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Amen, so Deuteronomy 15 the Bible reads there in verse 1 at the end of every seven years Thou shalt make a release and this is the manner of the release Every creditor that lendeth ought to his neighbor shall release it He shall not exact it of his neighbor or of his brother Because it is called the Lord's release of her foreigner thou mayest exact it again But that which is thine that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release So this was a law that God had in the Old Testament where that every seven years if you were indebted to somebody of course this is within the tribe the tribes of Israel a nation of Israel that you were going to be set free from that debt and that that God did not want to have people just be in this perpetual state of indebtedness to other people and We're gonna see here, you know that that debt first of all is a form of bondage You say why is this so important to God? I thought people got very rich making, you know by lending and putting others in debt and that's very true I mean you have to just go look at any you know city skyline that is of any size And you're gonna see a lot of tall buildings and a lot of them are gonna be owned by banks, you know And they got that way by a lot of you know lending But God's system, you know He does not want people held in debt because debt is a form of bondage And if you would keep something in Deuteronomy go over to Proverbs chapter 6 go over to Proverbs chapter 6 Bible says in Proverbs 22 The rich rule it over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender The borrower is servant to the lender, but it's saying there is that if you owe somebody some money You know you you are servant to them that they are going to have you know You know a foothold in your life, and that's very true You know think about you know, try to not try not paying the credit card bills and see what happens try not paying You know, we really call it a let loaning Although it kind of is a form when we talk about income tax. It's an involuntary loan to the government You know, they're gonna say hey, you're gonna lend this money We might pay it back at the end of the year Right try not paying that and see how quickly they don't come along and garnish your wages or even throw you in jail Because you become servant to the lender now This is also a principle that's biblical as well That a person who is indebted is to become a servant to the one whom they owe that was another way out of the Debt that they would actually begin to work for that person. They would have to work off their debt so we'll get in that here in a minute, but What I want us to see first of all is why is this so important to God that every seven years? Everyone's released from this debt is because debt is a form of bondage and if we're in debt You know, we should work very hard to get out of debt as soon as possible You know because that's that you know Your income is a very powerful tool to do things in your life And if you're constantly shelling out all this money and interest every month You know year after year after year that's a lot of wasted money and you have nothing to show for it Really except for maybe some, you know cheap gifts or something or whatever you got with the Amazon card or the chase card Or you know, maybe you were like me when I got into serious debt and just spend it all on food, right? You know, you know, I guess I do have something to show for that But it's not really something you really want to show right? But if you're in debt, you should work to get out of debt, you know, you should work hard That's what we see in Proverbs 6 or I have you look there in verse warrant says my son if thou be sure T for thy friend if thou is stricken thy hand with a stranger thou art snared with the words of thy mouth thou art taken with The words of thy mouth do this now my son and deliver thyself When thou art coming to the hand of thy friend go humble thyself and make sure thy friend Give not sleep to thine eyes nor slumber to the eyelids Deliver thyself as a row from the hand of the hunter and as a bird from the hand of the fowler Go to the ant thou sluggard Consider her ways and be wise Which having no guide overseer ruler provided for meat and summertime in the summer and gather at their food in the harvest How long without sleep Oh sluggard when wilt thou rise out of thy sleep yet? A little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands So shall thy poverty come as one that travaileth and they want as an armed man the Bible is teaching us here Look if we've stricken hands if we've been surety, you know if we've said hey We're gonna you know, I'd be kind of like a cosigner on a loan that you need to deliver yourself from that You should not be indebted to other people and he likes it onto, you know, a deer escaping a hunter Because that's what that's that's the the imagery that he's using there That's what we need to look at it like but that these lenders are not just out to make some money They mean they want everything they can get you know, what's what's the percentage rate to cap you out? 24.99, you know that they passed a law years ago that predatory lending right? It's like you could only charge so much interest Well, they they send you that credit card. They want it as high as they can They want to get every bit of it out of the out of you as they can And he's saying look if you're in that position if you've stricken hands if you've been surety, you know You need to deliver yourself. You need to not give rest to your eyes You know another one way to do that to interpret this, you know and apply to your life today Would be maybe it's time to get that second job and pay off that debt Maybe it's time to put in an extra 10 20 hours at work and get that debt paid off Maybe go through a season of hardship and difficulty where you're not around as much and but you know What you're not you're not might not be as home as much but you know what you're gonna pay off some debt And you're gonna get your you're gonna deliver yourself from this bondage that you're in Now, of course, there is an exception here in Deuteronomy and you can go ahead and turn back there He says look there's there's one exception. You're gonna release everybody from their indebtedness unless this exception There's one exception to that save when there shall be no poor among you So he's saying look if everybody's doing well if everybody's wealthy and you're and you want to land then go ahead and do it But he's saying save when there shall be no poor among you for the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land Which the Lord thy God giveth thee for inheritance to possess it. So God's fully anticipating God saying look It's perfectly possible that