But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith - that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
My goal is through this blog and this page is to do exactly as these verses say, to "press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me His own". I wanted to put this page on the blog because I know His words are so much more powerful than my own will ever be. The following are a list and description of all the verses I have come across in the Bible that have a direct reference to orphans and fatherless. Some of them convicted me, some challenged me and changed me so much they are what caused me to start blogging in the first place... Enjoy!
Old Testament:
"Orphan" Hebrew meaning: an orphan or fatherless individual
Exodus 22:22-24 22 You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
This one is pretty intense for the word of God but does a great job at portraying an Old Testament command from God. It also is a perfect example of how protective God is of the widow and the orphan.
Deuteronomy 10:17-19 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Great example of how God loves the fatherless, widow and sojourner (someone whose dwelling is temporary much like a homeless person or traveler) and how then we should do the same.
Deuteronomy 14:28-29 "At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do."
I didn't write it God did! :-) I'm not trying to tell you what to do with your money but it is a great verse to keep in mind when you get your paycheck every week!
Deuteronomy 16:10 -15 Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you. And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there. You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes. "You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress. You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns. For seven days you shall keep the feast to the LORD your God at the place that the LORD will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.
This is a much longer group of verses but I really feel you have to read the entire group of them to truly understand what God is trying to convey here. God counted the orphans, sojourner (see definition in prior verse description) and widow in on those who should celebrate as the same promises that were promised to everyone else. The best part of this verse is the last half of the sentence "so you will be altogether joyful" not separately but everyone together.
Deuteronomy 24:17-22 "You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge, but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this. "When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.
Again, this is a long group of verses but it really helps to understand the context in which the verses are written. These verses talk about the importance of specifically "giving" to the orphans because just like the orphans we too have been rescued. This rescue concept is one of the most important concepts in orphan care (for more information on this subject feel free to read the blog I posted that is entitled "The Abba Cry" or check out Dr. Russel Moore's Book Adopted For Life)Deuteronomy 26:12-13 "When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled, then you shall say before the LORD your God, 'I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.
This again is a verse much like the above verse Deuteronomy 14:28 - 29. A command to provide for the orphan, widow and sojourner.
Deuteronomy 27:19 'Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.'
This verse is pretty straightforward. A great example of God's warning to those who disobey.
Job - The following verses are from Job, this is a less descriptive list as I would really recommend at least having an overview of the book of Job before trying to understand the verses individually. A lot of the book of Job is a "discussion" or could even be called argument between Job and his friends as to why he is having to suffer so much. It constantly goes back and forth and one of the subjects is orphans. His friends try to suggest that maybe he didn't provide for the orphan and that's why he's suffering while Job constantly insists that he did provide and follow God's words.
Job 6:27 You would even cast lots over the fatherless,and bargain over your friend.
Job is accusing his friends of their actions.
Job 22:9 You have sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless were crushed.
Job's friends are accusing him of the possibility of this sin.
Job 24: 2-4,9 Some move landmarks; they seize flocks and pasture them. They drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow’s ox for a pledge. They thrust the poor off the road; the poor of the earth all hide themselves. vs.9:There are those who snatch the fatherless child from the breast, and they take a pledge against the poor.
This is what Job is saying evil men do. Job's question then is why does God wait. The answer can be found later in the chapter in verses 22-24
Job 29:1-13 (I won't list all these verses)
Job is talking of the days when he felt closest to the Lord. One of the things he mentions that he made sure to do during those days of closeness was help the orphans.
Job 31:16-22 "If I have withheld anything that the poor desired, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail, or have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless has not eaten of it (for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father, and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow), if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing, or the needy without covering, if his body has not blessed me, and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep, if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate, then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder, and let my arm be broken from its socket.
Here Job is saying if he has done anything to harm any of these "let his arm fall off". Gotta love that illustration!
Psalm 10:14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless.
God is called the "helper of the fatherless"
Psalm 10:17-18 O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
God is the defender of the fatherless
Psalm 68:4-6 Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him! Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
God is father to the fatherless and he sets the solitary (lonely) in a home
Psalm 94:3-23 (I won't list all these)
These verses discuss how the wicked kill the fatherless but God will repay. (Yes the killing of the fatherless still happens today, maybe less in America but very prevalent overseas)
Psalm 109:1-13 (I won't list all of these)
David prays against his enemy that his children may be fatherless. Being fatherless is such an awful place to be that it is actually prayed as a vengeance prayer.
Psalm 146:9 The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
Isaiah 1:17-28 (I won't list all of these)
God is speaking to Isaiah telling them to "defend the cause of the fatherless" but the "rebels" refused to do this
Isaiah 9:13 - 17 (I won't list all of these)
Because the people did not obey God He will turn the judgement back around to them.
Isaiah 10:1-2 Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.
This is the beginning of some of the warnings God says about people who refuse to help the orphans.
Jeremiah 5:23-31 (I won't list all of these)
The land that has turned away (vs.31) "my people love it this way" but what will you do in the end?
Jeremiah 7:1-7 (I won't list all of these)
God promises redemption if they really turn around and stop oppressing the fatherless
Jeremiah 22:2-5 'Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, you who sit on David's throne—you, your officials and your people who come through these gates. This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David's throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. But if you do not obey these commands, declares the LORD, I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.' "
If you do the things He has instructed you have someone mighty who will protect you
Lamentations 5:1-3 Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us; look, and see our disgrace! Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows.
In their disgrace they became like orphans
Ezekiel 22:6-7 Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the sojourner suffers extortion in your midst; the fatherless and the widow are wronged in you.
What the evil do
Hosea 14:3
Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount war-horses. We will never again say 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion."
In God the fatherless find compassion
Zechariah 7:9-13 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.' "But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry. " 'When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,' says the LORD Almighty.
Command by God for attitude to orphans and result of not doing that
Malachi 3:1-5 (I won't list all these)
The Lord will testify against those who oppress the orphan
