Perspective
We realize that everyone may not share the same perspective, beliefs or world view, but all who are interested are welcome to the 'Known To Me' community. There is no pressure here to fit into any specific categories. We believe we can live and work together and have a variety of perspectives. As the founders of 'Known To Me', we feel it is important to share some of the source of our motivations and beliefs, and we are happy to discuss it with anyone who would like to be challenged, learn and grow from these scriptures along with us. We believe these words live and breath life, and cause us to mature and grow beyond ourselves as we ponder them in our hearts and put them into action in our lives.
Scriptural Perspectives |
| The Bible contains over 2,000 references to justice, the needy, orphans, and God’s will in these matters. The following list below is linked to some of our thoughts on each topic and a small sample of the relevant scripture.
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The (2nd) Greatest Commandment:
Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 19:16-21; Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12: 28-34; Luke 10:25-28; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:13-14; James 2:8-9
Commands to Provide for the Poor
Leviticus 25:35; Deuteronomy 15:7-8; Deuteronomy 15:10-12; Zechariah 7:8-10; Matthew 9:21; Luke3:10-11; James 2:14-19; 2 Corinthians 8:12-15
God’s Heart for Orphans
Exodus 22:21-23; Deuteronomy 10:18; Deuteronomy 14:28-30; Job 24:1-4; Psalm 10:14; Psalm 68:5; Jeremiah 49:11; Isaiah 1:17; Isaiah 1:23; Matthew 18:5; John 14:18; James 1:22-27
Rights of the Poor
Exodus 23:10-12; Leviticus 19:9-10; Leviticus 23:21-23
Justice/Respect for the Poor
Exodus 23:4-6; Deuteronomy 24:17-18; Deuteronomy 27:19; 1 Kings 3:10-12; 2 Samuel 12:1-5; Job 29:16; Job 31:17-23; Psalm 112:4-6; Psalm 140:11-13; Luke 18:7-8; James 2:1-7
Peril for Those Withholding Justice From the Poor
Isaiah 10:1-3; Amos 5:6-7
Peril for Those Who Fail to Be Generous to the Poor
Matthew 23:23-24; Matthew 25:34-26; Luke 16:19-26
| The (2nd) Greatest Commandment: Love Your Neighbor as Yourself |
Wow… talk about a consistent theme. There are few other themes so consistent and so direct that you can do a word search on a 5 word sequence and find direct matches in the Old Testament, the Gospels, and three different letters to the early churches. It’s easy to say this commandment speaks for itself. But does it? There seems to be wide latitude for interpretation when we treat ourselves to luxuries not even imagined by the wealthiest in Jesus’ day and choose to let our neighbors suffer and die of starvation and treatable disease. Where is the balance? I don’t know. That is for you and God to sort out, but I will make this assertion: the body of Christ in the western world has a long, long way to go to get anywhere close to meeting this command. I know I have a long way to go personally. I encourage you to seek God on this point… read, pray, listen… and remember, some of our neighbors are giving up their children to adoption or forced labor, probably never to be seen or heard from again, just so they don’t have to watch them die a slow and painful death. Compare that to what you have, how much you love your children, and consider whether your seeking is to ask: “Am I loving my neighbor as myself?” or “I know I have not loved my neighbor as myself. Please show me how You would have me do that.”
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
-Leviticus 19:18
Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." "Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, " 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'" All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
-Matthew 19:16-21
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
-Matthew 22:34-40
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'[f] 31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
-Mark 12: 28-34
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
He answered: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'[c]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."
-Luke 10:25-28
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
-Romans 13:8-10
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: Love your neighbor as yourself."
-Galatians 5:13-14
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
-James 2:8-9
| Commands to Provide for the Poor |
While not quite as specific in its language, this theme is perhaps more common than the first. And speaking of common themes, my common theme in these scriptures is omission by necessity. There are simply so many I only have time to include a fraction of them. I was also struck by the continuity of these themes through the law, the prophets, the gospels, and Paul’s letters. One of the highlights for me in these verses are the context in the second Deuteronomy passage listed below. When Jesus quoted this verse, he was not providing an excuse for NOT caring for the poor, as some have interpreted. He was quoting from a law that commands us to be generous to the poor that will always be with us (i.e. ALWAYS be generous to the poor). That would not have been lost in a culture that knew the law. It seems to be lost on us in some interpretations. Another humbling one is 2 Corinthians – give until there is equality… until whoever gathered much has nothing left over. So much for the 401(k), the college fund, and Western financial wisdom in general. Should we scrap these financial reserves? Again, I can’t answer that for you. PS… I have a 401(k) and college funds for my kids… and I’m struggling with that right now… like I said, humbling…
If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you.
-Leviticus 25:35
If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs
-Deuteronomy 15:7-8
Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.
-Deuteronomy 15:10-12
And the word of the LORD came again to Zechariah: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.'
-Zechariah 7:8-10
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
-Matthew 19:21
"What should we do then?" the crowd asked. John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same."
