Enough for Everyone 03

Money and the Bible 03: The Prophets


Isaiah the Prophet, by Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapel

Each of the prophetic books is a sort of written sermon. They are not transcripts of spoken sermons, they were written to be read, primarily, but the purpose is the same as a sermon. They expound on the meaning of the written revelation of God and comment on society's faithfulness or lack thereof. They also provide motivation for change. Most of the famous "Messainic" predictions throughout the prophets help us to understand God's salvation, but most of the material in these books tells us why we need God's grace. These larger portions are much less well known.

In the prophets, the main reason we need God's grace is idolatry. We have not worshipped Yahweh as we ought. Of course, idolatry is much more problematic than simply constructing totem poles and carved statues.[1] Anything (or anyone) that is preferred to Yahweh is an idol. Idolatry is associated in the prophets with two specific sins that both typify and illustrate the broader concept of idolatry. They are the immoral use of the body, and the immoral use of money -- adultery and injustice. Political conservatives usually emphasize one, while liberals emphasize the other. This paper will deal only with what the prophets say about money, since that is our topic at hand.

Isaiah 2.7-8, Their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots. Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.

Isaiah 2.20, In that day men will throw away to the rodents and bats their idols of silver and idols of gold, which they made to worship.

Isaiah 44.12-20, The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint. The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in the form of man, of man in all his glory,that it may dwell in a shrine. He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. It is man's fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, "Ah! I am warm; I see the fire." From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, "Save me; you are my god." They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, "Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?" He feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, "Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?"

Hosea 2.8, [The LORD says,] She has not acknowledged that I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold— which they used for Baal.

The prophets continually bring examples of Israel (and other countries) extorting, robbing and oppressing to gain more wealth. This is a form of idolatry and God hates it.

Isaiah 3.14-15, The LORD enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: "It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?" declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

Isaiah 10.1-4, Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches? Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.

Jeremiah 22.13-17, "Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them for their labor. He says, 'I will build myself a great palace with spacious upper rooms.' So he makes large windows in it, panels it with cedar and decorates it in red. "Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" declares the LORD. "But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion."

Ezekiel 16.49-50, " 'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

Ezekiel 22.29-31, The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice. I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.

Ezekiel 45.9-12," 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: You have gone far enough, O princes of Israel! Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. You are to use accurate scales, an accurate ephah and an accurate bath. The ephah and the bath are to be the same size, the bath containing a tenth of a homer and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer is to be the standard measure for both. The shekel is to consist of twenty gerahs. Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels equal one mina.

Hosea 12.6-7, But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always. The merchant uses dishonest scales; he loves to defraud.

Micah 2.1-3, Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning's light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it. They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance. Therefore, the LORD says: "I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of calamity.

Amos 2.6-8, This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back {my wrath}. They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girl and so profane my holy name. They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines.

Amos 4.1-2, Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, "Bring us some drinks!" The Sovereign LORD has sworn by his holiness: "The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks.

Amos 5.11-14, You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. You oppress the righteous and take bribes and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts. Therefore the prudent man keeps quiet in such times, for the times are evil. Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.

Amos 6.3-7, You put off the evil day and bring near a reign of terror. You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end.
Micah 3.11-12, Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they lean upon the LORD and say, "Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us." Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.

Habakkuk 1.14-17, You have made men like fish in the sea, like sea creatures that have no ruler. The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks, he catches them in his net, he gathers them up in his dragnet; and so he rejoices and is glad. Therefore he sacrifices to his net and burns incense to his dragnet, for by his net he lives in luxury and enjoys the choicest food. Is he to keep on emptying his net, destroying nations without mercy?

Zephaniah 1.11-13, Wail, you who live in the market district; all your merchants will be wiped out, all who trade with silver will be ruined. At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, 'The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.' Their wealth will be plundered, their houses demolished. They will build houses but not live in them; they will plant vineyards but not drink the wine.

Zechariah 7.9-14, "This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.' But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry. " 'When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,' says the LORD Almighty. 'I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land was left so desolate behind them that no one could come or go. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.' "

Zechariah 11.4-6, This is what the LORD my God says: "Pasture the flock marked for slaughter. Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, 'Praise the LORD, I am rich!' Their own shepherds do not spare them. For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land," declares the LORD. "I will hand everyone over to his neighbor and his king. They will oppress the land, and I will not rescue them from their hands."

