Economics: “a social science concerned chiefly with description and analysis of the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services” -Merriam Webster
It is in guiding such choices that the Bible is most relevant on economic matters. The Bible does not have a blueprint for any particular economic system. What is has in abundance are moral, principles and Norms (laws) that are relevant to economic topics, e.g.- work, private property, profit, money, employee and employer relationships, etc.
There are four fundamental economic principles from Creation [Genesis 1-2]- Stewardship, Sharing, Work and Growth.
Stewardship is the dominant Biblical economic concept. God, as Creator, is ultimately owner of all created things. Any claim to ownership (“private property”) by human beings collectively or individually, is conditional- never absolute. God, as Creator, has given responsibility for the management (stewardship) of His created world (the environment, our ecosystem, including all living creatures and natural resources), to human beings. They are to care, cultivate, preserve and use all of it it for Him or as He directs. See Psalm 24:1 and 115:16 and 8:3-8.
Sharing, by all for all, is essential. Life is paramount! All creation is intended by God for the sustenance of all living creatures. All natural resources are to be available to all by all. All end products of economic processes are to be available to all and shared by all.
All people have the right and responsibility to work, to be engaged in the production and distribution of goods and services. This is the “fill and subdue” commandment.
The fourth Biblical economic principle is growth. This is the “be fruitful and multiply” commandment. Growth in population (be fruitful) requires growth in economic production (multiply). This is to be desired and expected. Such growth of population and production will result is both scarcity and surplus of goods and services. This, in turn, leads to exchange and trade, governed by supply and demand.
Stewardship, Sharing, Work and Growth are all good things, sanctioned and mandated by the Bible, by God himself. They are fundamental, universal principles that must guide all the particulars of our economic lives, still, in the 21st Century
None of this was as God intended at Creation. The Fall changed it all. These developments (but not the Principles) are evil and condemned by God and the Prophets (including Jesus). God and economic justice are inseparable. Economic evil is injustice and is inseparable from Idolatry.
I must add here, that God has not been absent in the world. He has been providentially involved, both in the natural world and the world of “Men”. As Sovereign, He has been governing the world through many agencies and directly. His common and special grace have be manifest throughout history. The Story is not all of evil, much good is also recorded.
Because of the consequences of the Fall, God announced a new Plan: Mankind, as a fallen Race, rebellious and seeking to be autonomous, rejected the purpose for which God created them. Therefore, He would make a Covenant with Abraham and his descendants. He would be their God. They would be His people. He promised to give them Land. They would live in this Land under the four creation Principles outlined above, adjusted for post Fall reality, and detailed in the Mosaic Law.
God owns the Land. It is His, as is all Creation; but, He gives a portion of it to His People for their Homeland. The Land is a gift- the People do not deserve it or anything that comes from it. Israel (the Covenant people) are totally dependent upon God for the Land. All they possess will come from this Land, meaning, from God. They need to believe that God is absolutely dependable to provide the Land and its blessings. He will keep His Covenant Promises.
The Land-Gift is proof of the Covenant relationship: How do we know (how did they know) Israel is God's People? He gave the Land to them for their use and benefit. God entrusts the care of the Land in parcels to families within Tribes. This is the source for the concept of [conditional, not absolute] Property Rights. Dividing up the Land this way, at God's instruction, is the main validation of that concept. It should be noted here that God assigned different amounts of land, subject to great variation in topography, to the different Tribes. (This is important. There was equity, but not equality.)
See Joshua 13:1-14, 14:1-5; Numbers 26, 34 and Joshua 13-19
One of the greatest sins in Israel was to deprive, steal, a man's parcel of land from him. He not only lost his land (and livelihood), he lost the major evidence of his covenant relationship with God. An Israelite without his land, is a man without a country and without his God. The classic story illustrating this is found in 1 Kings 21.
The greatest punishment that God could bring upon Israel for its sins was exile from the Land. The greatest Redemption was to return Israel to it Land. The Prophets sounded this Message repeatedly.
