“Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt./ Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child./ If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;/ And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless(21-24).”
Man created in the image of God has its consequences which are mysterious as His ways are unfathomable. Let us consider an assertion if you will, from God and it specifically concerns the nation of Israel. As his Son is his firstborn the Lord deemed Israel as one. “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye(Ze.2:8)”. Here God is setting the plight of a stranger and let us give him the ethnicity of Palestinian or Yemeni in order to make our example topical. Of the latter we read that the Saudi kingdom is oppressing them still systematically. Blockade of ports so food relief cannot reach the poor and needy shows their culpability.Does anyone think when a fatherless child with wide-eyed distraught writ in his face and with distended belly and unable to walk for hunger cries for help God is going to ask if he is Houthi or a Hutu? ‘I will surely hear their cry;/And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.’ Bandit kingdoms may buy public opinion but their oppression shall be put down in His wrath. That must give the world a better definition what it is to be a good neighbor. ‘In Abraham all families in the earth shall be blessed’ and it is not in terms of reals or shekels God counts. Similarly what is visiting on Uyghurs is not an exception and God shall settle all evil in His time so none may call Him unjust.
Nations are extension of man where good neighbour carries no label. He shall his reward from God and it is a blessing that does not come in a trickle.
25 If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.
26 If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:
And if a man borrow ought of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good.
15 But if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good: if it be an hired thing, it came for his hire.
16 And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.
17 If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.
18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
19 Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.
20 He that sacrificeth unto any god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.
21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.
23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry;
24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
25 If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.
26 If thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:
GuidetohisWord 