Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,” and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the Lord against you, and it become sin among you. (Deuteronomy 15:9)
This verse is fascinating in that it anticipates the thoughts most people would have if they were presented with the opportunity to help someone just before the year of release. Knowing that it might prove unlikely to be repaid if the loan is given too close to the sh’mittah, a person might be tempted to adopt an “evil eye.” In other words, that mindset would betray someone’s heart as being cold and stingy. In fact, the Hebrew word translated as “wicked thought” is belial — you may remember this word from previous devotions. Paul said that, as followers of Messiah, we are to have no fellowship with Belial.
Plain and simple, the one who would resist helping the needy for such a reason is full of darkness and places that kind of person in the company of men like Hophni and Pinchas. These were the wicked sons of Eli who committed abominable acts in the Sanctuary when it was in Shiloh. People who would think and act in this manner are like the wicked servant who, after being forgiven of much, demanded payment from those who owed him little. To that person, the Master says, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?‟ (Matthew 18:32-33).
According to Messiah, that kind of person should not expect God to look upon him with pity and compassion but will treat him in the same manner he treated others. Therefore, it behooves us to forgive when appropriate and to give when we have the opportunity. Everything we have, whether gifts or resources, comes from God and He, being “rich,” bestows blessing upon us who are “poor.” He has compassion and forgives our shortcomings and sins and so, as a holy people, we should do likewise. If we don’t — if we withhold what we have from the poor — we may end up poor ourself. So then, it is beneficial to remember that “He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay back what he has given” (Proverbs 19:17).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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