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“Hear therefore, O Israel, and do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.” Deuteronomy 6.3
While the Law of God counsels us always to expect there to be poor people in our communities, and to be ready to assist the truly poor in their time of need, it does not counsel complacency about poverty. There will always be poverty, just as there will always be sin; however, a just society will struggle mightily to overcome each of these ills.
God’s plan for justice includes sufficient material wealth to care for all the members of a community. This is not the same as saying that God wants us all to be wealthy. In a just society, work is only one contributor to material prosperity. Obedience to God’s Law is the greatest form of insurance that a community or society will never want for material sustenance. The more societies shape their policies and practices after the requirements of God’s Law, the more they can expect to realize the favor of God in providing for their welfare and peace.
This is not the same as saying that obeying the Law of God, and framing policies that reflect the Law, are either the way to salvation or a guarantee of prosperity for a community or a people. But God is faithful to His promises. The way to secure blessing from the Lord is to walk the path of His Covenant. When His people work for the welfare and pray for the peace of their community (Jer. 29.7), and when, following their example and lead (Ps. 81.13-15), their communities adopt policies which reflect the just laws and statutes of God, those communities have every good reason to expect, not that there will be no poverty in their midst, but that the needs of the truly poor will be met and the pathway out of poverty will be clear for as many as are able to walk it.
T. M. Moore
Visit our website, www.ailbe.org, and sign up to receive our thrice-weekly devotional, Crosfigell, featuring writers from the period of the Celtic Revival and T. M.’s reflections on Scripture and the Celtic Christian tradition. Does the Law of God still apply today? Order a copy of T. M.’s book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, and study the question for yourself.