The usual picture we have of justice is of an unbending system that deals with all people alike regardless of their circumstances. That is not the picture of justice that we get in the Bible.

Most of the laws of Deuteronomy 24 are about protecting the vulnerable. In those days, husbands could easily discard their wives if they did not like them. But God's law protects wives by including a legal requirement: ″a certificate of divorce″ (v. 1). Moreover, should her next marriage end, her former husband is prohibited from marrying her again, because ″she has been defiled″ (v. 4)-that is, she is ritually out of bounds for him. These laws were intended to force men to seriously think of the implications of divorce before they got divorced.

A man was also prohibited from going to war or other forms of national service during his first year of marriage. His first responsibility was to ″bring happiness to [his] wife″ (v. 5). This is a good reminder for men who are so eager to establish themselves in their professions today that they neglect their wives in the initial years of their marriage. Godly husbands are devoted to bringing happiness to their wives.

The Law also prevented the poor from being abused, especially if they had to take loans to survive. Lenders were not allowed to take a millstone as a pledge, as the poor would then not be able to make bread without it (v. 6). If lenders accepted an outer cloak as a pledge, they had to return it each night so the debtor could keep warm (vv. 12-13). Lenders were also prohibited from going into debtors' houses to forcibly take a pledge in front of their families, to preserve the debtors' dignity (vv. 10-11).

There was also the death penalty for anyone who trafficked and sold others as slaves (v. 7). Vulnerable people were kidnapped and sold as slaves in those days, just like desperately poor women are trafficked today. The death penalty for this was intended to act as a deterrent, to protect the vulnerable from being kidnapped.

Finally, the Law also looked after the poor's daily needs. Employers were to give poor labourers their wages daily, rather than weekly or monthly, as they would not have savings to tide them over. And if they neglected the needs of the poor (assuming no one would notice, since the poor had no voice to fight for their rights), Moses warns that the poor can ″cry to the Lord″. God would consider defaulting employers ″guilty of sin″ (vv. 14-15).

Farmers are also instructed not to go back to collect what they left behind in harvesting. These leftovers were reserved for the needy to collect (vv. 19-21). The premise for the Israelites' compassion to the poor in their community was clear. They, too, were once in need, as slaves in Egypt (v. 22), but God provided for them. God's people cannot be like people liberated from poverty today who ignore the poor and never go back to the neighbourhoods where they grew up. As undeserving people saved by grace, we help others.

The clear teaching of this chapter is that followers of God must be seriously committed to caring for the needy.