I'm gonna bless you so much in this land that you're going to inherit That there won't even be any poor among you that there won't even be a need to release people every seven years And now that was now I believe this was a very rare exception. In fact, I don't think this ever happened And I believe that's because of the stipulations that that is attached in verse 5 He says only if thou harken unto the voice of the Lord of thy Lord thy God To observe to do all these commandments which I command in this day so the only way that was ever going to happen that they were going to have all this abundance and and Blessing and wealth so that there weren't even any poor in the land is if they carefully Excuse me carefully harken under the voice of the Lord their God Which we know if we've read the story they did not do in fact They don't they didn't observe many of the Sabbaths and God ends up having to punish them later and take them out of the land And leave it lay desolate. So that was a rare exception There was of course the possibility that if everybody's doing great Hey, there is no need for release, you know when there is no poor among you But the only way there was ever going to be any poor no poor among them is if they carefully Harkened unto the Lord their God which they did not do So I don't believe there was ever a time in their history where there was no poor among them that there was always poor Among them. I mean we'll recall what Jesus noted the New Testament. You have though you have the poor with you always You know that was the case then and even here in this chapter in verse 11 If you look there verse 11 you get out you get a hint of that as well that God's kind of already Anticipating the fact that they were always going to have these poor people with them Look at verse 11 for the poor shall never cease out of the land So here in verse 5 he's saying look or verse 4 he's saying look if there's no poor among you There's no need for release then a verse verse 11, but the poor will never cease out of land Why because they are not going to carefully harken of the Lord their God like they were supposed to and God foreknew this He goes on in verse 6 and says For the Lord God thy God blesseth thee as he promised and thou shalt lend unto many nations But thou shalt not borrow now shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee What this is showing us is that people who are lending money are powerful. It's a it's a sign of influence and power and that's you know, that's why God doesn't want that to be the case for them that because again the Servant or the the the borrower is servant to the lender it applies to individuals and even nations He says in verse 7 if there be among you a poor Poor man of one of thy brethren within thy gates in thy land which Lord thy God giveth thee Thou shalt not harden thine heart nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him and shall certainly lend him sufficient for his need and that which he wanteth Okay, so God is not about you can see God's care for the poor here that God cares about poor people He doesn't he wants to help people who are suffering financially and with other needs Now it says here that they were not to harden their heart or shut up their hand From and he were they were to open wide their hand and lend unto them that was Sufficient for his need and that which he wanteth. Of course wanteth is not talking about You know, whatever the guy wants it's talking about what he's lacking wanteth is just another word for what he lacks You know, he's working. He's put in the work, but he's coming up short You know, we've probably all been there You know, there's just sometimes you know, it's it we're doing everything we can But that bill comes due that we weren't expecting And it's got to get paid. There's we're wanting something. There's something lacking we have need, right? So they were saying look don't don't harden your heart, you know open your hand wide But he's not saying give he's saying give as they need He's not saying give to every lazy bum give to every jerk who asks of you That's not what he's saying here give to every able bodied individual who could easily go out and get you know A low-paying job and start to pull himself up out of the gutter Give to that guy, you know, if we were to give that guy what he what was sufficient for his need It'd be a swift kick in the pants. That's what we would give him. I mean we give him a stronger brook Hey go get a job bum Quit being quit sitting around on the corner like a lazy jerk and quit making a mess everywhere and go get a job That would be what he needs Well, we don't want to go to that extreme to where like every single person whoever has a need is just some lazy jerk because that's Not always the case, you know, if we have a brother who has a real need, you know It has a real and they've fallen on hard times, you know, maybe it's a medical emergency some unforeseen expense You know life life does that You know We should be willing to step in and help and give as we are able and to help them Make up that which is wanting You know, I I know for myself I've fallen on such hard times like that I remember years ago when we first moved here, you know We're working hard trying to do everything can and something came up and we were gonna come up short on the rent And I had to go to somebody and I had to borrow some of the money and I said look I don't have it right now. I'm gonna have it in a few weeks It's just the timing with the paycheck and everything and and it's not because I'm not working It's not because you know, we're you know, wasting our money on frivolous things It's just it's just that's the way life goes. Sometimes you're starting out trying to in a new career It's low paying, you know all these, you know, so on and so forth things happen life happens And I had to go this person saying hey, you know, I kind of borrow some money and you know what? They lent me that money and I paid it back in a few weeks, you know that I was able to pay him back you know and If that were ever happened again, you know when things get tight Sometimes we just need to work more, you know, sometimes you see to go out and get after it But I want to point out something your God's not talking about just giving them money and never you know And and not and not expecting it back. I mean, that's a good thing to do You should be able to do in fact the person I borrowed that money from was so generous I went to pay him back. They said what's this for? I said I borrowed that money from it was like hundreds of dollars and like I borrowed that from you a few weeks ago Oh, yeah, that's right. And that's how Willie how generous this person was that they just gave this money and totally forgot about it But we should pay that money back