If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him (28:3-5).
The above are two examples of doing good to one’s enemies – “Love your enemies” as Yeshua, himself instructs us to do in Matthew 5:44. God doesn’t change – while some think that the God of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) is an angry God, and the God of the New Testament is loving and merciful, God is actually the same yesterday, today and forever. He has not changed. He will not change.
How tempting it would be, if we should see our enemy or our enemy’s belongings in a bad situation, to just leave them! But that’s not God’s way.
You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt (23:9)
God had instructed the Israelites in the last chapter regarding their treatment of sojourners or foreigners. He cares for all people and expects us to do the same. Notice how God says, “You know the heart of a sojourner.” When we have experienced something (in this case, being the ones who were sojourners in the land of Egypt), we are able to have more understanding of others.
We can and should use our experiences to understand and help others. Some experiences are obvious, such as being a foreigner, in which case we can be understanding of the culture-shock or other things particular to someone from another country. But we might have other hidden experiences, that we might discerningly share. For example, I know someone who was sexually abused, and whenever she shares her story with other women, she finds that they open up to her, sharing stories of abuse that they would never normally share. The same goes for other traumas or struggles we have, be they in marriage, parenting, jobs, etc.
And if someone opens up to us, but we haven’t gone through their particular struggle, we can listen well, and ask appropriate questions, so that we can do our best to “know the heart” of that person. A caring heart and a listening ear is always a blessing.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for the experiences I have had, even the challenging ones. May You help me hear people’s hearts and help them in whatever way I can. Help me to be real with others as You lead. Amen.
