I use the artificial intelligence product, Gemini, to help with my writing. Today, I asked Gemini to suggest quotes from remarkable people highlighting the importance of helping the most vulnerable among us. Here are some of the responses:
- “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” – Mahatma Gandhi
- “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” – John Bunyan
- “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” – Charles Dickens
- “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.” – Booker T. Washington
- “The greatest good is what we do for one another.” – Mother Teresa
- “It is not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving.” – Mother Teresa
- “The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.” – Albert Schweitzer
Aligned with God
What these remarkable individuals share, both with each other and with God, is that their sentiments about caring for the most vulnerable echo God’s message to the Israelites at Sinai.
“You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. You shall not abuse any widow or orphan.
If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely heed their cry; my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children orphans” (Exodus 22:21-24).
We can identify the resident alien in this passage as modern-day immigrants or migrants. Along with widows and orphans, they constituted the three most vulnerable groups in that society.
Immigrants and children are among the largest groups of people trafficked worldwide. The following statistics may shock and disturb you. Please take a moment to read the latest data.
- The United Nations’ International Labor Organization estimates that 27.6 million people are victimized by human traffickers worldwide.
- In some regions, children now account for the majority of detected trafficking victims. Children who come to western countries unaccompanied account for a majority of these victims.
- One source estimates approximately 24,000 individuals fell victim to human trafficking within the United States in 2024.
- In the U.S., about 40% of human trafficking victims in 2024 were minors.
- Victims in the USA often come from vulnerable populations, including runaway youth, immigrants, and those facing economic hardships.
- On a worldwide scale, poverty, conflict, climate-induced disasters, and displacement are exacerbating vulnerabilities worldwide, leading to a resurgence of detected human trafficking victims, especially children.
- While women and girls continue to be disproportionately affected by sex trafficking, the number of victims trafficked for forced labor has significantly increased, with forced labor now accounting for the biggest share of all victims globally.
God’s Word is clear. Just as the Israelites’ cry reached Him during their enslavement in Egypt, the daily pleas of the oppressed worldwide reach God’s ears today. He will hold their oppressors accountable; we can count on that.
So, what can we do? Most likely, the best course of action is to join the cry of the oppressed and ask God to help them. Intercession is a powerful tool we would do well to use.
God’s Banking System
In today’s video, Rudy Ross explains how commands like the one we’re about to read form the basis of Jewish banking. Beyond learning that truth, we will see God’s care for the poor, immigrants, orphans, and widows.
“If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them.
If you take your neighbor’s cloak as guarantee, you shall restore it before the sun goes down, for it may be your neighbor’s only clothing to use as a cover.
In what else shall that person sleep? And when your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate” (Exodus 22:25-27).
What particularly struck me in these verses was the final statement, where God proclaims He will hear the cry of the poor neighbor and that He is compassionate.
This highlights two crucial aspects: first, God defines the poor as our neighbors. Second, God’s inherent compassion obliges us, as His representatives, to also embody compassion.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 