Deuteronomy 24: 17 “You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow's garment in pledge, 18 but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this. 19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 22 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.
This is the third time in the Deuteronomy that God repeats He command to give attention to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. Again, God repeats the reason they should remember: they also were in that position of the sojourner: no land to call their own, at the mercy of the Egyptians, where they had been slaves. Also again, they were to make sure that they did not go back for the gleanings, but to leave them for this disadvantaged group of people. God gives three examples of the most abundant harvests: grain, grapes and olives, to give them the idea: everything was included. In the middle of it all was the incentive: that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. Their productivity and prosperity was dependent on His blessing, and His blessing was dependent on their willing obedience to the commands of His heart and character: compassion for these kind of people, who were just like they used to be. May we have the heart and character of God.
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