Chapter 5: Dealing with Poverty

When God revealed His mind to Moses in the law, He showed great concern for the poor of the land. In commanding a release of payments on debt during each Sabbatic year, He ensured that debtors would not be impoverished by the rest years. Then Moses continued in Deut. 15:4 and 5, saying,

⁴ However, there shall be no poor among you, since the Lord will surely bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, ⁵ if only you listen obediently to the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today.

All of the social programs that modern governments institute are man’s attempts to eradicate the poverty that results from the injustices of the laws of men. So it is no surprise to find that their “solution” is to increase the injustice by stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. They find such theft necessary because the nation refuses to abide by the laws of God. If the nations would recognize that Jesus Christ is King and abide by His laws, poverty would be eradicated. Moses says, “There shall be no poor among you … if only you listen obediently to the voice of the Lord your God.”

God established a system of welfare in the law to assist the poor, and He did so without raising taxes on anyone, including the rich. The biblical tax system (tithes, first fruits, gleanings, etc.) limits the government’s right to tax the people further and yet makes provision out of it to assist the poor. Any other charity work is called an offering. An offering is voluntary, while tithes are mandatory.

God’s system ensures that every family in the Kingdom has a land inheritance, and because the land cannot be taxed, the government cannot confiscate it for nonpayment of taxes. In a worst case scenario, poverty may force a family to sell its land, but such sales are only leases in practice, because the land inheritance always returns to the original owner in the year of Jubilee at the latest.

Thus, even the poor always have a source of income, as long as they are willing to work the land.

Rebellious Nations Cannot Eradicate Poverty

Moses says specifically that the eradication of poverty depends upon their willingness as a nation to listen to the voice of God and to obey His laws. But Moses also knew that Israel was a rebellious nation and would refuse to do this. Hence, he says, they will indeed face the problem of poverty. In verse 11, he tells the people,

¹¹ For the poor will never [lo, “not”] cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, “You shall freely open your hand to our brother, to your needy and poor in your land.”

At first glance, this would appear to contradict verse 4, “there shall be no poor among you.” But when we see that Israel would inevitably fail to follow the law of God, the apparent contradiction is resolved. In Deut. 31:29 Moses says, “For I know that after my death you will act corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you.”

This does not necessarily mean that individuals who disobey God’s law will be impoverished. Instead, it means that when the nation (government) refuses to implement the law or to recognize the sovereignty of God, they will institute man’s laws which will impoverish many people. Unjust laws favor the rich at the expense of the poor. This usually happens when the rich write the laws and word them in such a way that the poor do not understand how such laws will keep them in poverty. For instance, Socialism sounds like it helps the poor at the expense of the rich, but in reality it only creates poverty among a broader segment of the population.

Men have been taught to despise God’s law as being austere, when in fact, Socialism’s theft principle eventually leads to austerity and poverty. Look at modern Greece and Spain (2013). Their Socialist systems now demands austerity by the laws of men. At the end of the day, Socialism meets the brick wall and must choose between austerity and the Jubilee. They must choose between man’s law or God’s law. But even if they choose a Jubilee and cancel all debt, they must implement God’s law, or soon they will reach the same dead end.

For anyone who studies current events, it is apparent that God has turned the West from being the world’s creditors to the world’s debtor nations. This is the only real proof that anyone needs in order to know that man’s Socialist system does not bring wealth but poverty to the majority. Some may attribute this problem to the idea of fiat money instead of “honest money” that is backed by gold or silver, but the problem is deeper than this. Poverty on a national scale is caused by the rejection of the laws of God, even while individual lawless men become wealthy.

From Wealth to Poverty

Moses continues in Deut. 15:6,

⁶ For the Lord your God shall bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

America has moved from being the greatest creditor nation to the greatest debtor nation in a single generation. This is a natural consequence of rejecting the rule and law of Jesus Christ. In fact, this is a judgment of the law as confirmed in Deut. 28:43 and 44,

⁴³ The alien who is among you shall rise above you higher and higher, but you shall go down lower and lower. ⁴⁴ He shall lend to you, but you shall not lend to him; he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

This speaks of aliens, or foreigners, who are not compliant to the laws of God but who take advantage of the citizens of the Kingdom. When the people of a Christian nation refuse to comply with the law, they discard the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” They then allow non-Christian foreigners to come and gain citizenship without declaring their allegiance to Jesus Christ and His law. Those foreigners then become voters, and when they are increased, they repeal the laws of God and establish the laws of men.

This is, in part, what happened in America. We felt sorry for all oppressed foreigners and allowed them to immigrate to America as non-believers. Simultaneously, the Church began to discard the law of God as if it were antiquated or oppressive. The result was that we allowed those foreigners to establish the Federal Reserve Bank and to remove Jesus Christ from His position as Creator and King over government, as our Declaration of Independence had established. We soon became a secular nation and then exported “our values” to other nations by economic coercion, bribery of key leaders through “foreign aid,” or by outright military force.

The results are now being seen clearly. We are indebted to other nations, and poverty has greatly increased in the land. When the need increased beyond the ability of charitable organizations to keep up, then government took over the responsibility and authority for welfare, until it too was overwhelmed.

