Observations and Interpretations
(1) Israelites were commanded to cancel debts to fellow Israelite.
2 parts of this section of law:
A. There should not be any poor people for God will bless them if they obey His commandments v.4, 1-6.
B. If there is really a poor person, you really need to cancel the debts and not be upset, for by doing this God will bless you v.10, 7-11.
Principle: God is the one Who gives. When we follow His commandments even when we seem to lose money we will eventually get it back.
Application: Israelites need to have faith to believe this principle. If not, who wants to give out their own money to others and does not want them back? Do we have faith? Do we see money this way?
(2) In dealing with the fellow Hebrew slaves v.12-, God also commandments the master to be generous. Not only the master needed to let the slave go after 6 years, but also give them supply generously v.14.
3 reasons
A. One is the same as above: as the LORD your God has blessed you, you should bless others v.14. If you follow the command God will bless you v.18
B. You yourselves were slaves in Egypt and God redeemed you. Shouldn't you do the same to others v.15?
C. A slave works twice the time of a hired worker already. v.18. (NET) . The idea is that a hired worker would put in only so many hours per day whereas a bondslave was available around the clock.
Principle: Thinking about where your goods came from helps us to be generous. Thinking about our redemption helps us to be generous. Thinking about how others deserve much more than they have asked for also helps us to be generous.
Application: Are we generous? How often do we think of God, think of redemption when we give to the poor or pay our workers? God has everything to do with how we use our money. That's why v.19-23, the last section about giving, talks about giving to God.
How about our time or other resources? Often we see them as our own and we can give them to God or not to give. Actually, if our lives were redeemed by God then nothing really belongs to us. Are we willing to give our time to God generously? When you are tired do you still spend time to have devotion or prepare for your ministry?
Audrey
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