Bible Study - Going Right - Giving in a Greedy Culture - Deuteronomy 15 and 24 - January 29, 2012
Bible Study – Going Right – Giving in a Greedy Culture – January 29, 2012
This is our final lesson in our series entitled “Going Right in a Culture Gone Wrong.”
Our scripture is Deuteronomy 15:7-11; 24:10-15, 17-18.
Our lesson this week focuses on giving. Our thoughts generally go to giving of our material resources. But we can share things other than our material wealth. We can share our time, our talents such as cooking, sewing, baking, repairing various things, managing our resources and the list goes on. But the greatest gift we can share with others is salvation through JESUS CHRIST.
We receive many requests for financial help from many organizations every year and we must pray and decide which we will support and those we will not support.
This lesson will reflect much of my journey with giving and managing resources. This is a very delicate area in the lives of many:
- We can give from a heart that has been made perfect through the renewing of our minds through our relationship with CHRIST and the indwelling Holy Spirit. This does not mean that we give to everything that comes along. But we seek to give as led by the Holy Spirit. Even here, we often give because we have always given to such and such until we allow the Spirit to rule our flesh through the process of sanctification. Faith is a gift and so is making money. Each person must take a step of faith to receive CHRIST as his/her Savior. But there is another kind of faith that GOD gives after we become Christians. GOD gifts some Christians to step out in faith. HE gifts some Christians to give all of their wealth and to live by faith. We hear stories where Christians have been called to either live on faith or to give all and live by faith. The caution is for Christians not to step out on their own faith without being called to do so. It is very important that Christians are led to step out in faith. I learned this the hard way. I wanted to have a wonderful story to be able to tell. It was an oblique way of testing the LORD. I did and things did not work according to my plan. So, I had to struggle with why, which usually brings up the question of that my faith must have not strong enough. Then GOD teaches us that it is not our faith brings about what we want to take place but it is faith in HIM. GOD can do all things and HE will when it is according to HIS will and purpose. That is why we must build the right relationship with HIM. HE allows us to test HIM to teach us because it helps us separate truth from error and false notions. HE often refines our relationship with HIM by fire, according to the way HE knows what will teach us and open our eyes to truth. Christians need to allow HIM, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, to perfect them according to HIS will and purpose. It is like being a pen in the hand of a writer. As a pen, our role is to be available to the writer to write what HE chooses. It is often a struggle for the pen (us) to submit to the writer (GOD) and let HIM be the author. That is when we see that GOD can write something far more precious than we ever dreamed possible.
- Christians can walk in the flesh and we can give out of obligation or peer pressure. Some non-Christians attempt to play like Christians or attempt to earn their way to heaven by giving. Often in either situation the person does not give from a joyful heart.
- We can give in hopes of getting. The Bible is very clear that those who give cannot out give the generosity of GOD. So giving is a good investment strategy. But what does that reveal about our heart and motive. When our heart and motives for giving are pure before GOD, HIS grace does abound.
Giving is a reflection of our heart. Giving will not earn our way to heaven. Obedient giving will earn Christians rewards. We saw in last week’s lesson that Cornelius was seeking a personal relationship with GOD through the things he was doing. GOD saw his heart and brought Peter into his life who would present truth to him, which is the gospel of CHRIST. By Cornelius accepting CHRIST as his Savior, he would have this personal relationship with GOD that he was seeking. All Christians know the truth and have the light that leads to salvation, which is CHRIST. GOD calls us to respond to the needs of others but we must be available and willing for HIM to use us. Peter’s traditions were a barrier for him to minister to the Gentiles until GOD revealed that stumbling block in his life. He had to be willing to give it up to obediently minister and expand his boundaries.
Our scripture is taken from the Old Testament and focuses on GOD’S guidance regarding giving and lending to those in need. This was directed to the Israelites after they entered the Promised Land, the land of plenty. Some would be prosperous and others would not. GOD wanted those who prospered to help those who had not. It was not welfare because on the receiving end were to pay back to those who were helping them. It was an interest free loan.
This lesson could be titled "Being Poor With Diginity" but it is more than being materially poor. It includes being Spiritually poor.
This lesson could be titled "Being Poor With Diginity" but it is more than being materially poor. It includes being Spiritually poor.
Let’s read Deuteronomy 15:7-11: Lending to the Poor
7 “If there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers within any of your gates in the land the Lord your God is giving you, you must not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. 8 Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him enough for whatever need he has. 9 Be careful that there isn’t this wicked thought in your heart, ‘The seventh year, the year of canceling debts, is near,’ and you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him [nothing]* . He will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty. 10 Give to him, and don’t have a stingy heart[3] when you give, and because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do.[4] 11 For there will never cease to be poor people in the land;[5] that is why I am commanding you, ‘You must willingly open your hand to your afflicted and poor brother in your land.’