The Church ought to be teaching the laws of God to the people, so that they understand the source of the problem. Huge portions of the Church have “faith without works” (James 2:17). The Church evangelizes people to bring them to a place of faith in Jesus Christ, but they fall short in teaching them about obedience to His commandments. Hence, the problem of lawlessness abounds in the Church today, even as it did in the church in the wilderness under Moses.

Lawlessness brings divine judgment. Judgment brings poverty and oppression until the people repent. This pattern was repeated many times in Scripture in the story of Israel, and little has changed since then. The people still have a heart of rebellion. They still misunderstand many of God’s laws and therefore reject the law and the mind of Christ. In their ignorance, they turn to the laws of men, which can only bring unforeseen consequences, including much poverty.

Loaning Money to the Poor

Moses continues his discussion of poverty in the land in Deut. 15:7-10,

⁷ If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; ⁸ but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks.

This entire passage presumes that the need is genuine and that the lender has sufficient resources to lend the poor brother. It also presumes that the borrower is not simply taking advantage of the lender. It is often difficult to apply this law of generosity in a proper manner. In past years the Lord has placed me on both sides of this problem in order to acquire the necessary experience to deal with various types of borrowers and creditors.

Moses presents this law to us to reveal the mind of Christ in our dealings with the poor. It comes in the context of the law of the Sabbatic year, when payments on debt are delayed for a full year. This principle of generosity is also applicable in the Year of Jubilee, when all debts are cancelled fully and completely. But in most cases, lenders would set up a long-term payment schedule so that the debts were paid by the Jubilee year. In the case before us, the focus is on delayed payment on short-term debts.

Appealing to the Divine Court

Moses then reminds Israel of men’s right of appeal to the Divine Court in cases where the earthly courts are incapable or unwilling to dispense justice.

⁹ Beware, lest there is a base thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of remission is near,” and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin in you. ¹⁰ You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings.

It should be noted that if the need is genuine and the creditor is hard hearted and stingy, the needy brother has the right to appeal to the Divine Court of heaven for justice. If the need is genuine, and the neighbor has the means to help him, “then he may cry to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin in you” (Deut. 15:9).

The poor man in this case has no recourse in the earthly court, for “thought crimes” cannot be judged even by godly judges on earth. Earthly courts are limited to judging men’s actions. But the Divine Court of heaven has the ability to judge the hearts of men. The poor man who is the victim of a neighbor’s lack of love may appeal to God for justice, as long as he is willing to leave the case in God’s hands.

This passage reveals that God Himself may act as a poor man’s advocate and adjudicate his case when injustice has been perpetrated upon him. We see the same right of appeal given to foreigners, widows, and orphans in Exodus 22:21-24,

²¹ And you shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. ²¹ You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. ²³ If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; ²⁴ and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

The government of God was established upon the family relationship, where the father or brother served as the guardian, known in the law as “the avenger of blood.” His responsibility was to protect those under his authority from injustice, and if injustice occurred, he presented the case to the judges. But there were many who had no such guardian, such as widows and orphans and strangers—and even the beasts of the field (Exodus 23:11). God’s law places all of them under His direct covering when they have no covering among men.

Hence, we see in the law the existence of the Divine Court and God’s active participation in the affairs of men. This Court is available to the poor who have been denied loans for no good reason. By this law also, Moses reveals the mind of Christ, setting forth the basic human right of appeal to pray to the Divine Court for provision, for justice, and also for mercy.

The law of victims’ rights must also be taken into consideration, for when any man is treated unjustly and has no way of obtaining justice in an earthly court, he is given the right to forgive or to appeal for justice, according to his discernment and discretion.

Moses says in Deut. 15:11,

¹¹ For the poor will never [lo, “not”] cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, “You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.”

We discussed this verse earlier to contrast it with verses 4 and 5, which say, “there shall be no poor among you…if you listen obediently….” In an ideal nation, where all the people have learned to hear God’s voice and to be led by the Spirit in obedience to the law, mind, and will of God, there would be no poverty. However, such conditions on earth have been delayed in the divine plan, except for a minority known as the sons of God, who actually have faith in Christ and have learned to walk in obedience to the Spirit.

During this delay, God has blinded the eyes of the people in general, even as He blinded Israel as a nation, for Deut. 29:4 says,

⁴ Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.

In this time of blindness, men will continue to be disobedient, for they lack insight and cannot hear the voice of God. Hence, they lack faith to bring about the conditions necessary to have no poor in the land. Knowing this, God said, “the poor will NOT cease to be in the land.” It does not imply a never-ending situation, but the fact that God in His sovereignty has ordained that there would be poor people during this time of blindness. The poor are among those called to give opportunity to others to show kindness and manifest the love of God.

The hearts of men are thus trained and tested occasionally, that they may learn the fruit of the Spirit, one of which is kindness (Gal. 5:22). Kindness is the root of generosity, and this law of generosity, as revealed to Moses, is one of the laws that Spirit-filled Christians follow as they manifest the fruit of the Spirit.

While earthly courts cannot judge such things as whether or not a man was led by the Spirit to loan a poor man money in his need, God’s Divine Court certainly does judge such matters. Hence, poverty on earth continues to oppress the poor, and most people do not know about the Divine Court of Appeal. The sons of God, however, are led by the Spirit and know when to remit sin, when to retain sin, when to give to the poor, and when not to give.