Malachi 3.5, "So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me," says the LORD Almighty.

We ought to look to God for our source of strength and security. Generosity should characterize the people of God.

Jeremiah 9.23-24, This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.[2]

Jeremiah 29.1, 4-9, This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon… This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: "Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them," declares the LORD.[3]

Malachi 3.8-10, "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

God promises that his people will live in prosperity in the future. Isaiah 54 - 55 and 60 - 66 are good examples. Here are a few more.

Isaiah 2.2-4, In the last days the mountain of the LORD's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

Isaiah 25.6 On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines.

Isaiah 42.1-4, "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope."

Jeremiah 31.31-37, "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD Almighty is his name: "Only if these decrees vanish from my sight," declares the LORD, "will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me." This is what the LORD says: "Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done," declares the LORD.

Ezekiel 34.25-31, " 'I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety. I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. The trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, declares the Sovereign LORD. You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign LORD.' "

Joel 2.23-27, Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm—my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed.

Zechariah 14.14, Judah too will fight at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—great quantities of gold and silver and clothing.

There is a strong connection in the prophets between worship and justice. Israel had emphasized external and formal forms of worship while neglecting to take care of the poor and oppressed. Of course, the feasts, fasts, celebrations, rituals, sacrifices and prayers are all important. God commands them in the law books of the Pentateuch, but apart from justice, they are useless, no matter how "well-intentioned" the people or how "heart-felt" the expressions.

Isaiah 1.10-18, Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! "The multitude of your sacrifices— what are they to me?" says the LORD. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

Isaiah 58.1-10, Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. "Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?" Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.

Jeremiah 7.1-10, This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : "Stand at the gate of the LORD's house and there proclaim this message: " 'Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!" If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. " 'Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, "We are safe"-safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.[4]

Micah 6.6-8, With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?





[1] Even so, we should not commit the "chronological snobbery" of thinking the ancients were so naïve as to think that something they had literally carved had become a sort of god to be worshipped. Rather, we should remember that they used these objects as a form for worshipping a god that already existed. In a similar way, we like to take pictures of those we love and look at them on the wall, or in albums. I especially like to look at pictures of my family and close friends -- because I love them so much. I have "honored" some of the best pictures by placing them on my wall. Of course, it's not the paper, the camera or the picture I honor, it is the person.
[2] See also 1 Corinthians 1.26-29.
[3] See also Romans 12.20-21.
[4] See also Matthew 5.23-24.

Ray, Click and Kong

What I'm Watching:

1. Ray. Awesome biography. Of course it won so many awards, I'm just getting around to seeing it now. Worth owning probably. The director's commentary should win an award. It was the perfect blend of interesting information about Ray Charles and about the film itself. Very little boring spots in the commentary, it was as good as the movie itself. Highly recommended.

2. Click. Adam Sandler. A poor (non-holiday) retelling of It's a Wonderful Life or Christmas Carol or similar movies. A bit preachy -- appreciate your life, even the boring and frustrating spots. Take time with your wife and kids, they are more important than money and job. All the funny stuff is in the trailer. Sandler was phoning it in on this one.

3. King Kong. 2005, Peter Jackson's version. The special affects are far superior to anything I've ever seen before. It reminded me of the classic Willie Wonka because the first half hour of the movie is all pretty dull setup (though it kept my attention). The story is a modern take on a classic storybook fairy tale -- Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty come to mind here. There's also some tribute, I think, to the original radio "cliffhanger" dramas -- pushing the hero farther and farther off the cliff until you think there can be no return. What would have worked well as cartoon came to me as fake because of the incredible realism of the image and sound.

Peter Jackson is brilliant, no doubt, but don't think he understands the depth of the stories he tells. High recommendation, but don't get your hopes too high. He has, of course, done better work.

Historical Inaccuracies

Actually, these are photoshopped. I've been getting into photoshopped images recently. I don't create any myself, I just like viewing others' work.

