Which
Does the Bible Say Is Better? Helping the Rich Distribute to the
Poor, or Helping the Poor Directly?
By Pastor
Paul J. Bern
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The
events of this past week inside the Beltway in Washington, DC have
been a reminder to us all that the super-rich have taken over our
country in a bloodless coup. The first step has been taken to repeal
the national health insurance passed by the previous presidential
administration known as “Obama-care”. In actuality, had both the
presidential candidates in last year's election endorsed Bernie
Sanders' idea of simply putting the whole country on Medicare, this
entire discussion, not to mention this past week's legislation of
“Trump-care”, would be unnecessary. But sadly, that is not the
case. So, what has occurred this week is that roughly 38 million
people will lose their health care coverage while corporate America
and the Wall Street billionaires get a $500,000,000.00 tax break.
President
Trump, a man whose own qualifications to be president are becoming
increasingly open to question, is the one who has spearheaded this
entire series of events while conservative white Americans have been
cheering at Trump's every move. This, my dear readers, is what
America has devolved into – an all-Caucasian oligarchy! Slavery may
have been abolished in 1865, but starvation wages still prevail. If
“Trump-care“ passes into law, the bottom 20% of wage earners in
America will lose their health care coverage, but not so much for
everyone else. This is the reason the “Occupy” Movement has
remained so popular, except that it has evolved into Black Lives
Matter, Standing Rock, S.D. and the fight for a $15.00 per hour
minimum wage, among other things. And why is it that the rich have
taken over the whole country while the remaining 99% of us languish
in poverty? I can sum it up in one word – debt! The rich have
buried the remainder of us under a mountain of debt. Today's American
consumers are faced with being forced to borrow just to pay their
bills. We have upside-down mortgages, upside-down car loans,
never-ending student loans, usurious title pawn loans, payday loans
and a whole host of other predatory practices that are fundamentally
unfair.
So
I got to wondering what the Bible has to say about this topic. After
considerable thought, prayer, study and meditation God has shown me
which Scriptures to use for today. So let's go back in the Old
Testament to the Book of Nehemiah chapter 5 (for you newer readers,
Nehemiah is between Ezra and Esther). I will start at verse 1, but
I'm going to break this passage up into a couple of parts so that I
may do the best job I can at breaking this down for everyone. “Now
the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish
brothers. So were saying, 'We and our sons and daughters are
numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.'
Others are saying, 'We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and
our homes to get grain during the famine.' Still others are saying,
'We have had to borrow money to pay the king's tax on our fields and
vineyards. Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our
countrymen and though our sons are as good as theirs, yet we have to
subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have
already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and
vineyards belong to others.'”
(Nehemiah 5, verses 1-5)
The
people during Nehemiah's time were experiencing a severe food
shortage, and whatever food was available was priced so far out of
the reach of the working people and the farmers that they were having
to mortgage everything just to feed their families. As you can see,
government assistance during hard times was nonexistent during this
time, and people were really suffering as a result. “Others
are saying, 'We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our
homes to get grain during the famine.' Still others are saying, 'We
have had to borrow money to pay the king's tax on our fields and
vineyards.” In today's terms,
credit cards, student loans and 30-year mortgages – combined with
stagnant wages that are stuck at 1960's levels – are the new
famines and new insurmountable debts of the 21st
century.
“....we
have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our
daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because
our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
Show me a people who have had their economic power taken away by
debt, and I will show you a people who have lost their political
clout as well. Plus, the slavery back then for the daughters and at
least a few of the young men was sex slavery, of that you can be
sure. God will never be pleased with us as long as this we allow this
kind of bad behavior among humankind! It's up to us to take charge of
this situation and turn it around! What are we waiting for? And now
let's move on to the next few verses, starting at verse 6.
