Laws and the Oppression of the Poor
FROM ages immemorial it has been true that, as Goldsmith says— "Laws grind the poor, and rich men rule the law." Reforms have promised better things many times, but in a little while the men of poverty could say,— "Thou found'st me poor at first and keep'st me so." No laws were so favorable to the poor as were the laws given by Jehovah to the Jews. Times anterior had known no such laws as Israel then possessed. Deut. 4:5-8. And yet, as the Hebrews transgressed every other law, their covetous natures led them to disregard the injunctions concerning the poor. This was among their heinous sins, as shown by the solemn messages of reproof borne by the prophets. "What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord of hosts." Isa. 3:15. Bruise them or break them, as the Hebrew word signifies; but, worse than this, they were ground away till nothing was left. As Micah says (chap. 3:2), "Who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones."