15:7-11God told the Israelites to help the poor among them when they arrived in the Promised Land. This was an important part of possessing the land. Many people conclude that people are poor through some fault of their own. This kind of reasoning makes it easy to close their hearts and hands to the needy. But we are not to invent reasons for ignoring the poor. We are to respond to their needs no matter who or what was responsible for their condition. Who are the paor in your community? How could your church help them? If your church does not have a program to identify the poor and assist in fulfilling their needs, why not help start one? What can you do to help someone in need? God our best (i.e., the first part of what we earn). It is always tempting to shortchange God because we think we won't get caught. But our giving shows our real priorities. When we give God the leftovers, it is obvious that he is not at the center of our lives. Give God the honor of having first claim on your money, time, and talents.
Life Application Study BibleDeuteronomyChapter 15
Deuteronomy 15
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 284, 285
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
Release for Debtors
115 “At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money. 2This is how it must be done. Everyone must cancel the loans they have made to their fellow Israelites. They must not demand payment from their neighbors or relatives, for the LORD’s time of release has arrived. 3This release from debt, however, applies only to your fellow Israelites—not to the foreigners living among you. 4“There should be no poor among you, for the LORD your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession. 5You will receive this blessing if you are careful to obey all the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today. The LORD your God will bless you as he has promised. You will tend money to many nations but will never need to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you. 7“But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them. 8Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need. 9Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the LORD, you will be considered guilty of sin. 10Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do. 11There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.
Release for Hebrew Slaves
1212“If a fellow Hebrew sells himself or herself to be your servant* and serves you for six years, in the seventh year you must set that servant free. 13“When you release a male servant, do not send him away empty-handed. 14Give him a generous farewell gift from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Share with him some of the bounty with which the LORD your God has blessed you. 1SRemember that you were once slaves in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you! Thatis why I am giving you this command. 16“But suppose your servant says, ‘I will not leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and he has done well with you. 17In that case, take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door. After that, he will be your servant for life. And do the same for your female servants. 18“You must not consider it a hardship when you release your servants. Remember that for six years they have given you services worth double the wages of hired workers, and the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.
Sacrificing Firstborn Male Animals
1919”You must set aside for the LORD your God all the firstborn males from your flocks and herds. Do not use the firstborn of your herds to work your fields, and do not shear the firstborn of your flocks. 20Instead, you and your family must eat these animals in the presence of the LORD your God each year at the place he chooses. 21But if this firstborn animal has any defect, such as lameness or blindness, or if anything else is wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. 22Instead, use it for food for your family in your hometown. Anyone, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, may eat it, just as anyone may eat a gazelle or deer. 23But you must not eat the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.
Textual footnotes
- 15:12 Or ff a Hebrew man or woman is sold to you.
Life Application Notes 1 note
Charts, profiles & sidebars from the printed pages
Study feature · page 285
15:12:15 The Israelites were to release their servants after six years, sending them away with enough food so that they would be amply supplied until their needs could be met by some other means. This humanitarian act recognized that God created each person with dignity and worth. It also reminded the Israelites that they, too, had once been slaves in Egypt, and that their present freedom was a gift from God. We do not have servants such as these today, but God’s instructions still apply to us: We must still be sure to treat our employees with respect and economic fairness.