October 29, 2013
COMPASSION FOR THE ALIEN, ORPHAN, AND WIDOW
Deuteronomy 24
Angie Sauer
Central Truth
Gleaning your own fields will yield only a little, but leaving the gleaning for the needy will produce a greater harvest.
Key Verse | Deuteronomy 24:19
"When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands." (Deuteronomy 24:19)
Deuteronomy 24
Laws Concerning Divorce
1 When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, 2 and if she goes and becomes another man's wife, 3 and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the LORD. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.
Miscellaneous Laws
5 When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year to be happy with his wife 1 24:5 Or to make happy his wife whom he has taken.
6 No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.
7 If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
8 Take care, in a case of leprous 2 24:8 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13 disease, to be very careful to do according to all that the Levitical priests shall direct you. As I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. 9 Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the way as you came out of Egypt.
10 When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge. 11 You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. 12 And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. 13 You shall restore to him the pledge as the sun sets, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you. And it shall be righteousness for you before the LORD your God.
14 You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. 15 You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the LORD, and you be guilty of sin.
16 Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.
17 You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow's garment in pledge, 18 but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.
19 When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 22 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.
Dive Deeper | Deuteronomy 24
Deuteronomy 24 discusses the laws and commands of the Lord through Moses. The law to leave some grain for the aliens, the fatherless, and widows to glean during harvest is first mentioned in Leviticus 23:22. This law provided a way for them to work for their food and a way for the farmers to express their gratitude to the Lord for His abundance and love for the less fortunate members of the community.
We see compassion for widows in the story of Boaz and Ruth. In Ruth 2:15-16, Boaz orders his men to let her gather among the sheaves. "When she rose to glean, Boaz commanded his servants, saying 'Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not insult her. Also you shall purposely pull out for her some grain from the bundles and leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.'" (Ruth 2:15-16)
Our main focus at 2ndSaturday is to help reach, restore, and redeem broken communities. Because our headquarters is based in West Dallas, one of the poorest communities in the nation, we see the forgotten widows and a great need to help the poor. We help by restoring SLID (Senior Low Income Disabled) homes that are in desperate need of repair. We also provide employment for "at risk" men within these neighborhoods. Rather than sweeping in and out, we believe in partnering and modeling a hand up, not a hand out. As the holidays are approaching, I challenge you to read When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself by Steve Corbett. The book provides ways for Christians to help the poor empower themselves by not finding change from the outside-in, but from the inside-out. Or as it says in Deuteronomy 24, by leaving grain for the aliens, the fatherless, and the widows to glean for themselves.
Discussion Questions
1. What are you holding onto that, by letting go of it, will produce a greater harvest in your life and in someone else's as well?
2. The Father and Jesus first loved us and showed us compassion. Shouldn't we do likewise for others? How are you doing at loving the less fortunate on a daily basis?
3. As the holidays are approach, we often we find ourselves "checking the box" and just dropping off presents like Santa Claus. We miss out on the opportunity to spiritually reach the hearts of the poor within our communities. In what ways can you reach the poor by fully engaging in and building long-term relationships?