by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
“You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy<\/em>” (Deuteronomy 24:14).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This command addresses economic vulnerability. Israel was expected to treat workers fairly, especially those who had little leverage. Oppression wasn’t always loud; sometimes it was delayed wages, unfair treatment, or exploiting someone’s situation.<\/p>\nMoses is teaching that righteousness includes how you treat people who depend on you. Power imbalances require extra care. God pays attention to how you treat the vulnerable.
\nIn your life, this applies to anyone who relies on your decisions, whether employees, students, coworkers, or people under your influence. Fairness isn’t optional; it’s part of reflecting God’s character.\nDeuteronomy 24:14 encourages you to examine how you use your influence. Treat people with dignity, especially those who have less power in the relationship.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Zeke Flores “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy” (Deuteronomy 24:14). This command addresses economic vulnerability. Israel was expected to treat workers fairly, especially those who had little leverage. Oppression wasn’t always loud; sometimes it was delayed wages, unfair treatment, or exploiting someone’s situation. Moses is teaching that righteousness…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1630,528,458],"class_list":["post-97816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-employees","tag-equity","tag-servants"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62996,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/work-as-for-the-lord\/","url_meta":{"origin":97816,"position":0},"title":"Work as for the Lord","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 1, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Thessalonians 3:6-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Why should you work? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I had a friend that inherited a large sum of money before he was 18. There was enough cash available that he could live comfortably off the interest the money would generate for the rest of his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":97498,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/loyalty-to-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":97816,"position":1},"title":"Loyalty to God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 24, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores \"You shall follow Yahweh your God and fear Him, and you shall keep His commandments\" (Deuteronomy 13:4). Deuteronomy 13 addresses loyalty to God directly. The context is about false voices, even familiar ones, pulling people away from God. The chapter is blunt because the danger is real.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61531,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-influence\/","url_meta":{"origin":97816,"position":2},"title":"Notes on Influence","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 25, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Genesis 5:3 - The influence of a father on his son Exodus 23:2 - Following a crowd is not an excuse for evil behavior Deuteronomy 12:29-32 - Do not let culture influence your religious beliefs Deuteronomy 18:9-12 - Do not let culture influence your religious beliefs I Kings 11:1-8 -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33810,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/all-servanthood-is-not-equal\/","url_meta":{"origin":97816,"position":3},"title":"All Servanthood Is Not Equal","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton There is slavery by force, started by kidnapping (Exodus 21:16; Deuteronomy 24:7). Thus, this slavery is not equal to the poor loaning themselves out voluntarily for 7 years or until the 50th (Jubilee) year in Israel to pay their debts. Slavery by force and kidnapping was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41952,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-christian-and-business\/","url_meta":{"origin":97816,"position":4},"title":"The Christian and Business","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Luke 12:15-21 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I saw an article where the author railed against a business \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The gist was that the corporation was \u201cbad\u201d because it was large and successful \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The author assumed that its success must have come from exploiting workers and giving unfair competition to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23361,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-christians-strike\/","url_meta":{"origin":97816,"position":5},"title":"Should Christians Strike?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: I Peter 2:18-25 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Labor unions are lauded for the improvements they wrought in the workplace \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0By encouraging employees to act as one, many concessions have been won from companies \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When the group appeals don\u2019t sway an employer, strikes often will \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Strikes shutdown the \u201clife blood\u201d of a business,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97816"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97819,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97816\/revisions\/97819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}