GOD was instructing how Godly people are to respond to the needs of others. When we see a need we are to respond. Here it is very important that what we see and discern what we see. What resonates in our hearts regarding this needy person prompts us to either act or not. In that process there are all sorts of filters – what will this person do with what I give to him/her? Are they using the system to avoid working? In last week’s study, Peter had to deal with prejudice based upon his religious heritage. We have to know where we are coming from and what triggers our thought process. This is why GOD needs to search our hearts and reveal the things that are barriers to our obedient response to both Spiritual and physical needs.
As we study this scripture, we will consider that the poor mentioned in our scripture are in genuine need and are not milking the system. Our scripture provides guidelines for us to consider when helping those in need.
The scripture mentions that those giving should examine their heart and their motives when deciding to give and how much to give. According to Jewish law every seventh year debts were to be cancelled. This was referred to as the Sabbatical Year and is a fixed year according to the Jewish calendar. Therefore, lenders aware of this law were not to let that cause them to lend less than they would do otherwise. Jewish law also had the Year of Jubilee which was the fiftieth year or the year after seven Sabbatical years, when slaves were to be set free. Deuteronomy 15:12-18 addresses freeing servants who sell themselves and serve for six years.
Verse 10 gives us a promise, that when we obediently respond to genuine needs, GOD will bless all that we do. This could be with material resources or any way HE chooses. We need to keep in mind that GOD will not give us something that will harm us. JESUS made this clear in Matthew 7:10-12:
9 What man among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them—this is the Law and the Prophets.[8]
GOD made it clear that the poor will always be around us. How we respond to the needs of the poor reflects our hearts. Notice, I used the word needs. In my opinion, it is far better to teach the poor how to fish than to feed them. This is to teach them to be independent of the system. Most people want to be independent and provide for themselves and their loved ones rather than depend on the system. But there are others that want to live off the system. The Bible is clear that those who are able to work should work – Genesis 2:15 - 15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. Proverbs 14:23 - 23 There is profit in all hard work, but endless talk[22] Lit leads only to poverty.[23]
Let’s read Deuteronomy 24:10-15: Consideration for People in Need
10 “When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not enter his house to collect what he offers as security. 11 You must stand outside while the man you are making the loan to brings the security out to you. 12 If he is a poor man, you must not sleep in [the garment]* he has given as security. 13 Be sure to return it[5] to him at sunset. Then he will sleep in it and bless you, and this will be counted as righteousness to you before the Lord your God.[6]14 “Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether one of your brothers or one of the foreigners residing within a town[7] in your land. 15 You are to pay him his wages each day before the sun sets, because he is poor and depends on them.[8] Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be held guilty.
GOD gave guidelines to those who lend money to the poor. What a contrast to how it is done today. GOD said to respect the poor person’s property. Do not go into the poor person’s home and take what you want for security. Let the poor person choose.
It was customary for a poor person to give their cloak as collateral for a loan. They used their cloak as a blanket at night to keep them warm. Therefore, the lender had to return the poor person’s cloak before sundown so they could use it to keep warm during the night. This but was a burden on the lender therefore the lender would rather get something else of value for collateral. If the lender did not obey this command they were accountable to GOD.
This law applied to the Jew or to the Gentile (foreigner) that was lent money.
Those who had hired hands, who where poor and needy, were to pay them their wages before the sun set because they needed it and depended upon it. It was the right thing to do because GOD had blessed them and did not withhold blessings from them. If you wanted the wrath to come down on you, then ignore this law.
Let’s read Deuteronomy 24:17-18:
17 Do not deny justice to a foreign resident [or]* The bracketed text has been added for clarity. fatherless child, and do not take a widow’s garment as security. 18 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. Therefore I am commanding you to do this.
GOD instructs those with influence and material means not to take advantage of the Gentiles, orphans or widows. HE admonishes them to consider that they were once in bondage and slavery in Egypt and GOD redeemed them from a situation that they were helpless to redeem themselves from. Therefore, just as GOD showed HIS mercy and grace toward them, they, in turn, should show mercy and grace towards those who are in helpless situations.
As we studied in our previous lessons, GOD knows our genetic structure and our DNA. HE is rebuilding and rewiring us through the renewing of our minds through our relationship with CHRIST and the indwelling Holy Spirit. This is being achieved through the process of sanctification. HIS goal is for every Christian to be made into the image of HIS ONLY SON, JESUS. When we see HIM we will be like HIM. First John 3:2 - 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is.
The love of GOD abounds to mankind through CHRIST. When we consider that CHRIST redeemed us from a debt that we cannot pay, it should cause us to pause and consider our fellow human beings.
Colossians 2:14 - 14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.
Christians have the light of CHRIST in them and have been redeemed from certain death. They are surrounded by so many who are in Spiritual poverty and are in desperate need of salvation. Share your Spiritual wealth with them as you minister to their physical needs, as led by the Holy Spirit. Blessings and May all grace abound as you grow in HIM and obediently serve HIM.
posted by Bible Study | 11:03 AM
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