“When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing.” — Deuteronomy 24:21-22
“Only they would that we should remember the poor, the same which I also was forward to do.” — Galatians 2:10
As I read through Job’s afflictions or Jeremiah’s lamentations, we see some of the most breathtaking proclamations of God’s absolute goodness, justice, and sovereignty. Yet in His infinite goodness he allows the righteous to suffer and the wicked to prosper, at least for a time. “Joseph is a fruitful bough…The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him.” [1] “They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty[2]…”
None suffered more than Christ, “the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit[3]…”
Throughout the books of Moses God calls the people to remember that they were once slaves to oppressive rules in Egypt for around four hundred years! Were those generations who lived and died in obscurity worse sinners than others? We are not told so. They cried out to God but not everyone saw deliverance in their lifetime. It seems that they were persecuted for righteousness’ sake,[4] and God allowed it and preserved it in His Word for his glory and for the sanctification of the people.
The remembrance we are being called to in scripture is not just head-knowledge or intellectual assent, it is calling us to compassion for the suffering of others in our midst that works itself out in acts of kindness and charity. It takes diligence to generate a profit in our labors and faith to leave some of that profit off for the welfare of people we do not necessarily know. But we must do it and actively remember those in need so that “the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands[5].”
It's a commandment with promise brethren!
Selah.
Comments