Exodus
22:25 ¶ If thou lend money to any of my
people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither
shalt thou lay upon him usury. 26 If
thou at all take thy neighbour’s raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto
him by that the sun goeth down: 27 For
that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein shall he
sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for
I am gracious. 28 Thou shalt not revile
the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people. 29
Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy
liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me. 30 Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and
with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou
shalt give it me. 31 And ye shall be
holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the
field; ye shall cast it to the dogs.
A usurer lends
money at interest.
Leviticus
25:36 Take thou no usury of him, or
increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. 37 Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury,
nor lend him thy victuals for increase.
This
wasn’t our current understanding of usury of excessive interest but as it stood
in pre-Capitalist Christian nations and in Islam the charging of any interest
at all as a profit on money. The interest on money lent was a great source of
social unrest in Ancient Rome as farmers would go further and further into debt
to ease the burden of bad harvests until they lost their farms. In this way,
and others, large landowners could accrue massive landholdings. Our modern
banking and finance system would not exist without charging a profit or
interest on money lent.
This
is not like investing in a merchant’s trip to a foreign country and expecting a
share of the profits but the bondage of being constantly in debt to interest
charged. In America, during the colonial era before there were any commercial
banks, most loans were private arrangements between individuals.
So,
the difference is, if I invest in your farm or your business and expect to
share in the profitability that is not usury. If I loan you money and expect a
profit on the return of that money that would have been considered usury, for
instance, as it was considered in England before Henry VIII’s rule in the
1500s. Economics, particularly finance, can be quite complex so I apologize for
oversimplifying the subject.
Hebrews
were forbidden to charge interest to each other. Imagine that. They could
charge foreigners, though.
Deuteronomy
23:19 Thou shalt not lend upon usury to
thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent
upon usury: 20 Unto a stranger thou
mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury:
that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in
the land whither thou goest to possess it.
I’ve
read that other ancient Near Eastern cultures permitted the charging of
interest allowing for wealth to be consistently gathered into fewer and fewer
hands. Here represents another distinct separation of the Hebrews from those
around them.
The
common person had few articles of clothing and would often have to sleep in the
clothes they wore during the day. Keeping collateral on a loan, if it was a
person’s only outer clothing they needed for warmth at night, was not permitted
past sundown.
Verse 28 is very
significant. It is quoted in the exchange between Paul and his accusers.
Acts
23:1 ¶ And Paul, earnestly beholding the
council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God
until this day. 2 And the high priest
Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth. 3 Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite
thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and
commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? 4 And they that stood by said, Revilest thou
God’s high priest? 5 Then said Paul, I
wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt
not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.
It
is also important as it acknowledges that there are spiritual beings that exist
and are allowed a certain power; like the gods of Egypt.
1Corinthians
8:4 ¶ As concerning therefore the eating
of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol
is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. 5 For though there be that are called gods,
whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) 6 But to us there is but one God, the Father,
of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are
all things, and we by him.
A
Christian would do well not to curse or challenge Satan, the god of this world
as per 2Corinthians 4:4. We are to resist him as per James 4:7. We would look
well to the Biblical example of requesting God to rebuke him.
Jude
1:8 ¶ Likewise also these filthy
dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
9 Yet Michael the archangel, when
contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring
against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. 10 But these speak evil of those things which
they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things
they corrupt themselves.
We
would do well not to curse or revile beings whom we do not know or understand.
The preacher who openly challenges Satan virtually pleads for his congregation
to be attacked by him. The Christian who pleads some power against Satan would
do well to depend on and trust in God as we know from the book of Job that
Satan can do nothing without God’s permission constrained by the limits set
forth by God. Even if Satan were bound and inactive we would still have our
flesh trying to dominate us. Satan is not the author of your sin. You are.
The
Hebrews were to give the first of the produce of the land, the juice extracted
from it, and to consecrate their firstborn to God. There will be more on this
in Exodus but notice the following.
