Chapter 7: Loans, Interests, and Debts

Chapter 7: Loans, Interests, and Debts

God’s Instructions on Loans, Interest, and Debts

Individuals or firms may need money for their household or business. The money that they borrow (or lend) is called a loan and the extra money that is charged for the cost of borrowing is called interest. And the money that they should pay back is called a debt. Even in Moses’ time, God made provisions for loans. God in Exodus 22:25 instructs the Israelites through Moses: “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor, and you shall not exact interest from him”; and in Deuteronomy 23:19-20: “¹⁹You shall not lend upon interest to your brother, interest on money, interest on victuals, interest on anything that is lent for interest. ²⁰To a foreigner you may lend upon interest, but to your brother you shall not lend upon interest; that the LORD your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are entering to take possession of it.”

When a fellow Israelite is poor and wants to borrow money, the Israelites were supposed to lend money without charging any interest. God prohibited the Israelites from charging interest to their fellow Israelites – brothers, relatives, and friends, although they may charge interest to foreigners. Leviticus 25:35-38 states: “³⁵And if your brother becomes poor, and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall maintain him; as a stranger and a sojourner he shall live with you. ³⁶Take no interest from him or increase but fear your God; that your brother may live beside you. ³⁷You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. ³⁸I am the Lord your God, who brought you forth out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and, to be your God.” God’s instruction for the Israelites regarding loans and interest is consistent throughout the Torah. M. Douglas Meeks explains that high interest charged in the ancient countries often forced debtors to sell themselves into slavery.[1] God probably did not want to see anyone of his people to become a slave again in the land of Canaan, the land of flowing milk and honey, where he was leading them.

Psalm 37:21states: “The wicked borrows, and cannot pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives.” Some borrowers may want to take advantage of the lender’s good will by not repaying their debts. Even so, God encourages his people’s generous lending even if they know some people will not pay back their money. Psalm 112:5 states: “It is well with the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice.” God loves those who give or lend generously and blesses them (2 Corinthians 9:7).

It is interesting to know that God gives examples of a righteous person and an unrighteous person in connection with a lending behavior among several in Ezekiel. An example of a righteous person in Ezekiel 18:8 is: “He does not lend to them (=the hungry and the naked) at interest or take a profit from them”; and in Ezekiel 18:17 is: “He withholds his hand from mistreating the poor and takes no interest or profit from them” (NIV). An example of an unrighteous person in Ezekiel 18:13 is: “He lends at interest (to the poor and the needy) and takes a profit”; and in Ezekiel 22:12 “You take interest and make a profit from the poor. You extort unjust gain from your neighbors” (NIV). A righteous person is willing to help his/her poor and needy neighbors, lending money without interest whereas an unrighteous person wants to take advantage of his/her poor and needy neighbors, lending money at interest and making a profit, which seems to be quite normal today.

Debts Are Forgiven

A lender expects the money that he lent to be paid back. The borrower should make every effort to pay back the money that he borrowed. What if the borrower cannot pay it back? The lender may want to know why the borrower does not or cannot pay back the money. However, God does not want the lender to treat the borrower – the fellow Israelite – too harsh. And at the end of every seven years, the debts shall be forgiven. Deuteronomy 15:1-3 states: “¹At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. ²This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the LORD’s time for cancelling debts has been proclaimed. ³You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you” (NIV). How can any lender forgive his/her borrower’s debt fully at the end of the seventh year? It is because all money/wealth belongs to God not to any individual. So, when God commands us to forgive other people’s debts, we are to do so as we are only the delegated or entrusted owners of God’s wealth or money. God always pardons our debts and wants us to live the life of forgiveness of others’ debts (Matthew 6:14-15).

Jesus on Loans and Interest

Jesus in Matthew 5:42 says: “Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you.” Jesus advises you to lend money to someone when he/she wants to borrow money from you. Of course, when you do not have money, you cannot lend money, however, when you have money, Jesus tells you not to refuse. Yet, this is very difficult as you may also think about a situation that the borrower cannot pay it back. Jesus commands us to do what we cannot do with our natural human mind but can do with the love of Jesus, who loved us unto death even when we were still sinners (Romans 5:8).

