(REFLECTIONS ON Deuteronomy 15:1-23)

4 However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, 5 if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.

Today’s Scripture is about cancelling debts. If we examine different translations of the English Bible (NIV, ESV, NKJV), we will find that verse 4 is related to the cancellation of debts, which needs to continue unless there are no longer any poor among Israel.

However, Moses also reminds Israel saying,

11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

Why will there always be poor people in the land of blessing, the Promised Land? This is one of the interesting things about life and faith. We can as easily say, there is no need for suffering, pain, war, death, if only the world could fully obey the Lord, the God of all creation.

Perhaps it sounds weird to say, but we could also say, we need to love our neighbors until there are no neighbors left without love. On one hand, God’s commands are required because conditions exist in a world that require mercy, grace, and love. The cancellation of debts is an act of mercy, grace and love.

These exist unless there is a day when the world and the people of the world are no longer in need and are completely full of the blessings of the Lord. However, that these commands for mercy, grace, and love exist, shows us the state of the world, the state of the church, and the state of the Christian; We are broken.

Church is place for people that are in need, whether they are physical needs or spiritual needs. Why do these needs exist if the answer to the world’s needs is Jesus Christ? There need be no poor amongst Israel, if Israel could fully obey the Lord their God. There would be no need for ministries of mercy, grace, and love if the world fully obeyed the Lord.

And that is where the problem exists. We do not fully obey, and so the world suffers, people suffer, and we suffer. This problem then leads to disappointment in the church, anger towards God, and turns people away, rather than draws them near to Jesus.

There will always be poor people in the land, even though there shouldn’t be. There will always be pain and suffering in this world, even though there shouldn’t be. And that is why the church and our Christian faith seems like it is different than what we think or expect it to be.

Although all our efforts may not seem to make a difference, and is like trying to stop a flood with just a small bucket, or trying to fight a war with just a handful of sticks, it is also an opportunity to experience what Israel experienced time and time again, that is God’s supernatural and amazing grace; Because there will always be poor people in the land.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy 15