Caring for the Oppressed

                                          Caring for the Oppressed     

Zechariah 7:4-14

            The Exodus and 40-year wilderness experience formed Israel into a nation.  From slavery to freedom, from disunity to unity, from a leaderless people to God’s chosen people, the Israelites grew—haltingly, two steps forward/one step back, sometimes kicking and screaming, but they became a nation—God’s nation.

            With the gift of the Torah—God’s instructions for living together as a people—God established rules the Israelites must follow if they wanted God’s blessings to be showered upon them.  A major ingredient in the Torah was how foreigners and the poor were to be treated.  Exodus 22:21-27 gives instructions for both these groups.  Sojourners are not to be wronged nor oppressed.  Israel is to remember it was enslaved and oppressed in Egypt.  Instead of paying the evil treatment forward they are to behave towards the stranger as God has behaved toward them.

            The poor are not to be oppressed nor mistreated.  They are God’s children, and must be treated by their fellow Israelites as God would treat them—lovingly, with dignity and justice.

            A reading of Israel’s experience in the Promised Land reveals that, for much of its history, the people didn’t follow God’s instructions.  Strangers were seldom welcomed with open arms.  True, many of the peoples surrounding Israel tried their best to conquer the little nation.  Israel’s suspicion of foreigners was well-founded and understandable; but we have no record of Israel extending hospitality even to benign outsiders.

            As for the poor, the prophets make it clear that the less fortunate were taken advantage of, mistreated, and kept in poverty.  It appears the Year of Jubilee and the Sabbath of the Land were never observed, especially the cancelling of debts and the return of land to its ancestral owners. 

            Amos tells Israel that sacrifices and worship are not enough.  Justice and righteousness are what will assure God’s favor for the nation.

            Micah reminds Israel that God requires God’s people to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.”  There’s no room here for oppression or mistreatment of the poor.

            Through Zechariah God says, “Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

            These are not the only prophetic words against oppression; but this is enough of a sample to show that God does not want anyone to be oppressed.

            Criticism of oppression does not end with the Bible.  It continues today.  Nor is it enough not to oppress.  We are reminded to take a stand against oppression wherever we find it.

            Elie Wiesel, who knew oppression firsthand said, “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.  Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

            Desmond Tutu, the Anglican Bishop of South Africa, suffered oppression under apartheid.  He said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.  If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

            Nor will God.  God always comes down on the side of the oppressed.  Any system, any government, any individual which chooses to oppress any people, or refuses to stand with the oppressed to end oppression, will not win God’s favor.  It does not matter whether the oppressed is a brother or sister, a fellow citizen, or a sojourner/foreigner in our midst.  God will surely remember both the oppressed and the oppressor, one with favor, the other with judgment.