You shall freely open your hand to your brother…Needy and poor
Deut.15:11
Giving is to be a purposeful and responsible act of love. We are not to just give to anyone, anyhow. We are warned about giving without proper consideration to whom we are giving.
Those who give to the rich will only come to poverty [Prov.22:16]. We should not give to the rich. Neither are we to give to so-called gospel workers who do not teach truth about the Lord Jesus. If we do, we are participating in their evil deeds [2 Jn.7,10,11].
We are not to give to disobedient lazy people who will not work to supply their own needs. Those types of people we are not to associate with [2 Thess.3:7-15]. 2 Thess.3:10: “If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.”
Clearly, the rich are not in need. Without a question, contributing to religious deceivers is doing nothing for the kingdom of God. Surely, supporting a lazy man is not right in God’s sight.
We are to give to two types of people. They are [1] the Poor and [2] Gospel Workers.
Jesus said: “The poor you have with you always” -Jn.12:8. These ever-present ones are to be the objects of our compassion and giving. This concern for the unfortunate is a sign of having true religion in the sight of God [Jas.1:27].
The poor have been a major concern of the most spiritually- minded Christians of every generation. All the Apostles are in agreement with this emphasis.
Listen to their statements to the Apostle Paul in Gal.2:10. “They only asked us to remember the poor – the very thing I also was eager to do.”
How we treat the poor indicates whether we love the Lord Jesus. According to His own words in Mt.25:34-46, if we shut our hearts and our hands to the poor, we have done so to Christ. When we see a real need and give to meet that need, it is as if we have given to Christ Himself.
True Christian giving is seen in sharing food, drink, clothing, and shelter with the poor. Mt.25:37-40: “The righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’”
Righteous Job was a blessing to many in need. He is a worthy example for all to follow. This is his own true testimony in Job 29:12,13:
“I delivered the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had no helper. The blessing of the one ready to perish came upon me, and I made the widow’s heart to sing for joy.”
He was obeying the Lord’s commandment about the proper and godly use of money. Deut.15:7-11: “If there is a poor man with you…you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother.
“But you shall freely open your hand to him…you shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work.
“For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’”
Meeting the needs of the poor can be done in different ways. We may give, lend, or pay them for work they do for us. If the Lord leads you to give, it must be willingly and without complaint [Deut.15:10; 2 Cor.9:7].
God may direct you to lend in order to help the needy. Someone who borrows must surely repay when he is able to do so. Ps.37:21: “The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives.”
Even so, the Lord Jesus says that a Christian should consider loaning to a man the same as if he had given. He commands us in Lk.6:35: “Lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”
Or it may be that a poor man’s need may be met by providing some work for him to do. In this way he will show that he is not merely a lazy beggar, but a responsible man, though having need. This method of helping the poor is seen in passages such as Lev.19:9,10:
“When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard. Leave them for the poor and the stranger. I am the Lord your God.”
Even if you have forgotten a bundle of grain in your field during harvest Deut.24:19 says: “Do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.”
It is true that in West Africa people may not understand that forgotten grain can be taken by the poor without being thought of as theft. But the point is, that God had His people Israel provide for the poor by allowing them to work to satisfy their needs. The book of Ruth is a wonderful story of kindness to the poor in this way.
True love is evidenced by providing the needful things of life to those who lack. It is the type of giving that the Lord approves of. 1 Jn.3:17: “Whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?”
If you see the need and have something to help with but do not give, you have a faith which cannot save you. Jas.2:15,16: “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?”
To do this is nothing more than disobedience, selfishness, and unloving rejection of those we ought to love. Prov.3:27,28: “Do not withhold good to those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it,’ when you have it with you.”
In fact, the Lord is provoked to wrath if we neglect the poor, but He blesses those who care for them. Prov.28:27: “He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes will have many curses.”
Prov.14:31: “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” Prov.21:13: “If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.” This is the love that gives.
Copyright Steve Phillips 2020