-Luke 3:10-11
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
-James 2:14-19
For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be equality. As it is written, "Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack."
-2 Corinthians 8:12-15
| God’s Heart for Orphans |
In the interest of full disclosure, this site was founded by two couples who have each adopted (to date) two (former) orphans, so this is personal to us. It is also personal to God. These verses show this clearly, and are again only a small sample of God’s word on his care for orphans and his direction to us on their behalf. They’re all powerful, but the Deuteronomy 14 excerpt speaks to me most loudly: …and be satisfied... we’re a long, long way from the world’s orphans eating until they are satisfied. And this is cited as a requirement for God to bless the work of our hands. Hmm… maybe there is a reason we are seeing our culture, the traditional church, most of American society on a downhill slide. Maybe God’s hands are tied. We know he wants to bless us, but if we tie his hands with respect to us, then demand blessing...
"Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt. "Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry.
-Exodus 22:21-23
He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.
-Deuteronomy 10:18
The Levite (priest), because he has not portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.
-Deuteronomy 14:28-30
Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know him look in vain for such days? Men move boundary stones; they pasture flocks they have stolen. They drive away the orphan's donkey and take the widow's ox in pledge. They thrust the needy from the path and force all the poor of the land into hiding.
-Job 24:1-4
A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, is God in His holy habitation.
-Psalm 68:5
But You, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
-Psalm 10:14
Leave your orphans; I will protect their lives. Your widows too can trust in me."
-Jeremiah 49:11
Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
-Isaiah 1:17
Your rulers are rebellious, and companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes, and follows after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless.
-Isaiah 1:23
Whoever receives a child in My name, receives Me.
-Matthew 18:5
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
-John 14:18
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
-James 1:22-27
| Rights of the Poor |
Fields of the Fatherless by Tom Davis is a must read on this topic. One of the concepts in that book that was particularly enlightening for me is the concept that God gave specific rights to the poor. If I deny them those rights, I am denying them justice under God’s law. OK, easy enough on the face of it. I was already well aware of God’s myriad rants and curses against those who oppress and deny justice to the poor. But I don’t do that. Maybe I don’t do enough, but I don’t deny justice to (i.e. oppress) them… or do I? God’s law created fields that belonged to the poor. What’s mine is, to a large extent, theirs by law. If I deny them their share of what I have, I have denied them the justice God’s law demands. Wow! Eye-opening. I sure don’t want to be there. The question remains… how much of mine is theirs? Once again, I’ll let you seek God on that, but we should take this seriously… as someone once said: work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
…but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
- Exodus 23:10-12
When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.
-Leviticus 19:9-10
When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.
-Leviticus 23:21-23
| Justice/Respect for the Poor |
A natural follow-up to Rights of the Poor, this does not need much explanation. Just keep this in the context of God’s law throughout His Word with respect to our obligations to the poor. If we do not act accordingly, we fall into the category of denying justice to/oppressing the poor. I can’t think of anything that caused God to become as angry as that sin on a consistent basis. Read the entire book of Amos. Nor can I think of many things that God delighted in more than justice and mercy.
If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him. If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it.
Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.
-Exodus 23:3-6
Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.
-Deuteronomy 24:17-18
Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow. Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
-Deuteronomy 27:19
The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.
-1 Kings 3:10-12
The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
"Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."
David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity."
-2 Samuel 12:1-5
I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger.
-Job 29:16
If I have kept my bread to myself, not sharing it with the fatherless - but from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my birth I guided the widow-
If I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a garment, and his heart did not bless me for warming him with the fleece from my sheep, if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court,
Then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let it be broken off at the joint. For I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.
-Job 31:17-23
Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice. Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever.
-Psalm 112:4-6
I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.
-Psalm 140:11-13
And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
-Luke 18:7-8
My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
-James 2:1-7
| Peril for Those Withholding Justice From the Poor |
We’ve illustrated the rights of the poor and the concept of justice… just a couple of illustrations here on consequences… don’t want to be there.
Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.
What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?
-Isaiah 10:1-3
Seek the LORD and live, or he will sweep through the house of Joseph like a fire; it will devour, and Bethel will have no one to quench it. You who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground…
-Amos 5:6-7
| Peril for Those Who Fail to Be Generous to the Poor |
I find these verses enlightening with regard to the scope and breadth of the concept of justice. Just in case we are tempted to argue that something less than complete generosity is not as severe a sin in God’s eyes as “oppressing” or “denying justice” to the poor. Man, this is pretty severe. Notice that Jesus twice shows no hesitancy at all in citing a lack of generosity as a ticket to “that other place”. Yep… don’t pass go, don’t collect $200… go straight to hell. What does this mean for you? I don’t know, but seems like a cause for working out our salvation in fear and trembling again. I’m just saying we should take this seriously, and if you don’t have the answers for you – you’d better work them out.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
-Matthew 23:23-24
Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.
-Matthew 25:34-46
There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
-Luke 16:19-26
