Tag: widows

43.p. “Wilderness” – 7.w. Sojourner, widow, and Orphan

 

Exodus 22:21  “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.  If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry,  and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

 Leviticus 19:33    “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong.

 Deuteronomy 10:19   Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

 Jeremiah 22:3   Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.

 Malachi 3:5   “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.

 Deuteronomy 10:18     He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.

 Isaiah 1:17   learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

 Zechariah 7:10   do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

 James 1:27     Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Governments have the right and responsibility to control borders and immigration; yet there is no doubt of the individual’s responsibility to neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him.  It is fair to examine how accommodating we are to the strangers among us. The widow and fatherless child were the weakest and most vulnerable members of society. In an unrestrained, survival-of-the-fittest society, they would be the first to suffer abuse and destruction. (Guzik)

The laws against oppression with three crimes of the deepest dye seems intended to indicate that oppression is among the sins which are most hateful in God’s sight. The lawgiver, however, does not say that it is to be punished capitally, nor, indeed, does he affix to it any legal penalty. Instead of so doing, he declares that God Himself will punish it “with the sword”. (Ellicott)

Ye shall not afflict the widow, or fatherless child — That is, ye shall comfort and assist them, and be ready upon all occasions to show them kindness. In making just demands from them, their condition must be considered who have lost those that should protect them; and no advantage must be taken against them, nor any hardship put upon them, which a husband or a father would have sheltered them from. (Benson)

It is good for us to take heed of these words from God. All we have has been given to us by God. Oh, that our hearts and minds would be sensitive to the quiet whispers of the Holy Spirit leading us to show God’s grace, mercy, and love.

12.k. “Choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom”

Acts 6:1  In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

We see the chapter starting off with some complaining.  Obviously this would be something that should just be handled but it is evident that is not the case.  They have witnessed great wonders and signs by the Holy Spirit through some of the apostles, and they also witnessed a great work of the Holy Spirit in people were living in unity and sharing what they had with the whole.  Cant you hear it, “I didn’t get my share today” “They forgot me again” “This isn’t fair” “Are they better than us” etc….  Does any of this sound a bit familiar?  Some things never change.  The apostles give a kind rebuke, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the Word of God in order to wait on tables”  So they told them to pick 7 who were spirit-filled and demonstrated wisdom.  Amazingly the whole group was happy at this and they chose men to fill these roles.  “The word of God spread and the number of disciples increased very fast”   a loser number of priests became obedient to the faith.  God’s Word has a way of opening up to hearts and minds that are open.  I would have to say God’s word even opens hearts and minds and this is somewhat of a mystery.  Have you ever wondered how it is that you came to the knowledge and understanding of the need for forgiveness?  It is not as though you gave this a great deal of in-depth thought and concluded that you were a sinner in need of salvation.  Somehow God opened your heart and mind to His Word and an intentional choice was made to confess, repent, and receive forgiveness through faith in Jesus Christ.  PRAISE GOD!!!!  We would never have come to this understanding without His grace, mercy, and love opening it up to us.  May we never think that any part of this knowledge and understanding was from us.

11.j. “People are like fuel for the fire”

Nahum 1:1 An oracle concerning Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh.

Zechariah 9:1   For the LORD has an eye on mankind and on all the tribes of Israel,

Isaiah 9:16  for those who guide this people have been leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.  Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.  For wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns; it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.  Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land is scorched, and the people are like fuel for the fire; no one spares another.

When Jonah preached repentance on the streets of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, the people responded and were spared. A century later, sometime between 663 and 612 b.c., Nahum preached in a time when Nineveh would not repent. Nineveh, which had destroyed Israel’s northern kingdom in 722, itself fell to Babylon in 612—just a few years after Nahum’s warning. The Assyrians were notorious for the brutality of their treatment of other nations. Nahum declared, however, that God is sovereign: he punishes whom he will, and they are powerless to stop him. Much of Nahum’s prophecy was directed to the people of Judah, who could rejoice at the good news (1:15) of Nineveh’s impending fall.

