Loans before the Seventh Year – The Eighth Commandment

Loans before the Seventh Year

The Eighth Commandment

Deuteronomy 15:9-10

“‘Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, “The seventh year, the year of release is near,” and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the LORD against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.’”

Remembering that, at the Sabbath year, all debts were cancelled, some might be unwilling to help their neighbor with a loan. Such an action, however, would vaunt love of self over love of neighbor, and must not be tolerated. It is tantamount to stealing from those in need. Love for our neighbors, especially those who are in need, should be its own motivation to do whatever is in our power to help, without thought of payback or reward.

At the same time, one had to be a good steward of the resources entrusted to him by the Lord; thus, in a situation such as is mentioned here, depending upon the amount of the need, one might be moved to enlist other neighbors in caring for the needy, so that the “loss” which the seventh year would incur would not be borne so heavily by one.

We’re not certain how these situations worked out. The important point is to notice that God promises to bless His people when they love one another as He loves them, from the heart, and generously, without regard to personal gain.

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.