Enough for Everyone 02

Money and the Bible 02: Poetry Books



Job
Although Job was extremely wealthy, he was a righteous man. To demonstrate his righteousness, he speaks about his actions toward the poor. The actual righteousness of Job is a separate theological question, but when Job tries to argue or appeal his righteousness, he consistently speaks of his actions toward the poor and oppressed.

Job 29:11-17, Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me, because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him. The man who was dying blessed me; I made the widow's heart sing. I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban. I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.

Job 30:25, Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?

Job 31:16-40, "If I have denied the desires of the poor or let the eyes of the widow grow weary, if I have kept my bread to myself, not sharing it with the fatherless- but from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my birth I guided the widow- if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a garment, and his heart did not bless me for warming him with the fleece from my sheep, if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court, then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let it be broken off at the joint. For I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things. "If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, 'You are my security,' if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained, if I have regarded the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor, so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand offered them a kiss of homage, then these also would be sins to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high. "If I have rejoiced at my enemy's misfortune or gloated over the trouble that came to him- I have not allowed my mouth to sin by invoking a curse against his life- if the men of my household have never said, 'Who has not had his fill of Job's meat?'- but no stranger had to spend the night in the street, for my door was always open to the traveler- if I have concealed my sin as men do, by hiding my guilt in my heart because I so feared the crowd and so dreaded the contempt of the clans that I kept silent and would not go outside ("Oh, that I had someone to hear me! I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing. Surely I would wear it on my shoulder, I would put it on like a crown. I would give him an account of my every step; like a prince I would approach him.)-"if my land cries out against me and all its furrows are wet with tears, if I have devoured its yield without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants, then let briers come up instead of wheat and weeds instead of barley." The words of Job are ended.

Psalms
The Songbook of the Hebrew Scriptures talks a lot about poverty and wealth. There are two principles that appear to be in tension with each other. On the one hand, God richly supports and blesses his own people. On the other hand, he is attracted to the poor and needy. These two principles, when separated can lead us to think that God wants everyone to be rich, or that he wants everyone to be poor. Truthfully, God wants everyone to have enough. We ought not to be satisfied with our own money if others still lack basic needs.


Psalm 9:9, The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Psalm 9:18, For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

Psalm 10:16-18, The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land. O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

Psalm 12:5, Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will arise, says the LORD; I will place him in the safety for which he longs.

Psalm 13:5, You would shame the plans of the poor, but the LORD is his refuge.

Psalm 35:10, All my bones shall say, O LORD, who is like you, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, the poor and needy from him who robs him?

Psalm 40:17, As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!

Psalm 68:5-6, Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

Psalm 69:33, For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.

Psalm 72:4, May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to eth children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!

Psalm 72:12-14, For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight.

Psalm 103:6, The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.

Psalm 112:1-5, Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man. Good will come to him who is generous and lends freely, who conducts his affairs with justice.

Psalm 112:9-10, He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor. The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!

Psalm 113:5-9, Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor form the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!

Psalm 128:1-4, Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table. Thus is the man blessed who fears the LORD.

Psalm 140:12, I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and will execute justice for the needy.

Proverbs
The proverbs talk a great deal about money, wealth and poverty. I’ll group them into categories.

Wealth is a good thing

Proverbs 10:22, The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.

Proverbs 14:24, The wealth of the wise is their crown, but the folly of fools yields folly.

Proverbs 15:6, The house of the righteous contains great treasure, but the income of the wicked brings them trouble.

Money comes to the righteous and hard-working person

Proverbs 6:10-11, A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.

Proverbs 10:3-4, The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

Proverbs 13:4, The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.

Proverbs 13:25, The righteous eat to their hearts’ content, but eh stomach of the wicked goes hungry.

Proverbs 15:19, The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns, but he path of the upright is a highway.

Proverbs 16:26, The laborer’s appetite works for him; his hunger drives him on.

Proverbs 19:15, Laziness brings on deep sleep, and the shiftless man goes hungry.

Proverbs 21:17, He who loves pleasure will become poor; whoever loves wine and oil will never be rich.

Proverbs 21:25-26, The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work. All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing.

Proverbs 22:4, Humility and the fear of the LORD bring wealth and honor and life.

Proverbs 22:29, do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men.