4.i. “To keep oneself unstained from the world.”

Nehemiah 13:1   On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people. And in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, for they did not meet the people of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them—yet our God turned the curse into a blessing. As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.

Psalms 119:9    How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

Psalms 119:11    I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Proverbs 6:23    For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

James 1:27   Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

“As soon as the people heard the law, they separated from Israel all those of foreign descent.”  Do you ever wonder what the state of mind is in those who hear and act on God’s word?  We know from earlier in Nehemiah the people were floundering in their walk with God.  A small number (40,000 – 50,000)  had been allowed to return to their homeland.  Jerusalem was in ruin and the people were spread out in other towns and villages of Judah.  They all did what seemed right to them at the time.  They were harassed by the surrounding people, they had to establish new fields for grain, pastures for flocks, homes to live in.  They had to repopulate.  In all of this activity, they seemed to have gotten caught up in, this led to them forgetting about serving, honoring, glorifying, following, and obeying God.  Then Ezra the scribe and priest was sent and what he saw and heard about, he called out the sin of the people.  He read the Book of the Law to them and had it explained so that the people had an understanding of what it meant to honor, follow, and obey.  Their heart, mind, and soul were open to hearing the word and they confessed their sin and committed to retiring to honoring, serving, following, and obeying God’s Law.  We must remember that there had been 70 years of captivity so many of these people returning were second and third generation from those who initially rejected God’s Law.  In captivity there would have been no temple worship, no reading from God’s word, and much exposure to foreign gods and practices.  It can be understood why they did what seemed right in their own eyes because they were void of God’s Word.

What is our excuse?  What possible reason do we have?  We have not been forced into captivity or had the Word of God removed from us.  We have not been forced to live apart from God’s temple or forced to stop worshiping God. And yet, we choose to live as we have been.  We neglect God’s Word, we are complacent at best in our service, and our heart, mind, and soul are deaf to the leading His Word would give us.  When our heart, mind, and soul, has chosen to be in captivity of the influence of the world we will only be able to do what seems right in our own eyes.  We will only be doing what seems right by the standards and expectations of the culture we live in.  To break the chains of captivity our heart, soul, and mind must change.  An intentional choice must be made in our hearts to seek and desire God’s word with the single purpose of honoring, serving, glorifying, following, trusting, and obeying Jesus Christ.  We must want to hear God’s Word speak into our life for this single purpose above all of the things this world has to offer.  In this heart, mind, and soul-deep commitment we will find that when we hear God’s Word leading us we will immediately act on it accordingly.

2. Be Doers

James 1:22   But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

James 1:27   Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Matthew 7:21-25     “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Luke 6:46-48    “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

Luke 11:28     But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Romans 2:13     For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

Obadiah 1:3    The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?”

Galatians 6:7    Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

It does not take much reading of scripture to be reminded of being “Doers of the Word” – “Keepers of the Word” – “Keeping oneself Unstained from the world”  God speaks to us through His word from either reading it or hearing others read it.  If we spend the time in it we find hope, peace, guidance, and encouragement for the trials that surely follow each day. 

How are we to keep unstained if we are not aware of what causes the staining?  How are we to be doers if we don’t know what to do?  Do we think for a second that we are guiltless or won’t be judged for neglecting His word?

Satan implants lies into our minds.  He tells us we are ok enough.  He tells us we are better than others.  He tells us that we are too busy. Too tired. He tells us we get enough of God’s word on Sunday.  He tells us we are content with how we are living for God.  He tells us we are not good enough or know enough to be of any value in spreading the Gospel or making disciples.  He tells us tomorrow we will have more time for God.  He tells us we deserve a break from serving God.  He tempts us with stuff that will never satisfy our soul.  He looks to confuse and cause division.  He deceives us with partial truths and we have not spent enough time in God’s word to know we are being deceived.

Be hearers – read and study God’s word

Be doers – obey God’s word