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Authors: David Beckmann
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obligation to poor people and about the political dimension of justice for poor people.
The primary revelation of God in the Old Testament is the exodus from Egypt. Moses’ message was political and radical: “Let the slaves go free!”
The law God gave to the Hebrews through Moses includes many protections for people in need. For example, it was against the law for a farmer to harvest all the grain from his field, as some grain should be left for poor people to glean. It was against the law to make your servants work every day. Immigrant servants must be allowed to rest on the Sabbath.
Moses taught that idolatry and immorality would lead to violence and loss of the land, while faithfulness to the Lord would lead to blessings in this world:
The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, when you obey the LORD your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
— Deuteronomy 30:9–10
As the Old Testament is usually arranged, the books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy) are followed by historical books (Joshua through Chronicles). The theme of the historical books is that the people turned away from God and God’s law. When kings were faithful and led the nation in obedience, the Lord blessed them. But this faithfulness was the exception rather than the rule.
The kingdom of David broke into two nations, Israel and Judah. People in the ruling class pursued their own interests. Coups and countercoups among them set the stage for military defeats. Most of the prophets lived in this period of decline.
The books of the prophets (Isaiah through Malachi) are a third section of the Old Testament. The prophets called on the people to give up idols and obey the law. They went especially to the kings (the government) to demand justice in the land.
In ancient Israel and Judah, shrines and temples were often set up in groves of trees on the tops of hills. The worship of idols was typically festive, with dancing and sometimes intercourse with temple prostitutes. People prayed for abundant harvests and other blessings. In some cases, the services used the same names for God and some of the same religious language that the prophets used, but what most clearly distinguished the worship of the real God from the worship of idols was an insistence on morality, especially concern about poor people.
The prophets repeatedly insisted that the way to national security and prosperity was to worship the real God and establish justice for poor and needy people. Hear these great pronouncements from the prophet Isaiah:
Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees,
who write oppressive statutes,
to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be your spoil,
and that you may make the orphans your prey!
What will you do on the day of punishment,
in the calamity that will come from far away?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?
— Isaiah 10:1–3
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house …?
If you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.
— Isaiah 58:6–7, 10–12
The Old Testament also includes the
The primary revelation of God in the Old Testament is the exodus from Egypt. Moses’ message was political and radical: “Let the slaves go free!”
The law God gave to the Hebrews through Moses includes many protections for people in need. For example, it was against the law for a farmer to harvest all the grain from his field, as some grain should be left for poor people to glean. It was against the law to make your servants work every day. Immigrant servants must be allowed to rest on the Sabbath.
Moses taught that idolatry and immorality would lead to violence and loss of the land, while faithfulness to the Lord would lead to blessings in this world:
The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all your undertakings, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your soil. For the LORD will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, when you obey the LORD your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
— Deuteronomy 30:9–10
As the Old Testament is usually arranged, the books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy) are followed by historical books (Joshua through Chronicles). The theme of the historical books is that the people turned away from God and God’s law. When kings were faithful and led the nation in obedience, the Lord blessed them. But this faithfulness was the exception rather than the rule.
The kingdom of David broke into two nations, Israel and Judah. People in the ruling class pursued their own interests. Coups and countercoups among them set the stage for military defeats. Most of the prophets lived in this period of decline.
The books of the prophets (Isaiah through Malachi) are a third section of the Old Testament. The prophets called on the people to give up idols and obey the law. They went especially to the kings (the government) to demand justice in the land.
In ancient Israel and Judah, shrines and temples were often set up in groves of trees on the tops of hills. The worship of idols was typically festive, with dancing and sometimes intercourse with temple prostitutes. People prayed for abundant harvests and other blessings. In some cases, the services used the same names for God and some of the same religious language that the prophets used, but what most clearly distinguished the worship of the real God from the worship of idols was an insistence on morality, especially concern about poor people.
The prophets repeatedly insisted that the way to national security and prosperity was to worship the real God and establish justice for poor and needy people. Hear these great pronouncements from the prophet Isaiah:
Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees,
who write oppressive statutes,
to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be your spoil,
and that you may make the orphans your prey!
What will you do on the day of punishment,
in the calamity that will come from far away?
To whom will you flee for help,
and where will you leave your wealth?
— Isaiah 10:1–3
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house …?
If you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.
— Isaiah 58:6–7, 10–12
The Old Testament also includes the
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