when we are able And that's kind of what God is saying here You know the release the point of the release was maybe people just get to a point where they can never pay it back where it's just It's just not going to happen It's a bondage and you know I've been indebted to people and and not been able to pay it back for a while and finally they just came and said You know what? I think we'll just forget about the money You know, and I've worked hard since then and I ever be in that position again Of course, that was a long time ago, but that kind of thing happens, you know, but the point being is that God wants the money to be paid back and The Bible says in Psalm 37, it says the wicked borroweth and payeth not again It says the wicked borroweth and payeth not again So Bible says it's a wicked thing to borrow money because it borrow that's what that infers, right? You know if you were to lend me something I were to borrow it you're expecting it back Right. So if I borrow and I pay it not again the Bible says that is wicked to not pay it back You know, and I heard somebody recently say well that just that just means that well that's only something the wicked do The only wicked people do that like it, you know, that's for unsaved people It's like no what that's saying is that's wicked to do Not that it's only the wicked that do that that only applies to unsaved people like what do you what? The unsaved people can be wicked or save people can be wicked, you know, save people can still do rotten things, you know They still have the flesh They can still get into sin they can still make mistakes So not saying only the wicked it's not saying that only the wicked do this But rather that this is a wicked thing to do to borrow money from somebody with no intention of paying it back And you know this this would apply, you know to us if we were thinking well I've got all this credit card debt, but you know what? I'm not gonna pay it back People do that people go out and they rack up all these thousands of dollars in credit card debt and just say I forget it I'm not gonna pay it back Bible says that's a wicked attitude, you know, it's a wicked thing to do to spend other people's money You know and whether you want to say well, it's wrong for them to charge all that interest and this and that It's like yeah, but you sign the paper, but you you knew how it worked when you started you know sliding that plastic through the machine and It's a wicked thing if we're just gonna borrow things from people and with no intention ever paying it back Now maybe you know, we borrow something we borrow money from somebody we have every intention of paying it back But it just seems like we can never get there we can never get traction, you know That's what the seven years was for To where the people could just be released and get back on their feet and start over again But again, it's not just you know lending to every bum that needs it. It's for people who are really You know in you know Falling on hard times look here in verse 9 move on it says here But where that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart Saying the seventh year the year of the release is at hand and thy eye be evil against thy poor brother And thou givest him not and he cry in the Lord against thee and it be sin unto thee So he's saying look, you know, if it's like hey the seventh the year of release is, you know Six months away and you come to me and be like, hey, I need to borrow a thousand bucks to get You know this this rent paid or whatever it is, you know, you want to borrow something. I'm like, yeah Well, you know, I know if you don't pay it off within six months, then I have to let it go So, you know what? No, you know and I heart what would be that'd be me heart If you know if I knew I had more time that you were gonna be able to pay me back Before you just got off scot-free or whatever you know He's saying look don't have that attitude don't be this person that's gonna get all stingy because you know That your release is right around the corner You know You should be willing to help your brother out why because it's the right thing to do To help somebody out who has a genuine need that's the right thing to do and not to harden our heart not to Be and then let it not grieve us, you know, here you go even giving it grudgingly Well, I guess I have to you know, we should be willing We should be thankful that God has given Us the blessing and that we're God has put us in such a position that we can even be a blessing on other people You know God is the one who's given us power to get wealth You know if we have extra and we can be liberal with it and help other people out You know, we should be glad we should be thankful that we can buy it Jesus said is blessed it is more blessed to give than to receive That's a crit. That's a Christian virtue to be able to be generous You know generosity Is a Christian virtue look there verse 10 He says thou shalt surely give him and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou giveth unto him Because for that this for this that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works And all that thou put ist thine hand to do so It's kind of a cat, you know, he's saying look if you lend and you do it with the right heart You know, I'll bless you for it You know that that and when someone comes to you and has a need you should should not be like oh great now I got to help this this guy out where I'm gonna be out of thought you should think here's an opportunity For me for God to bless me for me to help a brother out and that God's gonna see it and I'm doing that a right motive, you know what and I know God's gonna bless me and It might not be today or the next day, but you know, if we cast our bread upon the waters You know, it will receive it again after many days the Bible says So we should be willing to do that Go over to Luke chapter 6 Luke chapter 6 because generosity is a Christian virtue We should be very generous people We should be willing to give and to and to do it willingly and not grudgingly. It shouldn't grieve us at our heart the Bible said you're going to Luke 6 it says in Exodus 22 if thou lend money to any of my people that is Poor by thee there shall not be to him and usurer neither shalt thou lay upon him usury That's interest saying look if you're gonna lend to the poor don't charge interest. It's a wicked thing to charge interest And you should never lend to a brother in Christ and charge him interest Ever at any time if thou take if thou at all Take thy neighbors raiment to pledge thou shalt deliver it unto him by the time by that the Sun goeth down He's like, you know He says hey, I need to borrow this will give me your coat that I so I know you'll come back and pay me Or bring that back God's saying you