Borrowing And Lending
The wicked borrows and does not repay,
but the righteous shows mercy and gives.
Psalm 37:21
Borrowing
is receiving something with the intention of returning it. A
borrower is bound by law to pay back the debt. The wicked borrows
and does not repay.
In ancient
Israel, borrowing was done to allow peasant farmers to survive
through periods of poverty. It was not used for setting up or
expanding a business. Borrowing for needs and not for wants. When a
need arose, the needy would borrow from their friends or relatives.
Besides money, some examples of borrowing in the Bible were:
- Pots and
pans (2 Kings 4:3)
- Axe-head (2
Kings 6:5)
- Loaves of
bread (Luke 11:5)
Sometimes,
people turned to professional lenders who would charge them interest
for the privilege of the loan. But the laws of God admonished the
Israelites to help their own people by not charging any interest:
If you lend
money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not
be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest.
(Exo. 22:25)
If
one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among
you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner,
that he may live with you. Take no usury or interest from him;
but fear your God, that your brother may live with you. You
shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food
at a profit. I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the
land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your
God. (Lev. 25:35-38)
You shall
not charge interest to your brother-- interest on money or food
or anything that is lent out at interest. To a foreigner you may
charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge
interest, that the LORD your God may bless you in all to which
you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess.
(Deut. 23:19-20)
Apparently, the people of God disobeyed Him by doing otherwise (Neh.
5:6-13). The prophet Ezekiel rebuked the Israelites for charging
interest to their own people (Eze. 18:1-18; 22:12). Note that the
Israelites were allowed to charge interest to foreigners.
When loans were
made, the borrowers gave the creditors a pledge to guarantee that
the loan would be repaid. Something was put up as a collateral to
ensure that the debtor would pay his debt (Gen. 38:17-20; Deut.
24:10). This pledge would be returned once the loan was repaid. The
creditor did not have the right to enter the debtor's house
forcefully and claim the collateral. He was required to wait outside
until the debtor brought out the pledge and presented it to him
before some witnesses (Deut. 24:10-11). Essential objects that were
necessary to sustain life, such as the millstone, could not be taken
as a pledge (Deut. 24:6). If the pledge of repayment was clothing or
such, the creditor must let the borrower have it back at night. For
it was probably his only warmth in the cold nights (Exodus
22:26-27). God's laws sought to preserve the worth and dignity of
both the family members and the individual debtor.
Sometimes a
debtor would give his child to become a slave as the pledge for a
debt (2 Kings 4:1; Neh. 5:1-5). Sometimes a family member or a
friend would guarantee the pledge for another (Prov. 6:1-5; 17:18).
But God's laws lovingly provided times of release when all debts
were to be forgiven and all pledges returned. These times occurred
on the Sabbatical Year every seventh year (Deut. 15:1) and the Year
of Jubilee every 50th year (Lev. 25:8-55).
Below are some
biblical regulations pertaining to borrowing and lending that will
help us to truly love our neighbours (Deut. 15:1-11):
- There is a
canceling of all debts at the end of every seventh year.
- Every
creditor shall write "Paid in full" on any promissory note that
he holds against a fellow Israelite.
- The LORD
has released everyone from his debts.
- This
release does not apply to foreigners.
- No one will
become poor because of debts.
- For the
LORD will greatly bless you in the land that He is giving you if
you obey this command.
- The only
prerequisite for His blessing is that you must carefully heed
all His commandments.
- He will
bless you as He has promised.
- You shall
lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow!
- You shall
rule many nations, but they shall not rule over you!
- When you
arrive in the land that the LORD will give you, there are some
among you who are poor.
- You must
not shut your heart or hand against them.
- You must
lend them as much as they need.
- Beware!
Don't refuse a loan because the year of debt cancellation is
close at hand!
- If you
refuse to make the loan and the needy man cries out to the LORD,
it will be counted against you as a sin.
- You must
lend him what he needs, and don't moan about it either!
- For the
LORD will prosper you in everything you do because of this!
- There will
always be some among you who are poor; that is why this
commandment is necessary.
- You must
lend to them liberally.
By the times of
the New Testament, the Jewish economy had changed drastically and
commercial loans became common (Luke 16:1-8). During their
captivity, the Jews became familiar with the Babylonian banking
institutions and systems. Some of them even joined the banking
industry and became prominent bankers. In the times of Jesus,
banking was already an established institution in Israel. But Jesus
did not condemn the charging of interest (Luke 19:23). However, He
did admonish lenders to be fair and to show respect to their
borrowers (Luke 6:31). He emphasized the need for every person to
show love and grace toward his fellow human beings. God is gracious
to us, and we need to be gracious to others.
In the
Lord's Prayer, He taught us, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors" (Matthew 6:12). God has offered His Only Begotten Son to
pay the price for our debts. He requires that we do the same by
forgiving the debts that others have owe us. He also gave this
exhortation in Luke 6:35: "Love your enemies, do good, and lend,
hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and
you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful
and evil."
The Biblical principle is
essentially this: "Love our neighbours." If we borrow, we should pay
back because we love our neighbours. If we cannot pay back, we
should let our creditors know. There should not be any presumptuous
sins on our part. The borrower is a slave to the lender (Prov.
22:7). Slaves must honor and respect their masters (1 Timothy
6:1-2).
If we lend, we
should give liberally, expecting nothing in return, because we love
our neighbours. If we have slaves, we need to love them by giving
them wages that are fair and just (Col. 4:1). We all have a Master
in heaven. If they could pay back their debts, praise the Lord. If
they could not, also praise the Lord. When we help the poor, we are
lending to the Lord. And He will greatly reward us! (Prov 19:17) We
are blessed to be a blessing to be blessed to be a blessing. And the
blessing goes on!
The matter of the heart is the heart of the matter. If we have this
agape love in us, borrowing and lending will never be heartaches and
headaches. There will be this quiet understanding that God is in the
midst of us. He is watching over every transaction. As we desire
grace from others, others also desire grace from us. We will begin
to taste the goodness of the Lord as we all live in the glory of His
grace!
In Matthew
18:23-35, Jesus taught us this truth in the Parable of the
Unforgiving Servant:
The Kingdom
of Heaven is like this. Once there was a king who decided to
check his accounts. In the process of doing so, one of his
debtors was brought in before him. He owed the king $10 million!
As he didn't have enough to pay, the king ordered him to be sold
as a slave, with his wife and his children and everything that
he had, to repay the debt. But the man fell down before the
king. With his face in the dust, he cried, "Oh, sir, please be
patient with me and I will pay all of it." The king was filled
with compassion for him. He released the man and forgave his
debt.
But when the
man left the king, he went to a man who owed him just $2,000. He
grabbed him by the throat, and demanded instant payment. The
poor man fell down before him and begged him to give him a
little more time. "Please be patient with me, and I will pay
it," he pled. But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had the man
arrested and jailed until the debt was paid in full.
Then the
poor man's friends went to the king and told him what had
happened. The king called for the man whom he had forgiven. He
said to him, "You wicked wretch! I have forgiven you all that
enormous debt, just as you have asked me to. Shouldn't you have
mercy on others, just as I had mercy on you?" Then the angry
king sent the man to the torture chamber until he had paid every
penny due.
And Jesus
concluded, "This is how My heavenly Father will do to you if you
refuse to truly forgive the debts of others."
In Matthew
26:11, Jesus told His disciples:
"The poor will always be with you."
The ball is now on our side. How do we respond?
Source:
Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Written
on:
16 July 2004