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THE NECESSITY OF BIBLICAL
ECONOMICS (from Biblical, Jewish, Ellen White and political history sources)
by Bryan Bissell, available online at:
www.eslmission.org/resources (click
Bible Programs section)
THE PROBLEM OF POVERTYWith the saying in the Bible that the love of money is the root of all evil…and many strong words against the rich and powerful, it may seem strange to some that God would be concerned about economics. But the evil is not in the money or wealth itself. As with many other things, it is the way that money is used that causes it to be productive or destructive. One writer said it this way: When we choose the Lord as our sole master, He does not remove our money. In fact, He takes the money and transforms it into an ally. The same dollar that places a bet, pays a prostitute, or purchases "crack" cocaine also buys a Bible, digs a well, or supports a missionary. The same dollar the shrewd manager uses to pave his way into a golden future, a shrewd disciple uses to invest in eternal friendships. But the difference is the product of a choice of masters. I have written in my e-mail list some about the extreme unfair trade policies among nations currently and issues that are similar. I said economic principles are an integral part of the Bible. This article shows in some detail some of the Biblical principals of economics and why they are critically relevant for us here and now today. They are NOT just ancient ideas that were a nice idea at one time. They are the ONLY way to solve many of the serious problems that our world has today!! Unfortunately, many people and even some Christians and Christian leaders don’t think that these principles can work today. To answer this doubt, I have collected quotes and thoughts from philosophers and thinkers of many persuasions ranging from the Bible and Christians, to atheists to people like Confucius to show as clearly as possible why the Bible’s economic principles are part of the most basic human rights that each person on this planet deserves and why they will resolve the problems that we face. There are very few other concepts that have such wide acceptance among people of such differing philosophies. This makes it all the more critical to understand and implement these principles. When God’s principles are ignored the serious problems that we have today such as terrorism, crime, starvation and others are inevitable. After you read these, you will no longer be ignorant about the main cause (but by no means the only cause) of some of the most serious problems in our world. Today, poverty is at one of the worst points in history. There are a very few extremely rich people and millions of extremely poor. And some of us who are the privileged wrongly in a way live in a “matrix” of our own way of life and we cannot or do not wish to see the extreme suffering that is going on worldwide to the majority of the world’s people. This little thought is illuminating:
It is doubtful if the gap between the rich and poor in the world has ever been larger than it is now on a world wide scale. And this is not at all by accident. It is inevitable because of the rejection of God’s economic principles outlined in the Bible and practiced to some extant by many ancient cultures which did not have the destitute poverty like we see so commonly today. You may have played the game monopoly. In that game, even though everyone starts out equal, inevitably one person will get all the property and money. That game was based directly on capitalism and we can see in real life that the exact same thing is happening these days (see statistic #1). These are just a few statistics that show what is happening because our world has rejected God’s economic wisdom: 1) Research done by Susan Willett for the Trust for Research and Education on the Arms Trade (TREAT) highlights the inextricable links between war and conflict on the one hand, and high levels of debt on the other. Germany's high levels of First World War debt degraded her economy and provided a breeding ground for militarism and fascism. Today a similar pattern is repeated in the poorest countries. There is a strong correlation between highly indebted countries and countries which have descended into civil war and militarism. During the 1990s alone there have been 39 major conflicts with more than 4 million people killed. Nine out of ten casualties are civilians. There are over 200,000 child soldiers in the world - a corruption of childhood which threatens all of our futures. 2) About a sixth of the world's population -- nearly 1 billion people -- live in slums. "In some developing country cities, slums are so pervasive that it is the rich who have to segregate themselves behind small gated enclaves," the report said. The report describes slums as poor areas that lack basic services or access to clean water, where housing is poorly built and overcrowded. Developed nations are not immune: According to the report, 54 million people who live in cities in richer nations live in slum-like conditions. The report says that the worldwide number of slum dwellers increased by 36 percent in the 1990s to 923 million people. At its current pace, the number could double to 2 billion by 2030. U.N. officials said that's a clear sign the world is not meeting a goal it set in 2000 to improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020, and said even that goal is far too narrow in scope. The promise was laid out in a declaration adopted by 189 countries at the U.N. Millennium Summit in September 2000. (from a CNN report about the U.N. Human Settlements Program and a report entitled "The Challenge of Slums" 3)
An analysis of long-term trends shows the distance
between the richest and poorest countries was about : 4) In 1976, the wealthiest 1% of Americans owned 19% of all private material wealth in the US. Today, they own over 40% of all wealth. Their share now exceeds the wealth owned by the bottom 92% of the US population. 5)
“The combined wealth of the world's 200 richest people
hit $1 trillion in 1999; the combined incomes of the 582 million people living
in the 43 least developed countries is $146 billion." 6) Debt relief for the poorest 20 countries would cost only US$5.5 billion- the cost of building one Disneyland/Paris. 7) The world's seven richest men could wipe out poverty. Their combined wealth is more than enough to provide the basic needs for the poorest of the world's population. 8) The world population's basic need for food, drinking water, education and medical care could be covered by a levy of less than 4% of the accumulated wealth of the 225 richest individuals. 9) The New York Times in one of their email updates, in their Quote of the Day section, for July 18, 2001 provided the following quote: "A world where some live in comfort and plenty, while half of the human race lives on less than $2 a day, is neither just, nor stable." -- President Bush 10) U.N. Secretary General said, "Almost half the world's population lives on less than two dollars a day, yet even this statistic fails to capture the humiliation, powerlessness and brutal hardship that is the daily lot of the world's poor." Nearly 2 billion can’t even read or write and they live in constant hopelessness! Why are these drastic inequalities happening? When people are suffering so terribly, is it possible that the church has nothing to say about economics problems that cause violence, war, sickness and disease and much tragedy for billions of people? Is it possible that God would be silent and have no answer for these tragedies that we face? Is he concerned only that we pray and go to church while ignoring the destitution of 2 billion people? NO! It cannot be possible. And it is not a fact. As you will see from the texts below, in the Bible God many times spoke through his prophets about principles of economics which would eliminate destitution and oppression. The Bible is very vocal on the issue of economic justice and it is something that Christians should take seriously because if something hurts God’s children, then it hurts God himself as well. And very little is so destructive and affects so many areas of life as economic injustice. It is clear that in the Bible and the world money is not the most important thing. But, it is the value of our work and effort and is necessary for our physical needs. In some ways, it’s like water. You need a certain amount to sustain life and stay in good health. But, after that certain amount, it’s not very useful. Hoarding water doesn’t make much more sense than hoarding money. God recognized money was important for everyone and gave many principles for its use. He also sent his prophets to condemn the actions of people who abused it and went against His principles. It is obviously something that was a serious concern to him and it should be too Christians today as well. One pastor wrote that: “Jesus used 16 of 38 parables to teach His disciples about money and possessions. Did you know that one out of ten or 288 verses in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John deal with money? In the Bible, there are 500 verses on prayer, 500 verses about faith and 2,000 on money and possessions.” This doesn’t obviously doesn’t mean that money is more important than these things. But, it does show that God has concern about it. God does have very clear and important principles that address and solve these problems that we are experiencing. It is because the natural God given rights of billions of people have been stolen in very sophisticated ways from them that these abuses and injustices are happening. Whenever these rights are restored, the extreme inequalities above will be eliminated in a fairly short amount of time. Dr. Martin Luther King wrote, “An intelligent approach to the problems of poverty and racism will cause us to see the words of the Psalmist, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof" -- are still a judgment upon our use and abuse of the wealth and resources with which we have been endowed.” A great Christian writer, Ellen White, said, “There are not many, even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie the present state of society. Those who hold the reins of government are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis. If men would give more heed to the teaching of God's Word, they would find a solution of the problems that perplex them.--Testimonies, vol. 9, pp. 12, 13. {WM 173.3} The early Christian church was actually able to find that solution and they eliminated poverty among them. It was one of the few groups to experience the fulfillment of the Deuteronomy 15 promise that when people followed God’s laws, there would be “no poverty”. The major reason was because they recognized that they were stewards of God’s goodness and had a duty to share with any who were in definite need.
I hope that you will read the things below carefully so that you can participate in freeing the slaves of capitalism gone wrong and bring them to freedom and usefulness for God. DEFINITION OF POVERTYFirst of all, we should define poverty. There will always be a difference in the amount of money have. And making $100 a month would be poverty level in the US, but in Haiti, it would be quite a good salary. SO, there needs to be a definition of what poverty is: Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd ed. says: poor: describing one who is "lacking material possessions; having little or no means to support oneself; needy," and poverty: "indigence, lack of means of subsistence." The Encyclopedia Brittanica defines poverty as "an insufficiency of the material necessities of life." So, we will take poorness and poverty to mean Being so destitute that you are unable to provide for yourself the most basic needs of life such as food, water, housing, clothes, etc. IS ELIMINATION OF POVERTY BIBLICALLY POSSIBLEMany people refer to Jesus quote that you will always have the poor with you and use this as a reason that we shouldn’t be concerned about economics. It won’t do any good anyway. But, they ignore the fact that in Acts 4, the Christian church eliminated poverty.
In Deuteronomy, God wrote these words:
Verses 4 and 11 seem contradictory…but the answer is in verse 5. Whoever follows God’s principles will be able to eliminate poverty as has been done in several places in history. The below quotes from Ellen White explain this in more detail.
So, from these verses and thoughts from the Bible and Ellen White, it is clear that it is possible to largely if not completely eliminate starvation, homelessness and extreme destitution IF AND ONLY IF we follow God’s principles outlined in the Bible. ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES FROM THE BIBLEHere is a summary of some of the economic principles from the Bible with some explanations by me and some quotes by famous thinkers which can solve the problems that perplex the world in a short time (maybe even as little as 10 years according to some). This is NOT proposing socialism or communism or capitalism. It does not at all demand that all people have equal wealth or equal compensation by the state. It does demand that each person has a somewhat similar amount of God’s resources to work with and then what they do from that point is up to them. They are not coddled and enabled to be lazy. Neither are they made into slaves of the super rich. This is something very different that is not being done by any current economic theory (The only one that comes close is “Land Rent” and cooperative democratic capitalism which I will explain in future messages.). As you read this, remember this quote from Gandhi: “There is enough in this world for everyone’s need, but NOT everyone’s greed.” His quote could not be more accurate. It is directly because of greed and theft of natural rights that billions are suffering today. GOD’S ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES SUMMARIZED 1) GOD OWNS EVERYTHING, PEOPLE ARE CARETAKERS & STEWARDS OF GOD’S RESOURCES 2) EVERY PERSON HAS A RIGHT TO LAND (and/or natural resources) 3) JUBILEE SYSTEM (land can’t be permanently sold. It returns to original owners after 49 years, except if it’s in a city. Land and property in cities can be sold permanently.) 4) CHARGING INTEREST IS EVIL (especially to the poor or relatives) 5) CANCEL DEBTS EVERY 7 YEARS 6) TRADE FAIRLY 7) PAY FAIR WAGES 8) CHARGE FAIR TAXES AND RENT 9) SHARE & BE GENEROUS TO THE POOR 10) BE INDEPENDENT—DON’T SUPPORT DEPENDENCY 11) Give tithes and offerings ============================================================================ GOD OWNS EVERYTHING, PEOPLE ARE CARETAKERS & STEWARDS OF GOD’S RESOURCES ============================================================================
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?: Since God made everything and all people, everything in the world belongs to him. Since we are all God’s children, every person has a natural right to possess at least some part of God’s land and/or resources. This will provide them a way to make their livelihood and to be economically self-sufficient. It will also give each person the chance to use their talents and skills to their full potential. Now many can’t even go to school even though they may be very smart. The skills and talents of millions are wasted and will never benefit others. But, if their natural right was given to them, most people’s natural abilities and usefulness could be maximized. Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), said, "You are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to no one." "The earth, therefore, and all things therein, are the general property of all mankind from the immediate gift of the Creator." - William Blackstone (1732-1780), British judge. Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), Scottish historian who christened economics 뱓he dismal science� asked, "Who can or who could sell us the earth? Actually the earth belongs to these two: the almighty God and all his children who have ever worked on it or who will ever have worked on it or who will ever have to work on it. No generation of men can or could with even the highest solemnity and exertion sell the earth according to any other principle." Herbert Spencer (1820-1910), British philosopher and more famous than Marx at the time, said, "Equity does not permit property in land... The world is God's bequest to mankind. All men are joint heirs to it." Max Hirsch (1877-1968), banker, investor, and author, said, "Abolish special privileges and Government interference in industry. Give to all equal natural opportunities, equal rights to the inexhaustible storehouse of Nature and wealth will distribute itself in exact accordance with justice.” Tom Paine (1737-1809), who authored Common Sense which catalyzed the American Revolution and coined the phrase "the United States of America", wrote, "Men did not make the earth ... it is the value of the improvement only, and not the earth itself, that is individual property... Every proprietor owes to the community a ground rent for the land which he holds... from this ground-rent ... I ... propose ... to create a National Fund, out of which there shall be paid to every person ... (a) sum." (Agrarian Justice, 1795-6) Voltaire (1694-1778), more than a millennium later in the Age of Enlightenment, had his character Candide say, "The fruits of the earth are a common heritage of all, to which each man has equal right." His colleague, (19) The Mennonite church has a very
good approach to this idea of stewardship. It’s at:
http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/about/cof/art.21.htm (The Jubilee system
mentioned is not at all out of date. Ignoring its principle is a huge factor in
poverty today as you will see below): ==================================================== EVERY PERSON HAS A RIGHT TO LAND (and/or natural resources) ====================================================
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?: As Karl Marx said and many economists agree, almost all wealth comes from land. There may be a few exceptions, but almost everyway to make money depends on land for its operation. Farms need land to grow crops. Supermarkets need land to show their products. Businesses need land for their stores. Schools and institutes need land to give them a place to teach. Doctors need land for their hospitals and etc. Internet is a new phenomenon, but even internet stores need land to store their inventory (such as computers and software), to do research and development, processing and other similar things. These days, land could be expanded to include oil, coal, airwaves (worth billions), space, atoms/nanotechnology and many other parts of our natural world that were originally created by God and so belong to his children. QUOTESAdam Smith (1720-1790), the father of economics, wrote in his classic, The Wealth of Nations, that "Both ground rents and the ordinary rent of land are a species of revenue which the owner, in many cases, enjoys without any care or attention of his own... Ground rents seem, in this respect, a more proper subject of peculiar taxation... Nothing can be more reasonable than that a fund which owes its existence to the good government of the state should be taxed peculiarly." "Whenever the ownership of the soil is so engrossed by a small part of the community that the far larger part are compelled to pay whatever the few may see fit to exact for the privilege of occupying and cultivating the Earth, there is something very much like slavery." - Horace Greeley “I slowly came to realize that political democracy cannot flourish under all economic conditions. Democracy requires an economic system which supports the political ideals of liberty and equality for all. Men cannot exercise freedom in the political sphere when they are deprived of it in the economic sphere.” --M Mortimer Adler, a philosopher of politics and economics. “The land, the earth, God gave to man for his home, sustenance and support, should never be the possession of any man, corporation, society or unfriendly government, any more than the air or water -- if as much. An individual or company, or enterprise, acquiring land should hold no more than is required for their home and sustenance…, and never more than they have in actual use in the prudent management of their legitimate business, and this much should not be permitted when it creates an exclusive monopoly. All that is not so used should be held for the free use of every family to make homesteads and to hold them so long as they are so occupied….But when slavery is over and settled, men should never rest content while oppression, wrongs and iniquities are enforced against them.” Abraham Lincoln “Take the question of over-crowding; the land question in the towns bears on that. It is all very well to produce "Housing of Working class" bills; they will never be effective until you tackle the taxation of land values.” David Lloyd-George “It is in vain in a country whose great fund is land to hope to lay the public charge on anything else; there at last it will terminate. The merchant (do what you can) will not bear it, the labourer cannot, and therefore the landholder must: and whether he were best to do it by laying it directly where it will at last settle, or by letting it come to him by the sinking of his rents, which when they are fallen, everyone knows they are not easily raised again, let him consider.” John Locke “No nation can avoid land reform. All it can do is determine the course it will take: bloody revolution or taxation.” (meaning taxation of the land) General Douglas McArthur Clarence Darrow (1859-1938), lawyer of Scopes Monkey Trial fame, said, "Henry George was one of the real prophets of the world; one of the seers of the world... His was a wonderful mind; he saw a question from every side... When we learn that the value of land belongs to all of us, then we will be free men �no need to legislate to keep men and women from working themselves to death; no need to legislate against the white slave traffic." ============================================================================= JUBILEE SYSTEM (land can’t be permanently sold. It returns to original owners after 49 years, except if it’s in a city. Land and property in cities can be sold permanently.) =============================================================================
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?: As above, land is the source of wealth. The extreme poverty systems of today are largely due to monopolies on land. This Jubilee system would make land monopolies impossible and this would eliminate the majority of poverty. Pliny the Elder (23-79) wrote that “Land monopoly ruined Rome.” Tiberius Gracchus, a Roman statesman complained: “The private soldiers fight and die to advance the wealth and luxury of the great and they are called masters of the world, while they have not a foot of ground in their possession.” Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), author of the Declaration of Independence and with Ben Franklin the most inventive and intellectual of the Founding Fathers, wrote, "The earth is given as a common stock for men to labor and to live on... Wherever in any country there are idle lands and unemployed poor, it is clear that the laws of property have been so far extended as to violate natural right. Everyone may have land to labor for himself, if he chooses; or, preferring the exercise of any other industry, may exact for it such compensation as not only to afford a comfortable subsistence, but wherewith to provide for a cessation from labor in old age." (Notes on Virginia, 1791) Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), the steel magnate, noted, "The most comfortable, but also the most unproductive way for a capitalist to increase his fortune, is to put all monies in sites and await that point in time when a society, hungering for land, has to pay his price." “No human being can live without using land. As long as some people must pay others for the right to use land, there will be poverty. Once all persons have an equal right to use land, poverty cannot exist. Nature is generous, she is the author of love and life, but her gifts must be allowed to flow freely throughout all of society; they must not be held for ransom. If they are, what will flow throughout society will be the opposite of life: pollution, anger, violence, hatred, suffering, confusion, war and death.” Adam Jon Monroe, Jr. Editor of “The Georgist News” MacArthur,Douglas(1880-1964) Inspired by Henry George's reform proposals, MacArthur saw to it that during his military governorship of Japan following the Second World War that land rent reform was incorporated in the writing of the Japanese Constitution. The new constitution reversed the portion of agricultural commodities collected as rent between owners (whose portion dropped to one-third of the total), and the tenants farmers who actually did the work (who were then able to retain two-thirds of what they produced). Read more on this topic at: http://www.landreform.org/reading0.htm and especialy on the Jubilee at: http://www.landreform.org/wp9.htm ======================================= CHARGING INTEREST IS EVIL (to poor or relatives) =======================================
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?: The charging of interest is the major way that the rich become richer and the poor become poorer. It also enables a person to make money by doing nothing which is very likely the reason that the Bible prohibits it. Below are 2 sections: 1) An article from an Islamic source showing why interest is destructive and 2) An economics professor showing why interest destroys nations and citizen’s futures and is equivalent to slavery. From: www.islamvision.org/EvilsofInterest.asp “The collection of an extra amount by the lender at a fixed rate on a loan given by him from the debtor is called Interest. There is a big great deal of difference between business and interest. In a business the individual invests money and gains profit in return. But merely investing his capital is not sufficient. The person involved in the business venture, be it agriculture or industry, has to work hard day and night even after investing huge sums of money in it. Finally, even after all this monetary risks and hard work there always exists a fear of loss in this venture. Contrary to this, in interest dealings, the lender lends his money at a fixed rate of interest and collects a regular profit from the borrower in the form of interest without any physical effort or fear of loss and also irrespective of the economical condition of the borrower. “ In a business transaction the entrepreneur gets a profit only once out of a particular deal, whereas in interest dealing, the lender goes on receiving profit for the money that he had once lent, with an increase in it as time goes by. Islam very strictly prohibits all kinds of interest dealings. The impact of interest on the lender as well as the debtor is highly disastrous. The lender becomes extremely materialistic and wild after his greed for money. He does not bother about the consequences of the system of interest on the society. He forgets human relationships and kindness. He becomes wealthy by pushing innumerable people into the darkness of poverty. That is why the Holy Qur'an has compared them to mad and foolish people in Chapter 2, Verse 275. The borrower on the other hand loses whatever goods he possessed with him in the process of repaying the loan and finally ends up paying an amount that is many times more than what was actually loaned to him. It is also observed that often, even after the death of the borrower many successive generations come to pass but are still unable to repay the loan taken by their ancestors due this concept of Interest. Interest Free Banking Countering the unjust and unharmonious financial systems, Islam laid down its own economic and financial principals with greater emphasis on interest free banking. Islamic banking is not merely a business but also a mission for attaining economic equity. This system will not allow concentration of wealth to take root at any cost. The most prominent feature of the Islamic financial system is that, it forbids the charging of Riba (Interest) on money lent. Islamic banking, based on the Qur'anic prohibition of charging interest, has moved from a theoretical concept to embrace more than 100 banks operating in 40 countries with multi-billion dollar deposits worldwide. Islamic banking is widely regarded as the fastest growing sector in the Middle Eastern financial services market. Exploding onto the financial scene barely thirty years ago, an estimated $US 70 billion worth of funds are now managed according to Shari'ah (Islamic Law). Deposit and Principles assets held by Islamic banks grew to a whopping 60 billion dollars in 1994 as compared to a meagre 5 billion dollars in 1985. ------------------------- From: http://www.ied.info/books/ed/debt.html#_Toc35644544 Third World development has not had serious consideration. Instead, vastly underpriced developing world natural resource commodities and underpaid labor (essentially dictated by IMF/World Bank/GATT/NAFTA/WTO/ MAI/GATS/FTAA structural adjustment policies and unequal currency values) and overpriced developed world manufactures created excessive accumulations of capital in the already wealthy world, which were lent wastefully back to the developing world for purchase of developed world exports (a major share being for arms). This forced the developing world to harvest ever more of their natural resources to pay that debt, which further increased surplus production, which lowered natural resource commodity prices still further, and the process keeps repeating itself. This is the little understood debt trap. Sooner or later the crunch of debt incurred under the massive assault of financial warfare will become unpayable: A debtor who repeatedly borrows more than the surplus his labor or business enterprise produces will fall further and further behind in his obligations until, sooner or later, the inexorable pressures of compound interest defeat him ... interest [is] usurious when the borrower's rightful share of profit [is] confiscated by the lender.... The creative power of capital [is] reversed and the compounding interest [becomes] destructive. (Greider, Secrets of the Temple , pp. 707, 581-82; Susan George, Fabrizio Sabelli, Faith and Credit (San Francisco: Westview Press, 1994), pp. 80-84, 215.) Professor Lester Thurow explains: The fundamental mathematics is clear. To run a trade deficit, a country must borrow from the rest of the world and accumulate international debt. Each year interest must be paid on this accumulated debt. Unless a country is running a trade surplus, it must borrow the funds necessary to make interest payments. Thus the annual amount that must be borrowed gets larger and larger, even if the trade deficit itself does not expand. As debts grow, interest payments grow. As interest payments grow, debt grows. As time passes the rate of debt accumulation speeds up, even if the basic trade deficit remains constant.( Lester Thurow, Head to Head: The Coming Economic Battle Among Japan , Europe , and America (New York: William Morrow, 1992), p. 232.). The size of a financial warfare debt trap can be controlled to claim all the surplus production of a society and the magic of compound interest assures those unjust debts are unsustainable. developing world debt climbed from $100-billion in 1973 to $1.7-trillion in 1999, to $2.5-trillion by 2003. With resource prices having dropped 60% the past 40 years and still dropping, obviously that debt cannot be paid. Most of these debts are incurred without the recipient country receiving any lasting benefits. In fact, only about $500-billion of that $2.5-trillion debt was borrowed finance capital; the rest was runaway compound interest (Michael Barratt Brown, Fair Trade (London: Zed Books, 1993), pp. 43, 113.) The situation is comparable to the loathsome form of slavery known as peonage. In classic peonage, workers, though nominally free and legally free, are held in servitude by the terms of their indenture to their masters. Because their wages are set too low to buy the necessities, the master grants credit but restricts the worker to buying overpriced goods from the master's own store. As a result, each month the peon goes deeper and deeper into debt. For as long as the arrangement lasts, the peon cannot pay off the mounting debt and leave, and must keep on working for the master. Nigeria [and most other Third World countries] shares three crucial characteristics with a heroin-addicted debt-trap peon. First, both debts are unsecured consumer debts, made up of subsistence and spending-spree expenses, and with future income as the only collateral. Second, both loans are pure peonage loans, that is loans made not because of the potential of the project the loan is to be used for, but simply in order to secure legal control over the economic and political behavior of the debtor. Third, the only way made available for getting out of both debts is by getting into more debt.( Chinweiezu, Debt Trap Peonage, Monthly Review (November 1985): pp. 21-36.) =========================== CANCEL DEBTS EVERY 7 YEARS ===========================
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?: Debts and especially interest cause the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer very fast. These extremes cause much instability in society. Especially since our societies are not giving people their natural economic rights, debts should be cancelled. In many places burdensome debts destroy people’s futures and they have to spend all their time and energy just in paying off debts. This severely limits the contributions they can make to society and makes it very difficult or impossible for them to follow their passions and dreams and become a useful and creative contributing citizen. This is why debts should be cancelled every 7 years. From: http://www.ied.info/books/ed/debt.html#_Toc35644544 There are compelling reasons for paying attention to this potential for catastrophe as, every debt crisis in history since Solon of Athens has ended in inflation, bankruptcy or war, and there is no cause to believe we've solved this one, even if it has been postponed.(George, Fate Worse Than Debt, p. 196.) As much of this imposed debt can never be paid back, most developing world debt is severely discounted. As of June 1990, Argentina's debt traded at a low of 14.75-cents on the $1 while the average price of all developing world debt was 28-cents on the $1.( CNN News (June 28, 1990); David Felix, “Latin America 's Debt Crisis”, World Policy Journal (Fall 1990): p. 734.) Although it is being traded at a 72% discount, the indebted countries must still pay full price. After the financial collapse on the periphery of empire seven years later, discounts for those debts can only trade at a sharply higher discount. In the 1800s, the United States defaulted on much of its development debt, as did Latin America and others during the crisis of the Great Depression. American managers-of-state knew their nation became wealthy due to avoiding the monopolization of their economy, and their European cousins eventual sharing their industrial capital and markets. America returned that favor by sharing its wealth after WWII to rebuild the ancestral home of their culture. There was no expectation of that shared wealth being repaid. The rational decision, and one that Professor Lester Thurow and others consider the developed world's only choice, would be to also forgive the developing world's unjustly incurred and unpayable debts. (Thurow, Head to Head , p. 215. See also, Gowan, The Global Gamble; Gray, False Dawn (New York: The Free Press, 1998), and Longworth, Global Squeeze.) The precedent has been set by earlier defaults, by the quickness of decisions to protect trading allies, and an honest accounting would find the developed world owing the developing world for the destruction of their social wealth, the earlier enslavement of their labor, and the long term underpayment for their labor and resources. Rutherford B. Hayes (19th U.S. President), from his personal diary, year not provided (between 1881-1891) December 4 Sunday. In church it occurred to me that it is time for the public to hear that the giant evil and danger in this country, the danger which transcends all others, is the vast wealth owned or controlled by a few persons. Money is power. In Congress, in state legislatures, in city councils, in the courts, in the political conventions, in the press, in the pulpit, in the circles of the educated and the talented, its influence is growing greater and greater. Excessive wealth in the hands of the few means extreme poverty, ignorance, vice, and wretchedness as the lot of the many ============= TRADE FAIRLY =============
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?: This should be obvious on an individual level. Cheating is not right and neither is price gouging and taking advantage of others. But, consider that it may also apply on an international level (we’ve talked about this before in previous messages). Unfair trades are a kind of economic warfare that destroys people’s abilities to provide for their basic needs. The tenets of capitalism as practiced now are largely opposed to Biblical economic principles. They emphasize greed and selfishness and getting whatever you can no matter who gets hurt or cheated out of their natural rights. They work great for those who want to control others and want to legally confiscate the profits of others work for themselves. From:
http://www.ied.info/books/ed/externaltrade.html Wealth accumulation advantage from unequally-paid but equally-productive labor is not a linear progression, it is exponential. Consider how long the underpaid nation must work to buy one unit of wealth from the high-paid nation and then consider how many units of wealth the high-paid nation can purchase from the underpaid nation with the wages of their equally-productive labor working that same number of hours. The equally-productive worker in the poorly-paid nation produces a unique widget, is paid $1 an hour, and is producing one widget an hour. The equally-productive worker in the well-paid nation produces another unique widget, is paid $10 an hour, and also produces one widget per hour. Each equally-productive nation likes, and purchases, the other's widgets…The $1 an hour country must work 10 hours to buy one of the widgets of the $10 an hour country but, with the money earned in the same 10 hours, the $10 an hour country can buy 100 of the widgets of the $1 an hour nation. At that 10-times wage differential…there is an exponential 100-times differential in capital accumulation or buying power. http://www.ied.info/books/ed/freedom.html Three tenets of capitalism are: pay the lowest possible price, charge all the market will bear, and give nothing to anybody. That is great philosophy for powerbrokers with a subtle monopoly on capital, technology, markets, and military might. It takes no deep thought to realize that these tenets of classical economic philosophy were implanted by an earlier power-structure to maximize its claims to the wealth of others (that feudal residue in our philosophy, laws, and customs). …French economic students understood that economic theory as taught had no relation to reality and in the fall of 2000 they protested and academic administrators agreed to address what heretofore had been “controversial” subjects. Twenty-seven Ph.D. economic students at the University of Cambridge, UK, signed a similar, but milder, letter of protest in 2001. =============== PAY FAIR WAGES ===============
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?: Remember the above quotes on the widgets. If fair wages are paid, then extreme inequalities will end and so will poverty because everyone will have enough to pay for what they need. There are several kinds of slavery…and one of them is economic. If a person doesn’t have economic freedom, then it is very likely that he will be forced or oppressed by someone else. Leo Tolstoy wrote, “The essence of all slavery consists in taking the produce of another's labor by force. It is immaterial whether this force be founded upon ownership of the slave or ownership of the money that he must get to live.” From: http://www.ied.info/books/ed/externaltrade.html#_Toc35644427 As we have learned, in direct trades between countries, wealth accumulation advantage compounds in step with the pay differential for equally-productive labor. If the pay differential is 5, the difference in wealth accumulation advantage is 25-to-1. If the pay differential is 10, the wealth accumulation advantage is 100-to-1…If the pay differential is 60 (the pay differential between Russia and the victorious America [23-cents an hour against $14 an hour]), the wealth accumulation advantage is 3,600-to-1…Place a trader between those two unequally-paid nations to claim all surplus value both through outright underpaying in hard currency or through paying in soft currency and selling in hard currency, capitalize those profits by 10-to-20 times, and you have accumulated capital through capitalized value.11� Inequality in pay creates invisible borders that guide the world's wealth to imperial-centers-of-capital. Equal pay for equally-productive labor instantly eliminates those borders and alleviates world poverty. If unequal pay for equally-productive work were reduced to a 50% pay differential (an equally-productive $5-an-hour nation trading with a $10-an-hour nation), the wealth accumulation advantage of the high-paid nation in direct trades with low-paid nations would be reduced to a 4-times advantage. A $3-an-hour labor nation trading with a $4-an-hour labor nation incurs a doubling (1.77 times) of wealth potentially accumulated (or consumed) for the better-paid nation. When all have access to technology and markets and pay is equal for equally-productive work, the wealth retained (and available for accumulation or consumption) by each nation is equal. ============================ CHARGE FAIR TAXES AND RENT ============================
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?: Unfair taxes can be another way for the rich to oppress the poor and siphon off their wealth. We often talk about the “pork” in politics. And many taxes go to pay for “pork” political decisions. Unfair taxation was done in Israel several times. It was also one reason why America rebelled against Britain and fought for her independence. Charging rent that is unfair also is a kind of theft and makes people unable to pay for their basic necessities. These 2 ideas can be combined in an idea called “land rent”. More on this in a future e-mail, but here are a couple quotes to make you curious. Henry George (1839-1897), author of Progress and Poverty (1879) which outsold every book of its era but the Bible, distinguished between creation and production and urged us to "abolish all taxation save on the value of land." Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), who kept a photo of George on his desk and whose dying words to passengers on a train were to tax land alone, told the Russian Czar and the world that "people do not argue with the teachings of George, they simply do not know it. And it is impossible to do otherwise with his teaching, for he who becomes acquainted with it cannot but agree." The Chinese philosopher Mencius said (in 2A:5): "Respect the worthy and employ the capable; put talented people in key positions, then all the shih of the realm will be pleased and will want to be members of your court." "In the market-places, charge land-rent, but don't tax the goods; or make concise regulations and don't even charge rent. Do this, and all the merchants in the realm will be pleased, and will want to set up shop in your markets." "At the borders, make inspections but don't charge tariffs, then all the travelers in the realm will be pleased and will want to traverse your highways. "If the farmers merely have to help each other with the government fields, and do not have to pay an additional tax, then all the farmers in the realm will be pleased, and will want to till your fields. "If you do not charge fines to the unemployed in your marketplaces, then all the people in the realm will be pleased, and will want to become your subjects." "If you are really able to put these five points into practice, then the people from the neighboring states will look up to you as a parent. Now, there has never been a case of someone being able to consistently succeed in making children attack their own parents. This being the case, you will have no enemies in the realm. The one who has no enemies in the realm is the vicegerent of Heaven. There is no case of one who attained to this level, and who did not attain to true kingship." ================================ SHARE & BE GENEROUS TO THE POOR ================================
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?: Emergencies and disasters happen. People need 2nd chances at becoming independent and self-sufficient. If they do become self-sufficient, this will benefit the whole community, not just those who are helped. Sharing with each other, especially the land and it’s resources with everyone working diligently will create something similar to the Age of Great Harmony that Confucius and Mencius in China talked about. http://www.noogenesis.com/Confucius/harmony.html When Confucius was sad about the state of the world he said in reply to a question as to why he was "overcome with sighs":
Confucius' Great Harmony Another Chinese philospher Mencius went to see King Hui of Liang: The King said: "My good man, since you haven't thought one thousand li too far to come and see me, may I presume that you have something with which I can profit my kingdom?" Mencius said: "Why must you speak of profit? What I have for you is Humanity and Righteousness, and that's all. If you always say 'how can I profit my kingdom?' your top officers will ask, 'how can we profit our clans?' The shih1 and the common people will ask: 'how can we profit ourselves?' Superiors and inferiors will struggle against each other for profit, and the country will be in chaos." "In a kingdom of ten thousand chariots, the murderer of the sovereign is usually from a clan of one thousand chariots. In a thousand-chariot kingdom, the murderer of the sovereign is usually from a clan of one hundred chariots. Now, to have a thousand in ten thousand, or one hundred in a thousand is not really all that much. But if you put Righteousness last and profit first, no one will be satisfied unless they can grab something." =========================================== BE INDEPENDENT—DON’T SUPPORT DEPENDENCY ===========================================
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?: When you create dependency in people, you are making them able to avoid the use of their skills and talents and you are causing them to be a drain on others and very likely the church. If there are emergencies or unusual situations like orphans or widows or natural disasters, then help in any way possible is critical and necessary. But, enabling someone to be lazy by getting handouts for free is directly against the Bible principles listed above. A person who refuses to work should not be given food by those who work diligently. We are to assist people to become independent and self-sufficient, NEVER dependent on us and our money. A
missionary in Africa, pastor David Wilkinson, stresses self-reliance this way:
========================== GIVE TITHES AND OFFERINGS ==========================
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?: This is the recognition that God created everything and is the due that he asks of those who believe in Him and honor Him. Many great businessmen were and are faithful tithe payers. Some include: Woolworth, J.C. Penny, Hershey, Rockefeller, Colgate and many others. New York Times best selling author Robert Allen shared his insights on money live on a radio show, The Mike Litman Show. There were 7 skills (see them at: http://www.joshhinds.com/mlitman_articles/litman_rallen.html). The final skill was “SHARE YOUR MONEY”. He said, “You've got to share your money. Frankly, for me, I pay my sharing first. Out of every dollar I get in, and out of every net profit that I get in, I pay 10% right off the top. It's the first money that I spend and then I live on the rest and I save the next 10%, then I spend the rest on taxes and shelter and cars and whatever else.” In Israel, tithe was used mostly for 4 things (the tithe in Israel may have been larger than 10%…with offerings it may have reached up to 25% of their income…but God promised that he would bless them if they followed this): TITHES USES
1)
TO SUPPORT PASTORS & BIBLE WORKERS (and by
association evangelistic ministries)
2)
TITHE IS TO BE EATEN WITH JOY IN THE PRESENCE OF
THE LORD with family and friends and co-workers. (this one surprised me
actually) Deuteronomy 14 (note: the wine here is most likely fresh grape juice since that was the best wine of the ancient peoples) 22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. 23 Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the LORD your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always. 24 But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the LORD your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the LORD will choose to put his Name is so far away), 25 then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. 26 Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice. 27 And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own.
3)
1/3 OF TITHE IS TO BE USED FOR THE POOR &
DISADVANTAGED 12 When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. 13 Then say to the LORD your God: "I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them. 14 I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done everything you commanded me. 15 Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey."
4)
FESTIVALS ARE SUPPORTED BY THE OFFERINGS TO THE
CHURCH AS GOD HAS BLESSED US So, tithe and offerings are another way to alleviate poverty as well as help people enjoy and celebrate the worship of our creator God who made us. ============ CONCLUSION ============ On the surface, it may appear that this will make people a lot poorer. But, in reality, when you have everyone’s opportunities and abilities maximized as they would be when everyone has all of their natural and God given economic rights, the benefit to the nation and eventually to each individual in the nation will be exponentially increased. There is no cause for concern if we follow these principles. I recently read these things from Ellen White and they are quite eloquent as a conclusion to this topic. Prayerfully read and consider these ideas! No one can give place in his own heart and life for the stream of God's blessing to flow to others, without receiving in himself a rich reward. The hillsides and plains that furnish a channel for the mountain streams to reach the sea suffer no loss thereby. That which they give is repaid a hundredfold. For the stream that goes singing on its way leaves behind its gift of verdure and fruitfulness. The grass on its banks is a fresher green, the trees have a richer verdure, the flowers are more abundant. When the earth lies bare and brown under the summer's parching heat, a line of verdure marks the river's course; and the plain that opened her bosom to bear the mountain's treasure to the sea is clothed with freshness and beauty, a witness to the recompense that God's grace imparts to all who give themselves as a channel for its outflow to the world. {MB 81.3} This is the blessing of those who show mercy to the poor. The prophet Isaiah says, "Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily. . . . And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought: . . . and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." Isaiah 58:7-11. {MB 82.1} The work of beneficence is twice blessed. While he that gives to the needy blesses others, he himself is blessed in a still greater degree. The grace of Christ in the soul is developing traits of character that are the opposite of selfishness,--traits that will refine, ennoble, and enrich the life. Acts of kindness performed in secret will bind hearts together, and will draw them closer to the heart of Him from whom every generous impulse springs. The little attentions, the small acts of love and self-sacrifice, that flow out from the life as quietly as the fragrance from a flower--these constitute no small share of the blessings and happiness of life. And it will be found at last that the denial of self for the good and happiness of others, however humble and uncommended here, is recognized in heaven as the token of our union with Him, the King of glory, who was rich, yet for our sake became poor. {MB 82.2} HOW DID JEWISH RABBIS IMPLEMENT THESE LAWSThis is a list of questions and answers that I received from expert orthodox rabbis in answer to questions about the Jubilee economic system of the Old Testament. I have been reading and comparing from several sources:
Hi, I’ve been reading a lot on the Old Testament laws on economics that G-d gave to Israel and also have a Jewish friend. From what I’ve read, I’m wondering a couple things. First, I know that these were the economics principles that G-d gave Israel in order for there to be no poor in the land…as he says in Deuteronomy 15:4-5, “However, there should be no poor among you…if only you fully obey the LORD your G-d…” I’m interested in learning how to apply these principles in our personal or temple/church lives today. Here are the principles as I understand them with my connected questions: 1)
LAND: Since G-d said, “The land is Mine” and people were
just stewards (Leviticus 25:23), all land was supposed to be divided equally and
never sold permanently…only sold for a maximum of 49 years (Leviticus 25). 2)
INTEREST: Israel was not supposed to charge
interest to other Israelis. 3)
CANCELLING DEBTS/ LENDING: Every 7 years debts were
supposed to be cancelled (Deut. 15:1-4). People were supposed to lend freely to
any who had needs even if it was near the time for canceling debts (Deut.
15:7-11). 4)
NEW BUSINESSES: A Jewish friend of mine has said that for
centuries, Jews have lent money to creative people with ideas for new businesses
in their communities. If the business succeeded, they tried to hire other Jews
in the business. If the business failed the person didn’t have to repay the
loan. He said that they would even lend money a 2nd time if the
first business failed. 5)
SHARING POSSESSIONS: Did Jews ever share possessions
like the early Christian church? If so, how? Was it by putting all possessions
in a common place? By chance? By listing all members possessions? Was anything
excluded from community ownership? 6)
Also, what are the best ways that we could apply
these to a community setting such as a synogogue, church, etc. WHAT CAN THE CHURCH DOThe church is already doing a lot to help the poor and hungry around the world…so this will focus more on what the church itself can do to increase its financial power and ability to make an even greater difference in the lives of the poor. 1)
PRINCIPLE: Adopt as a church something like the principle
that the Mennonite church has at:
http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/about/cof/art.21.htm) I don’t agree of course
with their idea of stewardship of time on Sunday instead of Saturday in the
first part, but this part is very Biblical): 2) STEWARDSHIP TRAINING: Help believers understand principles of Christian stewardship, sacrifice, budgeting, etc. Teach people how to think about what they want vs. what they really need...This should be part of the core classes taught to all new believers (see "Purpose Driven Church" for other aspects of the core classes). Teach people the fact that ALL wealth comes from land and the resources of nature. Therefore all wealth derives from God and should be used for his glory and purposes. We are just stewards. 3) PRO-INDEPENDENCE Through ADRA, education, health ministries, and other agencies of the church continue and increase our emphasis on helping people to become independent under the Lordship of Jesus. 4) SHARE BIBLICAL ECONOMICS PRINCIPLES WITH GOVT. LEADERS: Try to show the leaders the source of their economic problems so they can do something that will recognize the rights of all to the land and it’s natural resources… 5) ENCOURAGE CHRISTIAN BUSINESSES & GIVE NO INTEREST LOANS: Follow the Jewish principle of believers setting up diligent young Christian men (and women) in their own businesses without the risk of huge debts if they failed. The community can give no-interest loans to members with ideas that have potential. In the Jewish system it seems that if a person failed, he was not required to repay the loan. But, if it succeeded, then the debt would be repaid and fellow believers would be hired and some profits would be invested in the community fund to help other businesses get a start. Christians could follow a similar pattern (This of course would have to be done with proposals that have a good chance of success and with business advice from experienced people in the church and probably wise to do it with lawyers since even in the church some people lack integrity). This would provide more jobs and finances for God's work to progress. 6) BUSINESS TRAINING & PROFIT-SHARING: People would be taught to run their businesses according to Christian principles and utilize ideas like profit sharing and workers making many decisions like Robert Owen and the Mondragon co-ops and a number of the largest and most successful companies in the world. 7) LAND RENT: Try to encourage the ideas of land rent tax in our cities (land rent is something that is very similar to the Jubilee land system and has worked in places like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, California to name just a few)...more on this later...but it really improves the economy whereever it's tried. Show that other forms of tax are unjust and a form of robbery (which we should submit to, but we can still try to change since it is against the laws of nature for someone to take a part of that which is produced. Only things of nature that people borrow from society should be taxed for the good of the community...things like land, forests, oil, etc.) I'll send you an explanation of this later...but it's a principles that hundreds of philosophers and politicians east and west, christian and atheist, ancient and modern support as the only logical tax system and it has striking similarities to the Bible's Jubilee system and accomplishes nearly the same principle of fairly equal distribution of land and wealth, but not by force...rather by choice. 8)
JOBS FOR NEW BELIEVERS: Ellen
White writes that the Church should support new believers who sacrifice their
jobs to follow Christ. The church needs to do its best to make sure these
people can support themselves as they decide to follow God’s truth. 9)
DON’T ENCOURAGE LAZINESS 10) SHARING AGENCIES: Make ministries in local churches and nationally where people can share their needs with other believers and those who can fill them can be matched together. They may be in tools or training or whatever... This would save believers HUGE amounts of money. 11) SUSTAIN THE POOR: Use money wisely to help widows, orphans, the hungry and others who are destitute to take care of their basic needs and give them opportunities to improve their lives by diligent effort. 12) SELLING EXTRA LAND AND POSSESSIONS: Encourage Christians who are wealthy to sell lands and extra houses that are not productive or to let church members use them until they make them productive or sell them. 13) PAY OFF BELIEVERS DEBTS: This one is questionable…but I think it has a lot of value. I don’t know if this should be limited or not…but there was no poverty among the early believers. Maybe we as a church should help pay off the debts of other believers? Not any debts probably..but need debts such as education and housing… If we can help everyone to be independent economically it would be a great burden off of those who are in the church…it would require unselfishness…etc. but over a longer period of time it might make everyone independent financially and able to pursue their dreams of how to serve God without the terrible pressure of debt. Again, those who participate this would have to be meeting the Bible principle of working diligently or not eating. But, I think this has potential if done wisely and accurately. If we as believers are part of the same family…then like blood families that support the weakest and the young, we also should do that and maybe this extends to freeing people from the bondage of debt through teaching them principles of stewardship and financial help as well. Freeing everyone to follow God’s dreams for them would seem to have an almost inevitable positive effect on the church… 14) USE CHURCH LANDS/RESOURCES TO HELP PEOPLE BECOME INDEPENDENT: Tony Campolo says that most churches are some of the most wasteful buildings that are used mostly once or twice a week for a few hours. Why not make them places to help people start on the road to independence. In his church they have started several small businesses for poor church members: moving van services and copier replacement services among others. 15) CANCEL DEBTS: If a person is working and diligent, but has debts, all should help to pay them off (But, if a person is lazy and doesn't work, not even food should be donated to help him according to the Bible). If it is to a Christian who doesn't have urgent need for money, cancelling the debt should be considered so as to help the person be free and independent economically as soon as possible. 16) BUY FROM EACH OTHER: Encourage people to buy from believer's businesses if possible. 17)
PROVIDE LAND FOR POOR FAMILIES These are some practical things I think that could be done to implement the acts or principles of the Bible in OT and Acts times. I'm still looking for more examples of churches who are practicing this, but think that the ones that began doing it will experience great blessings... WEBSITES TO READ FURTHER ON1) the biblical in this file and http://www.landreform.org/reading0.htm will help you get an idea of the Biblical economic concepts. 2) The land rent remedy (similar but not the same as the Jubilee system) is outlined briefly at: http://www.henrygeorge.org/rem0.htm (fairly short explanation of the issue with illustrations and answers to most questions...could get through it in 20 minutes or less I think...) 3) Many famous thinkers throughout history from all spectrums have recommended this approach http://www.progress.org/geonomy/thinkers.html (a few quotes) and http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/georgism_01.html (a long list of quotes on the subject) and 27 famous examples past and present where poverty was mostly or wholly eliminated (read especially the ones listed below) are at: http://www.progress.org/geonomy/geono05.htm 4) read http://www.ied.info/books/ed/synopsis.html (esp. chapter 24 which is on the land problem). This book is an amazing outline of how we can eliminate poverty worldwide in a few years…very practical! 4 REAL EXAMPLES OF POVERTY BEING REDUCED/ELIMINATED(from Confucius to California)
"In every part of North America," wrote Franklin in 1788, while President of the
Supreme Council, virtually Governor, of Pennsylvania, "necessaries of life are
cheaper than in England. Scarcity is unknown there. . . . The price of labor in
money being higher than in England, and provisions cheaper, the actual wages,
that is, the amount of necessary articles which the day laborer can buy, is so
much the greater." ("Reflections on the Augmentation of Wages which will be
occasioned in Europe by the American Revolution," Franklin's Writings, Bigelow
Edition, Vol. X, p. 53.)