better not keep that coat before the Sun goes down You don't even get to have it for a day. You don't even get to have it for 12 hours You better take that coat back and give it to him and not take it as a pledge He said for that is his covering Only it is his raiment for his skin wherein shall he sleep and shall come to pass when he crieth unto me That I will hear for I am gracious You know God is the one who eventually who hears about it when the when the poor cry When the people were being oppressed because of you know, you know financial situation was taking advantage of their of their poverty You know God notices that God will hear it. You're there in Luke chapter 6 look at verse 35 He says but love be your enemies and do good and land Hoping for nothing again, you know, even your enemies we should Jesus saying look you should land Hoping nothing and get for nothing again. Say I'm gonna give this to you and I don't expect anything in return That's the attitude we're supposed to have and you know, that's that's not always the easiest attitude to have visit Sometimes we get pretty attached to our things we get pretty attached to stuff that's in our in our wallet You know we get attached to our money But he's saying here look you should be willing to just kiss it all. Goodbye You just say here take it hoping for nothing again land hoping for nothing again and your reward shall be great It's not just like, you know God's gonna not God's gonna notice that and he's gonna reward you for it and he shall be children of the highest For he is kind under the unthankful and to the evil, you know, that's if you'd have that kind of an attitude You would be the children of the highest. What does that mean? You mean you'd be you would be emulating our Father which is in heaven You it would be a godlike thing to do and you think about that's very true I mean for harsh that he became poor for our sakes that we might be made rich through him You know Jesus, you know, he left all heaven. He left all his glory and came down here and condescended to man He didn't have to do it. He didn't owe us that you know, he lent his own life He spread, you know spilled his own blood for us Expecting nothing again in return. He just did what he needed to do and That's something, you know, God is very gracious you think about a god is very generous, you know God is very gracious towards us if we do that if we have that same attitude, you know, that's us displaying that same Attribute that's us, you know being the children of the highest. That's how people are gonna know That's how our righteousness is gonna shine before men He says given verse 38 give and it shall be given unto you You know, it just might not be that person you gave it to that gives it to you Maybe God will open up another Avenue. Maybe your business will be blessed. Maybe you'll get a raise, you know Maybe you'll fall in hard times and somebody will be there to help you out Good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over shall men give into your bosom For with the same measure that you meet with all it shall be measured to you again That's a very important principle to keep in mind, you know And it makes me think a lot about our church faithful word Baptist Church You know, we have the opportunity to do a lot of great works for God that a lot of other churches don't you know We we're very blessed We have enough resources that we can rent this building and buy nice new chairs and you know Pay a guy to come down here and preach and you know and our pastor, you know He can he can devote himself full-time the ministry and we can do it You know We can expand the building and we can paint nice murals and we can paint print tracks and buy bibles and print Make DVDs and hand them out and go on all kinds of mission trips all that cat costs money You know and so that and it cost a lot of money. We add it all up, you know And why is it that faithful word always has seems to have enough that there's never we've never been lacking We've never been in debt. We've always been able to do these things It's because because the faithful word Baptist Church is a church that gives It's not just gonna pile up in the in the coffers The money that comes in goes right back out into the work of God and God knows that and I believe that's why he opens Up the fountains of heaven or the windows of heaven upon us and that's why he gives back into our bosom Because we give unto others, you know through the preaching of the gospel and through the distributing of materials and so on and so forth If you would turn over to James chapter 2 James chapter 2 You're going to James chapter 2 the Bible says in Leviticus 25 and if thy brothers be waxed and poor and fall in decay with thee Then thou shalt relieve him. Yea, though he be a stranger or sojourner That he may live with thee Take thou no usury of him or increase but fear thy God that thy brother may live with thee Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury nor lend him thy victuals for increase God's you know, you could see over and again. He's against this taking advantage of people's poverty and need Look there in James chapter 2 verse 15 if a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, right? You know, that's that's that's a really poor person I don't think we any of us even in this room even knows what it even means to be poor Most people in America will never even come close to this You know even in what we would consider some of the most poorest areas in the world. They still have like shelter They still have you know food. They still have clothing I mean and that's what those are the things that God promised us by the way Those are the things that he's he knows our needful that he will give to us is Our food and our clothing and our food and our rain it that's what God promised us and nothing more but You know, he's saying here if thy brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food of daily food He's not saying, you know If they be standing on the street corner with a science as anything helps while smoking a cigarette and checking their cell phone That's not destitute. That's not poor. That's lazy. There's a huge difference I know I kind of go off but every chance I get I'm gonna these guys drive me nuts Because they always ask me, you know, and I've talked about this before it just must be something on my face They just say here comes the sucker, you know, and they say let's ask this guy I'm like, what do I look that I'm trying to grow the beard back. So I look a little meaner, you know Don't ask me for nothing, you know But you know, that's that's what true Being destitute truly is that's the kind of poverty we're talking about here. Look I don't have clothes to wear I mean my clothes are wearing out I don't have anything, you