Fatherless

Deuteronomy 24:17-19 – Do not deprive the foreigner 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. When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

Proverbs 23:10 – Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.

Ezekiel 22:7 – In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.

Ezekiel 47:22 – You are to allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners residing among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.

Zechariah 7:10 – Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’

Proverbs 28:27 – Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.

Ecclesiastes 11:1 – Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return.

Application:

• ·         Oppressing the widow and the fatherless is strongly denounced.
• ·         Treating father and mother with contempt is the opposite of what God commands.
• ·         “You are to consider them as native-born Israelites” was a gracious inclusiveness that went beyond the provision.
• ·         Oppression is denounced frequently in the Old Testament.
• ·         Generosity is the path to blessing.
• ·         Do not always play it safe.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV