Deuteronomy 15:1-6

Hey, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions this morning. We're at Deuteronomy 15 verses 1 through 6 we're gonna be talking about debt debt and giving money are making loans to the poor and International loans between Israel and other nations. Let's go ahead and have some coffee. We'll pray we get into God's words Let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for this day. Lord, we thank you for the blessing it is to have your word. It has a great blessing to us. We take it for granted so frequently. And Father, we take it for granted that we could just read it and intellectually comprehend it. Lord, we need your Holy Spirit to apply these words to our lives. Teach us, Father, how we ought to live. Let us understand the principles contained therein. Please help us, we need your spirit in Jesus' name, amen. All right, Deuteronomy chapter 15, the first six verses.
At the end of every seven years, you shall grant a release of debts, and this is the form of the reliefs. Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall release it. He shall not require it of his neighbor or his brother because it is called the Lord's release. Of a foreigner you may require it, but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother. except when there may be no poor among you.
For the Lord will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, only if you carefully obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today. For the Lord your God will bless you, just as he promised you. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. You shall reign over many nations. but they shall not reign over you." So we need to ask ourselves our three questions. A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do? So A, what's this about?
Well, it's about the seven year release of debts, right? So there's a sabbatical year, a Sabbath year, every seventh year. where all the debts amongst the Israelites are cancelled out, right? They're going to be released, whether they're their neighbor or their brother, whatever, right? Now, if they're a foreigner living in their land, that's a different story, right? The Lord's not requiring them of that, but he's saying every seven years, they're going to release the debts.
Now, what's the purpose of this law? The purpose of this is to care for the poor. There wasn't going to be long-term predatory lending against the poor. No, every seven years there was going to be a reset. After seven years, you got your debt wiped out. So if you were going to be a lender, You need to make sure that whatever, how much time was left until that year of Jubilee, that's the amount of interest or that's the amount of payment you were going to take on top of the debt. That was it. And it couldn't be an exorbitant amount. Why? Because debt doesn't hurt the rich like it hurts the poor.
Actually, there are many times in which, I mean, I've talked to and heard from plenty of millionaires who will talk of, right? We used to live north of Chicago where there were lots of millionaires and people would talk about, right? It makes more sense for them to have a mortgage because at that time their mortgage was like 3% and their money, because they had millions of them, were sitting in a bank or they were in investments and they were making them way more. And so it made more sense for them to actually just carry that debt load of their mortgage as a way to kind of offset some of their taxes and things like this.
But for the poor. For the poor to have extremely high levels of debt, especially consumer level debt. hurts them, stops their ability to actually increase their estate and their outward wealth, and it hurts their ability to care for their family. And so the Lord's saying there's a way in which he's capping that and stopping it. He's saying, until you have no more poor in your land, this is how it needs to go, and as Jesus teaches us. Well, the poor you will always have with you. And so there's this responsible baked in system within the nation of Israel for how they're going to handle a consumer type debt between people. Now on the national level, God's making a prohibition.
He's saying you are not allowed as a nation to go and borrow money. You're allowed to lend it to other nations, but you're not allowed to borrow it. What was the principle behind that? Well, the reason behind that is because if they were going to take debt from others, if they were going to take on a national loan, that meant now that other nation could call the shots, as the verse six tells us.
You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. You shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you. They are going to have almost an imperial rule over them. This is one of the things that God says, no, no, no, no, no. You're going to be a blessing to the other nations. You're going to reign over them, but you're not to take on debt.
Because on a national level, you take on that debt and you're going to end up having a problem with them wanting to impose their control over you. And the Lord is clear here, right? He's preserving his own sovereignty over his people. There's one law, one rule, and it's the Lord himself. And so he's telling them, don't don't get sucked down that trap. I'm going to bless you and you're going to follow me.
So that's what this is about right there's about both the the how do the people interact with each other with that and how does the nation interact with other nations with that so it's kind of microeconomics and macroeconomics and it's all tied into this idea of the Lord's sabbatical right the Lord's Sabbath every seven years there is relief for the poor. So what's the best verse to summarize this well In my Bible, I have verse 1 underlined, but then I have the first part of verse 4 underlined, but then I have the second half of verse 6 underlined. So, probably verse 1, right? Because that's where it's talking about the Sabbath release of debts. But, like I said, I think there's other parts that are important here as well. last seat calling.
What are we called to do? Right. We're not the Israelite nation. But I think there's still principles for us to learn, even in our macroeconomics. I don't think it's wise to take on massive debt loads. We can. I don't think it's it. I'm a fiscal conservative.
And so I sit there and I look at the billions and billions of dollars that we're paying back to other countries because of this. I think it's like thirty one trillion dollars right now of debt that the United States has. And we're paying back on those loans. And it's sucking down the coffers. And we just keep going further and further into debt. And eventually other people can start calling the shots. Nations can start putting pressure on Asia.
So on a macroeconomic level, this is real, right? How much debt a nation takes on can changes their sovereignty. But this isn't a government or a civics lesson, right? This is just my personal opinion about how this could be applied in principle, but even for consumer debt.
I think as a nation, it's sad when we see the predatory lending that happens to the poor. No credit check required. We'll do anything and everything possible to get you into, especially when I start thinking about people who sell depreciating assets with very high interest rates.
And it locks in a person, their fellow citizen, in an asset that's going to actually hurt their overall wealth, may help their social standing, maybe. It's not going to actually help them produce long-term wealth, and it's going to actually harm them in their ability to care for their family financially. Now, it's that person's responsibility. They signed the bottom line. That's true. But I think we ought to be careful, whether we're the borrower or the lender, to recognize that what's going on, we have a role to play in the ethics of how do we love our neighbor as ourselves. And sometimes for the person offering credit, the most loving thing to do is to say, I don't think you should take out this loan.
I had a good banker tell me that when I was an 18 year old trying to buy a new car. And I went into the bank and the guy told me it was with Navy's Federal Savings Bank or something like that. And I was in the military and he said, hey, look, Brian, you can you're approved for that loan. Yeah, you can buy that car.
I'm going to encourage you not to buy it, though. And he sat down with me and said, here's what your payments are going to be. Here's what your insurance is most likely going to be. I don't think you're going to like the life that you're going to have. You're going to really like that car, but I don't think you're going to like the life that's going to produce. And he said, I would recommend I understand you need a car.
Try to get it in this price range instead. And it's going to help you with your finances. I took his advice and he was a smart man. I'm thankful for that banker. Could have made money off a better loan, but instead instead cared for me as a person. You love your neighbor, even when money gets involved. Let's pray.
Father, you are the one who provides everything for us, and you are a good God. We pray that we would learn how to love our neighbors as ourselves, even when it comes to issues like debt. Lord, we pray that you would please help us to be responsible with the amount of debt that we take on. Lord, we pray that you would please help us to know how to glorify you with the things you have entrusted to us. Lord, we pray that you would please give us wisdom as a nation. Father, we thank you for clear things in your word and for helpful things that you give us.
In Jesus's name, amen. Well, may the Lord Jesus Christ bless you. Because see, we were once those who were debtors to God. But Jesus taught us to pray, Father, forgive us of our debts as we forgive our debtors. I pray that you cherish the forgiveness that Jesus Christ has given you, forgiving you of your debt and that you would turn around and you would forgive others of theirs as well. I'll see you next time. Bye.