Verster, Empowering the poor: The Bible and the poor in informal settlements ...The story of Ruth explains also the family values even to the foreigner
and emphasises God’s provision through the community of the desti-
tute.^6
Masenya (2004:59) writes: “A sense of maintaining human integrity and
self-worth in our view enables victims of harsh circumstances not to give
up, but to continue to struggle as agents of change even in the face of
life-denying circumstances. The story of Ruth and Naomi in the Old
Testament has reminded us that the powerless have a way of coping
with hostile circumstances. The powerless however need to be reminded
that in our struggle to maintain our integrity motivated by our sense of
agency, we need to fight in such a way that our integrity as persons in
our own right is not tampered with negatively either by circumstances or
by those more powerful than us”.
The people of Israel had to look after one another. Especially the widows
and the orphans had to be the centre of the help that should have been
given by the people. It is clear in the Torah that God expected of his
people to show mercy and to help others. Very important is that this
mercy and help for the people had to be from the perspective of brother-
hood and sisterhood. Being the people of Israel, being the people of God,
they had to look after one another and seek the benefit of one another
because of the presence of God in their midst. Looking at one another,
they, from the perspective of brotherhood and sisterhood, had to link the
power of salvation in God to helping one another and helping the com-
munity in that sense. Therefore it was not possible to leave aside the
challenge to come together and be a brother and a sister for the other
person.
Gowan (1987:353) explains: “Obviously, then, what the Old Testament
says about wealth and poverty cannot be taken as prescriptive for any
modern society. Precisely because of its emphasis on the widow, orphan,
and immigrant as the classic examples of the powerless. The Old Testa-
among you." Calvin was of the opinion that the generosity of God to the people of Is-
rael also had to be bestowed by them on the stranger and widow and orphan. The
stranger was thus an important motif in Calvin’s commentaries in which he empha-
sised the grace of God but also the command to do justice and reach out to the people
in need (Jacob 2008:152).(^6) See Campbell (1975:138) where God is presented in the story where responsible
people are seen as acting “as God to one another.” The restoration of the fullness of
life to Naomi by the son as guardian also emphasizes the role of the family (Bush
1996:264-265).