THE BIBLE AND THE POOR

Dr. Richard J. Henderson November 13, 2011

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Deuteronomy 15: 7-10
Genesis 16: 1-11

Introduction

When we were in Honduras several years ago on a mission trip we watched the men harvesting the sugar cane fields. It is a dirty, awful job. The men were covered with the sticky dirt of sugar cane. They were sweating and had worked twelve hours in the fields. They work six days a week. We learned that they're paid two dollars per day for their labor.

We had seen their subsistence living, just barely - and not always - getting by. We wondered what effect our buying of sugar had on their lives. We had heard about "fair trade" sugar, where workers are paid better wages and the sugar costs more.

In our own country we've been hearing a lot recently about the widening gap between the wealthy and the poor. There are some shocking statistics: The top one percent of wealthy people in the United States own 35 percent of all the wealth. Time magazine reported that the wealthiest 20 percent of Americans have 85 percent of the wealth, which means the other 80 percent - 8 out of 10 Americans - only have 15 percent of America's wealth.

The recession has severely hurt some people, but not all. You might know some people who have lost their jobs and therefore their cars, and then sometimes they have lost their homes to foreclosure. Since 1979 the average pre-tax income of 90 percent of the country declined by $900. During that same time the top one percent increased by an average of more than $700,000. The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer.

I

Those who are poor have been a concern for societies since the beginning of history. The Bible has a great deal to say about poverty. In the biblical understanding, poverty is not a natural condition. It is not something that just happens. Both the Old Testament and New Testament consider that most people are poor because other people take advantage of them. Those with more and better opportunities - those who have more power - use those with less authority and keep them down. Whether it's the Egyptians keeping Israelites as slaves, or landowners who fail to pay their workers when they are supposed to, or a father cheating his future son-in-law out of what is rightly his, the Bible condemns using other people for our own advancement.

Taking advantage of people, oppressing them, is a sin. The Bible is very clear that we are not to use other people especially those who are powerless and in need. If we use people, God will take their side against us. It doesn't matter who we are, how we are ordained, or how religiously we pepper our conversations. Those who oppress people defy the will of God. Let's look at a few examples from the Bible - in these cases from Genesis.

II

There was a man named Abraham who was chosen by God to be the father of the Israelites, God's chosen people. God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have as many descendants as there are stars in the sky. Abraham and Sarah trusted God and went where God led them.

But early on there was a problem: they were supposed to have all these descendants, but Sarah wasn't able to get pregnant.

After trying for ten years Sarah finally suggested to Abraham that he take Hagar, her slave, as another wife and have a child with her. (When some politicians talk about "Christian family values" this may not what they are referring to!)

So, Abraham, being a dedicated husband, does what his wife suggests. Soon Hagar is pregnant. It may not shock you to know that after this happens there is a lot of tension between Sarah and Hagar. Sarah feels that Hagar is looking on her with contempt and feels resentment toward Hagar.

Sarah blames Abraham for this situation. Abraham says, "Hagar, your slave girl, is in your power; do to her as you please." Sarah treats Hagar so badly that, even though' she is pregnant, she runs away.

An angel comes to Hagar as she sits by a spring of water in the wilderness. The angel tells her that God has heard her cry of distress and she should return to Sarah. God promises her a son, named Ishmael, and more offspring than anyone can count.

So Hagar returns and her son is born.

Later, miraculously, Sarah has a son of her own - Isaac. Before long bad feelings flare up again between Sarah and Hagar. Sarah wants her son to be the only heir, even though Ishmael is really Abraham's oldest son. In the end Abraham and Sarah send Hagar and her son out into the desert with nothing but a little bread and some water. Clearly they will die there in a short time.

Then we see one of the most poignant scenes in the Bible. When they have run out of water and Hagar realizes that her son is going to die of thirst, she places him under a bush and walks about a hundred yards away. She cries out loud as she says, "I can't bear to watch my son die."

An angel again appears to Hagar and tells her, "God has heard your crying. Don't be troubled." Then God shows her a well nearby. She and her son drink from the well. They are revived and live. God continued to be with Hagar and with Ishmael as he grew up.

Twice Hagar is abused and both times God responds to her cries. Even though Abraham and Sarah have been chosen by God to create the Israelite people, God will not ignore the cries of those who are oppressed by them. It doesn't matter that Abraham is the father of this nation and Hagar is a slave, God will take the side of Hagar and make promises to her, because of how she has been treated. It doesn't matter who you are; if you use weaker people, God will stand with them in opposition to your actions.

