Basic HTML Version
barely sufficient handout? Where
too often assistance is cut off the
moment one begins to improve
one's fi nancia! situat ion! No.
" ... then you shall help him"
(Lev. 25:35)- you as an individu–
al.
lt
is the primary responsibil ity of
the community-includ ing the nu–
clear or the extended family of the
poor and needy-to help their own.
In addition, there must be a will–
ingness to help those in need who
have migrated to one's area in
search of better opportunities- the
"stranger o r soj ourner" (same
verse).
God is a generous and g tvtng
God. His laws express the way of
giving as opposed to the way of
selfishness, which is the way of this
wor ld. Nobody loses "fr iends" or
even contact with relatives more
quickly in today's society than
those who become poor. "Wealth
makes many friends, but the poor is
separated from his friend," Prov–
erbs 19:4 points out. Verse 7 adds,
"All the brothers of the poor bate
him; how much more do his friends
go far from him! He may pursue
them with words, yet they abandon
him."
The last thing the poor need is
to be abandoned, left to languish
i n sq ualo r a nd hopeless ness.
" •y
ou shall open your hand wide
to your brother, to your poor and
your needy, in your land,' " God
commands ( Deut. 15: 11 ). They
need a helping hand to get back
on their feet, or to get on t heir
feet for the fi rst t ime, to become
sel f-s u ffic ient members of the
community. T his help may in–
elude personal instruction so that
the mistakes made in the past that
brought on t he poverty can be
avoided in the future.
" Biessed is he who considers the
poor," the Bible emphasizes; "the
Lord will deliver him in t ime of
trouble" (Ps. 41: 1). God is the
Champion of the truly poor and
needy. He also promises to li berally
bless any who help the underprivi–
leged. He has bound himself to
repay what is given: "He who has
pity on the poor lends to the Lord,
and He wi ll pay back what he has
given" (Prov. 19:17).
Unfortunately, in today's socie–
ty, the people's responsibilities have
July / Auguat 1984
already been preempted by human
government. In addition, people
who can be of help are often suspi–
cious and hesitan t about helping
those who appear to be needy.
There are indeed those who are
poor because of simple laziness.
There are those who could work,
who could better themselves, but
who prefer to live off handouts.
l nstances of welfare cheaters and
social parasites have turned people
away from caring for the truly
deserving. But the vast majority are
willing to work and better them–
selves if only opportunities and an
added helping hand were avai l–
able.
God 's program does not tolerate
laziness and dishonesty. " l f anyone
will not work, neither shall he eat ,"
the Bible declares (11 Thess. 3:10).
All the more reason to shift the
responsibi lity for caring for the
needy from huge impersonal gov–
ernment agencies, which have no
way of assuring that only the
deserving are being aided, to indi–
viduals who know the situations of
their neighbors and who are able to
keep up personal contact wi t h
them.
A Plan wi th a Heart
The lsraelites of old as a whole
failed to properly and consistently
implement God's revealed econom–
ic program. There is no r.ecord in
all history of any other nation doing
differently either. But God's plan
will be enforced and much sooner
than the nat ions think. Jt will form
the basis of the economic and social
structure of the world tomorrow,
whether the nations like it or not.
Here's how God's plan works in
detail. A vital point to understand
is brought out in Levit icus 25.
Human families were mean t to
maintain an attachment to the land.
Severing that tie has been a serious
mistake. There's far more than a
mere sentimental connection be–
tween humans and the ear th. We
are made out of the earth's dust. It
was to belong to us unt il death, at
which time it would become the
lifelong inheritance of someone else
in the family.
Because individual possession of
a tax-free inheritance is fundamen–
tal to God's economic system, it is
obvious why no nation would allow
God's program to be put into
effect. But if li fe were Jived accord–
ing to God 's way, each family
would have a piece of tax-free land
to live on or to fal l back on in an
emergency. T his title to land would
be a family's mínimum ultimate
worth.
A landowner could make im–
provements upon t he land and
build ings associated wi th it and so
raise its value, and thus his own
worth and livi ng stand ard. He
would have every incent ive to do so,
for he would not be taxed on the
value of the property. (He would be
expected to pay God 10 percent,
called a tithe, of any profit made, if
engaged in a business.)
A person under God's system
could never sell his land perma–
nent ly (Lev. 25:23), but he could
tease his land for a limited period of
time. In the modern vernacular we
would refer to this as a lease
arrangement.
Every 50 years a J ubilee year
was to be proclaimed nationally
(verses 8- 17). An inheri tance could
be "sold"- leased out-only unti l
the Jubi lee year. That year it would
once again rever t to its rightful
owner. (City property, however,
could be sold permanently fo r
major development-see Leviticus
25:29-31.)
A person who leased out his land
could get it back before the Jubilee,
however, if he so desired . He could
repossess it anytime he wanted it
by cancel ing the lease and refund–
ing a fair prorated amount to the
person to whom he had leased it.
Thus a person could not be perma–
nently deprived at the very least of
a tax-free house and borne.
This is the way agricultura! lands
will be treated in the world tomor–
row, for in order that "everyone
shall sit under his vine and under
his fig tree"- a picture of the
peaceful cond itions of the age to
come- it wi ll be necessary that
everyone have his own piece of land
either in a town or village or in the
countryside. (See Micah 4:4.)
What a different world that will
be! Of the masses crowded together
in today's sprawling cities, few
people outrightly own real estate.
Many are renters and have li ttle to
fall back upon in hard t imes.
Those who are making mor tgage
27