If you lend money to one of My people among you who is poor, you must not act as a creditor to him; you are not to charge him interest. Sermons
I. THESE PROVISIONS WITH RESPECT TO LENDING OBVIOUSLY DO NOT EXCLUDE GIVING. "If thou lend money," etc. But God, in many instances, would be better pleased with giving than with lending. If only men were seeking with all their hearts to do his will, all these minute regulations would be unnecessary. The advantage of the poor, as we have just seen, was the main thing to be considered here. And it might be for the advantage of the receiver, and still more for the advantage of the giver in the highest sense of the word advantage, to give, hoping to receive nothing again. Just as money does untold harm when foolishly and wickedly spent, so when wisely spent it may do untold good. Lending may serve well, but giving may serve much better; and that is the wisest course which is judged to do the most good. Some would find it easier to give than to lend, being naturally generous, disposed to lavishness, shrinking from the risk of being thought stingy. And yet sometimes in giving they would be doing a very hurtful thing, for lending would be better. II. Nor is there anything like A FORBIDDING OF THE LOAN OF MONEY FOR COMMERCIAL PURPOSES. If one man lends to another a certain sum of money with which to trade, it is plain that he acts lawfully in getting interest for the use of it. For if he were not lending money to another, he would be using it himself, and the interest represents his profit, which is the same whoever uses the money. The trade of the world, and therefore the good of the world would be greatly limited and hampered but for the use of borrowed capital. It may be that the man who has the capital has neither the disposition nor ability to use it. Let him then, upon a fair consideration, lend the capital to the man who can use it. III. Chiefly we must strive to avoid THE TAKING SELFISH ADVANTAGE OF OUR NEIGHBOUR'S NECESSITIES. Rather we should rejoice to take advantage of these necessities to show beyond all dispute, that the love of God is indeed the ruling principle of our hearts. Man's extremity, it has often been said, is God's opportunity, and so it should be the Christian's opportunity. By timely aid, if we have it to bestow, let us strive to deliver the poor from the clutches of the usurer, and especially let us give our aid to what may be devised for the curing of poverty's disease altogether. Every alteration either in laws or customs which will tend to diminish Poverty - let it have our strenuous support. Bear in mind that whatever each man has beyond a certain moderate share of this world's goods can only come to him because others have less than reasonable comfort demands. We should ever be aiming by all methods that are reasonable, just, and practicable, to secure to each one neither poverty nor riches, but just that food which is convenient for him. God wishes every man to have his daily bread; and it is an awful thing that we by our selfishness do so much to make the question of daily bread the only one that many of our fellow-creatures have time or inclination to ask. It seems to take every hour and every energy to keep the wolf from the door. - Y.
Any of My people that is poor. There was once in this church a poor widow, and she wanted £20 to begin a small shop. Having no friends, she came to me, her minister; and I happened to know a man — not of this church — who could advance the money to the poor widow. So we went to this man — the widow and I — and the man said he would be happy to help the widow. And he drew out a bill for £20, and the widow signed it, and I signed it too. Then he put the signed paper in his desk, and took out the money and gave it to the widow. But the widow, counting it, said, "Sir, there is only £15 here." "It is all right," said the man; "that is the interest I charge." And as we had no redress, we came away. But the widow prospered. And she brought the £20 to me, and I took it myself to the office of the man who lent it, and I said to him, "Sir, there is the £20 from the widow." And he said, "Here is the paper you signed; and if you know any other poor widow, I will be happy to help her in the same way." I said to him, "You help the widow! Sir, you have robbed this widow, and you will be damned!" And, my friends, I kept my eye on that man. Before six months were over God smote him, and he died.