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Act 4:32-35
Now the full number of those who believed … had everything in common. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Our world is plagued with economic instability. The specter of the Great Depression hangs over Presidents and nations. Even though measures have been taken to avoid a repeat, these seem to be nothing more than band-aids trying to keep an inflating balloon from bursting. The world calls a healthy economy one with much movement. Whereas movement is a proof of life, one can still move and go in the wrong direction. A healthy economy should be one where everyone has enough, and more, without the use of oppression and slavery. Any economy based on credit and interest is based on economic oppression which God hates (Leviticus 25:17). Like an old farmer of an Eastern European country told me many years ago, “in our country, we don’t have much, but everybody has some’. On the other hand, a diseased economy is one that shows a polarization of wealth, where a very few have the very most, and the very most have the very least. The Anti-Messiah of the end will provoke such economy that he will use as a form of control of the masses and persecution of those who obey God’s commandments (Revelations 6:5-6; 12 and13). There seem to be two major economic philosophies in the world. On the one side the ultra capitalistic system, and on the other side the ultra communistic way. Both seem to have good points and flaws, and both certainly use oppression, though in different forms. An ideal situation would be a merging of the good points of both, but politics and partisanship keep us from such wisdom. The economic system of the Bible actually provides a good model. It is funny that people don’t want to use it. God teaches us an economy based on capital, but balanced by a social system of tithes and offerings which support both the religious community and the poor. Also, the system is to reboot every seven years with all debts being forgiven Leviticus 25), which creates an automatic re-balancing of wealth where no-one becomes too rich, and no-one becomes too poor. I believe this will be the system used in the World to Come when Messiah rules the earth. At that time, He will force money-lenders to forgive debts every seven years and thereby abolish economic oppression. May it come soon Abba, even in our days!
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James 2:5
Has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? Why does the Torah speak about people selling their daughter (Exodus 21:7-11)? It may sound archaic but we must remember that these laws were given within the context of a M. Eastern society living 3,600 years ago. This text may therefore seem useless to us today, but what about the principle behind the text? This law was formulated as a system of protection towards the vulnerable poor of the land. God created the poor (Proverbs 22:2) and Yeshua said that the poor is always with us (Matthew 26:11). Caused by man’s cruel and unfair economic systems, poverty is part of our present society and whereas the Father does not interfere with the general affairs of mankind, He still desires to protect the poor. This protection is brought about by laws condemning the abuse of the poor. As poverty today forces one out of his home, in these days the practice was that a man would sell his daughter for a price to pay his debts. But because she was a daughter of Israel she was to be respected, and this young girl was not to be used as the buyer’s private property. If he sexually approached her, he was to marry her and automatically grant her the full rights and privileges of a wife. This law and others is part of a sort of ‘Bills of Rights’ for the poor of the land. Solomon wrote much about the poor and of the judgment against those who abuse them. To have mercy and respect towards the poor is as much a part of Torah constitution as the keeping the Sabbath. All the more, we are treated in our time of trouble in the same way we treat others in theirs. Our actions for or against the poor are measured in the heavenly balances of judgment for or against our favor. We cannot do much about the decisions made by selfish and wicked men in power, but we can all share with those in need and we can certainly refrain from abusing them. Let’s remember: we are all poor in the eyes of God. In Hebrew, the words ‘charity’ and ‘righteousness’ are synonymous and James, the brother of the Master gave stern instructions concerning the poor to the Messianic Congregations of his days (James 1:27; 2:2-6). The law of the sold daughter includes another interesting clause. If the buyer abuses the young girl but does not retain her as a wife, the father then retains the right to redeem her back to him. This is eschatological as even though God has sold the Virgin of the Daughter of Zion to captivity and exile, He reserves Himself the right to redeem her if she is abused. Israel therefore having been abused by the nations still retains the right to be redeemed. |
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