LESSON FOR THE JUNIOR CLASSES
STUDY SCRIPTURE: DEUTERONOMY 24:10-21
KEY VERSE
“But you are to remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing”.
Deuteronomy24:18
INTRODUCTION AND STUDY
The marginalized people are those considered to be unimportant or in a powerless position in a society. They are therefore vulnerable, disadvantaged, and regard as low and at the bottom. They are thought to be mismatched, inferior in some ways, and not fitting in with the rest of the society.
The opposite kind of people are people who are valued, complimented, praised or thought highly of, welcomed into the company of people. When we have this view of people we are being partial. God does not like that at all.
God has a nature and it is one He has revealed in the Laws and Commandments He gave to us. He had a Covenant or agreement with the people in the nation of Israel and in this close personal and national relationship God expected obedience and faithfulness.
God is holy and righteous and He loves Justice. This means He will always treat people in the right way. He loved the people of Israel and He redeemed them and took them out of slavery in the land of Egypt, cared for them, respected them, forgave them when they kept on doing wrong things.
God told them that He expected His people, the people of Israel that He had redeemed to behave in the way He did. He commanded them to treat the people of the nation who were poor, helpless, weak, and were not regarded as powerful people, with love, and respect. They should care for them. God also wanted the people to treat the strangers, people from other countries who came to live among them with love and caring.
These groups were called marginalized people for they lived on the edge since they did not have much resources and so they did not have much respect.
So God had Moses give rules which would protect the widows, (they had no husbands to look after them), orphans, (these were children whose mother and father had died and so they did not have anyone to look after them),strangers or aliens, (people from other countries), and anyone that was vulnerable.
They had rights, and the people of Israel had the obligation to make sure that no one treated them unfairly, did not take away their property, and paid them fair wages every day when they finished working.
When they borrowed money and the lenders took their cloak or outer garment as security the lenders could keep this garment in the day but had to return it at night for this was a covering to keep these borrowers warm. When widows borrowed money the lenders should not demand security for the loan and could not take their children and property away from them if they fell on hard times and could not repay the loan as quickly as they had promised.
In addition, the lenders could not go into the house of borrowers and take what they chose as security. They had to wait outside the man’s house and the borrower would bring out what items he could give as security.
In addition, God make provision so that when the poor and marginalized people needed food they could go into the field and take what the farmers had not reaped from their fields and vineyards. The farmers were instructed not to reap everything but to leave some behind so that the poor and marginalized people could have food.
We see therefore that God was concerned with protecting, making provision for, and helping people who had a hard time making a livingWhen they were captured and taken into exile away from their countryW. He set up rules so that the poor, the widow, the orphans, and the strangers or aliens would not be embarrassed when they went to get help.
God does not like people to feel shame because they are too poor and cannot help themselves. He knows this is what the people in poverty feel and God does not like them to have that feeling.Sometimes people who should know better
We might not consider having consideration for other people is important. We might like to disrespect the people who are poorer than we are and who have little possessions. But God says it is a sin to feel that way and treat the marginalized badly. That treatment is not Justice.
God loved Justice. He cares for people. He redeemed Israel from slavery when they had nothing to offer Him. God has also redeemed us when we were poor and helpless and trapped in the slavery of sin. God cared for us and He wants us to care for others.
He wrote in the Ten Commandments that we must love our neighbour as ourselves. Our neighbours are not only our family and friends but people in the city, the country and in the world. So let us obey God and help anyone we can. Remember that at the top of the list of what help we can give to others is to tell them about Jesus Christ who came and lived with us, taught us, and then died on the Cross and took over our sins so that we would be spared from death.
So live and do the right thing as God commanded. Love the weak, the poor, the aliens and the helpless just as God loves them.