(Wm. Anderson, D. D.) Christian Age. While General Grant was President of the United States, he was at one time the guest of Marshall Jewell, at Hartford, Conn. At a reception tendered him by the Governor, where all the prominent men of the State were gathered, a roughly-pencilled note, in a common envelope, signed by a woman, was handed him. It was put into his hands by a young politician, who thought it a good joke that "an old woman in tatters" should presume to intrude upon the President at such a time. "You need not bother about her; I sent her away — told her you were not here to be bored," the young man said to Grant. The President's answer much surprised the politician. "Where is this woman; where can I find her?" he inquired, hurrying from the room. The letter he held in his hand, written poorly in pencil, told a sorrowful story. It said in substance: "My son fought in your army, and he was killed by rebel bullets while fighting for you. Before he died he wrote me a letter which told how noble a man you were, and said you would look out for his mother. I am poor, and I haven't had money or influence to get anybody interested in me to get a pension. Dear General, will you please help me for my dead boy's sake?" Sadly the woman had turned away from the mansion, her last hope dead. A servant pointed her out to President Grant, walking slowly up the street. The old soldier overtook her quickly. She was weeping, and turned towards him a puzzled face as he stopped her and stood bareheaded in the moonlight beside her. The few words the great, kind man spoke turned her tears into laughter, her sorrow into joy. The pension before refused her came to her speedily, and her last days were spent in comfort.(Christian Age.) Christian Age. The welfare of the lowest is bound up with that of the highest, so that the "injury done to the meanest subject is," as Solon said, "an insult upon the whole constitution," and a blow at the prosperity of all. Sir Robert Peel gave his daughter, on her birthday, a splendid riding-habit, and rode by her side for an airing in the park, his heart swelling with pride that be could call such a maiden daughter! At once, however, she fell sick of the most malignant type of typhus fever, and despite all medical skill and parental care died. A careful inquiry as to the source of the germs of the fatal disease revealed the fact that the poor seamstress, who had embroidered that robe in a wretched attic, had been compelled to use it to cover her husband when he shivered with the chills of the deadly fever. And from that garret of poverty the infection of death passed into the mansion of the Premier. Society has her own ways of avenging our neglect of her poorest and neediest children. In one bundle are we all bound up, for weal or woe. We give, though we do not always know it, to save ourselves, not alone to save others. Ignorance and idleness are handmaids of vice, as intelligence and industry are handmaids of virtue. God sees that no one is so much profited as ourselves by those gifts to His poor, which are corrective of self-indulgence, expansive of our noblest sympathies, educative of our highest nature, and which, while they help to lift humanity to a higher level, as surely lift ourselves with the rest.(Christian Age.) I have no legacy to leave my children but pious poverty, God's blessing, and a father's prayers.(R. Prideaux.) People MosesPlaces Mount SinaiTopics Act, Charge, Creditor, Exact, Interest, Lay, Lend, Money, Moneylender, Needy, Poor, Usurer, UsuryOutline 1. Of Theft5. Of damage 7. Of trespasses 14. Of borrowing 16. Of fornication 18. Of witchcraft 19. Of bestiality 20. Of idolatry 21. Of strangers, widows, and fatherless 25. Of usury 26. Of pledges 28. Of reverence to magistrates 29. Of the first fruits 31. Of torn flesh Dictionary of Bible Themes Exodus 22:25 5289 debt Library Excursus on Usury. The famous canonist Van Espen defines usury thus: "Usura definitur lucrum ex mutuo exactum aut speratum;" [96] and then goes on to defend the proposition that, "Usury is forbidden by natural, by divine, and by human law. The first is proved thus. Natural law, as far as its first principles are concerned, is contained in the decalogue; but usury is prohibited in the decalogue, inasmuch as theft is prohibited; and this is the opinion of the Master of the Sentences, of St. Bonaventura, of St. Thomas … Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils Parable of the Importunate Widow. Ciii. Zacchæus. Parable of the Pounds. Journey to Jerusalem. Epistle Xl. To Mauricius Augustus. Appeal to the Christian Women of the South Epistle xvii. To Felix, Bishop of Messana. Feast of the Dedication. The Jews Attempt to Stone Jesus and He Retires to Peræa. A Summary of the Christian Life. Of Self-Denial. Jesus' Last Public Discourse. Denunciation of Scribes and Pharisees. Circumcision, Temple Service, and Naming of Jesus. The Development of the Earlier Old Testament Laws The Blessing of Jacob Upon Judah. (Gen. Xlix. 8-10. ) The Eighth Commandment Exodus Links Exodus 22:25 NIVExodus 22:25 NLT Exodus 22:25 ESV Exodus 22:25 NASB Exodus 22:25 KJV Exodus 22:25 Bible Apps Exodus 22:25 Parallel Exodus 22:25 Biblia Paralela Exodus 22:25 Chinese Bible Exodus 22:25 French Bible Exodus 22:25 German Bible Exodus 22:25 Commentaries Bible Hub |
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