The Church Meeting in Jesus’ Name
602 Oak Knoll Dr., San Antonio, TX 78228
Epistle
January 2014
Event Calendar
January 19 Guest Speaker David Spurgeon
Brother David will be with us for a Sunday morning as he travels in Texas.
February 14 – 23 Revival Meeting with Joe N. West
A ten day meeting with evangelist Joe N. West from Poland.
April 5 Women’s Meeting
At Oak Knoll, Saturday morning beginning at 8:30, ending at 3:00 PM.
June 23 – July 3 Poland Youth Trip
A travel itinerary with Pastor Brian Thibault to our mission works in Poland.
July 7 – 11 Vacation Bible School
July 20 – 27 World Evangelism Conference
Our 39th Annual Mission Conference begins Sunday 20th at 11:00 AM, then every night at 7:00 PM, ending Sunday 27th at 11:00 AM. Every weekday morning at 10:30 there will be open meetings and prayer, and noon meals with the missionaries.
The Poor Man’s Cause
3 Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. Exodus 23
Some of the most profound declarations in the Bible fly under the radar, never noticed, or at least their significance never recognized. This is probably because the Bible declares them as a simple matter of fact, without any drum-roll introduction, no drama, no special effects. When one does catch the eye, it might cause us to do a double-take, thinking perhaps we misread it. In the case of this text, on the poor man’s cause, when I first noticed it I thought it seemed to say we shouldn’t listen to a poor man. I knew that couldn’t be right. All systems of ethics throughout the world, and throughout history, including the Bible, have recognized the need to protect the weak from the strong, and the poor from the rich. The oldest code of law still in existence, the Sumerian Code of Ur-Nammu (2100 BC), emphasizes the point, that “the orphan was not delivered up to the rich man; the widow was not delivered up to the mighty man; the man of one shekel was not delivered up to the man of one mina. And in the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (1750 BC), the prince states that his gods called him to “cause justice to prevail in the land” by “preventing the strong from oppressing the weak” amongst other things. The Bible repeats the principle dozens of times, significantly in the same chapter a few verses later:
Exodus 23:6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.
So what is God forbidding when commanding not to “countenance” a poor man in his cause? I had to break out my 20 volume 1933 Oxford English Dictionary and read one by one the definitions of “countenance” as a verb, till I reached definition number 5, now somewhat archaic, “ to look upon with favour,” used in this sense at least between the years 1568 and 1848, and notably in our King James Bible only this once. Now herein is a remarkable thing. God warns us not to look upon any poor man with favor in any legal argument. No consideration can be given to the most desperate financial situation of any party in a cause at law. This seems surprising. I don’t find this warning in any of the ancient codes of law, nor can we find it stated this bluntly in modern legal codes. The natural assumption is the opposite, that the rich oppress the poor, and it is a good assumption.
James 2:6 Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?
We naturally assume favor will be shown to the rich, famous and powerful, so laws must be put in place that protect the poor from oppression. But why would the Bible protect a rich man from favor being shown to the poor? Nevertheless, there it is. No sympathy or compassion can be shown to a poor man in a cause before the judges. No consideration of his inability to pay, or the relative insignificance of a monetary judgment against a rich person. God is obviously making a point, trying to tell us something about poverty, something about law, and something about judgment.
First, it means that poverty may not be nearly as bad a circumstance in God’s eyes as it is in ours. He did say, having food and raiment let us therewith be content (1 Tim. 6:8). Even hunger isn’t so bad in God’s way of thinking, what with its hidden benefits.
Deuteronomy 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Of course no one wants to be poor, but poverty is not the worse curse. There is no doubt in my mind Americans have over-obsessed about the misery of poverty, and that having known so little of it. Smyrna was poor (but rich), and the Macedonians were deeply poor and in great affliction, yet had abundant joy and rich liberality (2 Cor. 8:2). It is pretty clear to me that God doesn’t see poverty the way we do, and he certainly doesn’t consider it to be any sort of justification for sin.
Proverbs 6:30 Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry; But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
Second, God tells us in this text that the law is not an appropriate method of accomplishing wealth re-distribution. God apparently is not nearly as interested in equality as Americans are. It is somewhat surprising that God saw the danger of socialism way back in the exodus, but he did, and he declared the principle long in advance of the need. This is not to say that no effort should be made on the part of government to help the poor, or even that spreading the wealth is a bad goal (which it may or may not be), but law is not the appropriate vehicle. No law should be contrived or construed to give any advantage to a poor man, exactly as no law should give any advantage to a rich man. The law must treat everyone as equal, but must not attempt to make everyone equal. This is because when the law is fashioned to help either the rich or the poor it ceases to be law. It becomes corruption, or charity, or coercion by political factions. Law must be kept pure, an embodiment of justice and righteousness, applied with strict equality to all, rich or poor, freeman or bondman, neighbor or stranger. Politicians will never see it that way, but God does.
And finally, there is a warning here about judgment. God is reminding us that he sees justice as a greater principle than compassion. Americans are understandably infatuated with God’s mercy. The love and compassion of God seem more important to us than his justice. We tend to think of mercy as the highest character trait of God, and of love as his greatest attribute. And it is true that mercy rejoices against judgment (James 2:13), but it is not true that mercy is more important in God’s balance. The timeless truth is that righteousness can never be overthrown by compassion. When God declares that compassion for the poor should play no role in our judgment he is giving us a glimpse of his judgment. He must warn us of it, because we tend to deviate from justice. We may allow sympathy to sway our judgment, but it is wrong, and therefore God will not. Justice and judgment are the habitation of God’s throne, and the scepter of his kingdom is a right scepter. “His work is perfect, all his ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” (Deu 32.4)
The point is, while compassion is part of God’s character, it will play no part in judgment. It is essential that all men understand that when judgment comes sympathy will not interfere. It is a nice truism now, but be warned, in judgment God will never “look beyond our fault to see our need.” He has done that now, he has considered us now, his mercy is before us now, but judgment is coming, and there will be no bending, no blinding and no blinking. Our modern smarmy gospel does nobody any favor by painting God as a weepy, sappy, spineless Santa Claus that just can’t bear to pass judgment. Listen to him. He commanded us not to even consider a poor man’s situation when judging, so he will not be considering yours. Mercy is available before judgment, however. Don’t wait until judgment day hoping for mercy. Seek ye the LORD while he may be found. Confess your sins now, because the judgment of God will be according to truth, not sympathy.