Oppressing the Poor Reproaches the Maker

He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker.—Proverbs 13:31

Society forms a commonwealth of human nature in close connection with Elohim. Every person becomes his brother's keeper within this divine arrangement. Oppression of the poor manifests itself through three distinct violations:

First, political injustice: when the poor lack proper representation or free agency in their nation's enactments. Second, social neglect: when the state permits vast accumulations of distress, ignorance, and misery to fester unaddressed. Third, mental debasement: the denial of genuine Christian education that imparts great truths, great motives, and great principles to the mind.

The consequence proves grave: the poor inevitably think ill of Elohim when society—claiming to be His arrangement—presses so heavily upon them. Thus oppression directly reproaches the Maker.

True humanity and godliness are inseparable. Piety and philanthropy are essentially one; philanthropy is the offspring of all genuine religion. He that honoureth Elohim by loving Him supremely will have mercy on the poor. Inhumanity constitutes ungodliness; it disregards both the identity of nature Elohim has endowed in all classes and the laws concerning the poor (Leviticus 25:35-36; Deuteronomy 15:11).

True humanity sympathises with man as the offspring of Elohim, victim of moral evil, and child of immortality—consecrating itself in the Spirit of Christ to ameliorate his woes and redeem his soul. This practical godliness fulfils Isaiah 58:6-7.