What other Scriptures warn against taking advantage of others, as seen here? Verse in Focus “And now you intend to reduce to slavery the men of Judah and Jerusalem. But are you not also guilty of your own offenses against the LORD your God?” What’s at Stake Ahaz’s northern neighbors had captured 200,000 Judeans. God sent the prophet Oded to warn Israel that, while Judah was guilty, Israel had no right to exploit the captives. Scripture consistently repeats this warning: Foundational Commands in the Law • Exodus 22:21-24 – “You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident…You must not mistreat any widow or fatherless child; if you do…and they cry out to Me, I will surely hear.” • Leviticus 19:13 – “You must not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages due a hired worker must not remain with you until morning.” • Leviticus 25:39 – “If a countryman among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, you must not force him into slave labor.” • Deuteronomy 24:14-15 – “Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy…Pay him his wages each day before sunset…otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.” • Deuteronomy 27:19 – “Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, fatherless, or widow…” Wisdom Literature Echoes • Job 24:3-4 – “They drive away the donkey of the fatherless and take the widow’s ox in pledge.” • Psalm 10:17-18 – God “vindicates the fatherless and oppressed.” • Proverbs 22:22-23 – “Do not rob a poor man because he is poor…for the LORD will take up their case and will plunder those who rob them.” Prophetic Warnings • Isaiah 10:1-2 – “Woe to those enacting harmful statutes…to deprive the poor of justice.” • Jeremiah 22:3 – “Rescue the victim of robbery from his oppressor. Do not exploit or mistreat the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.” • Ezekiel 22:29 – “They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.” • Amos 2:6-7 – “They sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample the heads of the poor…” • Micah 2:1-2 – “They covet fields and seize them…They defraud a man of his home.” • Zechariah 7:9-10 – “Execute true justice…Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor.” • Malachi 3:5 – God is “swift to testify…against those who defraud laborers of their wages.” New Testament Reinforcement • Matthew 7:12 – “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.” • Luke 3:13-14 – John the Baptist tells tax collectors and soldiers not to extort or intimidate. • Ephesians 4:28 – “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work…so that he may have something to share with the one in need.” • James 5:4 – “Look, the wages you failed to pay the workmen…are crying out against you.” • 1 Thessalonians 4:6 – “In this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him; the Lord will avenge all such.” Why God Takes Exploitation Personally • Image-bearers are never to be treated as property (Genesis 1:27). • God’s own redemption of Israel from slavery sets the pattern: freed people must not enslave others (Leviticus 25:42). • He hears the cry of the oppressed—and promises judgment on the oppressor. Living the Warning Today • Refuse to profit from someone else’s vulnerability—financially, relationally, or socially. • Pay what you owe, when you owe it. • Give people work, dignity, and fair treatment rather than charity that demeans. • Speak up when power is abused; silence allies with oppression (Proverbs 31:8-9). • Remember: “The Lord will avenge all such” (1 Thessalonians 4:6). |
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