Jubilee

My reading this morning - BTW join me! I'm using this plan: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/readingplans/index.php/today

Leviticus 25 - much more detail on how the nation of Israel was to treat each other in business deals regarding property and the like. The idea of the year of Jubilee is introduced, and it's a very interesting concept. You sell all property with the idea that it comes back to you every 49 years. So, if you have half a brain, you will not go buy a piece of property for full price the year before the year of Jubilee. Duh. BUT - the more important point is that you will not SELL under those circumstances. It is a great idea: be good to each other in business dealings. Treat your customer the way you would like to be treated. Here, read this:

Leviticus 24:14 " 'If you sell land to one of your countrymen or buy any from him, do not take advantage of each other. 15 You are to buy from your countryman on the basis of the number of years since the Jubilee. And he is to sell to you on the basis of the number of years left for harvesting crops. 16 When the years are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price, because what he is really selling you is the number of crops. 17 Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God. I am the LORD your God.

I know that we don't honor the concept of the Jubilee any more, and land is sold in perpetuity nowadays. But there is that second, and I think much more important concept which should live on - do not take advantage of each other. Wow - it goes farther than that: if you see somebody in need, you are supposed to help them get back on their feet. Interest-free loans, and other things are to be made available.

35 " 'If one of your countrymen becomes poor and is unable to support himself among you, help him as you would an alien or a temporary resident, so he can continue to live among you. 36 Do not take interest of any kind [a] from him, but fear your God, so that your countryman may continue to live among you. 37 You must not lend him money at interest or sell him food at a profit. 38 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

39 " 'If one of your countrymen becomes poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him work as a slave. 40 He is to be treated as a hired worker or a temporary resident among you; he is to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 Then he and his children are to be released, and he will go back to his own clan and to the property of his forefathers. 42 Because the Israelites are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves. 43 Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.

This is so lost now in our society. If we actually helped one another this way - and it would be the pure, true version of holding things in common - we would not have people who sit around expecting the government to bail them out when times are tough. Of course, if we all lived like this, times would not BE tough.

Just a thought....