Theme: PROMOTION
Text: “If you witness in some province the oppression of the poor and the denial of right and justice, do not be surprised at what goes on, for every official has a higher one set over him, and the Highest keeps watch over them all.” – Ecclesiastes 5:8, New English Bible.
Comment: Anyone in a position of trust should always remember that however highly placed he may be, he is still subject to the Highest – God Almighty.
People who are thriving through oppression and bribery must, in their own interest, repent of their evil deeds so as to obtain divine mercy before God’s vengeance is expressed on them. God said: “Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them. For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.” – Amos 5:11-13. See also Psalm 62:10; Luke 12:15.
It is much more better and honourable to live an honest life, than to be a crook who, though rich, has no reputation and is not in favour with God. In Proverbs 28:6,8, it is written: “Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich. He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.”