Proverbs 28:19, He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

Poverty comes from injustice and oppression

Proverbs 13:23, A poor man’s field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away.

Proverbs 22:16, He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich – both come to poverty.

Proverbs 28:3, A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.


Wealth is not a good ultimate goal

Proverbs 3:13-15, Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.

Proverbs 8:19, My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver.

Proverbs 11:4, Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

Proverbs 15:16-17, Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great wealth with turmoil. Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.

Proverbs 16:8, Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice.

Proverbs 16:16, How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!

Proverbs 17:1, Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife.

Proverbs 23:1-8, When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive. Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. Do not eat the food of a stingy man; do not crave his delicacies; for he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments.

Proverbs 30:8b-9, Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

Money should be earned honestly

Proverbs 10:2, Ill-gotten treasures are of no value, but righteousness delivers from death.

Proverbs 11:1, The LORD abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight.

Proverbs 13:11, Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.

Proverbs 15:27, A greedy man brings trouble to his family, but he who hates bribes will live.

Proverbs 16:11, Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are of his making.

Proverbs 17:23, A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the course of justice.

Proverbs 18:16, A gift opens the way for the giver and ushers him into the presence of the great.

Proverbs 20:17, Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man, but he ends up with a mouth full of gravel.

Proverbs 20:21, An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning will not be blessed at the end.

Proverbs 20:23, The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him.

Proverbs 21:6, A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.

Proverbs 28:20-22, A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eater to get rich will not go unpunished. To show partiality is not good – yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread. A stingy man is eager to get rich and is unaware that poverty awaits him.

Proverbs 28:25, A greedy man stirs up dissension, bu the who trusts in the LORD will prosper.

Proverbs 28:27, He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.

Proverbs 29:4, By justice a king gives a country stability, but one who is greedy for bribes tears it down.

Money should be managed wisely

Proverbs 11:15, He who puts up security for another will surely suffer, but whoever refuses to strike hands in pledge is safe.

Proverbs 17:18, A man lacking in judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor.

Proverbs 21:20, In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.

Proverbs 23:20-21, Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

Proverbs 27:23-27, Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations. When the hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered in, the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field. You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed you and your family and to nourish your servant girls.

Money should be given away to help those in need

Proverbs3:9-10, Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

Proverbs 3:27-28, Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow” – when you now have it with you.

Proverbs 11:24-25, One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes other will himself be refreshed.

Proverbs 14:21, He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.

Proverbs 14:31, He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

Proverbs 19:17, He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.

Proverbs 21:13, If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.

Proverbs 22:9, A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

Proverbs 28:27, He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses.

Proverbs 29:7, The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.


“I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditures on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our won, we are probably giving away too little.” C. S. Lewis, Mere Chrsitianity, iii.3 (81-82).

Bad Children's Books

Actually, these are photoshopped titles on real children's books. I've been getting into photoshopped images recently. I don't create any myself, I just like viewing others' work.
Here are some good sites if you like this kind of thing:
Worth 1000
Something Awful
Freaking News

Enough for Everyone 01

Money and the Bible 01: The Penteteuch

The patriarchs were quite wealthy.
Genesis 13.2, Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.

Genesis, 24.35, "The LORD has blessed my master [Abraham] abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys."

Genesis 26.12-15, Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. So all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.

Genesis 40.43, In this way the man [Jacob] grew exceedingly prosperous and came to own large flocks, and maidservants and menservants, and camels and donkeys.

The patriarchs were quite generous, and used their money to maintain relationships.

Genesis 13.8-9, So Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Let's part company. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right; if you go to the right, I'll go to the left."

Genesis 14.20-23, Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself." But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.'

Genesis 32.13-15, [Jacob] spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.

Genesis 41.57, And all the countries came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the world.

In the law codes, ownership of property is protected, but it is all a gift from God.

Exodus 20.15, 17, You shall not steal…You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

Leviticus 25.23, [The LORD says,] "The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants."

Deuteronomy 8.10-18, When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

Deuteronomy 19.14, Do not move your neighbor's boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

Property rights are not absolute. There are clear restrictions that relativize ownership. For example, the Sabbath, Sabbatical Year and Year of Jubilee laws serve to ensure that the poor do not keep getting poorer, but rather, the wealth is distributed more evenly.

