Old Testament Archives - Wholy4Christ

Psalm 146 is one of the most powerful songs of the Old Law. It is referred to as The LORD an Abundant Helper. “How blessed is he whose help is the God Jacob (vs. 5),Who executes justice for the oppressed(vs.7) The LORD protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow;But he thwarts the way of the wicked. (vs.9)”

It has always been clear to me that the responsibility of caring for the neglected has rested on the churches. Because the Nations have been under the Law of God, they should share in the burden for those who can not be helped by a church. Because the churches and the synagogues are unable to take on the burden of those who are not afflicted with a faith. But it also takes a commitment by the people to be honest with their tithe and their offerings. There are many organizations that are not Church Affiliated that are doing wonderful work but it still falls upon the Children to set aside a portion to care for the needs of the community. Because of the many that do not know the Lord and who unreachable to the Word, the government should reach out to them.

The message that is being placed here is that the churches need to step up and take charge of the caring for the widow, orphans and the homeless sojourners that fill our towns and cities. When God told the people Judea and Israel through Isaiah to Repent, He said (Isaiah 1:17) “Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless; Defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” He continues with (vs.18) ” Come now, and let us reason together.” He then proceeds to tell them of the transgressions against God and he ends with: (Isaiah 1:23) “…They do not bring justice to the fatherless ant the widow’s cause does not come to them.”

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As did Israel, we ignore the cause of the widows and do not serve justice to the orphans, but we bring satisfaction to the “princes” of commerce and with false “righteousness”, seek to justify their sins with our own misgiving. We support cruel regimes, deal with countries that use forced child labor and we visit nations that employ children as prostitutes. As Isaiah says (Isaiah 10:2) “They turn aside the needy from justice, and rob the poor of my people of their right, the widows may be their spoil and that they may make the fatherless their prey.” This is what we allow to happen when we stand by and let churches build mega buildings and drive fancy cars and still do not care for the homeless and the defenceless within their communities. This is what happens when we do not challenge our government when they support evil regimes and even add them in their abuses.

I am not saying that all large churches or denominations are like this, but there are enough of them to make it an issue. But I see that companies are enriching themselves by the extortion of the weak and that they continue to use immigrants, children and single mothers to supply their workforce and fail to compensate them with adequate wages.

God told the prophet, Jeremiah, For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, ….then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.” And as you know, they did not obey and repent. So they lost their land and they were taken into captivity.

This is what we are allowing to happen when we stand by and let churches and the governments get rich while ignoring the needs of the very people we are commanded by God to protect. This is what is happening when we allow our leaders to impose laws that deny the needs of the fatherless orphans and the widows and those who have no home to go to. And if have governments and church leaders that do not make provisions to aid and protect the weakest of our societies, we are enablers of dysfunction. Because God put so much regard on the caring for the weakest, most vulnerable, of our society, He would take the nation away from the people if they did not repent and return to the Law.

Ezekiel speaks of the injustice that was rampant among the Chosen People of God (Ezekiel 22:1-12) and he includes the fatherless, widow, sojourners, and the elderly even before he lists the sexual sins or bribes and extortion. God regards the injustice to the homeless and the fatherless and the widows as major. God considers the injustice to immigrants, orphans and widow with the same contempt as idolatry and incest.

Malachi says that God will give swift justice against those who are oppressive. While I have heard pastors quote Malachi 3:8 many times in regard to tithing, I have no recollection of them ever quoting the verses that proceed it. The verses that say how the tithe is to be used. Malachi 3:3-5) “He will sit and judge like a refiner of silver, watching closely as the dross is burned away. He will purify the Levites (Pastors and priests), refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifice to the LORD. Then the LORD once more will accept the offerings brought befor him by the people of Judea and Jerusalem, as he did in former times. At that time I will put you on trial. I will be a ready witness against all sorcerers and adulterers and liars. I will speak against those who cheat employees of their wages, who oppress widows and orphans, who deprive the foreigners living amongst you of justice, for these people do not fear me,” says the LORD Almighty.”

This is how we rob God of His tithe. We need to not only be generous in our offerings and giving to the church, we must be assured that the offerings are being use for more than just running a building or paying wages to a pastor-ship. It is to be used for the uplifting and support of the helpless.

I have only one New Testament passage that I want to impart with you. It comes from the Letter of James 1:27, “Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.” In these few and simple words, we can be assured that Jesus calls upon us to care for the needy and to protect the defenceless. I call upon the Church that is Christ, to go forth and do as the command of God tells us to. Return to the Spirit of the Law and be blessed by the Spirit of God.

