“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. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing” (Deut 24:17-22).
The laws regarding Israel’s treatment of the socio-economically disadvantaged people are framed by the phrase: “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt” (Deut 24:18, 22). So elsewhere in Deuteronomy, Israel’s redemption from bondage is supposed to be the intrinsic motivation for their treatment of others (Deut 5:15; 15:15; 16:12).
To the degree we remember who we used to be and who we are now by the grace of God, to that extent we will treat the people around us with love, kindness, and grace. But O how nasty we are to others when we forget we were once “slaves in Egypt.”
Forgotten Identity
Consider the following scenario: a server at a restaurant and single mom is struggling to pay her bills. She is overwhelmed by the cares of life and has been dealing with hangry customers for the past several hours. Finally, she comes to serve a group of believers whom she has seen thanking God for the food. But these “thankful” believers, oblivious to her difficult circumstances, reach a just verdict by the end of the meal that she is completely unworthy of a decent tip. So they decide to teach her a lesson on justice by giving her exactly what she deserves. But had these same believers been thinking about their redemption from Egypt, they may have been far more keen to teach this poor server a far more powerful lesson on grace.
How nasty we are to others when we forget we were once “slaves in Egypt.”
According to Scripture, the intrinsic motivation for loving God and loving others is this: he first loved us. But when we forget how God graciously redeemed us from bondage as we go about our daily activities, we fall prey to judgmental, legalistic, and unforgiving treatment of all the “sinners” around us. And God in the end gets the bad reputation for the behavior of a people who has completely forgotten they too were once slaves in Egypt.
“And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened” (Matt 18:27-31).
