Ex 23:2+3 and 6, You shall not follow a multitude in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice; nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his dispute…You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. 
    	We are continuing with the warnings and admonitions given by God to His Chosen Nation of Israel as they were preparing to go forth in His Name. We have dealt with the fact that they were to honor their fathers and mothers with the promise that their lives would be long on the earth if they so obeyed the Lord in this matter. We also spent some time with the fact that they were to take care of the widows and the orphans as ones who had the Lord God Almighty as their Protector and their Sustainer. In reverence to God, these lonely and helpless ones were to be dealt with on the basis that because they were valuable to God, they were valuable to their community and not a burden nor to be abused or maltreated. 
	In this passage the Lord lets His people know that they are also to give the poor appropriate and proper consideration. They were not to neglect the poor and disregard them as without any standing in the dealings within the social structure of the community. They were to be treated as fairly and as honorably as anyone else, not receiving special treatment nor receiving less than the equal treatment afforded to anyone within the population. As reiterated in Deut 16:19+20, the poor and the rich alike were to receive justice in the eyes of the rulers and magistrates and religious leaders of the public domain. Deut 16:19+20, You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 
	Notice that God attaches a positive outcome to this statement of how the community, in its entirety, including the poor and the alien and the widow and the orphan, were to receive justice… Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you. The possession of the Promised Land was tied to the manner in which they dealt with each other in all their interactions and seeking after true and undefiled and uncompromised justice for all the people. This was a most important principle to the Lord, in guarding the manner in which everyone, including the poorest of the population received honor and dignity and justice in the eyes of those who reflected the heart of the nation as they were leading and guiding and hearing the disputes of His people. 
	In Deut 24:17-21, God issued the manner in which the poor were to be provided for, as we read earlier in dealing with the widows and orphans. They were not to be treated as nonentities  or subjugated, but rather given the opportunity to gather for themselves the food and the provisions by the gleaning of the fields and vineyards. Deut 24:17-21, "You shall not pervert the justice due an alien or an orphan, nor take a widow's garment in pledge. But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing. "When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not go over it again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow. 
In every consideration of others, there was to be the remembrance that as they are so were we all. While this was specifically in terms of the people of Israel being released from their slavery and poverty in Egypt, today it brings to mind our dreadfully dead condition apart from the life of Jesus Christ. That realization should flavor our every interaction with all other people. That means that we can never lord our position or our situation over anyone else. Everything we have and are is only because of what God has done for us and irrespective of what we think we have done to better ourselves and our condition. 
Again, this heart of remembrance was to be manifested in the manner in which all those in desperate need were regarded as valued in the eyes and the heart of God. Therefore all the people joined themselves to the pledge that the weak and the poor and the defenseless would have justice and a place of refuge in the midst of the community as a whole. They verbally joined themselves to this before God as recorded in Deut 27:19. Deut 27:19, 'Cursed is he who distorts the justice due an alien, orphan, and widow.' And all the people shall say,' Amen.' 
	As the leaders and the counselors and the magistrates were taking their places of authority, they were reminded, in 2 Chron 19:7, of their duty to be just and honoring to all the citizens of the nation as honoring to God Whom they served above all. 2 Chron 19:7, Now then let the fear of the Lord be upon you; be very careful what you do, for the Lord our God will have no part in unrighteousness, or partiality, or the taking of a bribe." 
	When these officials neglected their duty or corrupted themselves in favor of the rich and the popular over the justice due to the poor and the needy, the Psalmist, in Ps 82:1-4, records the position that God commanded against them. Ps 82:1-4, God takes His stand in His own congregation; He judges in the midst of the rulers. How long will you judge unjustly, And show partiality to the wicked? Selah. Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked. 
	The prophet Isaiah, in Isa 10:1-3, picked up this warning to those who were not defending the widows and the orphans and the poor among the people. He specifically targeted the law makers and the judges as we read in Isa 10:1-3. Woe to those who enact evil statutes, And to those who constantly record unjust decisions, So as to deprive the needy of justice, And rob the poor of My people of their rights, In order that widows may be their spoil, And that they may plunder the orphans. Now what will you do in the day of punishment, And in the devastation which will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help? And where will you leave your wealth? 
As we considered this passage last time, those who would deprive the poor and the needy of justice would have no place to go for safety when they were faced with the loss of everything.God would bring brought forth His judgment against them through the rising up of the nations surrounding them. There would be no sanctuary or relief from the coming devastation for the rich and the powerful who distorted justice would lose everything in the crushing desolation and ruin that would surely befall them. 
