What actions in Job 24:3 demonstrate injustice against the poor and needy? Scripture Focus Job 24:3: “They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.” Specific Actions Condemned • Driving off the orphan’s donkey • Seizing the widow’s ox as collateral Why These Actions Are Unjust • Strips the most vulnerable of their tools for daily survival—transport, farming, income • Violates God’s explicit commands protecting widows and orphans (Exodus 22:22–24; Deuteronomy 24:17) • Ignores the heart of God, who “executes justice for the fatherless and the widow” (Deuteronomy 10:18) Broader Biblical Witness • Exodus 23:9 – forbids oppressing the vulnerable • Deuteronomy 24:6 – “No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for he would be taking a life in pledge.” • Proverbs 23:10–11 – warns against encroaching on the field of the fatherless • Isaiah 1:17 – “Defend the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” • James 1:27 – true religion cares for “orphans and widows in their distress” Living the Lesson God’s Word exposes any practice that robs the defenseless of their means to live. Faithfulness today means safeguarding the property, dignity, and livelihood of the poor, echoing God’s own protective heart revealed throughout Scripture. |
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