Deuteronomy 15 – Laws Regarding the Poor

A. Laws regarding the poor.

1. (1-6) Release of debts every seventh year.

“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it; he shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the LORD’s release. Of a foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother, except when there may be no poor among you; for the LORD will greatly bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance—only if you carefully obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today. For the LORD your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you.

a. You shall grant a release of debts: In Israel, money was always loaned with the understanding that every seventh year, debts would be canceled. As a result, there was no long-term debt in the sense that money was not borrowed, or owed, for more than six years.

i. Some commentators believe this cancellation of debt was only for one year – that the debts did not need to be paid in the year the land took its Sabbath rest. It is more likely that it refers to a complete cancellation of debt.

b. It is the LORD’s release: This was an important matter to God; the settling of debts every seven years was called the LORD’s release. As Israel obeyed this command, there would never be a permanent under-class in Israel. Some might go through a bad period but would have the opportunity to rebuild their lives financially on a regular basis.

i. “No evidence exists that the Mosaic economy in its details was ever fully implemented with its sabbatical years and years of Jubilee.” (Kalland)

ii. Of a foreigner you may require it: This release of debts was not commanded regarding the foreigners who lived in Israel, who were distinct from those from other nations who had joined Israel. “The foreigner (nokri) was different from the resident alien (ger) who was absorbed into the Israelite community (cf. Deuteronomy 14:21a). It was legal to require payment of debts from foreigners during the sabbatical year, for they were not included in the family circle of Israel. The law was designed to relieve poverty in Israel and to regulate relations between members of the covenant community.” (Thompson)

c. When there may be no poor among you: In ancient Israel, God established an economic system in which no one had to be chronically poor. If people would obey the LORD, He would bless them (both sovereignly and as the natural result of their obedience), and there would be little chronic poverty in Israel.

i. However, Deuteronomy 15:11 – just a few verses later – states: For the poor will never cease from the land. This is not a contradiction. God established a system where no one must be chronically poor, yet He knew that because of disobedience, there would be some chronically poor people in Israel.

ii. God did not unconditionally guarantee prosperity for Israel, either on a national or individual basis. The LORD did guarantee the opportunity for prosperity for an obedient Israel.

d. You shall lend to many nations: If Israel obeyed and the individual citizens of Israel enjoyed the blessing of God’s prosperity, then they would as a nation be prosperous, and blessed above other nations. They would have the resources to lend, instead of having to borrow.

2. (7-11) The command to be generous to the poor.

“If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the LORD against you, and it become sin among you. You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand. For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.’

a. You shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother: The law of release in the seventh year (Deuteronomy 15:1-6) was never to be used to discourage giving to those in need. The law might discourage lending to the poor, therefore God wanted Israel to be generous givers to those in need.

i. “The poor and needy were the special concern of God and the covenant family was expected to ensure the welfare of every member of the family. Hence Israelite law was framed to protect the underprivileged.” (Thompson)

ii. You shall open your hand wide: “Thy benevolence shall be in proportion to his distress and poverty, and thy ability. Thou shalt have no other rule to regulate thy charity by.” (Clarke)

iii. Lest there be a wicked thought in your heart: “It is not enough that we abstain from base deeds. The heart must be free from baseness in thought.” (Morgan)

iv. Your eye be evil: “An evil eye signifies a covetous disposition. See the same form of expression used by our Lord in the same sense, Matthew 6:23…. Covetousness darkens the soul; liberality and benevolence enlighten it.” (Clarke)

b. Of your brethren: Under God’s covenant, the people of ancient Israel had a special responsibility to show generosity to their brother who was poor and needy, meaning their fellow Israelite, or those in their own community. Generosity to those outside of Israel was good, but there was a priority to help those in the immediate community (in your land).

i. Galatians 6:10 reminds believers, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Charitable giving is to begin with those brothers and sisters closest to the believer, though it certainly can extend outward from there.

ii. The poor will never cease: “With unashamed realism the writer concludes that, in fact, there would always be poor in the land, because Israel would always be disobedient. Hence there would always be opportunities to display generosity towards the poor.” (Thompson)

iii. “Perhaps Jesus was thinking of Deuteronomy 15:11 when he said, ‘The poor you will always have with you’ (Matthew 26:11; Mark 14:7; John 12:8).” (Kalland)

iv. To your poor and needy: “See how God calls them, not ‘the poor’, but ‘thy poor’ and ‘thy needy.’ The Church of God should feel a peculiar property in the poor and needy, as if they were handed over, in the love of Christ to his people, that they might care for them.” (Spurgeon)

3. (12-15) The command to release slaves every seventh year.