know, especially back then we didn't just you didn't just go down to you know Ross dress for less or the goodwill or something like that and spend a few bucks and pick up a bunch of clothes Back then everything was made, you know It was much more difficult and much more expensive to get good durable clothing and he says in destitute of daily food You know, they don't have anything to eat And then he goes in verse 16 and one of you saying a depart in peace be warmed and filled You know, he's not saying look it's not enough to just say well god bless you You know you come with me they come out and through their threadbare jeans and they pull out their pockets Like I haven't eaten in days. Oh god bless you You know god bless you be warmed and filled. No, he's saying look that's the that's the time for you to step up and reach into your own pocket and put some clothes on their back and buy them a bag of groceries and Do the give them those things which are needful for the body Otherwise, what does it profit? I mean, how is that a Christian virtue? I mean you can say god bless you all you all you want But if you're not giving them those things that they need Then it's not really a virtue at all It's just you sounding spiritual go over to Matthew chapter 6, you know Generosity is a Christian value. You should be willing to give Ecclesiastes chapter 11 the Bible says Cast thy bread upon the waters for thou shalt find it after many days Give it a portion of seven and also to eight for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth You're saying look a good reason for you to give is because you never know when it's gonna come time where you have need You know might come back around to where it's like it might be you who's daily who destitute of daily food and That's why Jesus says here in Matthew 6 if you're there look at verse 12 and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors You can apply this to generosity giving forgiveness You know, you might be the one who needs somebody to forgive you one day You might be the one who's the need of somebody to help you out financially or whatever it is one day You know Jesus to do one to others that do one a minute you would have that to do one to you That ought to be the attitude that we have So when we're you know, when we're given an opportunity to help somebody, you know, maybe we should stop and think well What if I were in their position? What would I want somebody to do for me? You know, we should we should consider that before we speak or make our decision and I think that would that would help us to you know Stay out of hot water and make sure that when that time does come that you know We're gonna be taken care of as well the Bible says in Psalm 18 I'll read to you with the merciful that will show thyself merciful and With an upright man that will show thyself upright With the pure that will show thyself pure and with the froward that will show thyself forward You know forward is not a good thing. That's a bad thing But what it's showing us there is that God is going to behave toward us the same way. We behave toward other people The way we treat other people that's how God's gonna treat us You know, so when it comes to you know, our brothers and sisters in Christ We got to be very careful how we treat them that we treat them well that we you know be willing to give them and help them as needed because God takes notice of all that and He's saying look I'll show myself forward the forward and I'll show myself up right with the upright So that's something that you know, we don't want to be selfish greedy people And if you would go back to Deuteronomy where you were actually keep something in Matthew 6. I'm sorry keep something in Matthew 6 No, I don't know if you notice there in verses 7 through 10 I'll read to you in Deuteronomy if you're there you can look at it as well But how often the heart is what's mentioned, you know, that's the real problem. That's where this all stands from He says if there be a poor man and one of thy brethren within thy gates in thy land Which the Lord thy God giveth thee thou shalt not harden thine heart, right? He said the beware lest there be a thought in thy wicked heart He said thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him so the problem when people getting greedy and Selfish and unwilling to lend and to help is a heart problem. You know, it's something that's wrong with their heart and Look there in Matthew chapter 6 verse 19 Matthew chapter 6 verse 19 Jesus said lay not out yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven Where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal for where your treasure is There will your heart be also You wonder you know, why is it some people just don't want to serve God like other people? It's because their heart isn't there because their treasure is in other things. It's on earthly things Whether it's jobs or money or possessions or vacations or you know, I'm not saying there's wrong anything wrong with those things They all have their their time and place But where are you laying up your treasure? Where what are you investing in? Is it in heavenly things? Is that a heavenly reward or is it just gay? you know being a gaining things here and gaining things on the earth that are just gonna the Bible says Rust and Grow old and decay and someone might even break through and steal them, you know I'm putting all my money in the in the stock market Well, make sure you're not investing in some pond, you know, but Bernie Madoff isn't getting your cash, you know And he's just you're gonna have anything to show for it, you know You could have invested that money in God's work and and God would have blessed you for it So when we see a brother or sister or somebody come along who's truly in need and truly You know destitute and and really and I'm falling on hard times that's an opportunity for us to help them and and for God to To bless us for doing so It's a way to ensure that when our turn comes if and when it comes That someone will be there for us that God is going to make sure that he'll take care of us when we fall On hard times. It's an opportunity for us to lay up treasures in heaven where there'll be a great reward You know, maybe you won't get all that, you know Lord I've been helping all these people out, you know all these years and I've never seems to come back to me Well, maybe it's in heaven, you know, I'll take that reward. That's eternal. That's gonna last Now if you would turn back to Deuteronomy Deuteronomy chapter 15 Now he's saying here look we're gonna have plenty of opportunity to do all this Because of the fact it says in verse 11 for the poor shall never cease out of the land Therefore I command thee saying thou shalt open thine hand wide and thy brother Do