibilities
(chapter twenty-eight), we find, along with a number of curses, “Cursed is the
one who perverts justice for the resident foreigner, the orphan, and the widow”
(27:19a).
Turning to Exodus, there
one finds “You must not afflict any widow or orphan. If you afflict them
in any way and they cry to me, I will surely hear their cry, and My anger will
burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives will be widows and your
children will be fatherless. Most certainly, though it is far from purity
of heart, those that do such things will see God, but clearly in a way which is
less than desirable. If we look to the prophets, such as Isaiah, we hear
him speaking on behalf of God, delivering a judgmental cry and saying “Learn to
do what is right! Promote justice! Give the oppressed reason to
celebrate! Take up the cause of the orphan! Defend the rights of
the widow!” (1:17).
The corollary to this
is “Your officials are rebels, they associate with thieves. All of them
love bribery, and look for payoffs. They do not take up the cause of the
orphan, or defend the rights of the widow” (1:23). Ezekiel sounds a
similar note, saying “They have treated father and mother with contempt within
you; they have oppressed the foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan
and the widow within you” (22:7).
Ostensibly, because the
Creator God delivered His judgment against His people, as announced and
explained by these prophets in connection with their idolatry, their
mis-treatment of the resident foreigner, the orphan, and the widow could be
said to have stemmed from their idolatry. Had they been pure of heart, it
would have been demonstrated in their care for these groups, though one should
not pretend to insist that such care created a purity of heart. Their
lack of purity of heart was revealed in their treatment of the ones to whom the
Creator God directs so much of His attention and concern. Owing to this, the
covenant God’s people saw Him in a way that they did not want to see Him, but
that He had certainly promised. In the big picture, Jesus’ talk of being
“pure of heart” is set against idolatry, be it ever so subtle.
No comments:
Post a Comment