A poor man who oppresses the poor
is a beating rain that leaves no food.
Proverbs 28:3 ESV
The visual language of “a beating rain that leaves no food” is intended to convey to the reader a sense of destruction or harm and uncertainty. It is used to arrest the senses of the reader. To get a reaction. But what is it that is this beating rain? Answer: “A poor person who oppresses the poor.”
How can a poor person oppress another poor person? This question is worthy of consideration. The most obvious answer is by stealing from a poor person. But, there are other ways within human interactions or relationships that any of us can oppress another. One of the challenges we have in wrapping our minds and hearts around this verse is the perception that oppression is always a big and obvious action on the level of slavery and human trafficking. Among the homeless there can certainly be a hierarchy of power, through which one poor person abuses another. That struggle may be for resources or over a profitable corner in the city. One does not have to be wealthy or a government official or an employer to abuse the poor. Poor people can abuse each other.
When the Bible Meets Life
As I was reading Proverbs 28 this morning, two verses stood out.
When I read these verses my mind could not avoid the connection to this weekend’s news of the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “… when the wicked rise, people hide themselves,” is a perfect description of the conditions within the areas overtaken by ISIS. In an effort to survive under the rule of ISIS, thousands of people submitted and did their best to simply keep out of sight. Through the years of ISIS domination of the area reports would leak, describing the underground market for cigarettes, which were forbidden by ISIS. There were also reports of an underground communication network that was used to warn of the location of ISIS monitors moving about looking for those who might not be living according to ISIS standards. The people truly hid themselves to survive.
A roaring lion and charging bear are images of power and force. In verse 15, these images describe what it is like when a wicked person rules over a poor people. The rule of Abu Bakr Al-Badhdadi and ISIS could not be described more clearly than power and force. Whether that be demonstrated by the piles of severed heads of their victims put on display or the punishment of sinners in the public square. This was done as if to say, “this could happen to you.” Don’t forget the infamous execution videos of their victims dressed in orange jumpsuits published by ISIS propaganda forces. Or, the brutal treatment of women, including kidnapping, rape, and murder, by ISIS soldiers from the lowest rank all the way to the top.
The Bible should not be regarded as an old book for a past generation. It’s a living book as relevant as today’s news. More relevant, actually.
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