I was reading in the bible today about the poor. In the ancient Israelite society everyone had an ancestral property that stayed within the family, keeping them a productive member of their economy. If they became desperate and ran out of luck, they were allowed to sell this property (until the next 50yr space of time, the Jubilee, which had to be there or the ancestor-property thing wouldn't work and someone would buy it all up) in order to get back on his feet.
If they were still poor after that there were other methods they had to keep him from being poor forever. I just thought it quite interesting that back then they tried very hard to keep all of their people on productive land. It's also interesting that it tells us there to LEND to the poor, not to GIVE. That way they have to do something productive with what you give them in order to pay it back.
Just some thoughts.
If they were still poor after that there were other methods they had to keep him from being poor forever. I just thought it quite interesting that back then they tried very hard to keep all of their people on productive land. It's also interesting that it tells us there to LEND to the poor, not to GIVE. That way they have to do something productive with what you give them in order to pay it back.
Just some thoughts.
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