Are those labeled poor by modern American standards the same as the poor spoken of in the Bible?
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall
separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall
the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
for
I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying,
Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And
the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
Matthew 25:31-40 KJV
there are poor everywhere the ones who everyone just walks by and pretends not to see. Food , clothing , drink , friendship necessaties anyone lacking these things is poor . It doesn’t matter how they arrived at this point when they don’t have the necessaties it’s universal in scripture they are the poor and God has always placed their needs high on his priorities
“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to
undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.
If thou
take away from the midst of thee the yoke,
the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: and the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”
Isaiah 58:6-11 KJV
we’re aren’t meant to look at what not to do not killing someone isn’t exactly live exhibiting itself but when you have enough and you see someone who doesn’t this is where the rubber meets the road where love is different from words not lips but deeds
“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But
whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children,
let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
1 John 3:16-18 KJV
aid we see that person who’s obviously in need and we have plenty it’s easy for us to pass on by like the priests in the parable just look the other way and go on with our “ blessed lives “ but that’s not how God is and not how his children are they see and compassion moves them to act they can’t pass bye and look the other way of they can help because that stranger on the corner is loves by Jesus who lives in thier heart
If Jesus passed by the poor and didn’t help we’d all be lost in damnation forever but he’s not like that he reaches to the poorest and lifts them up and fills them until thier cup runneth over and spills out to others
The poor are those who don’t have what they need and our hands are those working the lords will on earth to reach out to them