Divine checks on human greed.
In this paragraph the institution of the sabbatical year is presupposed (of. Exodus 23:9-13; Le Exodus 25:2-7). During this year the land was to rest, and it would doubtless be conducive to after-fruitfulness to give the soil this respite, by letting it lie fallow every seventh year, for at this time the effect of the rotation of crops was unknown. £ We by no means affirm that such was the only reason for the appointment; yet nothing hinders us from regarding it as a reason. In that year there was to be a general remission of debts. To all appearance, there would, however, be one social danger arising from so peculiar an arrangement. Human nature, as regards capacity, aptitude, tact, kindness, hardness, etc; would differ as greatly among Hebrews as among any other peoples. There would be the wise manager, and the man who knew not how to manage at all. There would be some easily "taken in," and others watching for an opportunity of enriching themselves at another's expense. And among the harder men, the thought would naturally arise, "Well, if I must not work to increase my gains that year, I will at least secure all that I ought to have, by collecting all debts due to me, and this I will do with rigor." Now, here comes in this law mercifully guarding the weak against the rapacity of the strong, compelling men, at least outwardly, to show some regard for those who are somewhat behindhand in the race for life, and preventing the more successful ones from so exacting from poorer men as to reduce them to helpless dependence upon others. The following points may be noted.
1. The sabbatical year is here assumed, ut supra.
2. This year debts were to be remitted,—not cancelled, but pressure for payment was to be postponed.
3. Thus there was to be an enforced pause in the accumulation of wealth.
4. The sentiment of kindliness and forbearance as well as of justice in business life, was thus taught.
5. At the same time, there is a safeguard against the Hebrews being trifled with by foreigners by a misuse of this law. A foreigner (one who was so in all respects) might incur a debt in the sixth year, thinking that, as a Hebrew could not press for it the next year, he should have a long respite; while, as he was not bound by the Hebrews' Law, he could press for debts due to him! This would have been unequal. Hence God guards Israel against such inequality, and says, as a foreigner is not under this law so far as debts due to him are concerned, so neither is he included in it with regard to debts incurred by him; and the release is not intended to operate where its operation cannot be equal all round.
6. Moreover, there is in this law no encouragement to mendicancy, but rather such a check on pressure by the rich, and such an inculcation of regard for the poor, that beggary may be a thing unknown among them. The word "beggar" does not occur once in the Mosaic institutes. Surely in all this there is abundance of material for homiletic teaching from a Christian point of view. The formal institution here referred to has passed away. But, if we follow out the formula already laid down, that forms change, but principles never,—we cannot be at a loss for an exposition of the ethical teaching which this paragraph suggests for all time. For, as is well remarked by Mr. Garden, "The spirit of this law is the same as that of the weekly Sabbath. Both have a beneficent tendency, limiting the rights and checking the sense of property; the one puts in God's claims on time, the other on the land. The land shall keep a Sabbath unto the Lord." "The land is mine." Let us, then, study the Divine cheeks on human greed, as they are shown to us in the teaching of the New Testament.
I. WE HAVE THE DISTINCT DECLARATION, "YE ARE NOT YOUR OWN." This is far wider and deeper than any analogous statement of Moses. For while Israel had been redeemed out of Egypt, so that God said, "I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee," we must all feel how infinitely short that comes of the tender pathos in 1 Corinthians 6:19, 1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18, 1 Peter 1:19. The phrase, "Ye are not your own," must needs cover the whole ground of all that we are and have. As "redemption" was the appeal at the basis of Israel's life, so is it in the case of God's people now.
II. WE ARE REDEEMED THAT WE MIGHT LIVE FOR GOD BY LIVING FOR OTHERS. We are expected to have "the same mind" which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:1-8). Note the argument involved in 2 Corinthians 8:7, 2 Corinthians 8:9; also that in Romans 14:7, et seq. See the purpose of Christ's redeeming work, as stated in Titus 2:14; and also the law of the Christian life in Galatians 6:1-10. In these passages there is so much of duty indicated with regard to others, that though little of minute detail is now specified, yet Christian men cannot go far wrong if their lives are regulated thereby (1 Corinthians 10:24).
III. THE PROHIBITION OF OUR LORD AGAINST COVETOUSNESS IS VERY STERN AND STRONG. (See Luke 12:13-21.) At every stage of that paragraph there is some new and startling light in which the evil of covetousness is seen.
1. It cherishes a totally mistaken view of life (Luke 12:15).
2. It is perilous (Luke 12:20). Hence:
3. It is foolish (Luke 12:20, Luke 12:21). Strong checks these! Far stronger than Israel's.
IV. THERE IS A DIVINE STIGMA UPON COVETOUSNESS. (See Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5.) It is idolatry. It is giving to creature objects the regard which is due only to God. He would have us "in his light see light," and regard the greed of gain as an abominable thing.
V. THERE IS A DIVINE RULE FOR LABOR. It is given us in Ephesians 4:28. The observance of this precept would prevent the social evil arising from covetousness on the one hand, and would create the good accruing from benevolence on the other. "Let him labor in order that he may have the wherewith to give!" How truly sublime! It is like the benevolence of God.
VI. THE CHRISTIAN TEACHER HAS SPECIAL INJUNCTIONS FOR THE RICH, with the giving of which he is charged. (1 Timothy 6:17-19.) Thus the Christian code is by no means less comprehensive than the Mosaic. On the contrary, it is far more so. It is equally stringent in allowing no one to think of his property as his own.
VII. OUR GOD WOULD WIN AS WELL AS WARN. See Hebrews 13:5, "Let your turn of mind be free from the love of money ( ἀφιλάργυρος)." Why? "Because himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee" (see also 2 Peter 1:4). We are permitted, in Christ, to call God "ours," to find in his love our joy, in his wisdom and strength our stay, in his wealth our supply. Hence we ought to be lifted up above any consuming racking care, and to be loyally obedient to God's will in the sanctified use of all that we have (Matthew 6:33). Let any one set side by side the Mosaic regulations in the paragraph we have just been considering, with the seven considerations adduced from New Testament teaching. Let him compare them with one another. And, if we mistake not, he will find more than ample material for other Homilies on the height, the breadth, the depth, and the length of Christian ethics, as covering the entire ground of the relations of man to man and of man to God, and as requiring no less exactitude in detail through less detail being specified. It is said (and we fear it is said truly) that the great hindrance to God's work in the world is that the Christian name does not carry with it Christian morality. Ah! if it did, how luminous would such morality appear! Let but the above considerations be universally acted out, on all sides, and no more strifes between capital and labor would ever be known. The rich would neither oppress, nor despise, nor neglect the poor; the poor would no longer be jealous of the rich. Both would recognize their mutual relation to and need of each other. While, with universal righteousness and kindness, mendicancy would be a thing unknown. And never, never, till there is a new principle of love infused through the various classes of society, will such a consummation be attained! Still, however sad our hearts may be as we consider how far we are off from the mutual regard between owner and laborer which even Moses enjoined, let each of us feel his personal responsibility for fidelity to the Divine Law. Only as this is felt and discharged by each, can it be felt and discharged by all. The Lord make us and all men to abound in good will, and may the supreme benevolence which has its source in heaven flow o'er the world as a pure river of water of life!