	The Prophet Jeremiah, in Jer 5:26-29, also showed the heart of God being set against those who would plunder and pillage and wickedly delight in the deception visited upon the poor and the abused. Jer 5:26-29, 'For wicked men are found among My people, They watch like fowlers lying in wait; They set a trap, They catch men. 'Like a cage full of birds, So their houses are full of deceit; Therefore they have become great and rich. 'They are fat, they are sleek, They also excel in deeds of wickedness; They do not plead the cause, The cause of the orphan, that they may prosper; And they do not defend the rights of the poor. 'Shall I not punish these people?' declares the Lord,' On a nation such as this Shall I not avenge Myself?' 
	Jeremiah’s warning against those vile practices of the rulers and judges who accepted the brides of the rich and sought after those things which would serve to promote their own self-interests was followed by a promise from the Lord, recorded in Jer 7:4-7, if they would but change their evil ways. Jer 7:4-7, "Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, 'This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.' "For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. God’s warning against injustice included this promise if these rulers and leaders would practice justice and honor Him in their dealings with all the people. 
	Sadly, the Prophet Amos, in Chapter 5, verses 11-14, had to describe what the leaders of the nation were doing, even after all the trials and tribulations which had befallen those who preceded them. They would not choose to honor the Lord in their duties and rather padded their own pockets with the spoils and the ill gotten gains stolen from the poor and the helpless. 
Amos 5:11-14, Therefore, because you impose heavy rent on the poor And exact a tribute of grain from them, Though you have built houses of well-hewn stone, Yet you will not live in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, yet you will not drink their wine. For I know your transgressions are many and your sins are great, You who distress the righteous and accept bribes, And turn aside the poor in the gate. Therefore, at such a time the prudent person keeps silent, for it is an evil time. Seek good and not evil, that you may live; And thus may the Lord God of hosts be with you, Just as you have said! 
	God was continually giving warnings against the rulers and the leaders as those who were perverting justice and defiling the people through their malicious and degenerate practices. Through the Prophet Micah, in Mic 3:1-4, the Lord described, in graphic and unsullied detail exactly how vile and despicable were those who dealt so unjustly with the helpless and the poor and the disenfranchised. He finished this word with the same statement that those who do such vile things to the poor and the needy will not have a place to turn in their distress and time of judgment. 
Mic 3:1-4, And I said, "Hear now, heads of Jacob And rulers of the house of Israel. Is it not for you to know justice? "You who hate good and love evil, Who tear off their skin from them And their flesh from their bones, And who eat the flesh of my people, Strip off their skin from them, Break their bones, And chop them up as for the pot And as meat in a kettle." Then they will cry out to the Lord, But He will not answer them. Instead, He will hide His face from them at that time, Because they have practiced evil deeds. 
	The Prophet Malachi, in Mal 3:5+6, closes the Old Testament with the fact that God was so greatly displeased with the manner in which the least of His people were treated by their own brethren. Mal 3:5+6, "Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien, and do not fear Me," says the Lord of hosts. "For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. 
	While we may think of this simply in terms of how the nation of Israel treated its own citizens, Brother James makes it very evident that this same attitude of preferential treatment existed within the early church, God’s Redeemed Church on earth. It is something that we need to take to heart as we have our own dealings with those in our midst. We are so often caught up in the outward appearances of others and what they have. Our interest in them is often only on the basis of how influential they may be in serving to promote our own purposes. In so doing, we often neglect and discount those who are not the rich or the famous or the well-heeled. 
We close with the warning to us from James as given in James 2:2-9, if you would follow along and take it to heart. James 2:2-9, For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool," have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court? Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called? If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law, according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 
	We need to keep in our hearts of hearts that everyone who is redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ is a brother or sister in Christ and deserves to be treated with the respect and the honor due to the beloved saints of God. None are to be treated as any less desirable or considered with any less preference based on their appearance or their social status. What makes us who we are is the covering of the precious and life-giving and sustaining blood of Jesus Christ. He died for everyone who will call upon His name, whether rich or poor, widow or orphan, male or female, bond servant or freedman. Let us always and forever honor God in the reverent estimation of everyone whom He called unto Himself. So be it!
You shall not follow a multitude in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice; nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his dispute…You shall not pervert the justice due to your needy brother in his dispute. Amen. 

This morning’s benediction is Ex 15:2. "The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will extol Him. Amen.