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The caring of the “fatherless” orphans and the widows is a long tradition under the Law of God. But it seems to me that in today’s policies that we have as churches and as communities forgotten that the Law of God still applies. It is as if because we are “free from the bond of the Law” we seem to think that it allows us to ignore the needs of our church families and the needs of the many people throughout the world that are in special need of Christian Love.

When we say to God that we love Him and yet neglect those in the most need of care and assistance, we forget that Jesus said that we are to care for the least of these. And when God spoke to Moses and gave him the Law, He spoke to the Nation of Israel. He established the Church and the nation of His people. The Law was not only for the individual but for community. Not only for the Nation and its people but also for the leaders of the Religious community and for the leaders of each tribe of the Sons of Abraham. It became the responsibility of the Church, the Government and the individual to Obey and to serve God’s will.

The point I am making is that just because Jesus may not have addressed the caring of widows and orphans directly, it is still the our responsibility to see to the welfare and care of them. Just because we are not “bound” to the Law does not excuse us from honoring it. We can not ignore or allow the churches, governments or each other from neglecting, abandoning or abusing the needs of the elderly or the very young. This is not a debate over the liberal or the conservative outlook of our governments, it is the critical responsibility of all. It is a matter of understanding and obeying God’s will as set down by his Law given to Moses in the desert.

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Deuteronomy 10:12-13 reads as this: And now, O Israel, what does your God ask of you but to fear the LORD, your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.” (NIV) It is followed by telling who God is to the people and how His might is great. Verse 17 states that God is impartial and takes no bribes. What is the next thing on His list is (Deut 10:18) “He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widows, and the alien, giving them food and clothing.” This begins a long history of how God looked upon the the care of the needing and the homeless. This was the beginning of God’s Law for the care of the fatherless and the widows. Those who were without defenders had God as the advocate. The third year tithe was for the purpose of supporting the Levies, the sojourners and the fatherless and widows.(Deut 14:29) It was to be shared responsibility of the community for the needs of the helpless and for those who had no support.God told His people that they shall not pervert justice: to the fatherless (orphans), the Widows (Deut 24:17) He also commanded that they “When you reap your harvest,…beat your olive trees,…gather your grapes…. do not go back. It is for the fatherless orphans, the sojourners and the widows.”(Deut 24:20-21)

When the Children of Israel were to enter in the feasts of the Passover, they were to include the fatherless and the widows and the travelers in with their own families so that they would not be excluded. This was also true of the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Booths. God did not want them to be left out of anything that pertained to His Blessings.

The last verse that I want to include here is Deuteronomy 26:12-13. “When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levites (priests), the sojourner (migrants), the fatherless (orphans and abandoned children), and the widows, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, then you shall say before the LORD your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless and the widow, according to all your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.'”

As we reflect on the Law of God, let us realize that when we pass laws of man that impede the welfare of the those who have no fathers and the widows and those who unable to work, we are impeding God. And as He is the the finial Judge, he will give justice to them in Heaven while we are to receive another form of His Justice. This goes back to the Matthew 25, and to Luke 16 and to many other times that Jesus told us that we are to be judged as to how we chose to accept or reject His Word in our lives.

As one old revivalist once told me, we may not be able to earn our way to Heaven but we can surely earned our way to Hades. Because we spend so much time in the New Testament, we tend to forget that the Love of Jesus was in fulfillment of the Old Testament and that when the disciples taught and referred to the Scriptures, they were referring to the Law of God in the Old and to the Prophets. Somehow we have blocked the commandment of community aid to the orphans, widows and, yes, to the immigrants, as we were told to by God’s own words. We have not only put up borders on our nations to keep people out, we have put up barriers on our hearts to prevent us from helping the ones who most need our assistance with in our own cities and towns.

We complain about the taxes we pay and we don’t pay our tithes as we should. Our churches are stopping their food pantries and most do not even have a program slotted to aid orphans and low income widows. And yet, as I have read Deuteronomy, we should direct one third of our tithe to the well being of these members of our society. If our pastors are to be housed and fed by the churches, then so should the orphans and widows and the homeless. It is because we in the churches have failed to take on the the task, that the governments have assumed the burden through taxes. Return to the Law of God in this area of our lives and we shall be blessed. Because we fail in the care of our weakest members of society, we have transgressed against God, we have forgotten how he has commanded us to protect the weak and defend the defenceless

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Tag Archives: Old Testament

God’s Law on Widows and Orphans: (The Prophets)

God’s Law on Widows and Orphans (Deuteronomy)

R.E.S.T. in the Lord