III

There was a man named Jacob. He was Abraham's grandson. He was a tricky character who twice deceived people out of what was rightly theirs. First he tricked his older brother into selling him his birthright for a pot of stew. Granted, his brother Esau might not have been the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but still Jacob took advantage of him.

Later Jacob pretended to be his older brother when his dad, Isaac, gave him his blessing. Isaac was almost blind, so Jacob put some fur on his arms so his dad would think he was his brother. Isaac thought he was giving Esau his blessing, but Jacob tricked him into giving it to him instead.

Jacob was in a family that was very wealthy. He had a great future with all the advantages of coming from a family who could afford to provide things for him. But because of his trickery he lost it all. It seems that when you trick people they tend to hold that against you. Before long Esau is threatening Jacob's life and Jacob is on the run out of fear. He has to leave behind all the benefits of his family. Now he's a fugitive on the run.

One day he happens to meet his first cousin, Rachel, whom he has never seen before. She is beautiful and Jacob immediately falls in love with her. Her father says that he can take Rachel for his wife, but only after he has worked for him for seven years. So Jacob gives seven years of his life in order to have Rachel. At the end of seven years Rachel's father throws a huge party to celebrate the giving of his daughter.

Apparently there's some drinking going on because when Jacob receives his wife and has relations with her, he doesn't recognize right away that he hasn't gotten Rachel, but her older sister Leah, who either has "lovely" eyes or "weak" eyes, depending on how you translate the Hebrew. From the situation you would think that it is Jacob who has the weak eyes!

Rachel's father says if Jacob wants Rachel he's going to have to work seven more years. Well, the man is in love so he puts in seven more years. So at the end of fourteen years he is married to two of his first cousins. (Again, that's probably not what's intended in the "Christian family values" talk).

Rachel's father took seven years of Jacob's life. He wasn't given what he bargained for and was paid nothing for all his work. Jacob says that God saw his plight and responded. Jacob created wealth for his father-in-law and was never paid for it. This wealthy man has taken advantage of the poor man, Jacob.

We see here that those who take advantage of other people and those who deceive and abuse others go against God's will, whether it's Jacob or his father-in-law. In Jacob's case, the deceiver becomes the deceived.

IV

In the Old Testament, the most important situation where God responds to those who have been abused is found in the story of the Exodus. The Israelite people are held in slavery by the Egyptians. They are mistreated, abused and forced to do the hard work of the country without pay. The Egyptian people, and especially the members of the upper class, use military, political, and economic force to keep the Israelites in bondage.

The people of Israel cry out to God about their situation. God hears their cries and under-stands the horror of what they are dealing with. God says, "I have seen how cruelly my people are being treated in Egypt. I have heard them cry out to be rescued from their slave drivers. I know all about their sufferings, and so I have come down to rescue them from the Egyptians and bring them out of Egypt to a spacious land, one which is rich and fertile..." (Exodus 3:7-8a).

God sees the anguish of people held in slavery and acts to free them. After a long, arduous process the Israelites are freed and make their way to the Promised Land. As they settle in God makes it clear that they are not to live as other people do.

One of the first commands to the people is found in Deuteronomy 15:4: "There shall be no poor among you." They have known what it is to be abused; they are not to abuse other people. They have known what it is to be taken advantage of; they are not to take advantage of other people. They have known what it is to be poor; there are to be no poor among them. Deuteronomy says "If you follow my law there will be no poor in your land."

Conclusion

Poverty and oppression are not part of God's will for creation; they are human inventions and the result of human sin. Whenever someone takes advantage of other people, they act against God. Whether it is Abraham - the father of Israel, or a wealthy land owner with two daughters, or even the Pharaoh who rules all of Egypt; when we use other people God stands with them and actively works against us.

Our own experience with slavery should be a clear example of how God will work to free those who are abused; of how God acts against those who have power and use it to hold down those without power.

It is no accident that both the freeing of slaves and the Civil Rights movement were led by people of faith. God was working with them to bring freedom and to lift people from poverty.

God stands with those who are abused and oppressed. God hears the cries of those who suffer injustice and poverty.

Amen

© Richard J. Henderson 2011