Deuteronomy 14.28, 29
²⁸ “At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. ²⁹ And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.”

Gleaning was not the only provision made for the poor in the Law of God for ancient Israel. Every three years the tithe was to be devoted to the needs of the poor, as well as the Levites. Perhaps the tithe was kept in store by the Levites and given to the poor when the gleanings were slight. This would be much like the way churches administer their “deacons’ funds” in our day.

There would always be poor in Israel – a simple sociological fact. On the other hand, God insisted that there should be no poor among His people, none who went without and were reduced to the status of beggars (cf. Deut. 15.4). God knows how to provide for His own, and as there were to be none in Israel without material resources to enjoy and to use on behalf of others, so, in the Church, the Spirit of God ensures that all members are endowed with gifts to share in the work of building up the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 12.7-11).

Churches must encourage all their members to receive the good gifts of God not as instruments for self-satisfaction, but as means to enrich all the members of the community in the grace and truth of God.

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.