Encouragement for the Oppressed

Robert Wurtz II

In times of suffering and hardship, seeking encouragement for the oppressed can indeed be vital.

 

Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the needy of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! What will you do on the day of punishment, in the ruin that will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth? Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still (Isaiah 10:1-4 ESV).

Isaiah chapter 10 is a continuation of chapter 9 which is rooted in the 8th-century BC geopolitical crisis, where the powerful Assyrian Empire, acting as God’s “rod of anger,” punished Israel and Judah for their sins. Injustice and idolatry opened the door to Tiglath-pileser III’s campaigns and Sennacherib’s invasion (701 BC). God used some of the meanest people that ever drew breath like a switch (rod) from a weeping willow tree to tan their hide (so to speak). What had they done to deserve such chastening?

A special kind of evil-doer demands a special kind of chastening. The people of God were no longer operating under the teachings of His word but were making up their own laws that grossly conflicted with God’s word and then enforced them to exploit the vulnerable. They became a law unto themselves with a brazenness that hearkens to the attitude of Babylon in Revelation 18, “I sit a queen and am no widow and I will see no sorrow.” Yet God brought judgment in a single day.

Iniquitous Decrees

Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees, and the writers who keep writing oppression, to turn aside the needy from justice and to rob the needy of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! (Isaiah 10:1)

An iniquitous decree is a law that oppresses vulnerable people who have no voice or means of resisting. These workers of iniquity devised iniquitous decrees with the strategic cunning of a chess player, crafting intricate plans to gain power. Through carefully designed legislation, they patiently but systematically diminished the people’s voices and stole their property, all while cloaking their true intentions in a guise of integrity and transparency. Isaiah denounced such chicanery in the strongest terms, “Woe unto you!” They played the impoverished and helpless as fools, but in the end, the iniquitous leaders who behaved like queens and kings discovered that they were only pawns on the King’s chessboard and were about to be taken.

The leaders in Israel and Judah put forward resolutions and laws that shielded them from legal action. In other words, they could not be legally held accountable. The people looked up one day and the leaders had a rope around their necks. Sound familiar? Matthew Henry once said that it is bad enough to do hurt, but to make such policies with design and deliberation is especially evil. Moreover, you involve other leaders to oppress the people and involve many in the guilt of your wrongdoing. Let that sink in. Each person involved is guilty and in line for judgment. It’s hard to believe such people could ever be called men, much less Israelites, and God-forbid Christians.

Writing Oppression

The people only needed to remind themselves that God always hears their cries and answers. Pharaoh learned the hard way that oppressing God’s people is a dead-end proposition. He decreed the most iniquitous laws and policies imaginable. He viewed the Jews as a threat and slowly tightened the chains of oppression until they cried out to the “Lord of Sabaoth.”

What Pharaoh didn’t know is that God raised him up to show the world who the true King is (Romans 9:17). He probably laughed and gloated with all the wins he seemed to achieve against the helpless Jews. One by one he enacted laws and decrees that oppressed the people until they cried out and Jehovah answered (Exodus 3:7). In an ancient display of absolute sovereignty, God raised up Pharaoh’s judgment in the former Pharaoh’s house.

Comfort for the Oppressed

Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings” (Exodus 3:7 ESV).

It’s comforting to know that God sees and hears the afflictions of His people. As Christians, our helplessness is often self-induced. We turn the other cheek, especially when the punches are coming from our own camp. We submit to God rather than retaliate or fight for our own rights. The iniquitous know this and exploit it to the fullest extent, but God sees and hears.

Strategic oppression of God’s people is an ancient sport of Satan. He inspires iniquitous people with strategies that inflate them with pride as they look to take their subjects one move at a time. He fools them into believing they’re strategists, not knowing they set the traps for their own feet. We can take comfort knowing that God always has the last word.

Brutal Envy

There is no explaining why people behave like this except they’re inspired by Satan. He generally employs hatred brought on by pride, jealousy, and envy. The time would fail to list all the people from Genesis to Revelation who were savagely mistreated because of these. Jealousy is as cruel as the grave, said Solomon. He ought to know; he had nearly a thousand women jockeying for his love and affection. The cruelty he must have witnessed!

Cain murdered Abel and Joseph was sold by his brothers. Jezebel slew Naboth. The Hebrew children were put to the flames and Daniel thrown in the lions’ den. Haman tried to take down Mordecai. Even the Lord Jesus was delivered for envy. Wherever you find an inexplicable and cruel hatred and persecution, you likely have jealousy and envy at the root. Whole nations have been jealous and envious of the Jews to their own destruction.

A Word to the Oppressor

God asks the oppressor, “To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?” One of these days their wealth will eat their flesh as it were fire (James 5:3). They stole from God’s people by iniquitous decrees. “It’s legal!” declares the iniquitous. “We plotted and schemed for decades, getting these resolutions and decrees passed!” God answers, “Nothing remains but to crouch among the prisoners or fall among the slain.”

The final manifestation of human pride is in oppression (see also Mal 3:5). It is one thing when competition or rank and favor pits brother against brother and region against region. It is another when persons begin consciously to deprive the helpless of their rights in order to oppress them. At this point, the lowest limits of cynicism and self-serving have been reached. The brutal nature of warfare and conquest can at least be masked with the trappings of destiny and courage. Oppression of the helpless has no such coverings. Its essential ugliness cannot be hidden. It was especially unjustified in a society where equal treatment before the law was understood to grow out of the very character of God (Exo 23:6-9; Lev 19:15; Deu 10:17; Deu 16:19; Deu 24:17). (NICOT)

Jesus and the Oppressor

The iniquitous legislators had no fear of God, no matter what they professed. They built their own wealth, not God’s kingdom. Keep that clear. It didn’t happen overnight, but the warning signs were there in hindsight. Everything was calculated and plotted for decades. Those responsible for maintaining the laws of the country were doing so in such a way as to enrich themselves at the expense of others.

Jesus quoted Isaiah more than any other prophet. I wonder if He had Isaiah 10 in mind when he declared, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” (Mark 12:38-40 ESV)

The Psalmist on Oppression

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land. In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming (Psalm 37:7-13).

The Hebrew word for fret means to be hot or angry. Don’t get angry and say or do something sinful in response to the man who carries out evil devices. Two wrongs do not make a right. Always remember that. Don’t allow the sun to go down on your wrath because it leads to an opportunity for the evil one to steal, kill, and destroy.

Wait on the Lord patiently, says the Psalmist. Abraham had a promise from God, but impatiently took matters into his own hands with Hagar and it was a disaster. The wicked plots and schemes but don’t repay like for like. Give place unto wrath because God has said, “Revenge belongs to Me and I will repay.”

What do these ancient stories mean for today? Is there any relevance? Yes! Place the iniquitous legislator types in the hands of God and leave them there. They may laugh because of their little victories now, but He who laughs last laughs best. Why? Because the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming (Psalm 37:13). As Paul told Timothy regarding Alexander the Coppersmith, “the Lord will reward him according to his works.”