"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." (Isaiah 10:1-2) The Lord is a perfect and righteous Judge and He hates injustice on the earth. He hates to see the poor denied justice in the courts because of judges who accept bribes from the wealthy. He hates to see widows and orphans defrauded of the necessities of life. He hates to see the peaceful foreigner mistreated. He will not stand by and allow the people to get away with this. He will take action to defend those who have no earthly defender.
David spoke of the way the Lord defends the defenseless, saying: "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling." (Psalm 68:5) Solomon warned against defrauding the defenseless, reminding the people that the Lord would take up their case: "Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; He will take up their case against you." (Proverbs 23:10-11) Moses urged the people to look out for the weak and to have compassion on them because the Lord has compassion on them and will defend them against their enemies: "For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing." (Deuteronomy 10:17-18)
These are just a few examples from the Scriptures where the Lord takes up the cause of the needy and warns everyone against defrauding them. He will judge those who harm the defenseless. He warns those who are oppressing their fellow man: "What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches? Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain." (Isaiah 10:3-4a)
To whom will they appeal on the day of judgment? To the holy and righteous Judge? No, for He is the one bringing the charges against them. He is the one who has witnessed their idolatry, their depravity, their cruelty, their lack of concern for their fellow man. Now is the time to repent, while the Lord is still speaking to them through the prophets.
But, as we learned from our study of the kings, the majority of the citizens do not repent. This is why the Lord allowed the northern kingdom to fall to the Assyrian Empire. This is why He allowed so many to be taken captive to foreign lands, leaving only the poor behind. It's noteworthy for us to mention that the oppressors were the ones removed from the land while the poor (the widows, the fatherless, the foreigners) remained. But because the majority of those who are doing wrong while Isaiah is still preaching will continue to do wrong, the prophet says of the Lord, "Yet for all this, His anger is not turned away, His hand is still upraised." (Isaiah 10:4b)
The Lord will also judge any nation that oppresses Israel or Judah. It's not as if He is allowing any of the heathen nations to get away with unrighteousness. As we move on through Chapter 10 we find the Lord foretelling the downfall of Assyria.
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