another translation is here:
When Confucius was sad about the state of the world he said in reply to a
question as to why he was "overcome with sighs": Excerpt only of his full reply. Hsiao, Kung-chuan (trans. F. W. Mote). A History of Chinese Political Thought. Vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Sixth Century A.D. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 1979, p. 125. Noted Confucius: "To implement my principle is nothing more than being honest and just." ======================== INTRODUCTION TO BIBLICAL ECONOMICSMy interest in this topic was first piqued when I started reading on a new theory called “Cooperative Democratic Capitalism” which advocates fair trade, debt cancellation, the single tax (taxation only of land value and nothing else) and many other things that ensure that fair economic treatment of all…no special privileges to any class and the rights to self-determination. Their theory is quite impressive and more importantly has proved effective in history and in some countries and cities currently at greatly reducing or eliminating poverty and hunger and destitution. You can read the book on this concept at: http://www.ied.info/books.html (esp. read chapters 14, 24 & 25) Until that time, I had thought that eliminating poverty was something that could not be accomplished in this world. It was something that must wait until heaven. But, this book showed that it might be possible to eliminate the worst excesses of poverty in the here and now. Also interesting were that many of its solutions were extremely similar to Bible principles that I had read and it talked of places where they had been implemented. This pushed me to investigate more carefully the ancient economic wisdom of the Bible. I knew the prophets often protested against economic oppression and I knew some about the Jubilee system. I also knew that the 1st Christian church succeeded in eliminating poverty among their members (Acts 4). But, I wanted to know how all these things could work in practice. I have always been interested in things that work in practice, and when some of these ideas that have been followed in history (there are at least 30 cases of societies benefiting greatly from the “land rent” idea for example…) they have created far better societies and more equal rights and opportunities than any other system in history including capitalism. They have been able to eliminate hunger and poverty in several cases and that is exciting. The below sections will outline some principles from the Bible and Jewish sources and Ellen Whtie and compare them with some of the cooperative democratic capitalism ideas and suggest ways we can implement them in the church. Ellen White writes strongly about how important it is to make people self-sufficient, starting with the church members in our own church and then those outside the church who are in difficulties. But there are very specific ways that it should be done which she outlines. Unfortunately, not many people are aware of this and while there are many agencies to help the hungry and starving…there are far fewer that are helping people support themselves…and few of these are in local churches. There is a great improvement needed in this area and Ellen White writes that if we engage in this work it will enliven the churches. It is obvious that this would be very attractive to people who have very pressing financial needs. If they saw that the church could answer these problems in wise ways…they and the communities around them would see much more practical benefit to following God’s principles and converts to God’s truth would be multiplied. This is also what Ellen White predicts will happen and I think it is very true. Below are several sections outlining the ideas and some beginning suggestions on how to implement them. Our modern world is experiencing drastic extremes in economic power. Some peoples are very advanced and educated with much technology. Millions of others can’t even read or write and go through privation on a daily basis. There is a good case to be made that our present society has some of the worst extremes in poverty and wealth that have existed in history. Here are some statistics
When people are suffering so terribly, is it possible that the church has nothing to say to these facts that cause sickness, AIDS, war and uncountable deaths? Is it possible that God would be silent and have no answer for these tragedies that we face? NO! It cannot be possible. And it is not a fact. As you will see from the texts below, in the Bible God many times spoke through his prophets about principles of economics which would eliminate destitution and oppression. Here are a few examples: 1) In Ezekiel 18 the characteristics of a righteous man are listed. They include:
2) Jeremiah 21:13 "Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labor….17 "your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion." 3) Psalm 15:5 “Those who do not charge interest on the money they lend, and who refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.” 4) Nehemiah 5:7 "You are oppressing your own relatives by charging them interest when they borrow money!" …You are selling them (our Jewish relatives) back into slavery again. How often must we redeem them?" And they had nothing to say in their defense. 9Then I pressed further, "What you are doing is not right! Should you not walk in the fear of our God in order to avoid being mocked by enemy nations? …but now let us stop this business of loans…Repay the interest you charged…12Then they replied, "We will give back everything and demand nothing more from the people. We will do as you say." Then I called the priests and made the nobles and officials formally vow to do what they had promised. 13I said, "If you fail to keep your promise, may God shake you from your homes and from your property!" Christians who believe in God’s good news, also have much good news to share with God’s people in economics. It cannot be that the church that follows God should be silent on something that He is obviously concerned about and that has such a big effect on human life! EXEGESIS OF BIBLICAL POVERTYWhat is the Biblical definition of poverty? E. Carl Beisner writes this: Interestingly enough, an exhaustive study of the Biblical vocabulary of poverty and its usage shows that this is precisely what the Bible means by poverty, when it speaks of material poverty.[12] In the New Testament, for instance, we find reference to three economic classes: 1. The first group is the rich, for whom the word is ploúsios, need not work to survive, or even to thrive, but can live entirely on the earnings of their investments in others' labor. (This does not mean that the Bible assumes that the rich never work. They may work, and many work very hard.) 2. The second group consists of those who lack none of their daily necessities, but who do not have sufficient wealth to hire others to do their work for them. These people, the pén s, may be identified with those today who must work for a living rather than living on the interest and dividends of savings and investments. It is common to translate pén s "poor." If this is understood simply to mean "not rich," it may be unobjectionable. But if it implies destitution or need for charitable support, it is certainly wrong. The noun comes from the verb pénamai, "to work for one's living." As such it might better be translated, in its only occurrence in the New Testament (2 Cor. 9:9), "laborer."[13] 3. The third group consists of people who are so destitute that they must depend on charity for survival. They cannot sustain themselves, usually because they are too old or young or handicapped to work. These, for whom the Greek word is pt chós, are the truly poor.[14] They have nothing and can get nothing by their own labor. They and they alone, in the New Testament, are presented as proper recipients of systematic charitable giving simply because they are poor.[15] Some finer distinctions may be made between the second and third classes, and there are several other words sometimes used in the New Testament, as well as several in the Old, to designate the poor and the laboring classes, in addition to words and usages having to do not with economic but with social, legal, or spiritual status. OPPRESSIVE DEBT CAUSES WAR AND VIOLENCEFull report at: http://www.caat.org.uk/information/publications/economics/debt-and-development-0599.php Written by Susan Willett, May 1999
LAND USE
DEBT CANCELLATION
DONATE MONEY (this is most helpful if it helps people become independent…it can be destructive if it creates dependency)
FAIR TRADE
INTEREST
WHAT DOES ELLEN WHITE SAY ABOUT ECONOMIC JUSTICE AND THE CHURCH?Ellen White had quite a lot to say about Jewish and Christian Economics. Here are a few of the more relevant quotes that I have found. IDEAS ARE ESPECIALLY FROM: ACTS OF THE APOSTLES (AA): Chapters 7, 32 PATRIARCHS & PROPHETS (PP): Chapters 50, 51, 58 PROPHETS AND KINGS (PK): Chapters 54 WELFARE MINISTRY (WM): The Whole Book! All online at: http://www.whiteestate.org/search/search.asp
MINISTRY OF HEALING, Chapter 12 Chap. 12 - Help for the Unemployed and the Homeless There are largehearted men and women who are anxiously considering the condition of the poor and what means can be found for their relief. How the unemployed and the homeless can be helped to secure the common blessings of God's providence and to live the life He intended man to live, is a question to which many are earnestly endeavoring to find an answer. But there are not many, even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie the present state of society. Those who hold the reins of government are unable to solve the problem of poverty, pauperism, and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis. {MH 183.1} If men would give more heed to the teaching of God's word, they would find a solution of these problems that perplex them. Much might be learned from the Old Testament in regard to the labor question and the relief of the poor. {MH 183.2} God's Plan for Israel In God's plan for Israel every family had a home on the land, with sufficient ground for tilling. Thus were provided 184 both the means and the incentive for a useful, industrious, and self-supporting life. And no devising of men has ever improved upon that plan. To the world's departure from it is owing, to a large degree, the poverty and wretchedness that exist today. {MH 183.3} At the settlement of Israel in Canaan, the land was divided among the whole people, the Levites only, as ministers of the sanctuary, being excepted from the equal distribution. The tribes were numbered by families, and to each family, according to its numbers, was apportioned an inheritance. {MH 184.1} And although one might for a time dispose of his possession, he could not permanently barter away the inheritance of his children. When able to redeem his land, he was at liberty at any time to do so. Debts were remitted every seventh year, and in the fiftieth, or year of jubilee, all landed property reverted to the original owner. {MH 184.2} "The land shall not be sold forever," was the Lord's direction; "for the land is Mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with Me. And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land. If thy brother be waxen poor, 185 and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. And if the man . . . himself be able to redeem it; . . . he may return unto his possession. But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubilee." Leviticus 25:23-28. {MH 184.3} "Ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family." Verse 10. {MH 185.1} Thus every family was secured in its possession, and a safeguard was afforded against the extremes of either wealth or want. {MH 185.2}
In Israel, industrial training was regarded as a duty. Every father was required to teach his sons some useful trade. The 186 greatest men in Israel were trained to industrial pursuits. A knowledge of the duties pertaining to housewifery was considered essential for every woman. And skill in these duties was regarded as an honor to women of the highest station. {MH 185.3} Various industries were taught in the schools of the prophets, and many of the students sustained themselves by manual labor. {MH 186.1}
These arrangements did not, however, wholly do away with poverty. It was not God's purpose that poverty should wholly cease. It is one of His means for the development of character. "The poor," He says, "shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land." Deuteronomy 15:11. {MH 186.2} "If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother. But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth." Verses 7, 8. {MH 186.3} "If thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee." Leviticus 25:35. {MH 186.4} "When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field." "When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it. . . . When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again. . . . When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow." Leviticus 19:9; Deuteronomy 24:19-21. 187 {MH 186.5} None need fear that their liberality would bring them to want. Obedience to God's commandments would surely result in prosperity. "For this thing," God said, "the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto." "Thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee." Deuteronomy 15:10, 6. {MH 187.1}
God's word sanctions no policy that will enrich one class by the oppression and suffering of another. In all our business transactions it teaches us to put ourselves in the place of those with whom we are dealing, to look not only on our own things, but also on the things of others. He who would take advantage of another's misfortunes in order to benefit himself, or who seeks to profit himself through another's weakness or incompetence, is a transgressor both of the principles and of the precepts of the word of God. {MH 187.2} "Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge." "When thou dost lend thy brother anything, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge. Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee. And if the man be poor, thou 188 shalt not sleep with his pledge." "If thou at all take thy neighbor's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down: for that is his covering only: . . . wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto Me, that I will hear; for I am gracious." "If thou sell aught unto thy neighbor, or buyest aught of thy neighbor's hand, ye shall not oppress one another" Deuteronomy 24:17, 10-12; Exodus 22;26, 27; Leviticus 25:14. {MH 187.3} "Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measures of length, of weight, or of quantity." "Thou shalt not have in thy bag diverse weights, a great and a small. Thou shalt not have in thy house diverse measures, a great and a small." "Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have." Leviticus 19:35, A.R.V.; Deuteronomy 25:13, 14, A.R.V.; Leviticus 19:36, A.R.V. {MH 188.1} "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away." "The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous showeth mercy, and giveth." Matthew 5:42; Psalm 37:21. {MH 188.2} "Give counsel, execute justice; make thy shade as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; betray not the fugitive." "Let Mine outcasts dwell with thee; . . . be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler." Isaiah 16:3 (A.R.V.), 4. {MH 188.3} The plan of life that God gave to Israel was intended as an object lesson for all mankind. If these principles were carried out today, what a different place this world would be! {MH 188.4} Within the vast boundaries of nature there is still room for the suffering and needy to find a home. Within her bosom there are resources sufficient to provide them with food. Hidden in the depths of the earth are blessings for all who have courage and will and perseverance to gather her treasures. 189 {MH 188.5} The tilling of the soil, the employment that God appointed to man in Eden, opens a field in which there is opportunity for multitudes to gain a subsistence. "Trust in the Lord, and do good; So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." Psalm 37:3. {MH 189.1} Thousands and tens of thousands might be working upon the soil who are crowded into the cities, watching for a chance to earn a trifle. In many cases this trifle is not spent for bread, but is put into the till of the liquor seller, to obtain that which destroys soul and body. {MH 189.2} Many look upon labor as drudgery, and they try to obtain a livelihood by scheming rather than by honest toil. This desire to get a living without work opens the door to wretchedness and vice and crime almost without limit. {MH 189.3}
