Deuteronomy 15 – Who is your neighbor, brother or sister? Who and how do we lend to them? 2023

Look at the practicality of Torah and how to live your daily life, how to interact with others and how we are to be in order to have a pleasing life for Elohim. The grace of His Torah shows forth in this section more than any other part of Scripture. You know, we live in a tough world, it's a fallen world and sin abounds. The imperfection around us it's going to affect all of us sooner or later. We're not perfect, we offend people, people get upset. Elohim and this mercy has made allowances for our imperfections in His Torah. First of all, Elohim is not a socialist. He doesn't want the government to provide for all the needs of the people, it's simply not possible. Elohim has set up a system where the government provides justice, not welfare. The people are not to reap the harvest, for instance in the corner of their field. They're also not to pick up what is dropped when they do harvest. Take a look at

Leviticus19:9-10

Leviticus 23:22

This is one way we were to provide for the poor and for the stranger among us. You know, on the other hand Elohim is not totally a capitalist either. He doesn’t allowed man to be a ruthless financial dictator of his brother He doesn't want that.

The survival of the fittest has no place among His people. The fact is, we owe everything to our Heavenly Father, none of it is really ours. If we heap up treasures here on earth and neglect our opportunities on earth to show His love to our brothers and sisters what good are we? We can't do that.

Matthew 6:19-21

In this chapter, Elohim is going to tell us to be generous with one another. We’re to understand that when we lend something to a fellow believer, he is to pay us back if and when he is able. Every seventh year that debt is gone. What a system, for everybody involved, to get the opportunity to show the love of the Father in that way. In a way that the world considers the most important thing, it is a privilege. I looked at money to be so much less important when I started following the Torah. It’s really not that big of a deal. I like to eat; I do like an occasional beer, I had a cigar the other day that was pretty good, but folks, we're not really hurting, none of us really are. Sometimes people do run into difficult times, let's help them. You can show the love of the Father, you get that opportunity to do that and that's what Yeshua is talking about here, that is laying up treasures in heaven.

Deut 15:2

“And this is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD’s remission has been proclaimed.
That's how we're to loan to our neighbor and our brother, we are to do it with Elohim’s remission in mind. Every seven years release our neighbor and brother from anything they have borrowed from us. Yeshua expounded upon this also in

Luke 6:34-37

He’s talking about specifically loaning to our brothers and sisters this is not to the guy that wanders into the nest. If we have any spare hundred dollar bills for a man down on his luck, that's not what this is about. He's talking about your neighbors, your brother's, your sisters. I had someone asked me the other day, well what about the Good Samaritan? I told him, well, the question was to the man that was beaten up. Who is your neighbor? Not the priest, not the Levite, the man who is following the Torah, that's who your neighbor is, that's your brother, that's your sister. It's those within His people, that's who this is referring to, it says so in
Luke 6:38

That's not talking about a church offering, to make sure the pastor doesn't have to work that hour and a half a week, that's not what this is about. I've heard pastors quote that on Christian radio, no don't give it to them. Give to them in good measure and you'll be pressed down and shaken, there you go.

Deut 15:3

“From a foreigner you may exact it, but your hand shall release whatever of yours is with your brother.

If someone outside of His people loaned money to that person with a bad back, there is no seven-year release. It should go without saying, but we should forgive our brothers debts, but the heart of man can really easily harden up. Elohim had to remind man to forgive the debts of his brothers.

Deut 15:4
“However, there shall be no poor among you, since Yahweh will surely bless you in the land which Yahweh your Elohim is giving you as an inheritance to possess,
There should be no destitute among us, I'm not talking about whatever the government says is the poverty line. A good majority of people under the poverty line still have a big screen TV, a car and air conditioning and go out to eat, so it's a different measure among His people.

River Valley Torah Assembly