Deuteronomy
26: 1 ¶ And it shall be, when thou art
come in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance,
and possessest it, and dwellest therein; 2
That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which
thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt put
it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose
to place his name there. 3 And thou
shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days, and say unto him, I
profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that I am come unto the country which
the LORD sware unto our fathers for to give us. 4 And the priest shall take the basket out of
thine hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God. 5 And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD
thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt,
and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and
populous: 6 And the Egyptians evil
entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: 7 And when we cried unto the LORD God of our
fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our
labour, and our oppression: 8 And the
LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched
arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders: 9 And he hath brought us into this place, and
hath given us this land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey. 10 And now, behold, I have brought the
firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set
it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God: 11 And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing
which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and
the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.
12 ¶
When thou hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of thine increase
the third year, which is the year of tithing, and hast given it unto the
Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within
thy gates, and be filled; 13 Then thou
shalt say before the LORD thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out
of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger,
to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which
thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have
I forgotten them: 14 I have not eaten
thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean
use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of
the LORD my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded me.
15 Look down from thy holy habitation,
from heaven, and bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given
us, as thou swarest unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
We saw in chapter
13 that the firstborn were to be sanctified.
Liquor simply
means juice. The juice of a fruit is its liquor as defined in the Early Modern
English of the King James Bible era. John Baret’s 1574 dictionary entitled An Alveary or Triple Dictionary, in
English, Latin, and French has the following entry;
“Juice
– all kind of liquor whether it be wine or water, oile or other…”[1]
The
offering of oxen and sheep was to take place after eight days with a beast’s
mother. The eighth day is a significant time in Bible reckoning for
sanctification and offering, setting something or someone apart for God. The
Hebrew week was seven days, God’s number of completion after the seven days of
creation.
Note the following
verses;
Leviticus
9:1 And it came to pass on the eighth
day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel…12:3 And in the eighth day the flesh of his
foreskin shall be circumcised…14:10 And
on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb
of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a
meat offering, mingled with oil, and one log of oil…14:23 And he shall bring them on the eighth day for
his cleansing unto the priest, unto the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation, before the LORD…15:14 And
on the eighth day he shall take to him two turtledoves, or two young pigeons,
and come before the LORD unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,
and give them unto the priest…15:29 And
on the eighth day she shall take unto her two turtles, or two young pigeons,
and bring them unto the priest, to the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation…22:27 When a bullock, or a
sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, then it shall be seven days under the dam;
and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for an offering
made by fire unto the LORD…23:36 Seven
days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day
shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by
fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work
therein…23:39 Also in the fifteenth day
of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall
keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and
on the eighth day shall be a sabbath.
Numbers
6:10 And on the eighth day he shall
bring two turtles, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the
tabernacle of the congregation…7:54 On
the eighth day offered Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince of the children of
Manasseh…29:35 On the eighth day ye
shall have a solemn assembly: ye shall do no servile work therein:
1Kings
8:66 On the eighth day he sent the
people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and
glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his
servant, and for Israel his people.
2Chronicles
7:9 And in the eighth day they made a
solemn assembly: for they kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and the
feast seven days…29:17 Now they began on
the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the
month came they to the porch of the LORD: so they sanctified the house of the
LORD in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an
end.
Nehemiah
8:18 Also day by day, from the first day
unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the
feast seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto
the manner.
Ezekiel
43:27 And when these days are expired,
it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make
your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will
accept you, saith the Lord GOD.
Luke
1:59 And it came to pass, that on the
eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias,
after the name of his father.
Acts
7:8 And he gave him the covenant of
circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day;
and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.
Philippians
3:5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the
stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as
touching the law, a Pharisee;
The
Hebrews were also not to be scavengers, eating the carcasses of animals,
carrion, that had been killed by other beasts and left in the field. Dogs were
to have that, not human beings, certainly not Hebrews.
Deuteronomy
14:21a Ye shall not eat of any thing
that dieth of itself…
Leviticus
17:15 And every soul that eateth that
which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of
your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe
himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean.
[1] Ian Lancashire,
ed., Lexicons of Early Modern English (Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 2017), http://leme.library.utoronto.ca/.
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