they pour into thy needy in thy land? And if thy brother and Hebrew man or Hebrew woman be sold unto thee and Serve these six years that in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee So, you know, that's that's these are some verses. This is where it gets a little more interesting here Like this is a new concept. It's not something we practice in modern-day America And let me just come out and say this this is not slavery Okay, this is not someone being you know, taken captive against their will You know and brought to a strange land or whatever and forced into labor You know without and being oppressed if that's not what this is. This is more of an indentured servitude, you know It's a it's binding someone by you know as an apprentice or a laborer, you know, so they can work off debt and I'll just you know, the people they hear this thing. Oh, well, I don't know about that. I mean Well, that's what the Bible says The Bible says every word of God is pure and that his ways are above our ways and God knows better than we do Okay, and and it's just maybe we it rubs us the wrong way just because it's a new concept to think that hey if we can't Pay this back. It might just we might just have to go work for that person and work off the debt We might actually have to be sold onto another person to work these things, you know Sell ourselves into labor to work off dead. I mean, that's what it's teaching here Now this is a and this is a better system than what we have. Okay Because in this system that God sets up The lender right the person who lent the money or what we might consider the victim of the crime, you know The person who's not going to get their money back because of whatever reason they are the one that is profited You know and they're guaranteed a profit, you know Just because you take someone to a modern-day court of law and sue them for money That doesn't that's no guarantee. You're gonna get that money Just say well, I don't have it. No, there's just nothing to take. How are you gonna get paid? You're not At least in this system you're getting something for your money. They're gonna come work for me You know and with with four kids in the house, you know, and my wife's busy. Am I busy? You know, we could use some help around there, you know, we could put some people to work, right? We could we could we could do that. Of course, we'd have to have money to lend begin with but so that's another story but In this system of God's at least a person who's been offended the person who's been Taking advantage of or whatever you want to call it. The victim is is actually going to get restitution The Bible says in Exodus 22 if a thief being found breaking up and be smitten that he died They shall no shut blood be shed for him If the son be risen upon him, there shall be bloodshed for him. So this is kind of a side note It's going somewhere But just real quickly the Bible is teaching here that you just can't shoot somebody comes to your house in the daytime It's saying if the son be risen upon him There shall be bloodshed for him Meaning, you know if you see something because here's the thing if they're coming into your house and I've heard stories about this People breaking into someone's house during the daytime not knowing the person was home And then that person, you know, the thief being this close to being killed or severely hurt without even knowing it You know, they turn around there's a gun pointed at him or there's some guy holding a golf club ready to take their head Off, you know, I've heard as these kind of stories the Bible saying that would not be the right thing to do Someone breaks into your house and this is an important thing because I think a lot of people and you know in the gun culture and Things like that. Some people get an attitude that they're just they're just itching to plug somebody and I've run into guys like that They think well, I hope somebody comes on my yard tries to take my whatever, you know They'll get a lead salad if they come around here Well Bible says if you do that during the day that blood shall be shed for that thief and guess whose blood he's referring to Yours, you know and and you see these signs on people put up forget the dog beware of the owner It's got a gun pointing at you, you know, it's like that's that's not a good attitude to have that's not biblical You know and some people anyway, I'm I'm not gonna go off But he's saying look, but if the son it be not risen upon him then it's justified You know, you're breaking in my house in the dark in the middle of the night. I don't know what you're there for You know bad bad intentions. I'm gonna assume you're there to do the worst things So you're going down and that point Bible says a okay Right The verse 4 he says if the theft be certainly found in his hand alive The guy makes it out right he gets out of there. He doesn't take the the 9-iron to the head You know, he gets out he has it and then he's later caught He says whether it be ox or ass or sheep. He shall restore double, you know He didn't say he shall go before the magistrate and be sentenced to you know, whatever amount of time in jail You know, he's gonna get the minimal minimum penalty or whatever He's gonna spend years in prison That doesn't profit anybody except the prison system Nobody makes any how does that help the victim? Like oh, you know, maybe he gets his ox or his ass restored, but the Bible says he shall restore double At that point. I almost want people to steal from me If I knew I was gonna get double twice amount back You know, maybe I'd go out there and kind of leave that ox kind of a little bit too close to the open fence You know no leash on it. Just you know Trying to get a second ox out of the deal Right, but wouldn't you rather have that? I mean if somebody came and stole your car And they said hey, we can either send this person to jail or we can give you another car What would you take? I'd say give me that car right who wouldn't Now this could also take the form of I believe like a garnishing of wages You know if someone steals or they fail to pay back, you know, you could you could even you know Send them to work for somebody else and then you know part of their wages like because let's say You know, maybe I don't have the work for them to do. I don't even need like they're gonna Oh, I'm gonna come work for you. Well, I got everything covered. I don't need you You know, you owe me money or whatever and and you say well, I'll work it off Well, I don't have any work for you to do Well at that point I could send you to go to work for somebody and get part of your wages Like a wage garnishment, that would be another thing that could take place in the system Look at verse 13. He says Now send us him out free thou shalt not let him go away empty