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(This article was originally printed in June, 2008.)
Abraham was called out of the land of Ur to be the Father of a new and separate race of people. Years later the Lord established the Nation of Israel under the Mosaic Covenant. At that time, God actually gave the Nation detailed laws and regulations on how it was to be governed, how poverty was to be dealt with, how widows were to be helped, and how injustices were to be corrected. Isn’t that interesting? God even dealt with the economy! These matters were addressed almost exclusively within the context of the Nation of Israel, showing little dealings concerning surrounding nations (this did change somewhat in the New Testament, which we will discuss later on).
THE LAW
In Leviticus 19:9-10, we read about the “Law of Gleanings.” Under this law, the Israelites were to leave the corner of their fields and not glean/gather from them, but rather, they were to leave it for the poor to glean. This was to promote a general Spirit of Mercy to others who are suffering and in need. This Law even included the vineyards. The owners of the vineyards were not to gather all of the grapes in the vineyards. Some was to be left for the poor or the stranger that might wander into their lands. You see, the Lord provided several means to help the poor in Israel. There was also the concept of a “Kinsman Redeemer” (who was actually a type of Christ). A “Kinsman Redeemer” was a close relative designated to alleviate their relatives’ troubles, including poverty. Leviticus 25:25 explains it that if a fellow countryman becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property, that then his nearest kinsmen is to come and buy back the portion his relative had to sell. In the Book of Ruth, we see a perfect example of how this worked. In Deuteronomy 15:11, the Lord tells Israel, “the poor will never cease to be in the land: therefore I command you, saying, You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and poor in your land.” In Isaiah 10:1-2, the Lord tells His people, “Woe to those who enact evil statutes, And to those who constantly record unjust decisions, So as to deprive the needy of justice and rob the poor of My people of their rights, So that widows may be their spoil And that they may plunder the orphans.” The poor, needy, and destitute were cared for, but notice, it was not an entitlement program or a system that allowed the lazy to avoid working that God instituted. Rather, it was a system that taught mercy and love. It was simply designed to help those that were unable to help themselves. Laziness was not rewarded.
GOD’S WAY
Proverbs 10:4 says, “He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.” Proverbs 10:5: “He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.” Proverbs 12:24: “The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute.” Proverbs 14:23: “In all labor there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury.” Proverbs 18:9: “He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.” Proverbs 19:15: “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.” Proverbs 20:4: “The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.” Proverbs 21:25: “The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labor.” Proverbs 23:21: “For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.”Ecclesiastes 10:18: “By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.” Thessalonians 3:10-11: “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.” This last verse was particularly interesting because it points out that God puts refusal to work in the category of disorder. Remember the true Blessings of God come as we walk in His Will. If we are out of order, it will limit what God can do for us. Welfare programs were not put in place to benefit the poor, and food stamps were not given away in Israel, but rather, grain was left in the field for the poor to glean, grapes were left in the vineyards, and a “Kinsman Redeemer” helped the orphaned and widowed. What I want the reader to understand is that each person had to provide for himself and his family to the best of his ability.
COMMERCE
There was also commerce in Israel. I Kings 10:28-29 says, “And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price. And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.” II Chronicles 9:2: “For the king’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: every three years once came the ships of Tarshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.” Proverbs 31:14-18: “She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens. She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.” Proverbs 11:26: “He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.” Isaiah 23:3: “And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations.” Mark 11:15-17: “And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.”
TRADE
Acts 19:23-28: “And the same time there arose no small stir about that way, For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmithade silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen called together with the workmen of like occupation, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” Revelation 18:11-13: “And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.” Trade is spoken of in I Kings 10:28-29: “And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price. And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.” Ezekiel 27:12: “Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.”
ECONOMY
There was also bartering. Genesis 47:15-17: "And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth. And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail. And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.” I Kings 5:10-11: “So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.” The Bible also speaks of payment. Genesis 14:22-24: “And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”Ezra 3:7“They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.” Romans 4:4 “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” Ephesians 1:14: “Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory.”
There was also bartering. Genesis 47:15-17: "And when money failed in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came unto Joseph, and said, Give us bread: for why should we die in thy presence? for the money faileth. And Joseph said, Give your cattle; and I will give you for your cattle, if money fail. And they brought their cattle unto Joseph: and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for all their cattle for that year.” I Kings 5:10-11: “So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.” The Bible also speaks of payment. Genesis 14:22-24: “And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”Ezra 3:7“They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.” Romans 4:4 “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” Ephesians 1:14: “Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory.”
WORK AND LABOR
Work and labor are actually mentioned in many Scriptures. Genesis 2:15: “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.” Genesis 3:17-19: “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Jeremiah 22:13: "Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work.” Leviticus 19:13: “Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.” Deuteronomy 24:14: “Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates.” Exodus 20:9: “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work.” Psalms 104:23: “Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.”
FREE ENTERPRISE
I could give many more Scriptures, but for lack of space, I will mention only a few more to show what the Bible teaches about laborers being worthy of their hire. Luke 10:7: “And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.” I Timothy 5:18: “For the Scripture saith, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.” In the Old Testament, we see that ownership of land was taught. In II Samuel 24:18-24, we see David going to Araunah the Jebusite to purchase a threshing floor to build an altar unto the Lord. Araunah tells David he will give it to him, along with the oxen, the wood, and the threshing instruments. But, in verse 24, King David replies, “Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price.” In the Old Testament, a person’s wealth was determined by how much land, how many sheep, oxen, goats, camels etc. he had. God gave land to His Nation, and they were to take and divide it among the Tribes of Israel. Along with laws and a system of Government, every man and woman was given their inherited land, land to work, buy, sell, farm and grow their crops, and feed their cattle. But, of course, first and foremost was their worship of God.
Today this free enterprise is called capitalism. Our forefathers took great pains to make sure our nation was founded upon economic freedoms, as well as other freedoms, for every man, woman, and child! The United States was established upon liberating, constitutional principles and steeped in free-market capitalism. It is a proud heritage, and because of the opportunities that it offered, America was populated by an industrious people, individuals which labored diligently to build the most historically powerful nation on earth! Unfortunately today, many citizens are failing to understand its value. It used to be a nation whose people were people of worth and dignity, a nation of which the people were embedded with a work ethic that excelled that of any other nation, and a nation in which it was considered immoral and shameful to accept unearned handouts or to live off the sweat of another man’s brow, but we have been infested by a bunch of socialist/communist crusaders (most of whom have never worked an honest day’s work in their lives), that promote the Communist Manifesto over our U.S. Constitution and harbor disdain of the free-market system to which they actually owe their lofty existence and high stations. God help us come back to our foundations or this country will not remain the same!
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