Jesus in Luke 6:34-36 goes one step further: “³⁴And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. ³⁵But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. ³⁶Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” How many of us are willing to lend money to our friends without expecting to be repaid? Only a few at most. Then, how many of us are willing to lend money to our enemies – those people whom we do not like or even hate – without expecting to be repaid? Probably close to none. Jesus tells us to do good to our enemies, including lending money to them without expecting to be repaid. Jesus teaches us the absolute goodness – do good all the time to people although they may hurt us or exploit us.

Jesus instructs us that we may lend money or give whatever kind of grace that we have to our enemy – not just fellow Christians – even when we do not expect to get anything back from him/her. Our reward may not be earned on earth but will be accumulated in heaven. And this is a way that we show God’s mercy to our enemy through us. By doing so, we may win their souls, bringing them to God. Jesus’ teaching here may be connected to Paul’s saying in Romans 12:20: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” Our good conduct may make them feel shame on what they did to us. However, how many of us can do this absolute goodness to those who try to hard us?

Debts and Sins

When you borrow money from someone and cannot pay it back on time, you may feel guilty as if you commit sin. That’s why the Bible refers sin to debt. Sometimes, debts make you (debtor/borrower) a slave of the creditor/lender. Proverbs 22:7 states: “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.” The borrower may be forced to do anything by the lender until he pays back his debt.

When Peter asked Jesus about forgiveness of sins – how many he should forgive his brother when his brother sins against him, Jesus took the parable of unmerciful servant in Matthew 18:21-35. The servant owed his master 10,000 talents (one talent is equivalent to 5,000-6,000 denarii and one denarius is equivalent to an average worker’s one day pay), which is literally unrepayable amount of money although the Bible does not tell how this servant owed this enormous debt to his master. Knowing that his servant could not repay this enormous amount of debt, the master took pity on him, canceled the debt, and let him go free. The servant who was once summoned to his master but then was released met his fellow servant who owed him 100 denarii, which was not a small amount itself; but comparing with 10,000 talents of his debt that was just canceled by his master, it was almost nothing. The servant demanded his fellow servant/debtor to pay it back right away. Then, he put the debtor into prison until he could pay the debt. Having heard this story, the master called the servant in. The master was very much angry about this servant’s lack of mercy and turned him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all he owed, which was impossible. The servant who owed his master 10,000 talents may be each one of us, who could not repay the debt of our sins and trespasses.

Our Master canceled all the debts that we owed when we accepted Jesus as our Savior and when Jesus begged forgiveness of our debts to God on behalf of each one of us. But at the same time, God wants us to forgive our debtors in our daily life. Jesus in Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:12 (compare with Luke 11:4) teaches his disciples how to pray to God: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Jesus tells us that we should forgive our debtors first to be forgiven our debts by God.

Jesus in Matthew 6:14-15 says: “¹⁴For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; ¹⁵but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew uses debts and sins/trespasses interchangeably. To be forgiven our sins/debts by God, we should first forgive other people’s sins/debts before we ask God to forgive our sins/debts. Jesus makes the order of forgiveness clear. Although our relationship with God is more important than with other people, our relationship with other people should be resolved before we try to have a good relationship with God. When we want to be reconciled with God, we should first be reconciled among people (Ephesians 2:14-18).

Debt of Love

Paul in Romans 13:8-10 says: “⁸Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. ⁹The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law” (NIV). Paul considered himself a debtor even after he had confidence that his debts/sins that would lead him to death were all forgiven. What was his remaining debt? Paul felt that he still owed the debt of love to God who had sent Jesus Christ to the world to forgive all people’s debts by letting him die on the cross. Jesus appeared in the form of light to Saul/Paul while he was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians (Acts 9:1-9). When Jesus called Saul/Paul to send him to the Gentiles, he became a debtor of love. 

---

[1] M. D. Meeks, God The Economist. Fortress Press, 1989 (1946), 85-86. According to Meeks, “the legal codes of the Near East allowed enormously high interest rates” (p. 85).