Sabbath: no matter how poor, nobody should work without rest. For those who want to work seven days each week, more money could be made, but God forbids such unchecked accumulation of material wealth.

Exodus 20.8-11, "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Exodus 35.2-3, For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day."

Numbers 15.32-36, While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp." So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Deuteronomy 5.12-15, Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

Sabbatical Year: every seventh year was to be an "unproductive" year where the poor were able to eat along side the rich, and all personal debts were to be cancelled on that year

Exodus 21.1-11, These are the laws you are to set before them: If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. But if the servant declares, 'I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,' then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life. If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do. If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.

Leviticus 25.1-7, The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your manservant and maidservant, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.

Deuteronomy 15.1-18, At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD's time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you. However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you. If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: "The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near," so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you and serves you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free. And when you release him, do not send him away empty-handed. Supply him liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today. But if your servant says to you, "I do not want to leave you," because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your maidservant. Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because his service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do.


Year of Jubilee: Every 50 years, all land goes back to the original family, all debts cancelled, ensured that generational poverty could not continue.

Leviticus 25.8-22, Count off seven sabbaths of years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years. Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan. The fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; do not sow and do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the untended vines. For it is a jubilee and is to be holy for you; eat only what is taken directly from the fields. In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to his own property. If you sell land to one of your countrymen or buy any from him, do not take advantage of each other. You are to buy from your countryman on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. And he is to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for harvesting crops. When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price, because what he is really selling you is the number of crops. Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the LORD your God. Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. You may ask, "What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?" I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.

Further, the gleaning laws provided for the poor through job training and the enforced generosity of the wealthy.

Leviticus 19.9-10, When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 23.24-25, If you enter your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put any in your basket. If you enter your neighbor's grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must not put a sickle to his standing grain.

Deuteronomy 24.19-22, When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.

Many laws regulate the specific treatment of those most vulnerable in society.

Exodus 22.21, Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in Egypt.

Exodus 23.9, Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.

Leviticus 19.13-18, 'Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him. Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight. Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD. Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor's life. I am the LORD. Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19.33-36, When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God. Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt.

Deuteronomy 14.28-29, At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

Deuteronomy 24.10-18, When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into his house to get what he is offering as a pledge. Stay outside and let the man to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. If the man is poor, do not go to sleep with his pledge in your possession. Return his cloak to him by sunset so that he may sleep in it. Then he will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the LORD your God. Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin. Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin. Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.

Deuteronomy 25.13-16, Do not have two differing weights in your bag—one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house—one large, one small. You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. For the LORD your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly.


God set up a "sliding scale" for the sacrifices and other payments. The poor could bring less expensive sacrifices.

Exodus 12.4, If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.

Leviticus 5.7-11, If he cannot afford a lamb, he is to bring two doves or two young pigeons to the LORD as a penalty for his sin—one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. He is to bring them to the priest, who shall first offer the one for the sin offering. He is to wring its head from its neck, not severing it completely, and is to sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering against the side of the altar; the rest of the blood must be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a sin offering. The priest shall then offer the other as a burnt offering in the prescribed way and make atonement for him for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven. If, however, he cannot afford two doves or two young pigeons, he is to bring as an offering for his sin a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He must not put oil or incense on it, because it is a sin offering.

Leviticus 12.8, If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.

Leviticus 14.21-22 If, however, he is poor and cannot afford these, he must take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, together with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, a log of oil, and two doves or two young pigeons, which he can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.

Leviticus 27.8, If anyone making the vow is too poor to pay the specified amount, he is to present the person to the priest, who will set the value for him according to what the man making the vow can afford.


A person giving a loan could not take someone's livelihood as collateral and wages had to be paid on time.

Exodus 22.25-27, If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no interest. If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset, because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.

Leviticus 19.13, Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him. Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.

