Deuteronomy 15:7-11

The Poverty-stricken Debtor Is Not To Be Despised (Deuteronomy 15:7).

Having laid down the law for the relief of debtors the question of those who might seek to avoid it is now raised. They are not to seek to avoid their responsibility, otherwise Yahweh will be displeased and will act accordingly.

Analysis in the words of Moses:

a If there be with you a poor man, one of your brethren, within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you (Deuteronomy 15:7).

b You shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wants.

c Beware that there be not a base thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,” and your eye be evil against your poor brother

c And you give him nothing, and he cry to Yahweh against you, and it be sin to you.

b You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because that for this thing Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work, and in all that you put your hand to

a For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you, saying, “You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land” (Deuteronomy 15:11).

Note than it ‘a' a poor man is posited ‘in your land' and in the parallel the poor will never cease out of the land, but they are to be generous to them ‘in your land'. In ‘b' they are not to harden their hearts to such but must lend them all they need, and in the parallel they must give without grieving because for this very reason Yahweh will bless the work of their hands. In ‘c' they must not view the seventh year with a cynical eye, and thus in the parallel avoid assisting the poor creditor, for Yahweh will see it and count it as a covenant sin against them.

Deuteronomy 15:7

‘ If there be with you a poor man, one of your brethren, within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wants. Beware that there be not a base thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,” and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to Yahweh against you, and it be sin to you. You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because that for this thing Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work, and in all that you put your hand to.'

This is a powerful demand. While looking at it only theoretically, and as a mental exercise away from the real world, this could be seen as having in mind postponement of a debt for one year as being something that hindered the lender from lending. But the realities of life and the depth of argument in fact demand that the sacrifice required is seen as something much greater. Postponement of a debt for one year would quite frankly hardly have such an influence as this. It would be shrugged off as slightly unfortunate but not too much of a problem.

The whole point here is that the creditor is required to face up to something more extreme, to go beyond what would seem reasonable, and is required to make a financial loss, because his ‘brother' is poor, and because Yahweh is watching and may be appealed to, and because Yahweh Himself will reward him for willingly doing so. It is to be an exercise in loyalty and in compassion.

Once again we must reiterate that the reference is to a would be borrower who is in desperate straits. He is a ‘poor man', a ‘poor brother', who comes and appeals to the heart. And the point being made is that no godly Israelite could possibly close his heart to such a person, even though it involved real loss, for that would be un-Yahwehlike. To such they must not be tight-fisted but must be open-handed and lend whatever is needed at whatever reasonable cost. To do otherwise would put them in the wrong with Yahweh. Indeed to make such a refusal would be seen as a response to someone's desperation that could only be made by someone utterly callous and totally ungodly. It would count before Yahweh as a sin against the covenant. Yet if the only thing against making the loan was that repayment would only be delayed for a year, it would hardly be seen as so big a matter. It is not seriously likely that any reasonable and serious lender would suggest a refusal for that reason.

The point of the proximity of the seven year release being seen as affecting the would be creditor in this way is precisely because of the likelihood that the loan will still be outstanding at that time, and that therefore the silver will be lost. But to take that into account, says Moses, would, in God's eyes, be evil. It would reveal a hardened heart and a mean spirit. And Moses warns that the man himself may cry to Yahweh against such a person because he has proved himself unwilling to obey the covenant, and it will be counted as a breach of covenant, a ‘sin'. He will be revealed for what he is. Thus he will lose the blessing of Yahweh. Rather he must be willing to suffer loss, aware that Yahweh knows, and aware that because of it Yahweh will bless all he puts his hand to. He will recover it a hundredfold. It is a response of faith and loyalty.

Deuteronomy 15:11

‘ For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you, saying, “You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land.'

Again it is emphasised that we are dealing with a loan to the poor. For the practical truth is that the poor will never cease out of the land. The promise of verse 4 was very true, but it was dependent on a condition that would never be fulfilled, and was to be alleviated by the third year tithe. Moses, and God, knew the heart of man too well. Moses was no dewy-eyed optimist. He had already made clear his opinion of those he was speaking to. They were ‘stiff-necked' (Deuteronomy 9:6). But at least, he says, let them not be stiffnecked in this.

Thus the command came that they must be open-handed to their fellow-countrymen, both to the needy, and to the poor, and that at the end of every seven year period all debt owed by the poor should be cancelled. This was to be out of compassion for them, out of loyalty to Yahweh, and because the poverty was in the end the fault of all Israel.

The result of these provisions in Deuteronomy 14:28 to Deuteronomy 15:11 would be that no one in Israel would be left destitute, neither the helpless resident aliens, the fatherless and widows, nor the families hit by extreme poverty through circumstance not of their own choosing. There would be no ‘poor', for all would be provided for.

The lesson for us is clear. We are to be concerned at the poverty of others and be willing to do what we can to help to alleviate that poverty, even making sacrifices in order to be able to do so. Indeed in many countries the laws of bankruptcy result in someone unable to repay a debt being finally released from it.

This glowing picture of a land where the poor were fully provided for (Deut. 13:28-29), and where debtors were treated with such compassion, fits neatly into their looking to the place which Yahweh Himself will choose. The third (and sixth) year, together with the seventh year will be a manifestation of the glorious covenant between Yahweh and the people who have received His inheritance. What a contrast it would be with the ways of the Canaanites who were to be destroyed.