Deuteronomy 15 Commentary
The LORD repeats the regulations regarding the sabbatical year. Deuteronomy highlights key events and key themes for Israel. The mention of the sabbatical year brings to light one important concept. Sabbath isn’t necessarily a day or activities usually associated with the seventh day. It is a concept – the concept of rest.
The overall concept of the Sabbath is captured by different concepts in the various Sabbaths that Israel observed. We have the seventh day, the seventh year, and the seven-by-seventh year observed as the year of jubilee. This chapter focuses on the seventh year. The important concept here is freedom for debtors.
Interestingly, the LORD envisions a people without debt because of abundance in the Promised Land. The saint may look at this section for encouragement. We may starve for other reasons but it can never be due to the failure of the LORD to provide. The grace is available to us all for prosperity.
Nevertheless, the poor will always be there – for one reason or the other, sadly. The LORD warns against the wickedness of thought. It is a hard one. One shouldn’t fail to help because they fear the debtor won’t pay back. In case of failure, the LORD promises to pay back. Generosity is encouraged.
Three categories of help areas can be identified: your brother, the poor, and the needy. More often than not, the poor and the needy are one and the same.
But it does happen that the needy are not necessarily the poor. These too need our help. A rich man in a hospital needs help though he is not exactly poor. He is needy. And the brother? Well, that is you and me. At some point we all need help.
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