Daily Devotional for Tuesday, March 26

The Cruelty of the Selfish Rich

“And the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth,” James 5:4.

With workers’ rights and unions, it is difficult for most to relate to the cries of unpaid workers, but as one commentator states, “It is an evil from which our modern world can scarcely claim to be free.” It is an age-old problem, but it does not go unnoticed by the Lord. Throughout Scripture, God responds to the cries of injustice from His people. “And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows” (Exodus 3:7). Such oppression is condemned, especially among God’s people. God warns us repeatedly through the prophets. Leviticus 19:13 states, “Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.” (See Deuteronomy 24:15; Jeremiah 22:13; Malachi 3:5.)

James addressed the same problem and echoes the prophets, even using the Hebrew Sabaoth (tsebā’ot) for the Lord of Hosts (Armies) and His sovereignty and power. The Lord of Hosts sees oppression, and He fights for His people. The rich need to heed the warning of the “Lord of Sabaoth” (James 5:4).

“Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother: and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 7:9-12).

THOUGHT
“As for our redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name” (Isaiah 47:4).

Kelli Reynolds