The Kingdom of God Devotional Guide - Tuesday, February 22

Scripture Reading: Leviticus 19:9-10; 25:8-17; 25:35-43

Review and Explanation: An array of physical and material blessings became available to Israel as the only nation in history organized by God directly under His rule. God used only 613 laws to create a life for the people that was as close to Utopia as possible on this side of Christ's Millennial Kingdom. Some of those laws were designed to assist the poor.

History has shown that poverty can be an especially difficult problem for any nation. In Israel's case, everyone started out on a similar level with a sufficient amount of resources based on their possession of the land allotted to them by God. Individually, the people were subject to the same conditions that result in someone becoming poor as those we see today: laziness, disability because of their health or physical condition, bad management, etc. So God made provision for the poor in His law. For example, Leviticus 19:9-10 instructs the people to leave a portion of their harvest in the fields for the poor to come along and glean. Notice that the poor were expected themselves to do the gleaning. In this fashion, God not only provided for the dignity of the poor, He also solved the problem of able-bodied laziness. If a poor person were not willing to work, he or she wouldn't be able to eat.

God also made provision in the law for the prevention of generational poverty. If people lost their land somehow, they or their family were able to get it back in the year of Jubilee. All property was to be returned to its original owner at that time, giving everyone who needed it a fresh start (See Leviticus 25:8-17). In the meantime, if a poor person was forced to take out a loan or to work for someone, God instructed that they not be charged interest or treated like a common slave (Leviticus 25:35--43).

It is impossible for men to reproduce the conditions God set up when He formed Israel into a nation. Only God is able to do that (and it's exciting to think of how this is going to work someday under the direct rule of the Lord Jesus). So we are not able to reproduce perfectly the same system for managing poverty that existed in Israel. We can, however, come close. For example, we can attempt to maintain the dignity of the poor we help by facilitating them helping themselves. It's not that hand-outs are always bad, they are only bad if they are the only strategy in play. We have seen in our own country how counterproductive it is not to expect any thing at all from able-bodied recipients of public aid. Again, this isn't to suggest that there should never be any no-strings-attached giving. However, when that is the only strategy, it does more harm than good in the long run.

Another principle that comes from God's law is the importance of paying a fair wage to people who are on the lower end of the economic scale (see again, Leviticus 25:39-43). "Fair" does not necessarily mean getting by as cheaply as we can. That is the rule of economic rationalism, not economics of the Kingdom. Under God's law, "fair" means treating people who work for you not like they are worthless and like you own them, but as though they belong to God and are on loan to you from God Himself.

Yet another principle we can put into practice involves how we make loans. God forbid loans to the poor that charged them interest or that took their means of providing for basic needs if they became unable to pay (see Leviticus 25:35-38).

Human systems, including our own government, that do not pay attention to principles such as these when addressing the issue of poverty are doomed to failure. I can make a statement like this because I believe that God is all-wise and that His plan for addressing poverty in the nation He formed was the wisest plan possible this side of the Kingdom of His Son.

Reflection Questions: What other Bible verses can you think of that tell how to manage the issue of poverty? How should the Biblical principles mentioned in this entry impact our philosophy of missions? How should they affect our politics? How should they affect our daily lives as we encounter the poor?