God’s world-changing call to care for the least of these
One of the underlying issues in many of our political debates is the growing disparity between the rich and the poor. The question, “Is our economic system sustainable?”, is a serious and serial one. But rather than accept, with a sense of apocalyptic resignation, the way things are, the Bible urges us to imagine—and work toward—another way. A way in which our societies and our lives might be structured differently.
Some of the Bible’s most interesting insights into social ordering come from the time in which God worked with the Israelites to establish what might have been a model society. Meeting them as a people who had no home of their own and who were waiting to arrive in the Promised Land, God knew how important, socially and economically, land would be as they established their new nation in Canaan. Under the leadership of Joshua, God oversaw an orderly distribution of the land by tribe and family groups.
But He also knew the wealth, opportunity and resources connected with landholding would tend to become concentrated in the hands of the few. Family difficulties, ill health, poor choices and other misfortune might cause some landholders to sell their lands for short-term gain or simply to survive, but this would mean the family might be dispossessed for successive generations.
God’s solution: to decree land could never be sold absolutely. Instead, land would be sold only until the next Year of Jubilee, at which time it would revert to its allotted family, and any land sold could be redeemed by the seller or another member of their family at any time. Again, God reminds the people of their relationship to Him and how that affects their relationships with others: “The land must never be sold on a permanent basis, for the land belongs to me. You are only foreigners and tenant farmers working for me” (Lev. 25:23, NLT).
[The Year of Jubilee offers] an intriguing glimpse into how the world—and our economies—might work in God’s imagination. Moreover, [it underlines] God’s concern for the poor and the marginalised, as well as His concern to see justice done in our world, particularly, it seems, by sometimes-radical redistributive justice.Nathan Brown
As described in the remainder of Leviticus 25, this jubilee year—every 49th or 50th year (verse 8)—was also “a time to proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live there” (verse 10); a time when slaves would be set free, debts forgiven and land rested. In short, the Year of Jubilee was to be a reset mechanism for the social and economic system of the Hebrew nation; restoring the equitable distribution of and access to the land and the freedom God had given to His people.
And, of course, the reality of a jubilee year would have an influence on the people’s relationship, business and other activities in the intervening periods: “The regulations that God established were designed to promote social equality. The provisions of the sabbatical year and the jubilee would, in a great measure, set right that which during the interval had gone wrong in the social and political economy of the nation” (Ellen White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 534).
Bible historians are unsure about whether these economic and social rhythms were ever fully followed for any significant period of time (see 2 Chronicles 36:21), but they offer an intriguing glimpse into how the world—and our economies—might work in God’s imagination. Moreover, they underline God’s concern for the poor and the marginalised, as well as His concern to see justice done in our world, particularly, it seems, by sometimes-radical redistributive justice.
These are complex issues and we should be wary of simplistic responses or resolutions. But the Bible offers insight and wisdom. Both the Bible and Ellen White’s reading of it urge us to creative imagination and positive action in response to economic disparity and the many symptoms of it: “These regulations were designed to bless the rich, no less than the poor. They would restrain avarice and a disposition for self-exaltation, and would cultivate a noble spirit of benevolence; and by fostering good will and confidence between all classes, they would promote social order, the stability of government. We are all woven together in the great web of humanity, and whatever we can do to benefit and uplift others will reflect in blessing upon ourselves” (Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 534, 535).
Amid political debate and economic uncertainty, God calls His people to imagine differently, to care for others, for our societies and particularly for the least of these, and to work toward changing our world by living out the Bible’s wisdom in more practical ways—large and small—for the good of all.
This article appeared first in Adventist World.
Photograph
Tom Waterhouse, Flickr
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