Chapter 6: Tithes and Taxes

Chapter 6: Tithes and Taxes

Beginning of Tithes

The first tithe in the Bible was the one that Abraham offered to Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High when he returned from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him. Genesis 14:18-20 states: “¹⁸Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, ¹⁹and he blessed Abram, saying, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. ²⁰And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.’ Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything” (also, in Hebrews 7:2-10). The literal translation of ‘Melchizedek’ is king of righteousness. He was not the high priest in the order of Aaron as he preceded Aaron and did not belong to any tribe of Israel as he was not of Abraham’s family. Melchizedek, the eternal high priest as well as king of righteousness and king of peace was a type of Jesus in the Old Testament as the Book of Hebrews describes (Hebrews 5:6-11, 6:20-7:17).

Then, Jacob mentioned a tithe in his prayer to God at Bethel while he was running away from Esau. Genesis 28:20-22 states: “²⁰Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, ²¹so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, ²²and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that thou givest me I will give the tenth to thee.” Jacob promised God to offer him a tithe conditionally when God would bless him.

Purposes of Tithes

A primary reason why God tells his people to offer a tithe to him is to let them know that all things are of God. Although all things belong to God, God takes only the tenth and lets his people live with nine out of ten. Leviticus 27:30 states: “All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD’s; it is holy to the LORD” (also in Leviticus 27:32).

After the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, the land that the Israelites conquered was divided to Jacob’s twelve tribes (the Levites were omitted, and Joseph took two portions – Manasseh and Ephraim). The Levites were not allowed to have land, except for 42 towns for them to reside and 6 additional towns of refugee (Numbers 35:1-8; Joshua 21). God wanted the Levites to contribute themselves wholly to their work in the temple. Instead, God arranged them to live with the tithes that were offered by other twelve tribes. That is, the offerings (burnt offerings, grain offerings, fellowship offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings) that the Israelites offered were accepted by God, but God let the tithes used for the living of the Levites. God in Numbers 18:21 says: “To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service in the tent of meeting.”; and in Numbers 18:28 (to the Levites): “So shall you also present an offering to the LORD from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel; and from it you shall give the LORD’s offering to Aaron the priest.”

Practically, the Israelites separated the tithes for the Levites, the Levites separated the tithe of the tithes that they received for the descendants of Aaron. The descendants of Aaron were the end users of the tithes and they did not separate the tenth of what they received. And every third year, the Israelites separated another tenth for the poor Levites, sojourners, orphans, and widows.

Moses in Deuteronomy 14:22-23 states: “²²You shall tithe all the yield of your seed, which comes forth from the field year by year. ²³And before the LORD your God, in the place which he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstlings of your herd and flock; that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.” 

The New International Version (NIV): “so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always.” (Deuteronomy 14:23b)
The Good News Translation (GNT): “Do this so that you may learn to honor the LORD your God always.” (Deuteronomy 14:23b)

The Living Bible (TLB): “The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives.” (Deuteronomy 14:23b)

As TLB translates it properly, the purpose of tithes is to put God first in our lives and remember that all things belong to God. We should be thankful to God who allows us to use nine out of ten that belong to him.

Moses in Deuteronomy 14:28-29 states: “²⁸At the end of every three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of  your produce in the same year, and lay it up in your towns; ²⁹and the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled; that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do” (also in Deuteronomy 26:12-14). This tithe at the end of every three years was a special one to relieve the Levites, sojourners, orphans, and widows. This is another purpose of tithes to remember the poor neighbors.

When there was a king in Israel, the Israelites had to offer another tenth as taxes to the king, in addition to their tithes for the Levites. God in 1 Samuel 8:15-17 says through Samuel to the Israelites: “¹⁵He (=King) will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. … ¹⁷He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.” 2 Chronicles 31:5-6 states: “⁵As soon as the command (of King Hezekiah) was spread abroad, the people of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything. ⁶And the people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the dedicated things which had been consecrated to the Lord their God and laid them in heaps.” (also in 2 Chronicles 31:12) Thus, the Israelites separated 13.3% per year of their income before they had a king and 23.3% per year of their income after they had a king: 10% for the Levites, another 10% for the king; and at the end of every three years, 10% (3.3% per year) for the poor Levites, sojourners, orphans, and widows in their towns.  