So it wasn't just that you know, this guy was going to work for six years and then have nothing to show for it you know he won he's gonna work off the debt the money that he owed or maybe something that he stole or whatever and Then he when he gets sent out when the year when he when he's set free after six years And he's not gonna go away empty-handed He's saying you should not let him go empty thou verse 14 thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock Not just give him some meager little parting gift, you know, thanks for coming. There's a participation trophy or you know a consolation prize Say no, you're gonna load him up. You're gonna furnish him liberally out of thy flock and out of thy floor and out of thy winepress of That wherewith the Lord thy God shall bless thee thou shalt give unto him so You know this guy wasn't gonna leave and have nothing to show for it He was gonna have some things he was gonna be Because think about it and this is perfect You know if you if you this guy let's say someone has to work off the debt that they owe you Right, they're sold unto you and you put him to work in the field or whatever. Okay, and then it's time for them They've worked it off. It's time for them to go and Now they go away with nothing They're right back in the same position where they started having to go borrow money again See how it's just a vicious cycle. So he's saying look you're gonna get you're gonna get restitution Fact you're gonna get more than that. We'll see this in a minute. You're gonna even get more than just the money paid back and Anyway, and then you're gonna furnish him So now he can start off on the right foot and get out of this vicious cycle of lending and serving and lending and serving He says there in verse 15 and thou shalt remember that thou wast upon man in the land of Egypt and the Lord thy God redeemed thee therefore I command thee this thing today He's saying look why are you gonna do all this because if I hadn't redeemed you you'd still be doing back-breaking labor as a slave in Egypt and You know, there's no sense in making life harder than it needs to be for people You know, we don't not everyone needs to be on easy street But you know there need God's very reasonable saying look let him work off the debt and then let him start out on life Right, you know, let him get off to a new foot a new a new lease on life You know and this just this whole thing just goes to show us, you know Generosity the giving You know sending away the the the laborer not sending away empty-handed That you know our goal in life should not to see how to be how stingy we could be That we shouldn't just move through life trying to squeeze blood out of a rock as the saying goes You know that we should be very open-handed people that we should be willing to just give You know that generosity really that that is something that should define us as Christians Look here in verse 16 It says and it should be if they say into thee I will not go away from thee because he loveth thee in thine house Because he is well with thee so it might be this guy comes in to work off some debt and say hey You know what? I love living here. I love working for you I just want to stay and he says and if you agree to that great then he can stay and Then thou shalt take an all which is like that sharp pointy. It's like a punch basically Now shall take an all and thrust it through his ear now It's not talking about through his ear. It's not like through his ear. Okay, we'll make that clear in case you ever have to do this You know, you don't need any lobotomies going on. So you thrust it through his ear probably the lobe You know the the part with the least amount of nerves in it and he shall be thy servant forever So another stipulation here, he's not saying put the all in and leave it there He shall be thy servant forever nailed the all anyway, you got to pull the all back out Right, and he's still your servant He says it shall not seem hard under the verse 18 He says, uh, let me back up verse 17 thou shall take an all and thrust it through his ear into the door And he shall be thy servant forever and also under thy maidservant shall thou do likewise So maybe it's you know, a lady who gets in this position and she wants to say same deal It shall not seem hard under thee when he's when thou sendest him away from thee So maybe the guy does want to go he doesn't want to stick around it's time for you to send him away He's saying look don't don't make that think that it's a hard thing for you Don't get all bitter about it. Don't get all you know, don't get up don't get to poochy lip, right? You know don't get all sad-faced You know, it should not be hard unto thee, you know, you should be well, it should be a good thing That's a day of rejoicing. Hey, this guy's worked off his debt. I profited it He says why should it not be hard for you? Well, look it reads there it says For he hath been worth a double hired servant to thee in Serving thee six years and the Lord thy God shall bless thee and all that thou doest Now I read that I love that's why I love the Bible because God he says things and he lets you figure it out You know, God doesn't just say everything cut and dry, you know, what is so what does he you know? He says things it puts us in the Bible That we actually have to stop and think about how that what he means by that Right, and this is one of them where he says that he hath been worth a double hired servant unto thee So how is that how is that that this guy who is in debt to me? Comes and works off my works off his debt and then I send him away How is that guy worth and he's saying basically worth having hired two people, right? well It's got how is he saying? Well, it's kind of saying well It's kind of been like you got a two-for-one special when that guy came to work for you and work off his debt Well, if you think about it, and this is kind of how I reasoned it. Hopefully it makes sense You know, hopefully I'm right about this. He says if they paid you the debt, you know that basically look at this way You know you paid they paid you debt That you would have spent on somebody else's labor, right So if I'm if I'm if I own a field or whatever I have a business and a guy owes me money and He comes to work off that debt and I put him to work in my business You know, he's doing work that I would have paid somebody else Right. So if let's say he's in debt to me and he pays me that money Well, I just have to turn on give that money to somebody else to do the same work. He's gonna do So he's saying he's worth double because not only is he paying back the money in the form of labor But you're also profiting from his labor. That's why people hire other people to make them money You know, that's that's that's a good motto to have on the