All of the Land and its resources were to be shared by all the people through their respective families. Every Household had a part of the national inheritance from God. This was their Right as a member of the Covenant People. The Israelite was to never forget that he was always and ever a steward. As God said, “...the Land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.” See Lev.25:23; Deut.26:8-10 This is very, very important.
The concepts of Private Property, working that property, making a profit from that work and thus accumulating wealth, are all Scriptural. “Ownership” conveyed responsibility to develop, care for and use the land (and the profit and wealth gained from it) as God wanted, according to His Law, and for His glory.
Sharing remains mandatory. The Hebrew families had been allotted different size portions of the Land. Given the differences in terrain, the variety of geographic features, there was need for trade and commerce. Everyone would have enough, but not the same. Given changes in Seasons and weather, as well as disasters and violence (especially warfare and crime, many families lost their portion of the Land. Widows, orphans, indentured servants, as well as resident aliens, unable to support themselves, sank into destitution and became the landless poor.
These victims of terrible circumstances and oppression are the Poor of the Bible. Except for the aliens, they belong to the Covenant People of God. They are righteous people of faith, who look to the Lord as their only hope in their distress. When Scripture mentions repeatedly God's concern for the Poor, these are the people He is concerned about: innocent victims of tragedy. Mosaic Law required that such landless poor be provided for by the people who still had their share of the Land. They were to share it. Failure to honor and obey the laws about caring for these Poor was considered by God and His prophets to be very serious sin. The primary responsibility to provide for the Poor is given by God to their extended families and neighbors (as a community). This is an important part of what it meant to be a Covenant People. The State government was not involved. See Deuteronomy 15:4-11
God commands (through the laws He gave to Moses) specific ways in which people were to share the wealth God has given them. All Israelites were to tithe [which I take to be 10% of gross income] Two thirds is to be given toward Worship (sacrifices) and to support the Priests, who have no land (income) of their own. One third of the tithe goes to the Poor, distributed by the Temple staff. Produce from crops were to be left in the fields for the poor to help themselves (Gleaning). Every seventh year debtors were to be “forgiven” their debts and indentured servants freed. The Land itself was to lie fallow.
Work by and for all remained mandatory (as above). However, all workers (i.e.- employees) were to be paid fairly and promptly. All workers, including animals, were to be given regular time of for rest from their labor (the observance of Sabbath was a labor law, as well as a religious one). Indentured servants (employees) were to be treated fairly and not oppressed or abused. People working for their Debtors, in order off their debts, were to be given freedom from their servitude after 6 years. Failure to honor these laws about workers was evil.
Economic growth was still expected (see above), but laws were laid out to guard against greed and exploitation that might follow. There was no State as we know it in the time of Moses. There were monarchies and totalitarian regimes. The Tribes of Israel during this period lived together in a loose federation, with ad hoc leadership, arising from the people, for seasons and occasions as needed. There were patriarchs, priests, judges, and, ultimately, kings.
With the Fall, sin entered the economic process. It particularly leads to the control of both production and distribution for the personal advantage of those in control. Greed and selfishness leads to massive accumulation of wealth by a relative few for the benefit for those few. There were many Mosaic laws designed to prevent or limit the growth of private wealth at the cost of economic injustice, i.e.- transgression of the four creational Principles. Even the King was prohibited from accumulating great wealth for his personal use.
There was to be multiple division and ownership of land (preventing monopolistic practices by a few). Land was the great source of income and economic security. Land ownership was inalienable. No one could be robbed of it. Property markers were inviolable. If a parcel of land was lost, relatives (kin) had the right and obligation to acquire it back (keep it in the family). A major law in this regard is that of the Jubilee Year. See Leviticus 25 This interpretation and application of this text is controversial.
The Jubilee Law is about the land staying in the original family. This Law prevents a few people from actually buying up and keeping other people’s land. Conservative evangelical Bible scholars (eg- W.Kaiser, G.H. Wenham, R.Laird Harris), Commentaries and Dictionaries agree that Jubilee Law was not based on an initial equal distribution of Land, did not deal with inequality of wealth and did not redistribute wealth.