In the great cities are multitudes who receive less care and consideration than are given to dumb animals. Think of the families herded together in miserable tenements, many of them dark basements, reeking with dampness and filth. In 190 these wretched places children are born and grow up and die. They see nothing of the beauty of natural things that God has created to delight the senses and uplift the soul. Ragged and half-starved, they live amid vice and depravity, molded in character by the wretchedness and sin that surround them. Children hear the name of God only in profanity. Foul speech, imprecations, and revilings fill their ears. The fumes of liquor and tobacco, sickening stenches, moral degradation, pervert their senses. Thus multitudes are trained to become criminals, foes to society that has abandoned them to misery and degradation. {MH 189.4} Not all the poor in the city slums are of this class. God-fearing men and women have been brought to the depths of poverty by illness or misfortune, often through the dishonest scheming of those who live by preying upon their fellows. Many who are upright and well-meaning become poor through lack of industrial training. Through ignorance they are unfitted to wrestle with the difficulties of life. Drifting into the cities, they are often unable to find employment. Surrounded by the sights and sounds of vice, they are subjected to terrible temptation. Herded and often classed with the vicious and degraded, it is only by a superhuman struggle, a more than finite power, that they can be preserved from sinking to the same depths. Many hold fast their integrity, choosing to suffer rather than to sin. This class especially demand help, sympathy, and encouragement. {MH 190.1} If the poor now crowded into the cities could find homes upon the land, they might not only earn a livelihood, but find health and happiness now unknown to them. Hard work, simple fare, close economy, often hardship and privation, would be their lot. But what a blessing would be theirs in leaving the city, with its enticements to evil, its turmoil and 191 crime, misery and foulness, for the country's quiet and peace and purity. {MH 190.2} To many of those living in the cities who have not a spot of green grass to set their feet upon, who year after year have 192 looked out upon filthy courts and narrow alleys, brick walls and pavements, and skies clouded with dust and smoke--if these could be taken to some farming district, surrounded with the green fields, the woods and hills and brooks, the clear skies and the fresh, pure air of the country, it would seem almost like heaven. {MH 191.1} Cut off to a great degree from contact with and dependence upon men, and separated from the world's corrupting maxims and customs and excitements, they would come nearer to the heart of nature. God's presence would be more real to them. Many would learn the lesson of dependence upon Him. Through nature they would hear His voice speaking to their hearts of His peace and love, and mind and soul and body would respond to the healing, life-giving power. {MH 192.1} If they ever become industrious and self-supporting, very many must have assistance, encouragement, and instruction. There are multitudes of poor families for whom no better missionary work could be done than to assist them in settling on the land and in learning how to make it yield them a livelihood. {MH 192.2} The need for such help and instruction is not confined to the cities. Even in the country, with all its possibilities for a better life, multitudes of the poor are in great need. Whole communities are devoid of education in industrial and sanitary lines. Families live in hovels, with scant furniture and clothing, without tools, without books, destitute both of comforts and conveniences and of means of culture. Imbruted souls, bodies weak and ill-formed, reveal the results of evil heredity and of wrong habits. These people must be educated from the very foundation. They have led shiftless, idle, corrupt lives, and they need to be trained to correct habits. 193 {MH 192.3} How can they be awakened to the necessity of improvement? How can they be directed to a higher ideal of life? How can they be helped to rise? What can be done where poverty prevails and is to be contended with at every step? Certainly the work is difficult. The necessary reformation will never be made unless men and women are assisted by a power outside of themselves. It is God's purpose that the rich and the poor shall be closely bound together by the ties of sympathy and helpfulness. Those who have means, talents, and capabilities are to use these gifts in blessing their fellow men. {MH 193.1} Christian farmers can do real missionary work in helping the poor to find homes on the land and in teaching them how to till the soil and make it productive. Teach them how to use the implements of agriculture, how to cultivate various crops, how to plant and care for orchards. {MH 193.2} Many who till the soil fail to secure adequate returns because of their neglect. Their orchards are not properly cared for, the crops are not put in at the right time, and a mere surface work is done in cultivating the soil. Their ill success they charge to the unproductiveness of the land. False witness is often borne in condemning land that, if properly worked, would yield rich returns. The narrow plans, the little strength put forth, the little study as to the best methods, call loudly for reform. {MH 193.3} Let proper methods be taught to all who are willing to learn. If any do not wish you to speak to them of advanced ideas, let the lessons be given silently. Keep up the culture of your own land. Drop a word to your neighbors when you can, and let the harvest be eloquent in favor of right methods. Demonstrate what can be done with the land when properly worked. 194 {MH 193.4} Attention should be given to the establishment of various industries so that poor families can find employment. Carpenters, blacksmiths, and indeed everyone who understands some line of useful labor, should feel a responsibility to teach and help the ignorant and the unemployed. {MH 194.1} In ministry to the poor there is a wide field of service for women as well as for men. The efficient cook, the housekeeper, the seamstress, the nurse--the help of all is needed. Let the members of poor households be taught how to cook, how to make and mend their own clothing, how to nurse the sick, how to care properly for the home. Let boys and girls be thoroughly taught some useful trade or occupation. {MH 194.2} Missionary Families Missionary families are needed to settle in the waste places. Let farmers, financiers, builders, and those who are skilled in various arts and crafts, go to neglected fields, to improve the land, to establish industries, to prepare humble homes for themselves, and to help their neighbors. {MH 194.3} The rough places of nature, the wild places, God has made attractive by placing beautiful things among the most unsightly. This is the work we are called to do. Even the desert places of the earth, where the outlook appears to be forbidding, may become as the garden of God. "In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, And the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel." Isaiah 29:18, 19. {MH 194.4} By instruction in practical lines we can often help the poor most effectively. As a rule, those who have not been trained to work do not have habits of industry, perseverance, economy, 195 and self-denial. They do not know how to manage. Often through lack of carefulness and right judgment there is wasted that which would maintain their families in decency and comfort if it were carefully and economically used. "Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment." Proverbs 13:23. {MH 194.5} We may give to the poor, and harm them, by teaching them to be dependent. Such giving encourages selfishness and helplessness. Often it leads to idleness, extravagance, and intemperance. No man who can earn his own livelihood has a right to depend on others. The proverb "The world owes me a living" has in it the essence of falsehood, fraud, and robbery. The world owes no man a living who is able to work and gain a living for himself. {MH 195.1} Real charity helps men to help themselves. If one comes to our door and asks for food, we should not turn him away hungry; his poverty may be the result of misfortune. But true beneficence means more than mere gifts. It means a genuine interest in the welfare of others. We should seek to understand the needs of the poor and distressed, and to give them the help that will benefit them most. To give thought and time and personal effort costs far more than merely to give money. But it is the truest charity. {MH 195.2} Those who are taught to earn what they receive will more readily learn to make the most of it. And in learning to be self-reliant, they are acquiring that which will not only make them self-sustaining, but will enable them to help others. Teach the importance of life's duties to those who are wasting their opportunities. Show them that Bible religion never makes men idlers. Christ always encouraged industry. "Why stand ye here all the day idle?" He said to the indolent. "I must work . . . while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work." Matthew 20:6; John 9:4. 196 {MH 195.3} It is the privilege of all to give to the world in their home life, in their customs and practices and order, an evidence of what the gospel can do for those who obey it. Christ came to our world to give us an example of what we may become. He expects His followers to be models of correctness in all the relations of life. He desires the divine touch to be seen upon outward things. {MH 196.1} Our own homes and surroundings should be object lessons, teaching ways of improvement, so that industry, cleanliness, taste, and refinement may take the place of idleness, uncleanness, coarseness, and disorder. By our lives and example we can help others to discern that which is repulsive in their character or their surroundings, and with Christian courtesy we may encourage improvement. As we manifest an interest in them, we shall find opportunity to teach them how to put their energies to the best use. {MH 196.2}
We can do nothing without courage and perseverance. Speak words of hope and courage to the poor and the disheartened. If need be, give tangible proof of your interest by helping them when they come into strait places. Those who have had many advantages should remember that they themselves still err in many things, and that it is painful to them when their errors are pointed out and there is held up before them a comely pattern of what they should be. Remember that kindness will accomplish more than censure. As you try to teach others, let them see that you wish them to reach the highest standard, and that you are ready to give them help. If in some things they fail, be not quick to condemn them. {MH 196.3} Simplicity, self-denial, economy, lessons so essential for the poor to learn, often seem to them difficult and unwelcome. 197 The example and spirit of the world is constantly exciting and fostering pride, love of display, self-indulgence, prodigality, and idleness. These evils bring thousands to penury and prevent thousands more from rising out of degradation and wretchedness. Christians are to encourage the poor to resist these influences. {MH 196.4} Jesus came to this world in humility. He was of lowly birth. The Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, the Commander of all the angel host, He humbled Himself to accept humanity, and then He chose a life of poverty and humiliation. He had no opportunities that the poor do not have. Toil, hardship, and privation were a part of every day's experience. "Foxes have holes," He said, "and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head." Luke 9:58. {MH 197.1} Jesus did not seek the admiration or the applause of men. He commanded no army. He ruled no earthly kingdom. He did not court the favor of the wealthy and honored of the world. He did not claim a position among the leaders of the nation. He dwelt among the lowly. He set at nought the artificial distinctions of society. The aristocracy of birth, wealth, talent, learning, rank, He ignored. {MH 197.2} He was the Prince of heaven, yet He did not choose His disciples from among the learned lawyers, the rulers, the scribes, or the Pharisees. He passed these by, because they prided themselves on their learning and position. They were fixed in their traditions and superstitions. He who could read all hearts chose humble fishermen who were willing to be taught. He ate with publicans and sinners, and mingled with the common people, not to become low and earthly with them, but in order by precept and example to present to them right principles, and to uplift them from their earthliness and debasement. {MH 197.3} Jesus sought to correct the world's false standard of judging the value of men. He took His position with the poor, 198 that He might lift from poverty the stigma that the world had attached to it. He has stripped from it forever the reproach of scorn, by blessing the poor, the inheritors of God's kingdom. He points us to the path He trod, saying, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." Verse 23. {MH 197.4} Christian workers are to meet the people where they are, and educate them, not in pride, but in character building. Teach them how Christ worked and denied Himself. Help them to learn from Him the lessons of self-denial and sacrifice. Teach them to beware of self-indulgence in conforming to fashion. Life is too valuable, too full of solemn, sacred responsibilities, to be wasted in pleasing self. {MH 198.1}
