13 And so
the Lord says,
“These people say they are mine.
They honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
And their worship of me
is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.
14 Because of this, I will once again astound these
hypocrites
with
amazing wonders.
The wisdom of the wise will pass away,
and the
intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.”
Deuteronomy 24:17-22 NLT
17 “True justice must be given to foreigners living among you and to orphans, and you must never accept a widow’s garment as security for her debt. 18 Always remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from your slavery. That is why I have given you this command.
19 “When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all you do. 20 When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don’t go over the boughs twice. Leave the remaining olives for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. 21 When you gather the grapes in your vineyard, don’t glean the vines after they are picked. Leave the remaining grapes for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. 22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. That is why I am giving you this command.
In his conversation with the pharisees in Matthew
15, Jesus quotes Isaiah 29, accusing them of having hearts that have wandered
away from God. “These people say they
are mine . . . but their hearts are far from me” (Is. 29:13). Could these teachers of the law really have
forgotten what it means to be God’s people?
Surely they would remember the refrain that repeats throughout the Old
Testament, “Always remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord
your God redeemed you from your slavery” (Deut. 24:18,22). We see it twice in two paragraphs in this
chapter of Deuteronomy, and three other times in the book (Deut. 5:15, 15:15,
16:12). Remembering what God had done is
an ongoing refrain and source of hope in the Psalms:
10 And I
said, “This is my fate;
the Most High has turned his hand against me.”
11 But then I recall all you have done, O Lord;
I
remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
12 They are constantly in my thoughts.
I cannot
stop thinking about your mighty works. –Psalm 77:10-12 NLT
In Deuteronomy, Moses is speaking to people who can remember
firsthand what it was like to be slaves, or to be the children of slaves. It
shouldn’t be too hard for them to remember their dramatic rescue and their
years in the desert on the way to the Promised Land. But by the time of Isaiah those stories may
have become like ancient fairy tales, and by the time of Jesus the idea of
being rescued from oppression was a distant dream, something God might do
again, but when?
In addressing the Israelites,
Moses is also addressing generations to come, and the Passover (a book that is used to tell the story of the Exodus
at the Passover seder) that is used today teaches
that everyone must view themselves as though they personally came out of Egypt.
In Deuteronomy, this remembering is the explanation for the command to
rest on the Sabbath day.
“Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the Lord your God
brought you out with his strong hand and powerful arm. That is why the Lord your God has
commanded you to rest on the Sabbath day.” -Deut. 5:15
The expectation is that the Sabbath must include remembering
and giving thanks to God for this rescue and redemption. On a deeper level, there is also the
expectation that this will inform our actions, that we will treat others with
kindness and generosity because God has been kind and generous with us.[1]
How often do we take the time to
think about how God has rescued and redeemed us? Maybe there hasn’t been something in your
life as dramatic as being rescued from slavery in Egypt, but Jesus has rescued
us from slavery to sin and death.
“We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ
so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.”
-Romans 6:6
We are recipients of this great
blessing, and participants in the bringing of this blessing to the world. Theologian James Cone says, “the church is the
community that participates in Jesus Christ’s liberating work in history.”[2] We are heirs of the
promises of God which are for all people, and so we bring this resurrection hope
to our understanding and response to the challenges our world is facing
today. We live humble, thankful, kind, generous
lives so that others can have this hope. “True justice must be given to
foreigners living among you and orphans…” (Deut. 24:17 NLT) A more literal translation says, “You
shall not pervert the justice due…” (ESV). The Message version makes it even more clear
that this requires us to take action. “Make sure foreigners and orphans get
their just rights.”
“Always remember.”
Think back over your life and
the obstacles that have been overcome. Thank
God for helping you and bringing you to this day.
How has God been kind and
generous with you? Ask God to help you
pass that on to others.
How can we make sure that people
get their just rights? Ask God for the help
and courage to do this.
[2] A Black
Theology of Liberation - Fortieth Anniversary Edition (p. 120). Orbis Books.
Kindle Edition.
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