Deuteronomy 15:1-23

Deuteronomy: God’s Law of Love

Love and Obey the *LORD your God

Deuteronomy

Philip Smith

Chapter 15

v1 ‘At the end of every 7 years, you must cancel debts. v2 This is what you must do. Everyone who has lent money to another *Israelite must cancel the debt. He must not ask for payment. The *LORD has declared that he must cancel the debt. v3 You can demand what a foreigner owes to you. But you must not demand what another *Israelite owes to you. v4 However, there should be no poor people among you because the *LORD your God will *bless you in the country. He is giving this country to you as your own possession. v5 But you must obey the *LORD your God. And you must be careful to obey everything that I have told you today. v6 The *LORD your God will *bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations. But you will not need them to lend money to you. You will rule over many nations, but no nation will rule over you.

v7 Suppose that there is a poor *Israelite man. He is in one of the towns that the *LORD your God is giving to you. Do not be selfish. Do not refuse to help that poor man. v8 Instead, be generous. Lend him as much as he needs. v9 Do not have this wicked thought. “The 7^th year, the year to cancel debts, is near.” So you refuse to lend him anything. He will then cry out to the *LORD against you. You will be guilty of a *sin. v10 Give to him freely and unselfishly. Then the *LORD your God will *bless you in everything that you do. v11 There will always be poor people in the country. Therefore, give in a generous way to other *Israelites. Be generous to everyone who is poor. Be generous to those who have needs.’

God gave these laws to *Israelites. They grew most of their own food. If they owed money, it was because of unusual circumstances. (Today many people have debts because they do not spend money in a responsible way.) God wanted the *Israelites to look after people who were poor. During one year in every 7 years, the people did not grow crops in their fields. Therefore, they could not pay their debts. In that year, the rich people had to cancel all debts. In that way, rich people showed that they loved the poor people. The *Israelite society was like a family who should look after the whole family. But there were different rules for foreigners. The *Israelites did not have to cancel the debts of foreigners. (R. K. Harrison says that usually foreigners asked other people to lend them money for business. Foreigners did not ask other people for a loan because they needed money.)

If the *Israelites obeyed God and his *commandments, he would *bless them. Then the *Israelites would never owe money to other nations. Other nations would never rule over the people in *Israel. Instead, *Israel would lend money to other nations. They would rule over the other nations. The *Israelites should be generous. They should lend money to people, even if people did not give back the money.

If we obey God, we will be generous to people. Jesus said to his followers, ‘Love your enemies. Do good things to them. Lend and do not expect anything back.’ (See Luke 6:35.) 1 John 3:17 tells us this. ‘Let us suppose that a rich person does not help his poor neighbour. We cannot say that the love of God is in the rich person.’ The writer of Deuteronomy knew that *Israelites would not obey God. Therefore, there would always be poor people (verse 11). However, there would also be opportunities to help them.

v12 ‘Suppose that another *Israelite, whether a man or a woman, sells himself to you as a *slave. After that person has served you for 6 years, you must free him. v13 When you free him, do not send him away without anything. v14 Be generous. Give to him from your sheep, your corn and your wine. The *LORD your God has been generous to you. So be as generous to your *slave. v15 Remember that you were *slaves in Egypt. Remember that the *LORD your God freed you. That is why I am giving this command to you today.

v16 But your *slave might not want to leave. He might love you and your family. He might want to stay with you. v17 Then take him to the door of your house. There push a sharp piece of metal through his ear into the door. He will become your *slave for as long as he lives. Do the same thing to your female *slave.

v18 It must not seem a hard thing to free your *slave. He has served you during these 6 years. That has been worth twice as much to you as a servant whom you hire. Do that and the *LORD your God will *bless you and all your work.’

This law is about *Israelites who were *slaves. To be a *slave was not a bad thing for the *Israelites. They had to look after their *slaves well. And the *Israelites had to respect their *slaves. *Slaves served other people in order to pay their debts. When their owners freed them, the owners gave them generous gifts. That would help them in their new lives. And it would remind their owners about what God had done. God had freed the *Israelites when they were *slaves in Egypt. Sometimes a *slave wanted to remain with his master. The master made a hole in the slave’s ear. To do that, he would push a piece of metal through the slave’s ear and into the door. That showed that the slave wanted to join the master’s home.

In Romans 12:1, Paul says that we should give ourselves to God as his servants. We should do that because of what Jesus has done for us. Paul explains this in 2 Corinthians 5:15 as well.

Notice that this law deals with men and women in the same way. The owner should not complain when he freed his *slave. It would cost the owner a lot to hire a servant. So his *slave’s service was very valuable. Even if the owner did not get back the money, he still gained God’s *blessing.

v19 ‘Keep all the males that are born first to your *cattle and to your sheep. They are for the *LORD your God. Do not use any of those *cattle for work. Do not cut off the wool from any of those sheep. v20 Each year, you and your family must eat them in front of the *LORD your God. Do that in the place that the *LORD chooses. v21 An animal may have weak legs or it may be blind. If it is not perfect, you must not *sacrifice it to the *LORD your God. v22 Instead, you should eat it in your own town. All of you can eat it in the same way that you eat *deer or *antelope. You can eat it whether you are *clean or not *clean. v23 But do not use the blood as your food. Pour out the blood on the ground like water.’

The *Israelites must give to God all their animals that are born first. They must not use them to work in the fields. They must not cut off their wool. The people should kill those animals at the place that God had chosen. And they should eat them there. That happened every year. The *Israelites must not *sacrifice animals that were not perfect. Instead, they could eat them at home. The animals did not have to be *clean for the people to do that. Moses repeats the instruction not to eat the blood of the animal. See chapter 12 verses 15-16.

This passage reminds us about Jesus. He gave himself as a *sacrifice on our behalf. He was perfect and he had no *sin. Otherwise, God would not have accepted his *sacrifice.

Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.

covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
blessing ~ a good thing that God does for us; when someone asks God to do good things for a person or for people; when a person speaks good words about someone.
cattle ~ cows and bulls.

bull ~ male farm animal; (the female is called a cow). The Israelites made a metal image of a bull, which they worshipped as an idol.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.

idol ~ an image of a false god that people give honour to; an object of wood, stone or metal that people worship.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.
deer ~ an animal. It has long legs and it runs quickly. It eats grass and leaves.
antelope ~ an animal like a deer that can run very fast.

deer ~ an animal. It has long legs and it runs quickly. It eats grass and leaves.
clean ~ good in thought and in action. But, in the Old Testament, many things could make a person not clean towards God. For example, if they touched a dead body, that would make them not clean. And the Israelites must not eat animals that God called not clean.

Old Testament ~ the first part of the Bible, it tells about the history and the beliefs of the Israelites.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.