seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Deuteronomy 15:1 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. 2 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. 3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. 4 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, 5 if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. 6 For the Lord your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.
Here's the commentary from the easy English site.
God gave these laws to Israelites. They grew most of their own food. If they owed money, it was because of unusual circumstances. (Today many people have debts because they do not spend money in a responsible way.) God wanted the Israelites to look after people who were poor. During one year in every 7 years, the people did not grow crops in their fields. Therefore, they could not pay their debts. In that year, the rich people had to cancel all debts. In that way, rich people showed that they loved the poor people. The Israelite society was like a family who should look after the whole family. But there were different rules for foreigners. The Israelites did not have to cancel the debts of foreigners. (R. K. Harrison says that usually foreigners asked other people to lend them money for business. Foreigners did not ask other people for a loan because they needed money.)
If the Israelites obeyed God and his commandments, he would bless them. Then the Israelites would never owe money to other nations. Other nations would never rule over the people in Israel. Instead, Israel would lend money to other nations. They would rule over the other nations. The Israelites should be generous. They should lend money to people, even if people did not give back the money.
If the Israelites obeyed God and his commandments, he would bless them. Then the Israelites would never owe money to other nations. Other nations would never rule over the people in Israel. Instead, Israel would lend money to other nations. They would rule over the other nations. The Israelites should be generous. They should lend money to people, even if people did not give back the money.
Here's a quote from bibletrack.org.
In that 7th year, any money you had loaned to a fellow Hebrew was to be forgotten. You can see that this might lead to the temptation not to lend to the needy in that 6th year; that's addressed in verse 9 as a sin. As a matter of fact, loaning money to Hebrews was not a very lucrative business under the Mosaic Law.
More tomorrow, I guess....