job. By the way, I'm here to make the company money You know bosses don't hire people because you know, they just feel bad for you or something. You're there to make the money Right, and that's the attitude we had to have so this guy comes to you. He's indebted to you You're gonna put him to work and he's gonna work the debt off In a position that you otherwise would have paid wages for and now he's working off not only the debt But he's also making you money. So hopefully that make that's how I understand it. Why is how is he worth double? Because you know, you're not paying for labor that you otherwise would have paid for and you're still making money on top of that You know, he's profiting you So he goes on in verse 19 He says all the first thing males that come of thy herd and of thy flock thou shalt sanctify unto Lord thy God Thou shalt do no work with the first thing of thy bullock nor shear the firstling of thy sheep So, you know this kind of it kind of shifts gears here real quick it goes from talking about the poor and people working off their debt and at the very end here he kind of mentions this that You know any of the herd of the flock all the first thing of the males, you know They're they are holy unto the Lord their God their gods and if you think about it here He says that they shall don't do no work with the first firstlings of thy bullocks because they you know Wasn't like that Bullock was born and then they just immediately sacrificed on the Lord, you know They would wait, you know and they would usually go like every three years and they would take their tithe with them as we read last week and They would sacrifice and they would give And he's saying look so that that all the time you have that Bullock He's not to do any work. He's like the kopi beef, right? The cows that are suspended and get massaged every day So they're nice and tender, but he's not to do any work at all And but really what is that why is that because it's symbolic of Christ You know that because it because it won because it belongs to God you shouldn't be using that which belongs to God You know for yourself that that's God's just because you have to hang on to him until the time comes to go and sacrifice them You know, it doesn't mean you get to use them But I think it's also symbolic of the fact that salvation is by grace and not of works He's showing look, you know, there's no you have to be working With this animal He says thou shalt eat it before the Lord thy God year by year in the place Which the Lord shall choose and thou in thy household if there be any blemish therein And if they'd be lame or blind or have any ill blemish thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God You know elsewhere he tells you to replace it with another one So again, this is just more symbology of Christ You know, this is symbolic of the fact that Jesus Christ was perfect that he was holy that he was God and he was divine You know, and that's a first Peter chapter 1 you see that reiterated where he says For as much as you know You're not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers Well with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot So these are just you know, these rules are in place because these animals are symbolic of Christ That you know, it was a picture now, of course sacrificing those animals is not what saved them They understood that you know, they were always saved by faith They just understood that this is a picture of what God is going to do in the future He says in verse 22 thou shalt eat it within thine gates The unclean and the clean person shall eat it alike as the row book and as a heart Only thou shalt not eat the blood thereof Thou shalt pour it upon the ground as water again because the blood is what sanctifies us, you know It's it's symbolic that it was to be poured out like Christ's blood was poured out for us So it's an interesting chapter, you know it, you know parts of it might in our modern society you might say well that's archaic That's barbaric But it's better. It's it's frankly better that you know, because in God's system the people who have been offended are the ones that are Restitution is made to it doesn't go into some system, you know and people we see that people are able to you know Make their amends with individuals and society and move on with their life Then it's not just hung over their head for the rest of their life so God's system is better because of these things that people are getting paid back and They're able people are able to make things right once and for all and move on with their lives And the other thing is to you think about if we actually put this system into practice, you know, people would probably Likely, I would hope work harder to stay out of debt If you knew that there's a possibility if I don't am not able to pay this back I could end up working for this individual I could end up having to go live in their household in some quarters somewhere You know eat at their table and working in their field, you know You'd probably be a little more careful before you you know, sign that contract or whatever, you know ask for that loan And you probably work harder to pay for things with cash or stay out of debt You know if bankruptcy wasn't an option, you know, we could just say well I just claimed bankruptcy You know, that's what people do today. They get it they get it in over their head Well bankrupt, you know, and not that there aren't that doesn't make things difficult But you know that it's kind of like a get-out-of-jail-free card and the person the true victim in the whole thing You know, it's not the person who went into debt. It's the person who's out all the money, you know They are the ones getting restored Well, you know really the overarching kind of theme here in this this this chapter that we can learn from this Is that we need to be generous people and that's what got and not have evil wicked hardened hearts when it comes time for us to help another person out help a brother and sister in Christ that we should not be doing these things grudgingly that we should you know that there's a reward for it You know that in that we're laying up treasures in heaven that God is gonna take care of us when our turn comes to be in need and That God notices all these things, you know, we should be willing to help those in need Just as God was willing to you know, help us Freely to a much greater degree and we think of how much God did for us You know, we could not we could never even begin to pay back what God did for us and you know That's why we should be generous people. That's why because so much has been done for us already And we should be willing to help others, you know Generosity is something that ought to define who we are as people. Let's go ahead and pray