Pledges – The Law of God and Public Policy: The Economy (12)

Pledges

The Law of God and Public Policy: The Economy (12)

Borrowers must stand good for their loans.

“If ever you take your neighbor’s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.” Exodus 22:26, 27

These days it is not uncommon for people whose homes have suddenly gone “under water” simply to walk away from them and leave the lender with the loss. In ancient Israel, that would not have been possible. Borrowing and lending were not uncommon practices, but they appear to have been carefully engaged, with a view to justice in all its forms. Any borrower would expect to pay back his loan—or if he borrowed goods, to repay them in full—with perhaps, but not necessarily, some interest as well. If he could not, he might be subjected to some form of retributive justice.

It was also lawful in ancient Israel for a lender to take an item in pledge, in order to secure his loan against default by the borrower. Typically, we would imagine, the value of the pledge would be in line with the value of the loan. This would keep borrowers from getting over their heads in debt, and it would assure lenders that the value of their loan, at least, would be returned to them, come what may.

However, the Lord expected justice to prevail in all such arrangements. The lender could actually possess the borrower’s pledge, if he chose. However, if the pledge were necessary to the borrower’s well-being—such as a sleeping cloak—it would have to be available to him as needed. No one was allowed to take as a pledge the borrower’s means of earning a living or providing for himself and his family (Deut. 24:6). God expected lenders to act with compassion toward borrowers, and borrowers to act with integrity toward lenders.

This practice would seem to discourage the idea of “unsecured” loans—such as credit cards, student loans, and the like. The possibility of having to put up a pledge would have meant that borrowers would have limits imposed on them concerning how much they could borrow. The idea that one could accumulate debt far in excess of the combined value of all his personal property is foreign to the economy set forth in the Law of God.

Public policy that encourages incurring debt beyond one’s net worth, or that jeopardizes one’s ability to provide for his well-being, should not be supported. All borrowing and lending should be secured in real property and engaged between individuals who know, trust, and love one another before the Lord. This is not likely to be the case in a secular economy such as ours. However, it provides guidelines for Christians in thinking about their own practices of borrowing and lending, and it can serve as a standard for us to focus on as we engage in discussions of public policy with respect to this particular aspect of economic practice.

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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.