Poor, but No Poor – The Eighth Commandment

Poor, but No Poor

The Eighth Commandment

Deuteronomy 14:28, 29

“‘At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.’”

Gleaning was not the only provision made for the poor in the Law of God for ancient Israel. Every three years the tithe was to be devoted to the needs of the poor, as well as the Levites. Perhaps the tithe was kept in store by the Levites and given to the poor when the gleanings were slight. This would be much like the way churches administer their “deacons’ funds” in our day.

There would always be poor in Israel—a simple sociological fact. On the other hand, God insisted that there should be no poor among His people, none who went without and were reduced to the status of beggars (cf. Deut. 15:4). God knows how to provide for His own, and as there were to be none in Israel without material resources to enjoy and to use on behalf of others, so, in the Church, the Spirit of God ensures that all members are endowed with gifts to share in the work of building up the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:7-11).

Churches must encourage all their members to receive the good gifts of God, not as instruments for self-satisfaction, but as means to enrich all the members of the community in the grace and truth of God.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.