We can not assume that most people sold their land. Many owners probably maintained their family's agricultural land and, if this is the case, most people would not be involved in any redistribution.
Jubilee Law forbade the permanent, outright sale of land outside the family. The land could be rented (leased) out. Therefore, the “Buyers” mentioned in the passage were actually “Lessees” and they knew the land would revert to the Lessor upon the end of the agreed time. The land was not stolen. The owners were compensated for its use. The price received by owners was the total value of the combined annual crops over the length of the contract The Lessees were actually tenant farmers. Here is an example-
Lessee: How much do you want for the land? Owner: There are 20 years before the Jubilee Year. I want the projected value of 20 crops. The two men agree on what that will be. The Lessee pays $2000 total for 20 annual crops, up front, to the Owner. No one is cheated or robbed. Over the period of 20 years, the Lessee will sell his annual crops. He may make more than the $2000 rent or, over the years, the Lessee may suffer losses on his crops. The agreed upon amount may or may not turn out to be a good deal for either the Lessor or the Lessee. The original Owner gets his land back at the end of 20 years. He thus ends up with the Land and the amount the Lessee paid for its use. He may decide to rent it again or not.
The Jubilee Law is about protecting private property (land) and making it productive and profitable at the same time. The Law is about preserving the family heritage and its children’s inheritance, i.e.- their land. It did not apply to home owners or city dwellers.
Other laws on the Mosaic books prohibited taking interest on loans (usury) from fellow Covenant members and there were restrictions of the practice of requiring pledges to cover loans. Israelites were not to take advantage or profit off the misfortunes of other Israelites. That was considered contemptible.
Finally, the Principle of Stewardship is still primary and essential. The Mandate to cultivate and care for God's creation, and all that doing that involves (all the economic processes, as well as developing culture and civilization), was given to all Humanity. This Cultural Mandate was not assigned to Israel, but is a privilege and responsibility given to all Humanity, as the bearers of God's Image. All humans are like God in order to represent God in developing His Creation. The Fall did not annul or negate this.
Part V
How
do the Principles
we have been discussing apply today? We jump ahead and begin by
declaring our belief that the Covenant People of God today are the
Church, the Body of Christ. What follows is predicated upon this
truth. Inasmuch as the Church is the New Israel, the Land now
belongs to it. “Israel and the Land” is a paradigm,
a
model, for the Church and the Land. [How we got to this position is
another long study. Especially helpful is God's Design: A
Focus
on Old Testament Theology by Elmer Armerding and An
Eye for an
Eye: The Place of Old Testament Ethics Today by Christopher
J.H.Wright]
What could the “Land” be vis-a-vis the Church? Originally, the Land [not the entire Earth- the particular Land promised to Abraham and his descendants] was gifted to each Israelite Tribe and family for two reason. First, it was a sign of membership in the Covenant People of God. But, Land no longer is a sign of this. Second, Land was given to the Israelites as a means of self-support: to provide income, sustenance, for its owners. Land is no longer the primary means of self-support for hundreds of millions of Christians around the globe. They are leaving any land they had and moving to live in ever growing cities. Of course, there is no life for anyone, apart from the Earth and its resources; but, the days of “family farming” are long gone for most people. Finally, there is virtually nothing about actual land in the New Testament at all.
For these three reasons, we will look for a parallel concept in which the “Land” would be an analogy or type of something else. That something else is the Kingdom. To live in the Land today is to live in the Kingdom of God. The latter must be carefully defined.
The major subject of the preaching and teaching of Jesus was the Kingdom. (Matt 9:35, et. al.). The word itself has two meanings: dynamic, spiritual Reign and objective Realm. “Kingdom” is not a synonym for Church. (Actually, the Kingdom is far greater and more inclusive than the Church. The Church is better considered the primary means or channel through which Christ works to accomplish the Goal, which is the Kingdom.)
First, we consider the dynamic Reign. This is the active, ruling Presence in the lives and affairs of people, all people, and nations, as well- it is God active in the world.
