TEACHING
God’s heart for
the orphan:
Exodus 22:22 “You
shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless
child.”
Deuteronomy 10:17-18 “For
the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and
the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the
sojourner, giving him food and clothing.”
Deuteronomy 27:19 “‘Cursed
be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.’ And all the
people shall say, ‘Amen.’”
Psalm 10:14-18 “But
you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your
hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
call his wickedness to account till you find none. The LORD is king forever and ever; the
nations perish from his land. O LORD,
you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will
incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that
man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.”
Psalm 68:5 “Father
of the fatherless and protector of
widows is God in his holy habitation.”
Psalm 146:9 “The
LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked
he brings to ruin.”
Hosea 14:1-3 “Return,
O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your
iniquity. Take with you words and return
to the LORD; say to him, ‘Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we
will pay with bulls the vows of our lips. Assyria
shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, ‘Our
God’, to the work of our hands. In you
the orphan finds mercy.’”
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.”
John 14:18 “I will not
leave you as orphans; I will come to
you.”
God’s commands
about orphans:
Deuteronomy
14:28-29 “At the end of every three years you shall bring
out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your
towns. And the Levite, because he has no
portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come
and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of
your hands that you do.”
Deuteronomy 16:14 “You
shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male
servant and your female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are
within your towns.”
Deuteronomy
24:17-21 “You shall not pervert the justice due to the
sojourner or to the fatherless, or
take a widow's garment in pledge, but you
shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed
you from there; therefore I command you to do this. When you reap your harvest in your field and
forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the
LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not
go over them again. It shall be for the
sojourner, the fatherless, and the
widow. When you gather the grapes of
your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner,
the fatherless, and the widow.”
Deuteronomy 26:12 “When
you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which
is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they
may eat within your towns and be filled…”
Proverbs 23:10-11 “Do not
move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless, for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause
against you.”
Isaiah 1:11,
16-17 “What
to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of
burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the
blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats…
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds
from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the
fatherless, plead the widow's
cause.”
Isaiah 58:6-10 “Is not
this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the
straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover
him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the
dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go
before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will
answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and
satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.”
Jeremiah 22:3 “Thus
says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the
oppressor him who has been robbed. And
do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.”
Zechariah 7:9-10 “Thus
says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one
another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor,
and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”
James 1:27 “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.”
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