HELPER OF THE FATHERLESS

God sees the fatherless

Psalm 10 also demonstrates that the Lord is the help of the helpless, even when wicked men lurk around, rejecting God’s laws. “But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand,” God says to the victims of these wicked men. The victims entrust themselves to you; you are the fatherless’ helper.”

God has adopted each Christian, and to fully comprehend the Gospel, we must first understand the theology of adoption.

The concept of Father, Israel’s sonship, and adoption stories such as Moses (Exodus 2:10), Genubath (1 Kings 11:20), and Esther demonstrate God’s passion for adoption (Esther 2:7).

The Old Testament portrays God as Father and includes approximately 40 references to the “fatherless.” These references include the commands to “correctly treat the fatherless” (Exodus 22:22) and “bring justice to the fatherless” (Isaiah 1:17). We can compare the plight of the fatherless to that of Israel while in Egyptian bondage in Deuteronomy 24:17-21. The metaphor of adoption also applies to the nation of Israel.

God used an adopted child.

Moses was told to tell Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son” (Exodus 4:22). God used Moses, an adopted child, to speak about God adopting Israel as His firstborn son. Pharaoh ordered the execution of all children under the age of two, and Jochebed hid Moses in the bulrushes. Pharaoh’s daughter took in this “orphaned” child and raised him in the Pharaoh’s house.

Moses, saved through adoption, eventually led Israel out of Egypt, the nation adopted as God’s son. Four passages in the New Testament address the theological significance of adoption, two of which use the term “orphan” and one of which is a particular case of adoption. Adoption is discussed in Galatians 4:4-7, Romans 8:14-23, Ephesians 1:3-6, and Romans 9:1-4. Instead of using the well-established language of the new birth, the Spirit-inspired Scriptures reveal imagery of adoption describing our salvation.

SONS OUT OF SLAVES

Adoption creates sons out of slaves in the Bible. Humanity has been enslaved to sin since Adam decided to imitate Eve by eating the fruit rather than following God. Human beings’ corrupt nature causes them to fall short of God’s glory. According to Galatians 4, God sent his Son to redeem those bound by the law to adoption as sons. Jesus offered Himself as a substitute for humanity, making sufficient atonement for our sins.

Those who repent of their sins and confess Jesus as their Savior, God adopts into His Kingdom. “So you are no longer a slave, but a son,” says Galatians 4:7. “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons,” says Romans 8:15. Just as God adopted the slave nation of Israel to make them the children of Israel, God adopts believers, making them sons with all the rights and privileges that come with being a son of the Sovereign.