God Has a Lot to Say about When to Lend Your Money

 

Deuteronomy Chapter 15, part 1: Law about Debts

Deuteronomy 15:1-11 – Gems and Thoughts from the Passage

Can you believe what God was expecting of the Israelites? Every seven years there was to be a forgiveness (a remission) of debts (verse 1). But this only applied to fellow Israelites, not foreigners (verse 3). The seven year period was not based on when you loaned, but it was a standardized time – that is, every seventh year in the history of the Israelites.

Proverbs 19:17 also says, “He who lends to the poor lends to the Lord.”

Interestingly enough, in verses 4-5, Moses goes on to say that the good news is that if you obey God’s commands, “there shall be no poor people amongst you”. Ever ventured downtown in your city or large town lately? If your neighborhood is like mine, it won’t be long before you see people begging on the streets. It won’t be long before you saw the multitude of homeless people. Moses is saying, if you follow God’s commands as a community, you won’t have that. Yes, I know that in the New Testament Jesus says the “poor you will always have with you”(John 12:8 and elsewhere), but that does not discredit the message from Moses here – follow God’s commands and you won’t any poor among you.

Then comes verse 6. The Israelites shall be blessed; they will ‘lend’ to many nations, but not ‘borrow’; they will rule over many nations, but nations will not rule over them.  There is much that may be said about this verse, but I like to think of lending as helping. And clearly Israel has always helped others, and even today the whole world benefits from Israeli technology, medical and pharmaceutical advancement, education, art, and so on. And while the Jewish people suffered greatly under the likes of Hitler, and right on through to today where antisemitism is rampant, as a ‘nation’ they have not been ruled over.  Israel is still Israel today and thriving, although it constantly has to be on the alert. As far as I’m concerned, the verse has come true.

Verses 7 and 8 talk about lending to those in need from among their brethren. Moses says it is a matter of not hardening your heart, not closing your hand, but lending sufficiently and generously to the person in need. I think that word “generously” causes a lot of problems for many Christians. The idea that a person in need should be treated with “generosity” strikes many as a bit much. But yet, the word of God says that we are to lend generously.  Now, it does say “lend” not “give”.  But in verse one, it also says that such lending is forgiven every seven years.

Verse 9 has an interesting warning. Moses was saying if you have any idea that because the seventh year of remission is near, you decide that you don’t want to lend to your brother – that is a sin.

Verse 10 here says basically what we are told in the New Testament in 2 Corinthians 9:7 where we are told that the Lord loves a cheerful giver. So, don’t let your heart grieve about giving money to help your poor.

And then verse 11 repeats the idea that the Israelites will always have the poor in their land.

So, let’s think about the issues that arise here: On the one hand, if you obey God’s commands, you won’t have any poverty. On the other, the poor you will always have with you. Can it both?  Of course, it can.  You, personally, can obey God’s commands and you personally won’t be poor. [Anybody that learned to tithe with the first dime or dollar that they ever earned and is still doing so with a cheerful heart, knows that this is true. That’s a blessing indeed.] But, hey, others may not be as wise and don’t follow God’s commands, and you’ll need to help them – not so much for them, as it is good for you to do so. It’s a matter between you and God.

David Guzik puts says this about any apparent confusion here: “Is God contradicting Himself? Not at all. He knows that He has established a system where no one must be chronically poor, yet He knew that because of disobedience, some would, and there would always be the poor in Israel.”

Again, David Guzik on the command to be generous towards those of the faith: “This reminds us of Galatians 6:10 - Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Our charitable giving is to begin with those brothers and sisters closest to us, though it certainly can extend outward from there.”

 

Wrap-up

God has a lot to say about money in the Bible. Some have it.  Some don’t. There are reasons of course.  But the bottom line is that those who have it, are not to forget those that don’t – especially in one’s family and in one’s church, or faith. This section of chapter 15 of book of Deuteronomy may raise more questions for us than we expected.  But, that’s okay.  Let’s ask them and discuss them.

For me personally, there are two lessons – first, don’t lend to a brother or family member unless you’re prepared to lose it. And that’s not because they’re poor money handlers. It’s because God allows for that possibility.  And second, I had to let go of a grudge I held for three decades (if I were to be compliant with the teachings here).  [So if you’re the person I had this grudge against, and you’re reding this, please note that your loan has now been forgiven.]

And what did you learn?  Leave me a comment.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.