Much of the Bible is written from the position of the oppressed. We see this within the Old Testament prophets. Most of them came from situations where they were being attacked by enourmous empires. In the Bible the mighty empires are the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Assyrians, and then the Romans. When people in first world countries read the Bible, it can make it more difficult for them to understand. The Bible wasn’t written from the perspective they have, it was written from the perspective of those who are negatively affected by the prosperity of those first world countries.
In our churches today we are often bombarded with terrible statistics about our world…
Half our world lives on less than $2 a day. One billion people cannot read or sign their name. 80% of Americans have a high school education. 33% of American families have 3 cars.
You get the picture.
The Bible has essentially said that we forget about God when we don’t care about the people God cares about.
“Over and over God speaks of the widow, the orphan, and the refugee. This is how you remember God: you bless those who need it the most in the same way God has blessed you when you needed it the most.”
For some reason my thick head only lets those words in very slowly.