Deuteronomy 24.6 and 10-15, Do not take a pair of millstones—not even the upper one—as security for a debt, because that would be taking a man's livelihood as security… When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into his house to get what he is offering as a pledge. Stay outside and let the man to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. If the man is poor, do not go to sleep with his pledge in your possession. Return his cloak to him by sunset so that he may sleep in it. Then he will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the LORD your God. Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

"Weaker Brother"

Ok, let's talk about the "weaker brother." Paul tells us that we ought to love one another. If something perfectly good I enjoy is an "obstacle or a trap before a brother or sister" then I should voluntarily forfeit my right to freedom in Christ. Here's the trouble so many of us have -- there is a big difference between a trap and an offense. If something I do offends you, it's probably not a trap.

Let's use the example of drinking alcohol as an example. I have a Christian friend who used to be an alcoholic. If I drink a beer with that person, is that offensive to her? No -- but it is tempting, to be sure. Why should I dangle that carrot in front of temptation in front of her? However, what my Christian friends who think alcohol is inherently sinful? If I drink a beer with them, will they be tempted to alcoholism? No -- but they will be offended. Why? Because I am violating one of their self-imposed rules. Even if beer-drinking is sinful (which I don't believe), should Christians be offended when they see people sin? Should Christians be ashamed to associate with sinners?

What about how we dress in church? What about worship style? Bible version? Expensive clothing? Expensive restaurants? Public vs. private schools? Republican or democrat? Smoking?

More specifically, Paul was talking about eating meat offered to false gods. Some Christians did, some did not. Paul is saying -- don't have a cookout with people who used to be temple prostitutes who are new Christians. For them, cookouts with meat lead quickly to all kinds of destructive behavior. But how did Paul treat the Apostle Peter when he refrained from eating meat? "I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned." His "conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel" (Galatians 2:11-14). It's all about motivation. When Peter abstained from eating meat, he was denying the gospel. That's a big deal!

Jesus, too, was very offensive to the religious leaders -- that's why they killed him! He kept "working" on the Sabbath. He had a reputation as a drunk and a glutton.

The real issue, it seems to me, is our love for our brothers and sisters. If we truly love them, we will need to do things that are uncomfortable for ourselves. For some, we must be careful not to lead them into further sin, so we voluntarily limit our freedom in Christ. For others, we must be careful not to cave into the pressure of "earning" their approval. If we stand firm in the gospel, we will be offensive to those who think they are righteous already. That offense is the offense of the gospel. That offense is the awakening of their own sin. Jesus was awakening the religious leaders to their own sinfulness (think of Nicodemus in John 3). Paul was doing the same with Peter. Of course, we do this with love, grace and compassion. To shirk this responsibility to our "strong" brothers and sisters is to demonstrate our lack of love for them.

Many years ago I heard a (perhaps apocraphal) story about Archibald Alexander, founder of Princeton. He said that he hated the taste of beer, but when non-drinking Christians came to his home, he felt obligated by the truth of the gospel to have some beer in front of them.



Some of us are more comforable confronting people who find their "righteousness" in the Republican party, or in homeschooling, or in meticulously planned worship, or in poverty (or wealth). Others of us are more comfortable inviting notorious "sinners" into our lives and helping them to leave their old destructive habits and form new and better lives.

I think most of us who like to hang out with the "good people" don't like to confront them.
And most of us who like to hang out with the "bad people" don't like to restrict ourselves.

Let's pray for God's grace to be peculiar people wherever he sends us.



Romans 14:13-21
Therefore we must not pass judgment on one another, but rather determine never to place an obstacle or a trap before a brother or sister. I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean in itself; still, it is unclean to the one who considers it unclean. For if your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy by your food someone for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what you consider good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. For the one who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by people.

So then, let us pursue what makes for peace and for building up one another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. For although all things are clean, it is wrong to cause anyone to stumble by what you eat. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

Not Just a Number Anymore

The state of California is recruiting prisoners to transfer to a private facility in Tennessee. Here's the promotional video.

The for-profit prison company is the Corrections Corp of America.

Commercials for prisons competing with each other. Any thoughts?

Black People Love Us

I love great satire, especially about really important issues. This website is awesome.



I understand that not everyone sees the value of satire, but it has a great tradition of using humor to make insightful and contemporary social commentary. For example, Swift's great essay, "A Modest Proposal" written in 1729. I use this example because sometimes it is easier to understand satire out of context.