Deuteronomy 14:22-15:23
INTRODUCTION
Last
week, in Deuteronomy 14:1-21, we read and studied about the food laws God gave
the Israelites. We learned that as children of God, a nation He created and
called His own, the Israelites were to obey God’s food laws not because they could
get sick, but because He said so. When God calls things detestable, His
children are to call them detestable, too, even if we do not understand His
reasoning. We learned that the food laws of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 pertaining
to clean and unclean food are no longer relevant since Jesus Christ’s time on
earth because He came to fulfill the Law and establish a new covenant. He fulfilled
the old covenant. The problem from this week’s lesson centers on differing
levels of prosperity and poverty in Israel. Let us read this passage of
Scripture and then see what God told the Israelites through Moses.
Background
The first thing we must notice is
that Moses encapsulated the teaching in this passage with reminders about
giving a tithe to the LORD God. What is the purpose for his using this literary
technique? Moses used the technique to draw attention to the blessings God bestowed
upon the Israelites and therefore have to give to the needs of the poor around them.
If you will remember from Deuteronomy 12, God told the Israelites to take a
tithe of their wine, grain, oil, herds, and flocks to the temple each year. He
told them they were to give a portion of it to Him. The rest they were to eat
with their household, servants, and the Levites in their town while rejoicing in
their undertakings in which the LORD blessed them (Deuteronomy 12:6-7, 11-12,
& 17-18).
How do we know the land of the
Canaanites, which God gave to the Israelites, would be profitable? How do we know
they would have a tithe to take to the temple and about which they would
rejoice? God spoke to the Israelites several times about the land of Canaan. He
called it a land flowing with milk and honey in Exodus 3:8 and 33:3. When the
twelve spies returned from spying in Canaan, they spoke of a land that flowed
with milk and honey as evidenced in the huge fruit (Numbers 13:27). When the
Israelites waited at Beth-peor to enter Canaan to receive their inheritance
from God, God told them the land would be plentiful as long as they stayed
faithful in their covenant with Him. He said, “He will give the rain for your
land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain
and your new wine, and your oil” (Deuteronomy 11:13-14). Remember, the Old
Testament covenants carried a promise of a blessing and a curse for the people
in the covenant. In the Mosaic covenant, if the Israelites were faithful to
their covenant, they would receive the blessing of the covenant. If they were
not faithful, they would receive the curse of the covenant. God’s promised
blessing was life – abundance, the resultant prosperity, and life (Deuteronomy
28:1-15). The promised curse was death – drought, famine, and death
(Deuteronomy 28:16-63).
From this, we see why God instituted the tithe as part of
the Israelites religious celebrations. God expected them to stay faithful to
their covenant with Him. He planned on it and created a law about the tithe.
The tithe would be their gift to God for His love and providing for them. They would
rejoice and praise Him while taking care of the people around them. So having
the teaching of the tithe encapsulate God’s law on caring for other people
makes sense since it speaks of sharing in one’s abundance by giving part back
to God, sharing in the worship and praise of God for his provision, and
providing food for their whole household, servants, and the Levites in their
town. Now, let us look at the rest of the teaching in Deuteronomy 14:22-15:23.
Reminder
Moses reminded the Israelites they were to give a tenth
of their produce from what they sow each year, of their new wine, and the
firstborn of their herd and flock. This is not a new teaching as noted in the earlier
section. Moses reminded them, too, that if the distance was too great between
their home and the temple where God set His name, they could sell their tithe,
carry the money to the temple, and buy whatever their heart desired. With their
purchase they could worship before the LORD and rejoice with their household,
servants, and the Levites of their town because of what the LORD’s hand
provided for them (Deut. 14:23-27). Moses explained why the people were to give
their tithe to the LORD. In verse 23b, he said they were to do this so they may
learn to fear/revere the LORD God always. Verse 26b said they were to offer
their tithes so they could rejoice together at God’s providing for them.
EXPANSION OF THE LAW
Caring
for the Town
Deuteronomy 14:28-29 expand the law
of the tithe. It says,
At the end of every
third year, you shall bring out all the tithes of your produce in that year,
and shall deposit it in your town. The Levite, because he has no portion or
inheritance among you and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town
shall come, eat, and be satisfied.
The Hebrew word for our
English word “bring” is yatsa. It
means to come forth with a purpose. The purpose of the Israelites’ tithe in their
town/city in the third year was to rejoice in what God provided for them. They
celebrated in their town and provided food for everyone in the town – Israelite
and alien. Remember, God made sure the Levites had food because He did not give
them land for their tribe. He made them a people who worked for and served Him
(Deuteronomy 10:8-9). The Levites in the towns and cities did not receive as
much from the Israelites offerings and tithes once God established His temple
in Jerusalem. The law God gave the Israelites provided them with their food and
other needs. They did not eat the entire tithe that God instructed the
Israelites to deposit in their own towns in one day. They used it during the
three-year period for the inhabitants of the town/city. God named the
inhabitants included to be recipients of the tithe – aliens, orphans, and
widows. Aliens were temporary inhabitants of Israel. They were foreigners and
non-Israelite. Deuteronomy 16:11 & 14 and 26:12 speak of this. Deuteronomy
24:19-21speaks of assisting these peoples, too. The Jews, over time,
consolidated this list to mean “neighbors,” which then meant Israelites in
their minds. When Jesus ministered on earth, He redefined “neighbor” for the
Jews. He said, in Luke 10, anyone around you is your neighbor. This included
the ritually clean and unclean person as Deuteronomy 12:15 says.
Debtors
In Deuteronomy 15:1-3, Moses taught
the Israelites to release debtors from their debt every seven years. He said,
Every creditor shall
release what he has loaned his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor
and his brother, because the LORD’s remission has been proclaimed. From a
foreigner you may exact it, but your hand shall release whatever of yours is
with your brother. (Deut. 15:2-3 [NASB])
Notice that “neighbor” does
not include foreigners, just Israelites. The word “neighbor” in the Hebrew is rea and means a friend, companion, or
fellow citizen. In the Luke 10:25-37 passage mentioned earlier, “neighbor” came
from the Greek word plesion. Christ used
it to mean any human with whom we meet or live despite his or her religion. For
the Jews and for the law in Deuteronomy 15:2-3, neighbor meant an Israelite
with whom they lived. Hence, every seven years, the Sabbatic year, God
instructed the Israelites to release from debt any Israelite’s debtor. Because
God gave land to each Israelite in Canaan according to his tribe and because He
considered each of them equal, God commanded the removal of debt they incurred.
The incurring debt created levels of society. Verse 3, though, says the
Israelites could exact a debt from foreigners.
The
Poor
God re-iterated in 15:4-11 there would
be no levels of society with his “poor” law. God’s covenant with the Israelites
said He planned to bless each of them in the land they inherited. He noted this
when He told them they will possess the land which they inherited from the Abrahamic
covenant when they fulfill their part of the Mosaic covenant. All Israelites
were equal and shared in the blessings of God from the Mosaic covenant. Moses
stated this in verses 15:4-5 when he said,
However, there will
be no poor among you since the LORD will surely bless you in the land which the
LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, if you only listen
obediently to the voice of the LORD your God to observe carefully all this
commandment which I am commanding you today. [NASB]
Moses
stated this truth in earlier chapters of Deuteronomy – Deuteronomy 7:12-26 and
11:13. Later, Moses said this in Deuteronomy 28:1 & 8. He used the now
familiar word, shamar, meaning to
listen, hear, and obey. Moses emphasized this point when he told them to
“listen obediently.” He made sure the Israelites knew what he said about the
poor was from God and must be obeyed to stay within their covenant with God. He
told them, because God promised to prosper them, other nations would seek loans
from them. Yet, they must not take loans from other nations because those
nations would rule over them (vs. 6). Because they stayed faithful to their
covenant with God, His blessings meant they would not need loans. If they found
they needed loans, then they would know they had not kept faithful to their
covenant with God. Because God knew they would break covenant, He provided this
law about loans and the poor. The Israelites would have poor among their people
because of being unfaithful to God (Leviticus 25:35). Moses said, “They will
never cease to be in the land” (Deut. 15:11). God told them what to do about
their poor kindred. He told them not to harden their hearts or close their
hands, but to give freely and generously sufficiently from their supply (Deut.
