What other scriptures emphasize justice and fairness in financial matters? Job 22:6—A Mirror on Financial Wrongdoing “You demanded security from your brothers without cause, stripping off their clothes and leaving them naked.” (Job 22:6) Eliphaz’s charge highlights three financial sins: taking collateral from the needy, exploiting family ties, and showing no compassion. Scripture consistently condemns these practices and calls God’s people to fairness, generosity, and justice. Core Principles in the Law • Exodus 22:25-27—“If you lend money to My people—any poor man among you—you are not to act as a usurer to him; you are not to charge him interest… If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset… When he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.” • Leviticus 19:13—“You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold the wages of a hired worker overnight.” • Deuteronomy 24:10-15—No intrusive pledge-taking, prompt wage payment, and regard for the poor “so that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you, and it will be credited to you as righteousness.” • Deuteronomy 15:7-8—Open-handed generosity: “You shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need.” Wisdom Literature Echoes • Proverbs 14:31—“Whoever oppresses the poor taunts his Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.” • Proverbs 22:22-23—“Do not rob a poor man because he is poor… for the LORD will take up their case.” • Proverbs 28:8—“He who increases wealth by interest and usury gathers it for one who is kind to the poor.” Prophetic Voices • Isaiah 10:1-2—“Woe to those who enact unjust statutes… to deprive the poor of justice and withhold rights from the oppressed of My people.” • Amos 8:4-6—God denounces merchants who “trample the needy… using dishonest scales.” • Micah 6:8—“He has shown you, O man, what is good… to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” • Malachi 3:5—The LORD will testify “against those who defraud laborers of their wages.” Teaching and Example of Jesus • Luke 3:12-14—John the Baptist requires fair collection practices and contentment with wages. • Luke 6:34-35—“Lend… expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great.” • Luke 19:8-9—Zacchaeus makes fourfold restitution; Jesus affirms true repentance shown through financial justice. • Matthew 7:12—The Golden Rule applied to all transactions. Guidance from the Early Church and Epistles • Acts 4:32-35—Believers share possessions so “there was no needy person among them.” • Romans 13:8—“Owe no one anything, except to love one another.” • Ephesians 4:28—Former thieves must labor “that he may have something to share with the one in need.” • James 5:1-6—Unpaid wages “are crying out against you,” and the Lord hears their cries. • 1 Timothy 6:17-19—The wealthy are commanded “to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.” Putting It All Together From the Law through the prophets, wisdom writings, Gospels, and epistles, Scripture repeatedly insists that God’s people treat others fairly in every financial matter—lending without exploitation, paying wages promptly, rejecting dishonest gain, and practicing open-handed generosity. Such obedience reflects God’s own justice and compassion and brings His blessing on both giver and recipient. |
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