Deuteronomy
15:1-5,11 – At the
end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is how it
is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow
Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people,
because the Lord’s time for canceling
debts has been proclaimed. You may require
payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow
Israelite owes you. However, there
need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your
inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you
fully obey the Lord your God and are careful
to follow all these commands I am giving you today…There will always be poor people in
the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow
Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.
Leviticus 25:13,36 – “‘In this Year
of Jubilee everyone is to return to their own property…Do
not take interest or any profit from them, but fear
your God, so that they may continue to live among you.
Application:
- · There need be no poor people among you because of the Lord’s reward for obedience and because of the Sabbath-year arrangement. This “year for canceling debts” gave Israelites who had experienced economic reverses a way to gain release from indebtedness and so, in a measure, a way to equalize wealth.
- · Even in the best of societies under the most enlightened laws, the uncertainties of life and the variations among citizens result in some people becoming poor. In such cases the Lord commands that generosity and kindness be extended to them.
- · The Lord prohibited the accumulation of property to the detriment of the poor. “The land is mine”, said the Lord. God’s people are only tenants.
- · The main idea in not taking interest was that no one should profit in any way from another’s misfortune; rather, the needy should be given assistance.
All Scripture verses taken from NIV
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