Christianity Today, Sojourners, The Baptist News Global and other Christian media promote socialism as the cure for poverty. They assume their own moral superiority because they have good intentions, they claim. But none can give an example of a socialist country helping the poor. The record of socialism is one of punishing and impoverishing the poor in every case and the more socialist the country the poorer it became. In addition, the defunct Soviet Union murdered over 60 million of its own people as did communist China.
Of course, those countries tried to honestly implement Marx's political nonsense to the fullest, being true believers. What about Europe? Western Europe didn't believe as much in Marx as others, so it implemented democrat socialism, a half-hearted attempt to follow his principles. The result was stagnation. The poor in the U.S. are as wealthy as the typical European.
Socialist Christians in the U.S. think they should be given a pass because they have good intentions, but the government oppressing the poor as socialists do was the major sin of Israel under the kings. Keep in mind that during the period of the judges, no one was accused of oppressing the poor until the sons of the corrupt judge Eli came along late in the period: "But his [Eli's] sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice" (1 Samuel 8:3 ).
King David, the supreme court judge in Israel complained many times about oppression of the poor. Here is a sampling of the verses:
“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, Now I will arise,” says the LORD; “I will set him in the safety for which he yearns” (Psalm 12:5).
"Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked" (Psalm 82:3-4).
Solomon warned against oppressing the poor: "Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, for the LORD will take up their case and will exact life for life" (Proverbs 22:22-23).
Isaiah complained, "Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers that write perverseness; to turn aside the needy from justice, and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey!" (Isaiah 10:1,2).
Amos echoed Isaiah: "Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek..." (Amos 2:6-7).
The condemnation of oppressing the poor continued until the last book of the Protestant Old Testament, : "'So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,' says the LORD Almighty" (Malachi 3:5).
What was going on during the 450 years of the monarchy? Yes, the rich oppressed the poor, but was it the same group of rich people that exist in the West, entrepreneurs who built large, successful businesses by meeting the needs of others? No. The government of Israel oppressed the poor.
The main way to oppress the poor in the monarchy was by bribing judges to condemn innocent people to death, thus allowing the rich person to steal their land. King Ahab is most famous for doing that when Jezebel bribed false witnesses to lie about Naboth and have him executed. The story is in I Kings 21. Clearly, that was a case of the government oppressing the poor. What about the others? A common theme runs through the passages about the poor: rulers pass unjust laws and pervert the courts by bribing judges to steal the lands of the poor.
Who had the power to bribe judges and pass laws? Only the people in government. Isaiah was clear: "Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow’s cause does not come to them" (Isaiah 1:23 23). The prophets often called kings princes, but the term includes the sons of the king who held the power of government under their father the king.
The king and his sons, the princes, held all governmental power and were the supreme court of the land. Only they could pass laws and bribe judges, as did Ahab, with impunity. They changed the laws of God to allow charging interest on loans to poor people. Then, they charged exorbitant rates knowing poor farmers couldn't pay even the interest so they could steal the poor borrower's land. Also, they often refused to pay day laborers for work they had done on their farms (James 5:4, Malachi 3:5).
In the New Testament, the ruling class of Israel continued committing the sins of their forefathers. That included the High Priest's family that acted like a modern mafia. That's why Jesus accused them of having turned his house into a den of thieves. Jesus accused the Pharisees of devouring widows houses (Luke 20:47).
The Bible is hard on rich people because most used the power of government to get their wealth through criminal activity. But it was always the people in government who were the worst. The government of Israel oppressed the poor in many ways. Today, governments continue to oppress them through socialist policies. Evangelical socialists should be very afraid of the wrath of God!
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