Deuteronomy 15.7, 8   
⁷ “If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, ⁸ but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs.”

Exodus 22.25
“If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest.”

Deuteronomy 23.19, 20

Help to the poor can come in the form of a loan. Recall that, in ancient Israel, those making loans to others were not allowed to charge interest. Moreover, outstanding loans were cancelled at the Sabbath year, the approach of which might well influence how much a man might be willing to lend to his neighbor. If the need was great and the year was nigh, a man might prudently lend only part of what was needed. Other neighbors would have to be engaged, thus increasing community involvement in the relief of the poor.

At the same time, the poor man must expect to make a good faith effort to repay the loan, and we can imagine that some kind of schedule was used to ensure this was the case. Anyone making a loan in an irresponsible manner would mark himself as such by being in violation of a contract (the ninth commandment), thus inviting appropriate steps against him in order to return justice to the community.

T. M. Moore

The Law of God is the soil which, fertilized by the rest of God’s Word and watered by His Spirit, brings forth the fruit of Christian life. If you’d like to understand this process better, and how to make best use of the Law in your walk with and work for the Lord, order the book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, from our online store.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.