Men and women have hardly begun to understand the true object of life. They are attracted by glitter and show. They are ambitious for worldly pre-eminence. To this the true aims of life are sacrificed. Life's best things--simplicity, honesty, truthfulness, purity, integrity--cannot be bought or sold. They are as free to the ignorant as to the educated, to the humble laborer as to the honored statesman. For everyone God has provided pleasure that may be enjoyed by rich and poor alike--the pleasure found in cultivating pureness of thought and unselfishness of action, the pleasure that comes from speaking sympathizing words and doing kindly deeds. From those who perform such service the light of Christ shines to brighten lives darkened by many shadows. {MH 198.2} While helping the poor in temporal things, keep always in view their spiritual needs. Let your own life testify to the Saviour's keeping power. Let your character reveal the high standard to which all may attain. Teach the gospel in simple 199 object lessons. Let everything with which you have to do be a lesson in character building. {MH 198.3} In the humble round of toil, the very weakest, the most obscure, may be workers together with God and may have the comfort of His presence and sustaining grace. They are not to weary themselves with busy anxieties and needless cares. Let them work on from day to day, accomplishing faithfully the task that God's providence assigns, and He will care for them. He says: {MH 199.1} "In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6, A.R.V.; 4:7. {MH 199.2} The Lord's care is over all His creatures. He loves them all and makes no difference, except that He has the most tender pity for those who are called to bear life's heaviest burdens. God's children must meet trials and difficulties. But they should accept their lot with a cheerful spirit, remembering that for all that the world neglects to bestow, God Himself will make up to them in the best of favors. {MH 199.3} It is when we come into difficult places that He reveals His power and wisdom in answer to humble prayer. Have confidence in Him as a prayer-hearing, prayer-answering God. He will reveal Himself to you as One who can help in every emergency. He who created man, who gave him his wonderful physical, mental, and spiritual faculties, will not withhold that which is necessary to sustain the life He has given. He who has given us His word--the leaves of the tree of life-- will not withhold from us a knowledge of how to provide food for His needy children. {MH 199.4} How can wisdom be obtained by him who holds the plow and drives the oxen? By seeking her as silver, and searching for her as for hid treasure. "For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him." Isaiah 28:26. "This also 200 cometh forth from Jehovah of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom." Verse 29, A.R.V. {MH 199.5} He who taught Adam and Eve in Eden how to tend the garden, desires to instruct men today. There is wisdom for him who drives the plow and sows the seed. Before those who trust and obey Him, God will open ways of advance. Let them move forward courageously, trusting in Him to supply their needs according to the riches of His goodness. {MH 200.1} He who fed the multitude with five loaves and two small fishes is able today to give us the fruit of our labor. He who said to the fishers of Galilee, "Let down your nets for a draft," and who, as they obeyed, filled their nets till they broke, desires His people to see in this an evidence of what He will do for them today. The God who in the wilderness gave the children of Israel manna from heaven still lives and reigns. He will guide His people and give skill and understanding in the work they are called to do. He will give wisdom to those who strive to do their duty conscientiously and intelligently. He who owns the world is rich in resources, and will bless everyone who is seeking to bless others. {MH 200.2} We need to look heavenward in faith. We are not to be discouraged because of apparent failure, nor should we be disheartened by delay. We should work cheerfully, hopefully, gratefully, believing that the earth holds in her bosom rich treasures for the faithful worker to garner, stores richer than gold or silver. The mountains and hills are changing; the earth is waxing old like a garment; but the blessing of God, which spreads for His people a table in the wilderness, will never cease. {MH 200.3} PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS, Chapter 51—God’s Care for the Poor Chap. 51 - God's Care for the Poor To promote the assembling of the people for religious service, as well as to provide for the poor, a second tithe of all the increase was required. Concerning the first tithe, the Lord had declared, "I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel." Numbers 18:21. But in regard to the second He commanded, "Thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which He shall choose to place His name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always." Deuteronomy 14:23, 29; 16:11-14. This tithe, or its equivalent in money, they were for two years to bring to the place where the sanctuary was established. After presenting a thank offering to God, and a specified portion to the priest, the offerers were to use the remainder for a religious feast, in which the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow should participate. Thus provision was made for the thank offerings and feasts at the yearly festivals, and the people were drawn to the society of the priests and Levites, that they might receive instruction and encouragement in the service of God. {PP 530.1} Every third year, however, this second tithe was to be used at home, in entertaining the Levite and the poor, as Moses said, "That they may eat within thy gates, and be filled." Deuteronomy 26:12. This tithe would provide a fund for the uses of charity and hospitality. {PP 530.2} And further provision was made for the poor. There is nothing, after their recognition of the claims of God, that more distinguishes the laws given by Moses than the liberal, tender, and hospitable spirit enjoined toward the poor. Although God had promised greatly to bless His people, it was not His design that poverty should be wholly unknown among them. He declared that the poor should never cease out of the land. There would ever be those among His people who would call into exercise 531 their sympathy, tenderness, and benevolence. Then, as now, persons were subject to misfortune, sickness, and loss of property; yet so long as they followed the instruction given by God, there were no beggars among them, neither any who suffered for food. {PP 530.3} The law of God gave the poor a right to a certain portion of the produce of the soil. When hungry, a man was at liberty to go to his neighbor's field or orchard or vineyard, and eat of the grain or fruit to satisfy his hunger. It was in accordance with this permission that the disciples of Jesus plucked and ate of the standing grain as they passed through a field upon the Sabbath day. {PP 531.1} All the gleanings of harvest field, orchard, and vineyard, belonged to the poor. "When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field," said Moses, "and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it. . . . When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again. . . . When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt." Deuteronomy 24:19-22; Leviticus 19:9, 10. {PP 531.2} Every seventh year special provision was made for the poor. The sabbatical year, as it was called, began at the end of the harvest. At the seedtime, which followed the ingathering, the people were not to sow; they should not dress the vineyard in the spring; and they must expect neither harvest nor vintage. Of that which the land produced spontaneously they might eat while fresh, but they were not to lay up any portion of it in their storehouses. The yield of this year was to be free for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and even for the creatures of the field. Exodus 23:10, 11; Leviticus 25:5. {PP 531.3} But if the land ordinarily produced only enough to supply the wants of the people, how were they to subsist during the year when no crops were gathered? For this the promise of God made ample provision. "I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year," He said, "and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store." Leviticus 25:21, 22. 532 {PP 531.4} The observance of the sabbatical year was to be a benefit to both the land and the people. The soil, lying untilled for one season, would afterward produce more plentifully. The people were released from the pressing labors of the field; and while there were various branches of work that could be followed during this time, all enjoyed greater leisure, which afforded opportunity for the restoration of their physical powers for the exertions of the following years. They had more time for meditation and prayer, for acquainting themselves with the teachings and requirements of the Lord, and for the instruction of their households. {PP 532.1} In the sabbatical year the Hebrew slaves were to be set at liberty, and they were not to be sent away portionless. The Lord's direction was: "When thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty. Thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him." Deuteronomy 15:13, 14. {PP 532.2} The hire of a laborer was to be promptly paid: "Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land: . . . at his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it." Deuteronomy 24:14, 15. {PP 532.3} Special directions were also given concerning the treatment of fugitives from service: "Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee. He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best: thou shalt not oppress him." Deuteronomy 23:15, 16. {PP 532.4} To the poor, the seventh year was a year of release from debt. The Hebrews were enjoined at all times to assist their needy brethren by lending them money without interest. To take usury from a poor man was expressly forbidden: "If thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase." Leviticus 25:35-37. If the debt remained unpaid 533 until the year of release, the principal itself could not be recovered. The people were expressly warned against withholding from their brethren needed assistance on account of this: "If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren, . . . thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother. . . . Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee." "The poor shall never cease out of the land; therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land," "and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth." Deuteronomy 15:7-9, 11, 8. {PP 532.5} None need fear that their liberality would bring them to want. Obedience to God's commandments would surely result in prosperity. "Thou shalt lend unto many nations," He said, "but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee." Deuteronomy 15:6. {PP 533.1} After "seven sabbaths of years," "seven times seven years," came that great year of release--the jubilee. "Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound . . . throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family." Leviticus 25:9, 10. {PP 533.2} "On the tenth day of the seventh month, in the Day of Atonement," the trumpet of the jubilee was sounded. Throughout the land, wherever the Jewish people dwelt, the sound was heard, calling upon all the children of Jacob to welcome the year of release. On the great Day of Atonement satisfaction was made for the sins of Israel, and with gladness of heart the people would welcome the jubilee. {PP 533.3} As in the sabbatical year, the land was not to be sown or reaped, and all that it produced was to be regarded as the rightful property of the poor. Certain classes of Hebrew slaves--all who did not receive their liberty in the sabbatical year--were now set free. But that which especially distinguished the year of jubilee was the reversion of all landed property to the family of 534 the original possessor. By the special direction of God the land had been divided by lot. After the division was made no one was at liberty to trade his estate. Neither was he to sell his land unless poverty compelled him to do so, and then, whenever he or any of his kindred might desire to redeem it, the purchaser must not refuse to sell it; and if unredeemed, it would revert to its first possessor or his heirs in the year of jubilee. {PP 533.4} The Lord declared to Israel: "The land shall not be sold forever: for the land is Mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with Me." Leviticus 25:23. The people were to be impressed with the fact that it was God's land which they were permitted to possess for a time; that He was the rightful owner, the original proprietor, and that He would have special consideration made for the poor and unfortunate. It was to be impressed upon the minds of all that the poor have as much right to a place in God's world as have the more wealthy. {PP 534.1} Such were the provisions made by our merciful Creator, to lessen suffering, to bring some ray of hope, to flash some gleam of sunshine, into the life of the destitute and distressed. {PP 534.2} The Lord would place a check upon the inordinate love of property and power. Great evils would result from the continued accumulation of wealth by one class, and the poverty and degradation of another. Without some restraint the power of the wealthy would become a monopoly, and the poor, though in every respect fully as worthy in God's sight, would be regarded and treated as inferior to their more prosperous brethren. The sense of this oppression would arouse the passions of the poorer class. There would be a feeling of despair and desperation which would tend to demoralize society and open the door to crimes of every description. The regulations that God established were designed to promote social equality. The provisions of the sabbatical year and the jubilee would, in a great measure, set right that which during the interval had gone wrong in the social and political economy of the nation. {PP 534.3} These regulations were designed to bless the rich no less than the poor. They would restrain avarice and a disposition for self-exaltation, and would cultivate a noble spirit of benevolence; and by fostering good will and confidence between all classes, they would promote social order, the stability of government. We are all woven together in the great web of humanity, 535 and whatever we can do to benefit and uplift others will reflect in blessing upon ourselves. The law of mutual dependence runs through all classes of society. The poor are not more dependent upon the rich than are the rich upon the poor. While the one class ask a share in the blessings which God has bestowed upon their wealthier neighbors, the other need the faithful service, the strength of brain and bone and muscle, that are the capital of the poor. {PP 534.4} Great blessings were promised to Israel on condition of obedience to the Lord's directions. "I will give you rain in due season," He declared, "and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. . . . I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be My people. . . . But if ye will not hearken unto Me, and will not do all these commandments; and . . . ye break My covenant: . . . ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set My face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you." Leviticus 26:4-17. {PP 535.1} There are many who urge with great enthusiasm that all men should have an equal share in the temporal blessings of God. But this was not the purpose of the Creator. A diversity of condition is one of the means by which God designs to prove and develop character. Yet He intends that those who have worldly possessions shall regard themselves merely as stewards of His goods, as entrusted with means to be employed for the benefit of the suffering and the needy. {PP 535.2} Christ has said that we shall have the poor always with us, and He unites His interest with that of His suffering people. The heart of our Redeemer sympathizes with the poorest and lowliest of His earthly children. He tells us that they are His representatives on earth. He has placed them among us to awaken in our hearts the love that He feels toward the suffering and oppressed. Pity and benevolence shown to them are accepted by 536 Christ as if shown to Himself. An act of cruelty or neglect toward them is regarded as though done to Him. {PP 535.3} If the law given by God for the benefit of the poor had continued to be carried out, how different would be the present condition of the world, morally, spiritually, and temporally! Selfishness and self-importance would not be manifested as now, but each would cherish a kind regard for the happiness and welfare of others; and such widespread destitution as is now seen in many lands would not exist. {PP 536.1} The principles which God has enjoined, would prevent the terrible evils that in all ages have resulted from the oppression of the rich toward the poor and the suspicion and hatred of the poor toward the rich. While they might hinder the amassing of great wealth and the indulgence of unbounded luxury, they would prevent the consequent ignorance and degradation of tens of thousands whose ill-paid servitude is required to build up these colossal fortunes. They would bring a peaceful solution of those problems that now threaten to fill the world with anarchy and bloodshed. {PP 536.2} PATRIARCHS & PROPHETS, “The School of the Prophets” chapter 58 It is a law of the mind that it gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is trained to dwell. If occupied with commonplace matters only, it will become dwarfed and enfeebled. If never required to grapple with difficult problems, it will after a time almost lose the power of growth. As an educating power the Bible is without a rival. In the word of God the mind finds subject for the deepest thought, the loftiest aspiration. The Bible is the most instructive history that men possess. It came fresh from the fountain of eternal truth, and a divine hand has preserved its purity through all the ages. It lights up the far-distant past, where human research seeks vainly to penetrate. In God's word we behold the power that laid the foundation of the earth and that stretched out the heavens. Here only can we find a history of our race unsullied by human prejudice or human pride. Here are recorded the struggles, the defeats, and the victories of the greatest men this world has ever known. Here the great problems of duty and destiny are unfolded. The curtain that separates the visible from the invisible world is lifted, and we behold the conflict of the opposing forces of good and evil, from the first entrance of sin to the final triumph of righteousness and truth; and all is but a revelation of the character of God. In the reverent contemplation of the truths presented in His word the mind of the student is brought into communion with the infinite mind. Such a study will not only refine and ennoble 599 the character, but it cannot fail to expand and invigorate the mental powers. {PP 596.2} The teaching of the Bible has a vital bearing upon man's prosperity in all the relations of this life. It unfolds the principles that are the cornerstone of a nation's prosperity--principles with which is bound up the well-being of society, and which are the safeguard of the family--principles without which no man can attain usefulness, happiness, and honor in this life, or can hope to secure the future, immortal life. There is no position in life, no phase of human experience, for which the teaching of the Bible is not an essential preparation. Studied and obeyed, the word of God would give to the world men of stronger and more active intellect than will the closest application to all the subjects that human philosophy embraces. It would give men of strength and solidity of character, of keen perception and sound judgment--men who would be an honor to God and a blessing to the world. {PP 599.1} The impress of Deity, manifest in the pages of revelation, is seen upon the lofty mountains, the fruitful valleys, the broad, deep ocean. The things of nature speak to man of his Creator's 600 love. He has linked us to Himself by unnumbered tokens in heaven and in earth. This world is not all sorrow and misery. "God is love," is written upon every opening bud, upon the petals of every flower, and upon every spire of grass. Though the curse of sin has caused the earth to bring forth thorns and thistles, there are flowers upon the thistles and the thorns are hidden by roses. All things in nature testify to the tender, fatherly care of our God and to His desire to make His children happy. His prohibitions and injunctions are not intended merely to display His authority, but in all that He does He has the well-being of His children in view. He does not require them to give up anything that it would be for their best interest to retain. {PP 599.4} The opinion which prevails in some classes of society, that religion is not conducive to health or to happiness in this life, is one of the most mischievous of errors. The Scripture says: "The fear of the Lord tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied." Proverbs 19:23. "What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it." Psalm 34:12-14. The words of wisdom "are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh." Proverbs 4:22. {PP 600.1} True religion brings man into harmony with the laws of God, physical, mental, and moral. It teaches self-control, serenity, temperance. Religion ennobles the mind, refines the taste, and sanctifies the judgment. It makes the soul a partaker of the purity of heaven. Faith in God's love and overruling providence lightens the burdens of anxiety and care. It fills the heart with joy and contentment in the highest or the lowliest lot. Religion tends directly to promote health, to lengthen life, and to heighten our enjoyment of all its blessings. It opens to the soul a never-failing fountain of happiness. Would that all who have not chosen Christ might realize that He has something vastly better to offer them that they are seeking for themselves. Man is doing the greatest injury and injustice to his own soul when he thinks and acts contrary to the will of God. No real joy can be found in the path forbidden by Him who knows what is best, and who plans for the good of His creatures. The path of transgression leads to misery and destruction; but wisdom's "ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." Proverbs 3:17. 601 {PP 600.2} The physical as well as the religious training practiced in the schools of the Hebrews may be profitably studied. The worth of such training is not appreciated. There is an intimate relation between the mind and the body, and in order to reach a high standard of moral and intellectual attainment the laws that control our physical being must be heeded. To secure a strong, well-balanced character, both the mental and the physical powers must be exercised and developed. What study can be more important for the young than that which treats of this wonderful organism that God has committed to us, and of the laws by which it may be preserved in health? {PP 601.1} Let the youth be led to understand the object of their creation, to honor God and bless their fellow men; let them see the tender love which the Father in heaven has manifested toward them, and the high destiny for which the discipline of this life is to prepare them, the dignity and honor to which they are called, even to become the sons of God, and thousands would turn with contempt and loathing from the low and selfish aims and the frivolous pleasures that have hitherto engrossed them. They would learn to hate sin and to shun it, not merely from hope of reward or fear of punishment, but from a sense of its inherent 602 baseness, because it would be a degrading of their God-given powers, a stain upon their Godlike manhood. {PP 601.4} God does not bid the youth to be less aspiring. The elements of character that make a man successful and honored among men--the irrepressible desire for some greater good, the indomitable will, the strenuous exertion, the untiring perseverance--are not to be crushed out. By the grace of God they are to be directed to objects as much higher than mere selfish and temporal interests as the heavens are higher than the earth. And the education begun in this life will be continued in the life to come. Day by day the wonderful works of God, the evidences of His wisdom and power in creating and sustaining the universe, the infinite mystery of love and wisdom in the plan of redemption, will open to the mind in new beauty. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." 1 Corinthians 2:9. Even in this life we may catch glimpses of His presence and may taste the joy of communion with Heaven, but the fullness of its joy and blessing will be reached in the hereafter. Eternity alone can reveal the glorious destiny to which man, restored to God's image, may attain. {PP 602.1} True religion brings man into harmony with the laws of God, physical, mental, and moral. It teaches self-control, serenity, temperance. Religion ennobles the mind, refines the taste, and sanctifies the judgment. It makes the soul a partaker of the purity of heaven. Faith in God's love and overruling providence lightens the burdens of anxiety and care. It fills the heart with joy and contentment in the highest or the lowliest lot. Religion tends directly to promote health, to lengthen life, and to heighten our enjoyment of all its blessings. It opens to the soul a never-failing fountain of happiness. Would that all who have not chosen Christ might realize that He has something vastly better to offer them that they are seeking for themselves. Man is doing the greatest injury and injustice to his own soul when he thinks and acts contrary to the will of God. No real joy can be found in the path forbidden by Him who knows what is best, and who plans for the good of His creatures. The path of transgression leads to misery and destruction; but wisdom's "ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." Proverbs 3:17. BIBLE VERSES ON ECONOMIC OPPRESSIONExodus 22:21. "Do not oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. 22. "Do not exploit widows or orphans. 23If you do and they cry out to me, then I will surely help them. 24My anger will blaze forth against you, and I will kill you with the sword. Your wives will become widows, and your children will become fatherless. 25. "If you lend money to a fellow Hebrew in need, do not be like a money lender, charging interest. Jeremiah 21:13. "Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labor….17 "your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion." Ezekiel 22:29. The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice. Micah 6:11. And how can I tolerate all your merchants who use dishonest scales and weights? Psalm 15:5. Those who do not charge interest on the money they lend, and who refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever. Ezekiel 18---characteristics of righteous men: --a merciful creditor --does not rob the poor but instead gives food to the hungry and provides clothes for people in need. --does not exploit the poor, but instead is fair to debtors and does not rob them. --does not lend money at interest, and obeys all my regulations and laws Proverbs 28:8. A person who makes money by charging interest will lose it. It will end up in the hands of someone who is kind to the poor. Proverbs 22:16. He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich-both come to poverty. Micah 6:11. And how can I tolerate all your merchants who use dishonest scales and weights? Amos 8:4. Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land… skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, 6 buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. The Old Testament is very strong on honest weights in marketing: Leviticus 19:35-36; Proverbs 11:1; 16:11; 20:10,23; Hosea 12:7-8; Micah 6:11. James
5:4. “For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of
their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of the reapers
have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty.” A reasonable profit is profit that gives a fair return to the producer and seller of a product [Leviticus 25:14-17]. When this happens the purchaser also pays a fair price. Boosting the price is very common in modern trade. Leviticus 25. 14"When you make an agreement with a neighbor to buy or sell property, you must never take advantage of each other. Proverbs 13:23. the fields of the poor may produce abundant crops but, injustice sweeps it away. Ezra 7:24. I also decree that no priest, Levite, singer, gatekeeper, Temple servant, or other worker in this Temple of God will be required to pay taxes of any kind.' Amos 5:11. You trample the poor and steal what little they have through taxes and unfair rent. Therefore, you will never live in the beautiful stone houses you are building. You will never drink wine from the lush vineyards you are planting. Nehemiah 5:7. After thinking about the situation, I spoke out against these nobles and officials. I told them, "You are oppressing your own relatives by charging them interest when they borrow money!" Then I called a public meeting to deal with the problem. 8At the meeting I said to them, "The rest of us are doing all we can to redeem our Jewish relatives who have had to sell themselves to pagan foreigners, but you are selling them back into slavery again. How often must we redeem them?" And they had nothing to say in their defense. 9Then I pressed further, "What you are doing is not right! Should you not walk in the fear of our God in order to avoid being mocked by enemy nations? 10I myself, as well as my brothers and my workers, have been lending the people money and grain, but now let us stop this business of loans. 11You must restore their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and homes to them this very day. Repay the interest you charged on their money, grain, wine, and olive oil." 12Then they replied, "We will give back everything and demand nothing more from the people. We will do as you say." Then I called the priests and made the nobles and officials formally vow to do what they had promised. 13I shook out the fold of my robe and said, "If you fail to keep your promise, may God shake you from your homes and from your property!" The whole assembly responded, "Amen," and they praised the LORD. And the people did as they had promised. Ezekiel 22:29. The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice. Micah 6:11And how can I tolerate all your merchants who use dishonest scales and weights? Jeremiah 21:13. "Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labor….17 "your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion." Psalm 15:5. Those who do not charge interest on the money they lend, and who refuse to accept bribes to testify against the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever. Nehemiah 5:7. "You are oppressing your own relatives by charging them interest when they borrow money!" …You are selling them (our Jewish relatives) back into slavery again. How often must we redeem them?" And they had nothing to say in their defense. 9Then I pressed further, "What you are doing is not right! Should you not walk in the fear of our God in order to avoid being mocked by enemy nations? …but now let us stop this business of loans…Repay the interest you charged…12Then they replied, "We will give back everything and demand nothing more from the people. We will do as you say." Then I called the priests and made the nobles and officials formally vow to do what they had promised. 13I said, "If you fail to keep your promise, may God shake you from your homes and from your property!" Special Offerings and Celebrations 13"This is the tax you must give to the prince: one bushel of wheat or barley for every sixty[8] you harvest, 14one percent of your olive oil,[9] 15and one sheep for every two hundred in your flocks in Israel. These will be the grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings that will make atonement for the people who bring them, says the Sovereign LORD. |
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