How to Get Exiled #18

II Kings 4:1 Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” 2 And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” 3 Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. 4 Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” 5 So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. 6 When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7 She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.

As with yesterday's passage, we find that God has a special place in His heart for widows, which His prophets needed to understand if they were to minister effectively.  Elisha, following in the spirit of Elijah, knew that what the woman needed was not merely money, but to see that God could and would supply for her. Just as the woman in yesterday's passage had one asset, this woman had this one jar of oil.  God multiplied that to give her what she needed not only for the present crises, but for ongoing support.  Once again, there were lessons for Elisha, the widow and her sons, and the people around them to be reminded of: God cares; He supplies; we should care for the needy and with them, trust in God's love and provision.

How to Get Exiled #17

I Kings 17: 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

In this familiar account, God is saying a lot of things to both Elijah and the people of Israel, but the most important point is His care for the widow - even a widow outside the borders of Israel.  God was going to use Elijah to meet her needs in a personal and unique way.  God showed the woman He provides for those who trust in Him; He showed the people of Israel that it was clear they were not trusting in Him; and He was giving Elijah the privilege of seeing first-hand the joy of being used by Him in caring for the widows.  Without a heart to trust and obey God, we miss out on that opportunity and blessing. 

How to Get Exiled #15

Malachi 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts. 6 “ For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 

We are back in our other core passage, with a little of the following context to get the full thrust. Malachi begins with the evil things that they were doing which deserved judgment and then transitions to the "sins of omission" - those things they were failing to do.  When it came to the widows, fatherless, and sojourners, it was a matter of both.  Some were actively oppressing and taking advantage of them, while for many it was ignoring them and failing to reach out to them in compassion, just like they were failing to give God their offerings and thanksgiving,and recognizing Him as the Owner and Giver of every good thing. Yes, we may be able to say there are terrible evils we have not done (or not!), but we are often guilty of not doing what we should to demonstrate the heart and character of God. As James 1:27 says: Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

How to Get Exiled #15

Zechariah 7:8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.

We once again find ourselves back here in our core passage.  The problem of ignoring the plight of the fatherless runs deep.  There is a lack of justice, kindness, and mercy - key characteristics of God - in those who claim to be His people.  There is more this tendency to "devise evil in one's heart."  When that is the case, we ignore God, give Him the cold shoulder, and put our hands over our ears.  When we truly seek after God and set our love on Him, we will not be able to turn our backs on, turn our heads away, or close our ears to those who need His kindness and mercy. We will want to do just what He would do. 

How to Get Exiled #14

Ezekiel 22: 6 “Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7 Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you. 8 You have despised my holy things and profaned my Sabbaths. 9 There are men in you who slander to shed blood, and people in you who eat on the mountains; they commit lewdness in your midst. 10 In you men uncover their fathers' nakedness; in you they violate women who are unclean in their menstrual impurity. 11 One commits abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law; another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter. 12 In you they take bribes to shed blood; you take interest and profit and make gain of your neighbors by extortion; but me you have forgotten, declares the Lord God.

Here Ezekiel calls to task especially the leaders of the land.  They are guilty of misleading the people in all the ways we have been talking about, and more.  They not only were failing to defend the sojourner, fatherless, and widow; they were also disrespecting marriage, violating the sabbath, permitting sexual perversion, and adultery, and had become corrupt leaders who took bribes.  In short, they had totally left God out of the picture.  What a description of our society and leaders today!  They are doubly responsible, but the rest could not point the finger and blame only them.  All are responsible to stand up and speak up, and to do right themselves. 

How to Get Exiled #13

Jeremiah 5: 

23 But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
    they have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say in their hearts,
    ‘Let us fear the Lord our God,
who gives the rain in its season,
    the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
    the weeks appointed for the harvest.’
25 Your iniquities have turned these away,
    and your sins have kept good from you.
26 For wicked men are found among my people;
    they lurk like fowlers lying in wait.
They set a trap;
    they catch men.
27 Like a cage full of birds,
    their houses are full of deceit;
therefore they have become great and rich;
28     they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of evil;
    they judge not with justice
the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper,
    and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
29 Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the Lord,
    and shall I not avenge myself
    on a nation such as this?”

Jeremiah, giving one last call for repentance, seeks to explain to His people why things are falling apart: They have been disobedient, ungrateful, and wicked.  They have sought riches through dishonesty and by taking advantage of the fatherless and needy.  Rather than seeing their world as falling apart through no sin of their own, they try by their own sinful methods to maintain their lavish lifestyle. That sounds much like our society today.  Those who suffer most are those most in need: the fatherless and the poor. God will avenge such behavior.

How to Get Exiled #12

 Isaiah 1:16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
    remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil, 

17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.
18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
    they shall become like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
    you shall eat the good of the land;
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
    you shall be eaten by the sword;
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

21 How the faithful city has become a whore,
    she who was full of justice!
Righteousness lodged in her,
    but now murderers.
22 Your silver has become dross,
    your best wine mixed with water.
23 Your princes are rebels
    and companions of thieves.
Everyone loves a bribe
    and runs after gifts.
They do not bring justice to the fatherless,
    and the widow's cause does not come to them.

Isaiah gets right to the point in the first chapter. Besides all the immorality and corruption running rampant in Israel, there was lots of injustice going on. Though they had been called to come clean and to show justice to the fatherless and widow, they did not do so.  The leaders who were especially entrusted to do just that turned a blind eye and became a part of the problem.  Judgement was coming; God had spoken.