15:7-8). This hardening of the Israelites’ hearts means being obstinate in
sharing and the closed hand shows they were not to shut their hands when their
poor brothers needed them. Moses said the Israelites were to open their hands
to their poor brothers and lend generously to them. Their lack of faithfulness
to God brought on themselves the lack of blessing from God. The poor would be
among the Israelites. They must give what they need as gift or loan. Added to
giving what the poor needed, God commanded the Israelites to give with a good
heart. They were not to consider the number of years before the Sabbatic year of
remission to determine if the income was worth giving a loan to someone. The imminence
of the Sabbatic year must not keep a person from helping their kinsman. Instead,
God commanded them to give generously to the poor brother to keep the giver’s
heart from being grieved. The latter is one of the reasons the Israelites
should help the poor. Verse 10b is the other place that mentions it. The LORD
God will bless them in all their work and undertakings. Moses said this in
verse 4b, too, when he said, “The LORD will surely bless you in the land which
the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess.”
Moses was right, the poor continued to be in
Israel. The Israelites were unfaithful to their covenant with God. God wanted
to bless them and gave mercy to them often. In the time of Jesus’ ministry, He
noted that the poor were from and living in Israel (Matthew 26:11, Mark 14:7,
and John 12:8).
Servants
The poor continued to arise in
Israel. To ease their dire financial straits, some poor sold themselves as
bondservants to other people. Becoming a bondservant enabled the repayment of their
debt. Verses 12 through 18 speak to this issue. God did not create differing
social ranks of people. Everyone is equal in God’s eyes and He treats them that
way. God provided relief for the poor by telling Israelites to take care of
their brothers via handouts or loans. He provided relief for them by telling
creditors to release the debtor from their debts every seven years. In the same
way, God gave relief from the debt of servitude by providing the servant’s
release every seven years, the Sabbatic year. Notice in verse twelve the
bondservant is a kinsman/relative, an Israelite/Hebrew. To pay the debt of a
family, families sold men or women of the family into servitude to another Israelite.
The length of a person’s servitude must not be longer than six years according
to God’s law here. If the Israelites kept their commitment to their covenant
with the LORD, God promised them bountiful fruit from their harvest of grain,
wine, oil, and animals. Because they proved unfaithful to God, God withheld His
blessings. Because of His love and mercy, He had a plan for the release of the
servant, debtor, and poor from their situation. God loves all His children equally
and provides an equalizing factor every seven years.
Another provision for bondservants
in the Sabbatic year release was furnishings from their kinsman/master. The one
who paid the debt of the bondservant must not send them away empty-handed
according to verse thirteen. God provided a new beginning for the newly
released bondservant. He commanded the master give from his flock, threshing,
floor, wine vat, to the bond servant upon his or her release just as the LORD
gave to the master (vs. 15:14). God’s reasoning to the master is that they must
remember that God redeemed Israel from their slavery in Egypt. Because of this,
they must release their bondservants.
God
gave one exception to the redemption of bondservants. If the bondservant says
he or she loves the master and will not go away from him since he fares well
with him, then the master could make the bondservant a servant forever. They denoted
this relationship by piercing the servant’s ear (vs. 15:16-17). For each of
these commands about servants, Deuteronomy 15:18 expresses God’s overarching reason.
God commanded through Moses, “It shall not seem hard to you when you set him
free, for he has given you six years with double the service of a hired man; so
the LORD your God will bless you in whatever you do.” Again, following God’s
command leads to blessing.
Tithe
Reprise
Though a reprise of God’s command about
the tithe, a noticeable difference appears. In Deuteronomy 14:22-27, God told
them what to tithe and what to do if they lived too far away from the temple to
take their tithe. In the tithe passage of Deuteronomy 15:19-23, the focus is on
the consecration of the firstborn of the herd and flock. Consecration comes
from the Hebrew word qadash and means
to dedicate, set apart, and make holy for the LORD. By consecrating a male lamb
or bull calf, the owner intentionally set aside his offering to the LORD from
the bounty the God gave to him. This action provided focus on the visible
results of intentionally consecrating a part of the herd and flock. As the
owner did not shear or work with the consecrated animal, the animal(s) became visibly
obvious to the owner as set apart for God. It was a visible reminder to the
owner of his covenant with God. Just as writing on the gates and doors reminded
the Israelites of their covenant with God, the consecrated sheep or bull bore
the visible effects of not being used or employed and became a reminder of
their covenant with God. Remember, this sheep or bull God commanded they set
apart for Him and take to the temple every year. They would eat in communion
with God, the owner’s family and household, and with the Levite in his city or
town. These people would witness to and rejoice at the blessing and bounty of
the LORD. It was a cause for celebratory worship of God.