“When
I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. I pondered
them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials. I told
them, 'You are exacting usury from your own countrymen!' So I called
together a large meeting to deal with them and said, 'As far as
possible, we have bought back our Jewish brothers who were sold to
the Gentiles. Now you are selling your brothers, only for them to be
sold back to us!' They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to
say. So I continued, 'What you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you
walk in fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies?
I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and
grain. But let the exacting of usury stop! Give back to them
immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves and houses, and
also the usury you are charging them – the hundredth part of the
money, grain, new wine and oil.'” (Nehemiah
5, verses 6-11)
Just
like in verse 6, when I see people having to file bankruptcy because
of unpaid medical bills, or becoming homeless because of that, or
maybe a job loss, I too get angry. It is fundamentally unfair to be
living on the streets, or in your cars if you are lucky enough to
still own one at that point. But let's put this into its historical
context for a moment. The sentences, “As far as possible,
we have bought back our Jewish brothers who were sold to the
Gentiles. Now you are selling your brothers, only for them to be sold
back to us!' They kept quiet, because they could find nothing to
say....”, are referring to the
then-recent release of the Israelites of old from the Babylonian
Empire, where they had been held captive for the previous 70 years by
King Artaxerxes before being released so they could rebuild the
Temple at Jerusalem. All this was done at Nehemiah's request, which
he formally made to the king, not unlike a modern-day petition to the
government. The request was granted (see chapter 1 of Nehemiah), the
Israelites – who had just spent the previous 70 years in Babylonian
captivity – went back to what was left of Jerusalem to rebuild the
temple there. So this entire conversation is actually taking place
long after everyone has returned, but before the first crop has
matured enough to be harvested. Nehemiah is giving those in charge of
the rebuilding a stern lecture on fairness.
“What
you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you walk in fear of our God to
avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies? I and my brothers and my
men are also lending the people money and grain. But let the exacting
of usury stop! Give back to them immediately their fields, vineyards,
olive groves and houses, and also the usury you are charging them.”
I could modernize those first 2 verses by writing, “You're charging
too much interest, and it financially cripples the entire population!
This is grossly immoral! And so now, in the interest of fairness and
ethics, you must give back all the properties, cars and trucks you
have forcibly taken even though the debtors were making serious
efforts to make good on those debts. This is a 'cease and desist'
order to stop this unethical practice immediately!” This also
includes credit cards, which people often must use to pay for
groceries, clothing, medical bills and utility bills. People should
not have to pay interest just to be able to feed their children and
pay their power and phone bills! And now let me conclude today's
message, beginning at verse 12.
“'We
will give it back', they said. 'And we will not demand anything more
from them. We will do as you say.' Then I summoned the priests and
and made the nobles and officials take an oath to do what they had
promised. I also shook out the folds of my robe and said, 'In this
way may God shake out of his house and possessions every man who does
not keep this promise. So may such a man be shaken out and emptied!'
At this the whole assembly said, 'Amen!', and praised the Lord. And
the people did as they had promised.”
(Nehemiah 5, verses 12-13).
This
is exactly what the Big Five banks and Wall St. investors need to do,
and the same goes for the IRS. Let go of the strangle hold,
Washington and Wall Street, that you currently have the American
people locked into! Not just a head-lock, mind you, but a
stranglehold! That's felony assault and battery the last time I
checked. If any of us were to do any such thing to an individual,
we'd be in jail for assault. If any of us were to do that to a
business or other financial institution, we'd be charged with
extortion. But if the government does that to any of us, then it's
called “taxation”. The warning from God is clear here. The
governmental and financial systems must start treating the population
– and each other – fairly, or we will find ourselves judged and
will be found wanting in the presence of God. Trust me, you don't
want to go there, that's for sure! So the lesson for today is only
this: Stop mistreating each other for profit! And governments,
starting with America's, enact better laws to protect working people
so that the problem of economic inequality can be permanently solved.
If none of these things are done, and if things are allowed to
continue on for much longer, the whole country is going to turn into
a powder keg. Then again, maybe that's the only choice the American
people have left if we're going to be able to take back our country.
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