“If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. And when you send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; you shall supply him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the LORD your God has blessed you with, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today.

a. Your brother, a Hebrew…is sold to you and serves you: These commands have first in mind a fellow Israelite who was sold into slavery through either their inability to pay their debts or to provide for themselves (Leviticus 25:39-46).

i. Though it is almost impossible for us to relate to in the modern world, this kind of slavery was necessary and helpful in the ancient world. For most of humanity’s history, the poorest people were sometimes confronted with a choice between death by starvation or becoming a slave. In such circumstances, it is hard to call slavery good, but it was certainly preferred to the alternative (death).

ii. This does not have in mind what is normally considered the “slave trade,” where people were kidnapped and enslaved, which was directly condemned (Exodus 21:16, Deuteronomy 24:7). Later, the prophet Amos rebuked Tyre for their traffic in slaves as a violation of the covenant of brotherhood (Amos 1:9-10).

b. In the seventh year you shall let him go free from you: Even as debts were to be canceled every seventh year, so were slaves to be freed. The slaves thought of here are those who have had to sell themselves into slavery because of their debt. This made certain that a “bankruptcy” did not harm the people of Israel all their lives. The worst that could happen is they would have to serve someone without pay for six years.

c. You shall not let him go away empty-handed: God commanded generosity to the departing slave, giving him something to start with in his new life as a freeman. This would give the slave about to be freed hope and greater incentive to diligently serve his master.

4. (16-18) The law of the bondservant.

And if it happens that he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you, then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. It shall not seem hard to you when you send him away free from you; for he has been worth a double hired servant in serving you six years. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all that you do.

a. If it happens that he says to you, “I will not go away from you”: If a slave loved his master, and wanted to continue to serve him, he was not required to leave his master at the seventh year (Exodus 21:5-6).

b. Because he loves you…you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door: The willing slave could stay, and his status was declared by piercing through his ear lobe with an awl at the door of his master’s home. In this, he declared his love and devotion to his master – a willing slave, who was free to choose and yet chose his master.

i. It’s a remarkable thing to think of this ceremony being carried out. A servant said, “I know I have fulfilled my obligations to my master, and I have served what I have owed. Yet I love my master and am so grateful for what he has given that I will gladly obligate myself for life, not out of debt or shame or defeat, but out of love.”

ii. Jesus is the great fulfillment of this willing slave. Jesus said prophetically in Psalm 40:6: My ears You have opened, it speaks of this “opening” of the ear in the bondservant ceremony. He was the willing bondservant of God the Father.

c. He shall be your servant forever: Once agreeing to be a bondservant, that one was committed to their master forever. It was a permanent relationship. In many ways, the follower of Jesus Christ is like a bondservant to their Savior.

i. “Like the sailor driven by the tempest, we have taken the first harbour that offered. But when we have tested the blessed Master, and found Him so sweet and strong, we elect to remain with Him, not for His gifts or even His salvation, but for Himself. We do not wish to go out free; we love Him so dearly that we would rather go anywhere with Him than remain without Him…. This resolve of ours is ratified by Him. He nails our ear to His cross. Through the blood of self-sacrifice, and self-surrender; through our deeper appreciation of the meaning of his cross, as separating us from the old selfish life.” (Meyer)

ii. “Come, dear heart, if you find Christ to-night, if you believe in him, and are at liberty, come and have your ear bored. You do not like baptism; come and have your ear bored. You do not like to join the church, and confess Christ. Well, I know that it may be a ‘bore’ to you; but for all that, come and have your ear bored.” (Spurgeon)

d. Then the LORD your God will bless you: God promised that Israel’s obedience under the old covenant would bring them blessing. It was costly to give liberty to such workers, but it honored God and was right because the bound servant was worth double that of a hired servant.

B. The law of the firstborn.

1. (19) The principle of the firstborn.

“All the firstborn males that come from your herd and your flock you shall sanctify to the LORD your God; you shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.

a. All the firstborn males: God required that the firstborn males be set apart to Him for at least three reasons. First, because Israel was God’s firstborn (Exodus 4:22), and this honored that fact. Second, because the firstborn was thought to be the best, and the best was always given to God. Third, it was to be a reminder to all generations of when God redeemed Israel, His firstborn.

b. Sanctify to the LORD: This means to “set apart to the LORD”; the firstborn was to be set apart to God. The firstborn animal was not to be used as a domesticated animal would normally be used (you shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, not shear the firstborn of your flock).

2. (20-23) What to do with the giving of the firstborn.

You and your household shall eat it before the LORD your God year by year in the place which the LORD chooses. But if there is a defect in it, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. You may eat it within your gates; the unclean and the clean person alike may eat it, as if it were a gazelle or a deer. Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it on the ground like water.

a. You and your household shall eat it before the LORD your God: When the firstborn animal was brought to the tabernacle (or later, the temple) and given to the priests for sacrifice to the LORD, a portion of the sacrifice went to the family that brought the animal. It was given so that they could eat a joyful ceremonial meal before the LORD.

b. If there is a defect in it: If the firstborn was defective in any way, the animal was given to the priests, but not sacrificed to the LORD. Or, it could also be redeemed for money and the money given to the LORD (Exodus 34:19-20).

i. “The offering of the firstborn is qualified further by the stipulation that it be as near a perfect specimen as possible (Deuteronomy 15:21). This is not so much because God does not love and accept the flawed and failed but because the offerer must be prepared to part with what is most valuable to him. There is little sacrifice in giving up something that has little or no market value anyway (cf. Leviticus 22:17–25).” (Merrill)

Pin1

1 Shares