Dt. 15: Generously

Deuteronomy 15:4-5 "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."

So God gives these commands. Says He will richly bless you. Richly. Not enough just to scrape by. Richly bless you. Why would God richly bless people? Apparently so that they are able to give "openhandedly" to the poor among them. One reason God bestows wealth is to give it away. "There should be no poor among you," (v. 4), yet "There will always be poor people in the land" (v. 11). God's intent differs from reality. Is that God's fault? Is poverty a result of God preventing someone from living the high life? Or is poverty a result of not being careful to follow His commands? Maybe. Is poverty an indication of someone not being careful to follow His commands? Probably not, but possible.

With the seven-year rule for canceling debts, there were certain to be loopholes found..."I won't pay on my loan, because next year it will be canceled anyway," and "I'm not lending out any money, because next year it will be canceled anyway." God makes lending a heart issue. He proclaims it sin to withhold money-lending based on His seven-year debt cancelation plan.

Also in seven years, slaves are to be set free. Not just set free, loaded down with gifts as they leave. Makes me think the slavery system a million years ago was a bit different than it was 250 years ago.

Weird that driving an awl through a slaves earlobe into the door post was the ceremony that allowed a slave to stay with a master beyond the seven years. Bloody ears are listed throughout Exodus and Leviticus as part of consecrating priests (to serve) and cleansing someone. Whether there is a connection there is up for debate, but that's the only connection I can think of.

I had been wondering about what it actually meant to consecrate the first born male of the herds and flocks. I get a little more of the picture here at the end of chapter 15. Basically the sacrifice is to not put the eldest male to work...having to wait for a second one before you could plow more economically. Same with sheep. Can't produce more clothes or wool until number two comes around. It forces you to wait.