There are many parallels between Land and the Kingdom as dynamic Reign. In the person and work of Jesus, the Kingdom was present on earth among people. Lk 17:21 cf Matt 12:28. His work among and in us is a gift. We do not earn or deserve it. The Church is totally dependent on this Kingdom. All we have that is really worth while and essential comes from it. God is totally dependable to do His work in and among us. This presence and work is proof of our Covenant relationship with God. The Church is inconceivable apart from this dynamic Reign of God. God entrusts the experience of His Reign to local churches, families and individuals. In all these ways, the Land is like the Kingdom.
Furthermore, living in the Reign (as in the Land) requires a certain life-style of those who would do it. As Israel lost the Land, so Covenant people today, including local churches, will lose the presence and wok of God, His reign, among or in them. As Israel was bound by God to live according to His Commands (Law), so They Church is accountable to God for how it lives. If it does not obey God and keep the Covenant, the dynamic reigh of God will be taken away from the. Luke 12:32 and Matt 21:43. The local Church needs to know that it can have “Ichabod” written over it (1 Sam 4:21) It will lose its “lamp stand”. See Rev. 2:5, 3:16
The
second meaning of
Kingdom is objective Realm. This is daily life, in all spheres,
organized according to according to God's Law, Principles and Norms.
The personal, social and economic ethics and practices required of
Israel in the land are also required of the Church that would
experience the dynamic Reign of God today. It is gratitude for grace
that motivates this obedience, this righteousness. Romans 14:17
“the
Kingdom of God is... a matter of righteousness (Justice)”.
Matthew 6:10 [Pray:] “Your Kingdom come, your will be done
(Your Law obeyed- Justice), on earth as it is in Heaven.”
Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His
righteousness (Justice)”.
Part VI
Here
are those
Biblical Economic Principles, revealed in the Torah and given to
Israel, which are to be practiced by the Covenant People of God
Church) today:
Stewardship still comes first. The Creation or Cultural Mandate remains in effect and is to be taught and obeyed by the Church. It is understood that this still involves the care and cultivation of the entire earth and its resources- everything that sustains life and the economic processes that make that possible for all.
Sharing is to be the defining characteristic of life for all Christians. See 1 Timothy 6:17. Money and Profit are to be vigorously pursued, but motivated by Ministry, not self-gratification. Compare the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-35) with the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-14, 18)
The extended Family is particularly the provenance of sharing. 1 Timothy 5:3 Here is the heart, the source, the well spring from which sharing flows. Note: Christians must be activists on behalf of the family, especially the extended family. This means the family is the primary care giver of its members who might become homeless or destitute due to tragedy, crisis or oppression. We must be pro-natalist, pro-elderly, pro-life in every sense, across the generations. Thus would mean opposing trends in society, as well as government programs and legislation, that undermine extended and muti-generational families. I say “extended”, because it is far closer to the Biblical Family than either the contemporary (any combination of two or more people of any age living together) or Victorian (the nuclear combination of a married Dad and Mom and their two ? children) definitions of family.
The local church is the major source of care for its members, for whom it is their family. Mark 10:28-30. The Church is responsible to care for its members (brothers and sisters in Christ, accountable to the Church and living under its discipline), separated from their birth families, who become homeless or destitute due to violence, exploitation, theft, etc or tragedy. See Hebrews 10:32-34 with Matthew 25:35-40; Acts 4:34-35 and 5:1-6; James 2:15; 1 John 3:16; 2 Corinthians 8:1 with 9:7 and 1 Cor.16:1Galatians 6:10, et. al.
People who become poor due to their own personal (sinful or lazy) behavior are not the responsibility of family or church. 2 Thessalonians 3:11, 6-10
The Tithe serves as a “rule of thumb”- a Principle like all others. It gives a minimum standard for giving to support the Church and its poor members. If we reject the Principle of the Tithe because it is Old Testament (the Law) then we consistently can reject all the other Principles we have found there. If the argument is that the Tithe is legalistic and we live under grace, which is greater, then it follows that we must give far more than the Tithe to the Church and Poor.
