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This week’s Abide comes from the passage in the Our Daily Bread devotional from Monday 17 June, and the passage is Deuteronomy 24:17-22. 

In this book, the big exodus of the Israelites from Egypt has occurred, and all the epic adventures seem to have given way to chapter after chapter of the nitty-gritty parts of the law that God has given His people.

Moses has already returned from Mount Sinai where God gave him the 10 commandments, and this section of Deuteronomy is a continuation of the full law that the Israelites were to live by — both in the desert, and when they one day entered the promised land.

These laws can be easy to write off as rules that don’t apply to us in a modern context, but through each of these laws we get glimpses of God’s heart behind them, which matter to us today, just as much as it did to the Israelites back then.

Let’s read together Deuteronomy 24:17-22:

“Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow.
When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow.
Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.”

For us today these verses may seem relatively straightforward and simple; we’re to look after those less fortunate than ourselves. But it’s the context of this passage that makes these instructions so striking and reveal the tender heart of God.

The Israelites were in Egypt for nearly 400 years, and were slaves for a lot of that time. They were the less fortunate people, the ones forced to work for cruel Egyptian masters. Then, they’ve been in the desert, where they often complained that due to how harsh the situation was, they were better off as slaves — where at least they had food and shelter.

Now that they’re finally out from under the control of someone else, you can imagine they want to make the most of it. They want to be able to take as much as they can get from what they plant and harvest, to ensure that they don’t go without again.

But God tells them to have a “light hand” when harvesting. Don’t entirely strip the fields, bushes, and trees, he tells them. Leave some behind for those who are less fortunate. The NIV translation repeats the phrase “the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow” each time God tells the Israelites to leave wheat, olives, grapes behind as they harvest.

These three groups of people represent the isolated social outcasts, as they don’t have a family unit that they belong to; they’re the people separated from their home and family, the orphans without parents to care for them, the wives without a husband’s protection.

God’s heart is that these people should not be left without. And, even more than that, God makes it clear in verses 17 not to deprive them of justice, or to take what little they may have as a pledge to repay a debt. They are to be considered, looked after, and not forgotten.

But why? If the Israelites are God’s chosen people, and are finally venturing to their own land, why does God want them to care about others? It’s laid out twice in verses 18 and 22; “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.”

God redeemed them and rescued them when they were powerless. He provided for them when they had nothing. And His desire is that His people would do the same for others.

We probably all know what it’s like to go through a time of difficulty, or to be in a place where we don’t have much. When we come out the other side, this is our reminder to not lose sight of the God who brought us out of that place, and to remember others who may find themselves in similar situations and need our help.

This week, let’s pray that God would open our eyes to the “foreigner, fatherless or widow” in our lives, and ask Him who He might be calling us to care for.