"There will 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, 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" (Deut 15:4-5).The promise is truly monumental, but it is only made more remarkable as the chapter continues, because God assures them in the same chapter of this:
"For the poor will never 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'" (Deut 15:11)Both sides of the coin. On one hand obedience to God would have insured that they would -- it's amazing to even think about -- have no poor. On the other hand, God knew they would fail at that and "the poor would never cease to be in the land."
It begs the question. Do we have a problem with so many poor in the world -- even in our country -- because of sin? Oh, maybe not their sin and certainly the proper response if it is the case is to "freely open your hand to your brother", but I have to wonder. How much of the problem of poverty is a problem of sin? If that's the case, while giving to the poor is mandated, how much will it solve?
9 comments:
Interesting question, Stan. Jesus repeated that when he rebuked the disciples when they were upset about the expensive anointing oil poured over Him.
Is the poverty of the people results of the excesses of the leaders?
Did Israel have poor people because the rich used korban as an excuse to not support their own parents?
Is helping the poor a mild form of socialism? Just asking...
Good questions, I think. I don't know to what extent the plight of the poor is externally imposed and to what extent it is self-imposed. (I suspect that's an individualized answer.) I have no doubt at all that we are to help the poor, and I wouldn't want to diminish from that, but I think it's absolutely important that we keep in mind always that the genuine, lasting help they need is a renewed heart and a walk with Christ, not merely bread.
How sin results in the number of poor will always be a matter of some speculation regarding the details, but likely not so much in the general sense. I have little doubt that sinful behaviors, intended or otherwise, have led to poverty in a real way.
But the sinful behaviors are from both ends of the spectrum. If those who are wealthy attainted their wealth in less than honorable ways, then obviously their actions impact others, and one can assume in a negative manner.
At the same time, where the people of lesser stations had the choice of how to live their lives, if they do so with some recognition of their unfortunate status, they will not be poor for long. Certainly they won't be as poor for long, even if they fail to acquire great wealth.
Whether the behaviors and actions of people from either end of the wealth spectrum are indeed sinful requires a case by case study, and likely a case by case within each case study regarding their lifestyle and life choices.
Finally, can we ever say their is no sin amongst us to the extent that we can remove that as a cause of poverty? Can we be that perfect? Place your bets.
"Finally, can we ever say their is no sin amongst us to the extent that we can remove that as a cause of poverty?"
Which, I assume, is the reason that God told them both, "If you follow my laws you'll have no poor" and "The poor will never cease to be in the land." He knew.
Amazingly, you and Dan have posted on the same text at the same time.
(Actually, Dan emailed me and told me that my post on the topic inspired him to write his own. He hadn't noticed that phrase before.)
There are truly poor people, but not all who claim to be poor are except in a relative sense. I wonder how many six figure union employees can't sleep at night because they know there are a handful of seven figure employees somewhere.
Yes, indeed, "poor" is typically a relative term. I know of scores of people raised in "poverty" who have told me "I grew up poor, but didn't know it." On the other hand, I've also seen with my own eyes people who had little but were far happier than those with so much as the poorest Americans.
covetousness kills happiness.
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