Are you finding the rules that God was reminding Israel about in our on-going study of Deuteronomy Chapter 24 to be a bit tedious?
They might seem that way at first glance, but when we begin to ponder the deeper meanings we can see that God wasn’t just wasting his time repeating these laws and statutes again. He was reinforcing the knowledge that Israel had been given in order to become a great nation.
Welcome to our COME AS A CHILD BIBLE STUDY. We are happy to have you along!
Some of the passages in this chapter just seem to need to be taken at face value. Not all of them have hidden, more spiritual lessons for us to elaborate upon.
RESPECTING A PERSON’S LIVELIHOOD
For instance, our passage today; which is Deuteronomy Chapter 24; verse 6:
Do not take a pair of millstones—not even the upper one—as security for a debt, because that would be taking a person’s livelihood as security.
At first glance; this statement seems to explain itself; needing no further explanation or emphasis to the community. After all; just how much can be said about taking a pair of millstones as collateral?
First of all; if you take away a miller’s millstones; how will he be able to carry on his work?
If he is skilled in milling and you take away his tools for doing so; he would be forced to go out and learn another trade and work that trade long enough to buy more millstones in order to do what he does best.
ANY MAN’S WORK REQUIRES THE PROPER TOOLS
However; if he owed you money and you did NOT take his millstones as collateral; then he would have every opportunity to get to work and earn the money to repay you quickly.
You both win!
God is so smart.
It just isn’t wise to take away the tools that a man has for making an honest, decent living that will feed and cloth his family. That would be taking more than collateral; it would be making him too crippled to navigate out of the troubles that he has already accumulated.
You would be piling troubles on top of troubles.
PRACTICE BLESSING OTHERS WITH YOUR BLESSINGS
How could we see this in light of today’s world?
This law is about basic human rights. To rob someone, or to take from them their ability to make a living, deprives them of a basic human right; to protect the needs of their own life as well as protect their family.
Most of our country’s laws have been set up in favor of the debtor over the creditor.
Why?
Because it is more human not to kick a person when they are down.
TRY TO MAKE EVERY MOVE A HAND UP
We should be more concerned about how we are going to help them out of the mess they have made than how we are going to push them down so low that they will never rise again.
This requires godly wisdom and dutiful action.
This law God created shows compassion for humanity.
Compassion for humanity is talked about a lot these days, and reasons for supporting certain agendas are pushed by tickling people’s emotions long enough to win favor by letting them think they are helping the under-privileged and the underserved members of civilization.
Unfortunately, those pushing the agendas then often turn the tables and use the sympathy and financial resources gained and collected only to support their causes and line their own pockets; and the person who was victim is still at the bottom of the food chain suffering even more than when it all first started.
COMPASSION MEASURES JUSTICE WITH TRUTH
We could even look at the theory of critical race theory in relation to this statute in Deuteronomy.
When a person is punished simply because of the color of his skin, and for no other reason; it is taking away their ability to thrive with the resources that God has given to them.
If a white man is working alongside a black man in a profession, and the white man is fired based on the color of his skin and replaced by a black man; it is taking away his humanity. He has been treated as a number in a theory instead of a living, breathing person with equal rights.
The same situation would apply with reversing the races.
No man should be punished for the color of his skin; regardless of the history of his ancestors. Each man should be judged on his own merit.
When we all stand before the judgement seat of God; we are not going to be asked to give account for what our great uncle did fifty years before our birth.
EACH MAN WILL BE JUDGED ACCORDING TO HIS WORKS
God will look each of us in the eye and ask: when you saw this; did you do that? When YOU were here; did you go there? It will be about YOU and YOUR decisions in life and no one else.
We all will have to account for our own actions; and that is as it should be.
If we have made such bad decisions, one after the other on and on; we can repent and the blood of Jesus will cover our sins; but any righteousness attributed to that situation will be because of Jesus; not because of us. These ancients were living in the days of animal sacrifices. They did not have that luxury yet.
WE ARE OUR BROTHER’S KEEPERS
So this law, or statute, which is designed simply to provoke compassion and love for humanity as a whole should still be taken seriously today.
If you see someone who is suffering you should be doing whatever you can to help them rise above that suffering. If they are in unfair situations, you should be pointing it out. If they are hungry; you should be helping them obtain food. If their children do not have clothes to wear; you should be showing them ways to obtain clothes; etc.
These are the ways of The Kingdom of God.
It is understandable when a man is barely making it through the day himself, and he stumbles upon a destitute person in the path of the day who is worse off than he; that sometimes he will need to help by making a loan instead of a gift.
It is ALWAYS better just to be charitable; but sometimes we need our money for our own responsibilities, yet; we feel responsible to help a person in dire circumstances in whatever way we can. In that case, it is fine to take surety for a loan; but don’t take a surety that will keep the person doing the borrowing from doing an honest day’s work. Don’t take away his tools to work by lending him the money. Try to help him in some other way.
ENABLING IS NOT HELPING
One tool that each person has been freely given by God is the ability to think clearly.
If a person is going to use the money you lend him to buy drugs or alcohol that will only debilitate him and drag him down further; it is your responsibility to refuse that loan. Basically; you would be taking away his tools by lending him the money. In this case you could try to help this person in some other way than money.
KINGDOM BUILDERS PARTNER WITH GOD TO MAKE THIS WORLD A BETTER PLACE
So we can see how this one little statute can require a great amount of thought in order to make the world a better place for all to live.
God’s giving of laws and statutes was simply for that reason; in order to make our lives better and in order to make the world a better place.
Why would we not cooperate with such sound reasoning?
Sometimes it is just one little flutter of a butterfly’s wings that can change everything and turn events to another direction. Anyone of the Israelites who were not keeping this law would create a domino-effect on the whole nation. This one tiny little law helped the Israelite nation to be stronger.
It can do the same for us.