Let’s consider Exodus 22:21-27—
“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
“If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest. If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you are to return it to him before the sun sets, for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body. What else shall he sleep in? And it shall come about that when he cries out to Me, I will hear him, for I am gracious.”
What does this passage have to do with the pro-life ethic? It’s not about violence or murder, not about life-or-death matters. Or is it? Let’s examine each part more closely.
Exodus 22:21
In a sense, this commandment is a precursor to the idea of treating others as we want to be treated (Luke 6:31). Here God applies the principle specifically to foreigners or strangers, people far from home without rights of citizenship. He asked Israel to recall how it was when they were strangers in Egypt. Did they like how they'd been treated? No? Then they should not treat the strangers among them that way. They too are made in God’s image.
In the second lawgiving, Moses elucidated the principle. For instance, in Deuteronomy 10:17-19, God told Israel to love foreigners because He loves them. In particular, according to Deuteronomy 23:7, they were not to hate Egyptians. Although Egypt’s king had mistreated Jacob's family when they were in his land, Israel had no excuse for mistreating Egyptians who landed on Israel’s soil.
Then in the Gospels, Jesus says He wants His followers to apply the “Golden Rule” directly to people who don’t love them. (Luke 6:32-33).
The prohibition against wronging and oppressing foreigners is applied to the Church age when we see that Peter called believers “aliens” in 1 Peter 1:1. We may not have experienced what it is to be sojourners or strangers as the early Church did, but we are citizens of another realm (Philippians 3:20) and can therefore sympathize with exiles or refugees from other lands. The concept of hospitality in the New Testament is actually “love of strangers” (see Romans 12:13, 1 Peter 4:9, and Hebrews 13:1-2).
Additional related passages: Exodus 23:9; Leviticus 19:33-34, 24:22; Deuteronomy 1:16, 24:17, 27:19; Ezekiel 22:29; Zechariah 7:10.
Exodus 22:22-24
The focus in these verses is on widows and orphans… “any” widow or orphan, as the NASV seems to emphasize. Given the previous verse’s inclusion of foreigners, this injunction easily applies to foreign women and children who are bereft of husbands and fathers as well as to native women. Their lives are hard enough, so don’t add to their burdens. Rather lift them up. And don’t be like Job’s friends, treating them as though they’re somehow to blame for their troubles. Mistreatment can be anything from looking down on them to outright violence.
In this passage of the Mosaic law, God Himself promised to personally punish those who offend widows and the fatherless, making an offender's own wife a widow and his children orphans!
James 1:27 carries the theme into the Church age where it is written, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
God is closely attuned to widows and orphans. In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus told His hearers a parable about a widow that bears this out. He promised God hears those who cry out to Him for justice.
Additional related passages: Deut. 10:18, 24:17-18; Job 24:21; Psalm 68:5, 146:9; Proverbs 23:10–11; Isaiah 1:17; Jeremiah 22:3; Zech. 7:9-10; Malachi 3:5.
Exodus 22:25-27
In this third section, the scope is broadened to a larger group–the poor–but also narrowed to fellow Jews. The segment of the population who lack sufficient wherewithal to survive may prove to be a challenge, but they are brothers and must be afforded special consideration.
Their danger is real. Does the poor person have enough to eat? Will he make it through the night without some form of assistance? Where does he live? Is his cloak his only shelter, his only collateral? Can you lend him some money without charging interest? Is he able to pay you back?
The NIV says, “do not treat it like a business deal.” Lenders are allowed to derive interest from others, but not the poor brother. He only has to pay you back what he borrowed. You can take his cloak as collateral, but he must have it back every nightfall while the loan is outstanding.
What happens when the poor are not helped? God hears their cries because compassion is essential to His nature (Ex 34:6). Jesus revealed this compassion when poor people came great distances to hear Him speak (Matthew 15:32). He was concerned for their well-being if they didn’t eat before heading home, and insisted His disciples feed them.
This responsibility for the poor (particularly widows) also carried over into the Church age (Acts 6:1-3, 1 Timothy 5:3-16). 1 John 3:16-18 divides the Body of Christ into those who “have this world’s goods” and those who are “needy.” The former should not “close his heart” against a brother but love in “deed and truth.” Similarly, James 2:15-16 says a person with a healthy faith will not just pray that a poor brother or sister has enough food and clothing but “give them what is necessary for their body.”
Additional related passages: Deut. 24:10-13; Job 24:3; Ezek. 18:5-9, 33:15.
God doesn’t ask us to do anything He is not doing. He knows that, while we enjoy our status as His image-bearers we can be all too willing to remove that status from the three “marginalized” groups identified in the passage—strangers, widows and orphans, the poor. This isn't like Him at all!
Just because we may set some people aside, that doesn’t mean God loses sight of them. They don't lose status with Him.
The pro-life ethic and brother-keeping
These verses in Exodus 22 are further connected to the pro-life ethic by the concept of brother-keeping. As we’ve seen, where brother-keeping is lacking, murder happens. Cain killed Abel because he dismissed responsibility for his brother. Because they hated Joseph, his brothers wanted to kill him but eventually sold him into slavery. From hatred comes murder (Numbers 35:19-21, Deut. 19:11-12).
In this section of the Mosaic law, we find God mandating a level of concern for people who are not brothers at all but foreigners, to the people left behind when a brother is gone (widows and orphans), and to brothers in a precarious financial situation.
These three distinct groups are also linked to one another by their cries to God. God says He will hear the cry of the widow and fatherless, just as He heard the cry of Abel’s blood from the ground. He hears the cry of the poor. And He heard the cries of Israel when they were strangers enslaved in Egypt (Ex. 3:9); by implication, He also hears the cries of any strangers who are oppressed. (See also James 5:4).
People cry to God when they have no other advocate on earth, when the situation is most dire. These are life and death situations.
Who should help? Were these laws directed at the leaders of Israel, to its government? No, they were directed at everyone, average citizens. Christians are not under the Mosaic law, but Romans 8:4 teaches that, as we walk or live by the Spirit, we will fulfill the law’s righteous requirement, including these principles from Exodus 22.
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law…. Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. –Romans 13:8-10
Next post: Justice and the biblical pro-life ethic
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Image credit: Modern School. Beggar Pleading To Heaven, 1958, Painting; https://paintingvalley.com/beggar-painting#beggar-painting-14.jpg.
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