What Are Our Obligations to the Poor? – Part 7
May 24, 2010
Dear Friends,
Last week we spoke about the Jubilee. When people fell on hard times in ancient Israel, they could lease their lands to someone else until the next Jubilee (maximum of 50 years) when all lands returned to their original owner. The principle of the Jubilee prevented any powerful family from accumulating massive wealth to the exclusion of others. This process in ancient Israel prevented the creation of the great gaps in wealth that are so prevalent in our society today.
There was another principle involved in the Jubilee process where property could revert back to its rightful stewards before the Jubilee period and it involved redemption. This leads us to our next point.
2. Families First
Even in the case of someone leasing their lands in cases of poverty, the next social safety net kicked in - family.
If one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property, his nearest relative is to come and redeem what his countryman has sold.(Lev. 25:25 NIV)
Families were not supposed to let their relatives suffer in poverty, but were to redeem them. This principle carries over into the New Testament as well. Paul tells Timothy,
If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (1 Tim. 5:8 NIV)
Notice the strong language used by the Apostle for brethren who failed in this regard. They were “worse than an unbeliever.” This is very serious first principle of discipleship not to be lightly dismissed.
WCF, on whose board I am privileged to serve, is often approached by individuals that have fallen on difficult times. We realize that asking for help is a very humbling and difficult thing to do. At the same time, in order to be good stewards of God’s funds that have been graciously donated for our caretaking, we have to follow Biblical protocols. One of the first questions we will inevitably ask in these situations is have they approached their families for help. Family is the first place that people should seek help.
This is the right thing to do for several reasons. First, God ordained families as the primary vehicle for salvation. The story of the Bible is the story of families – primarily God’s family as seen in the descendents (physically and spiritually) of Abraham. When the family unit is working as it should, God comes first and foremost (Matt. 10:37) but this love for God extends an even greater love to the rest of the family. The self-sacrificing love that God teaches us in the Bible must be demonstrated in the family. When this self-sacrificing love breaks down, these relationships we are discussing break down and create further dysfunction. Therefore, we do a disservice to that God-ordained unit of salvation when we deprive the family of the opportunity to help their own.
God doesn’t want us to see this as something we have to do, but as an honor. To bring this point home, God gave the kinsman-redeemer an “out” which is fairly unusual in things under the Law. They could refuse the role, but must also accept that this was shameful. In cases of raising up children to a dead relative – another case of redemption — the person who refused to do so was publicly humiliated.
Then shall his brother’s wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, so shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother’s house.(De 25:9)
There is a lesson in this for us too. Is not the same lesson found in 1 John 3:17 when we are told “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” It seems to me that when we ignore the poverty of our brethren God we are deserving of this same treatment. At the same time, however, we need to be aware that in our eagerness to help our brethren, we do not overstep our bounds and usurp this privilege of helping from the families. Only when the families refuse to help or demonstrate an inability to help should we step in.
The idea again we wish to emphasize is that redeeming your poor brother is an honor. In fact, under the Law of Moses, this privilege of redemption was reserved for the closest relative so there would be no arguing about who had the opportunity.
If one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property, his nearest relative is to come and redeem what his countryman has sold. (Lev. 25:25 NIV)
Think of it this way – every one of us has God as our redeemer. In this instance of helping our families, we can have the privilege of acting out one of God’s most important roles for our brethren by acting a redeemer. What an honor! If the immediate, blood family is unable to do this, this privilege shifts to the local ecclesial (spiritual) family. If the local ecclesial family cannot do it, this privilege shifts to the larger body of Christ.
This principle is clearly outlined in the treatment of widows in the New Testament. Paul says,
Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. (1 Tim. 5:3-4 NIV)
He then goes on to say,
If any woman who is a believer has widows in her family, she should help them and not let the church be burdened with them, so that the church can help those widows who are really in need. (v. 16)
In this brief study we learn that families have an important role to play in poverty alleviation. Biblically speaking, they have the privilege of being the first to help and in so doing get to act out of role typically fulfilled by our heavenly Father – redeemer. When we try to help others, we need to take into account the general principle of “family first.”
Have a great week,