We practice “gleaning” when we give the poor among us the opportunity to work on a quid pro quo basis for a portion of what the rest of us produce [products] and which we designate for this purpose. This applies primarily to businesses.
All of these are very practical, Scriptural ways of “loving our neighbor”. All remind us (especially when we are resisting with excuses about not having enough to afford them) that God is the true owner of all we have and we can trust Him to provide, especially when we are using it in Ministry to others.
Work: Christians must model and teach the Biblical work ethic. We are to be pro-labor. We must be active in promoting and providing education, training and opportunities for employment and work for all people. Extensive knowledge, skills and appropriate technology (as well as systems of family and community support) are all ssential for economic viability. All this is absolutely crucial and a major factor in the long term solution for poverty. If they are employers, Christians are to be sure their employees are treated and paid fairly, with safe and healthy work conditions and not oppressed or abused. Failure to treat employees in this way is considered by God to be very serious sin. If they are employees, Christians must promote policies within their workplace that will ensure all of this. Christians are to be politically active in seeking and enforcing legislation and laws to these ends. Oppression would include intentionally depriving (robbing) people of these necessities, eg- denying certain children access to good schools or denying certain adults access to training or employment or denying minority business owners the opportunity to bid on contracts. Such deprivation, often institutionalized, is a major cause of poverty in America.
Finally, we must consider the principle of Economic Growth. We have seen that this is to be expected and is a good thing. Christians tend to take this concept to extremes, either free market Capitalism or State controlled production and distribution, Socialism.
Biblically informed Christians will support “private property” and the ideal of free market Capitalism (as defined earlier), rather than collective or government ownership of the means of production and distribution of goods. There is no such thing as truly free market Capitalism. America has a mixed economy. It comes down to degrees and compromise; but, Biblical Christians will be very reluctant about supporting government interference in economic affairs beyond the amount necessary for Justice. They will resist coerced redistribution of economic wealth. (What that means in actual practice will be debated.)
God expects intentional effort to increase personal wealth. See the parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), but there is no doubt that unlimited growth and the accumulation of wealth is a problem. Biblical Christians are realists about human nature and the evils which that can cause in any economy. The safeguards in the Law of God given to Israel, designed to prevent or at least limit the accumulation of wealth, private or corporate, when it comes at the cost of economic injustice, apply to Christians today. (Injustice, remember, is the violation of Biblical Economic Principles, e.g.-waste of natural resources or oppression of workers)
Christians should advocate laws and policies that respect everyone's right to Education, “Technical Know-How” and access to “Social Capital”. They will promote dismantling all laws and policies that are designed to prevent anyone's acquisition of those assets. No one has the right to monopolize them or deny them to others. Christians will not take economic advantage (will not profit off) of others. This is a prohibition of usury and profit-gouging, not a prohibition of fair interest rates in a voluntary, contractual commercial transaction.
All the Principles laid out here apply to Christian owned business. Christians should actively seek to persuade the Boards, Stockholders, CEOs, CFOs and all levels of Management of Corporations and Businesses everywhere to conduct their business according to these principles (whether Christan or not). They will also continually and intentionally seek the regeneration of the hearts of all employers and employees, through sharing the Gospel.
These economic Principles need to be continually taught, in churches and elsewhere, to those who know Christ, with the intent that they will live by them as well as work for the re/formation or redemption of the economic system.
It must be clear. This is not a secular Vision. We are talking about the Kingdom of Christ. Furthermore, the Reign of Christ must precede and accompany the Realm of Christ. The latter can not be accomplished by coercion of any kind. We are not advocating Theocracy. The Realm requires the work of the Holy Spirit (Zechariah 4:6). Its fulfillment on earth will not be realized until the second Advent of Christ. This is a call to the Church to live the Kingdom way regardless of the outcome- a call to be faithful to God in the midst of an ungodly society. Seeking to promote and live by these economic Principles (the Law) is our witness, fulfilling our vocation to be Light in the Dark and the Salt of the earth.