Nature of oppression

The victims

The weak

Psalm 12:5 NKJV

5 “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”

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The poor

Proverbs 22:22–23 NKJV

22 Do not rob the poor because he is poor, Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate; 23 For the Lord will plead their cause, And plunder the soul of those who plunder them.

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Widows and orphans

Exodus 22:22 NKJV

22 “You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child.

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The foreigner

Exodus 22:21 NKJV

21 “You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

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Servants

Deuteronomy 24:14–15 NKJV

14 “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. 15 Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you.

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Examples of oppression

Sarah oppresses Hagar; Laban oppresses Jacob; the Egyptians oppress Israel; the Assyrians oppress Israel

The oppressors’ motives

Greed

Jeremiah 5:27–28 NKJV

27 As a cage is full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become great and grown rich. 28 They have grown fat, they are sleek; Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the fatherless; Yet they prosper, And the right of the needy they do not defend.

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Lust for power

Exodus 1:10 NKJV

10 come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.”

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God’s attitude to the oppressor

Exodus 22:22–24 NKJV

22 “You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; 24 and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

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The experience of oppression

It brings grief and crying to God

Psalm 42:9 NKJV

9 I will say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

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The example of Jesus Christ

Isaiah 53:7 NKJV

7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

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Following Jesus Christ

1 Peter 2:21 NKJV

21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

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