Tithes continued even after the Babylon captivity. Nehemiah 10:37-38 states: “³⁷and to bring the first of our coarse meal, and our contributions, the fruit of every tree, the wine and the oil, to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and to bring to the Levites the tithes from our ground, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all our rural towns. ³⁸And the priest, the son of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive the tithes; and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our God, to the chambers, to the storehouse.”

Full Tithes

Malachi 3:8-10 states: “⁸Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How are we robbing thee?’ In your tithes and offerings. ⁹You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me; the whole nation of you. ¹⁰Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house; and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.” Offering tithes is not to show off to other people but is a relationship between God and us. What kind or quality of tithes we offer tells us (not others) how much priority we place God in our life.    

Tithes in the New Testament 
Jesus in Matthew 23:23 states: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” (also, Luke 11:42) Jesus’ saying here is equivalent to God’s saying in Hosea 6:6: “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.” God does not mean that he does not want to receive sacrifice and burnt offerings but emphasizes the priority – the practice of steadfast love and knowledge of God are more important than sacrifice and burnt offerings. What Jesus emphasizes in Matthew 23:23 is not a tithe itself but the spirit of tithe – why do you separate a tithe for God? It is to acknowledge that all things belong to God and give thanks to him (by separating the tenth) who allows his people to live with those of God’s. Some biblical scholars regard the tithes that God told his people to separate and offer for the Levites as taxes to God under his sovereignty.

Jesus and Taxes

What was Jesus’ attitude toward taxes? When Jesus and his disciples came to Capernaum, the collectors of the half-shekel (or two-drachma) temple tax asked Peter whether Jesus would pay the tax (Matthew 17:24; cf. Exodus 30:13-16). Jesus in Matthew 17:27 says to Peter: “However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel; take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.” Jesus did not reject the secular rules and regulations although he did not enthusiastically support them.

There is another passage regarding taxes, where the Pharisees tried to entangle Jesus (Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17; and Luke 20:20-26). The Pharisees asked Jesus in Matthew 22:17: “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not.” Jesus in Matthew 22:21 wisely responded to their malicious question: “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Christians and Taxes 
Paul in Romans 13:6-7 says: “⁶For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. ⁷Pay all of them their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.” Although the Roman emperor was Nero in his time, Paul tells his fellow Christians to respect the earthly authorities. So, believers should pay taxes duly. Tax avoidance to minimize tax liability within the law by reviewing all the items of tax exemptions and reductions is proper, but tax evasion is illegal and thus Christians are not supposed to do.

Tithes and Taxes

God used the tithes (taxes that he collected from his people) to provide the Levites with their living as they could wholly devote their time and effort to God at the temple. The Israelites in the Old Testament separated the tenth for God, which was used for the Levites regularly and another tenth for sojourners, orphans, and widows at the end of every three years; and yet another tenth to their king for whom they asked God.  

            What about today? Some Christians separate and offer the tenth to God at their church, which is used for their pastors’ living as well as for the ministry of God, including the relief of the poor people, the support of the local community, missionaries, etc. Their pastors (who are usually not supposed to have a secular job if the church can afford to provide for their living) are equivalent to the Levites in the Old Testament.

All people including Christians pay taxes to the governments – federal, state, and local governments – when they have income and when they purchase goods or services. When people do not have income, they may be supported by the government in the forms of negative income taxes, cash transfers, or in-kind transfers (subsidies by the government), which are similar to the tenth that was separate at the end of every three years in the Old Testament.

When people have income, they pay taxes – the federal income tax and the state income tax, according to their tax brackets. Most people usually pay more than 10% taxes. The federal government’s primary source of income is taxes. The taxes that the federal government collects are used for social security, national defense, major health programs, safety net programs (unemployment insurance, food stamps, low-income housing assistance, etc.), interest on the national debt, and others.

As taxes today are used for more various purposes and goals, majority people pay more than 10% taxes, sometimes 30-40% of their income, including the federal income tax, state income tax, social security tax, Medicare tax, and sales tax. God’s tax system was a proportional tax system (10% for the Levites and another 10% for the king) whereas the current U.S. tax system is progressive (rich people belong to higher marginal income tax brackets).