God gave one proviso though. If a
firstborn male of a ewe or heifer carried any defect such as lameness or
blindness or any other serious defect, the owner was not to sacrifice it to the
LORD God. Thank offerings and tithes to the LORD must come from the best of the
produce/animals produced during the year. If the animal set apart to God had a
defect, the people of the town/city - the ritually clean and unclean – were to eat
the animal in the town or city of the owner’s home. This command is like the
law God gave to the Israelites about eating meat outside the temple celebration
in Deuteronomy 12:15-16, & 22. The clean and unclean persons of the
town/city could eat meat whenever they wanted outside the temple celebration as
long as they poured the blood of the animal on the ground like water
(Deuteronomy 15:23; Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 7:26, 17:10, 19:26; Deuteronomy 12:16,
23).
In each
of the other sections of today’s study, God gave a reason He commanded what He
did. Deuteronomy 15:19-23 does not have an explicit reason. Yet we know the
answer why God told the Israelites to consecrate the firstborn males. Moses
stated it the first time in Deuteronomy 14:29, “In order that the LORD your God
may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.” Faithfulness to your
covenant with God brings God’s blessing. Moses stated it in Deuteronomy 14:29,
15:4b, 10b, 14b, & 18b. God wanted the Israelites’ faithfulness to His
covenant with them. Along with blessing the Israelites, Moses gave four other
reasons for them to do what God commanded – 1) that they may learn to fear the
LORD (14:23); 2) to be in the presence of the LORD and rejoice (14:26b); 3) the
LORD said so (15:2b, 15:11, & 15:20); and 4) to remember they were slaves
in Egypt and God redeemed you (15:15).
RELEVANCE AND CONCLUSION
God was not overbearing with the
Israelites. Considering He chose to love them and make them His people, they
should have been happy to respond to Him with love. Considering God rescued
them from slavery and created a nation from them - a people too small in number
to make a nation - they should have been grateful and praising Him. Considering
that God promised them a land of unending bounty and prosperity, they should
have listened to and obeyed Him. We in the twenty-first century see that from
our 3400-year hindsight. How are we doing, though, in our commitment to God?
Yes, Jesus changed the way the Israelites interpreted neighbor when he spoke
with the Pharisee in Luke 10. Even though God provided for the aliens living in
Israel, the Israelites chose not to help them. Jesus confronted the Pharisee
with the parable of the Good Samaritan. We should not consider people our
kinsman and neighbor just by genetics, but by our Creator. Our genetics come
from our Creator. God created each person to be equal with all others. This
means that someone who does not live in our country is just as worthy to have
enough to live on and with as us. When we see or hear of another human being starving,
God commands we, as his or her brother or sister, give, with a grateful heart, from
the bounty God bestowed upon us. This applies to shelter, clothing, education,
and freedom from the bondage of slavery, too.
What then, faced with these facts,
will we do? I hope and God commands we stay faithful to our covenant with Him
and do as Jesus taught through His life, words, and ministry on earth. The LORD
stated specifically in Matthew 25:31-46 what we are to do. We are to give
drink, food, clothing, shelter. Added to this, we are to invite people into our
homes and visit them in prison. God will judge us based on our giving and doing
for our brothers, even the least of them, just as Christ did. Who are our brothers?
Jesus answered that, as did I earlier. They are all people, not just our
national citizens, kinsmen, brothers in faith, or biological siblings. Because
God is the ultimate Father, all humans are our brothers and sisters. From the
first question, what will we do?
We must decide for ourselves. Will we accept
God’s provision of redemption from slavery to ourselves and the deception of
Satan? If so, we must decide if we will be faithful to our covenant with God
through Jesus Christ to live as He taught, lived, and commanded – to love our
neighbors as ourselves. Jesus gave just two commandments. Matthew, the apostle,
recorded it in Matthew 22:36-39. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love
the LORD with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second is to love
our neighbors as ourselves. Will you choose to follow God’s command and Jesus’
commandment? Will you choose to give your life to be God’s son or daughter? The
choice is yours. What will you decide?
