Revealing the Truth About Deuteronomy 15

Release for Debtors

1 At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money.

2 This is how it must be done. Everyone must cancel the loans they have made to their fellow Israelites. They must not demand payment from their neighbors or relatives, for the lord’s time of release has arrived.

3 This release from debt, however, applies only to your fellow Israelites—not to the foreigners living among you.

4 There should be no poor among you, for the lord your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession.

5 You will receive this blessing if you are careful to obey all the commands of the lord your God that I am giving you today.

6 The lord your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you.
7 But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them.

8 Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need.

9 Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the lord, you will be considered guilty of sin.

10 Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

11 There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.”– Deuteronomy 15:1-11

Jamaica’s Road Map for release from Poverty

This is what the Lord revealed to me:

Deuteronomy 15 was a command given by God to the Israelites; it is also a list of key principles which can help to stave off poverty.

Jamaica, as well as many other third world nations are intimately familiar with poverty. Partly because we have long walked away from the practices that have served our forefathers. Mind you, black people on this side of the hemisphere have had their inheritance and cultural practices stolen from them. How could we then remember what we didn’t get to experience, because of slavery?

It is also important to remember that there are many Jamaicans who are actually black Jews. But this truth is from hidden us, but no more.

Road Map

So then, it is for us to search out the words of Yeshua, find for ourselves those principles and adapt them into our daily lives. Here is Deuteronomy 15 reinterpreted for Jamaica.

1 At the end of every seventh year Jamaicans must cancel the debts of everyone who owes them money.

2 This is how it must be done. Everyone must cancel the loans they have made to their fellow Jamaicans. They must not demand payment from their Jamaican neighbors or relatives, for the Lord’s time of release has arrived.-Deuteronomy 15:1-2

If Jamaican lending institutions and individuals adapted this practice, among ourselves, poverty would ultimately be eliminated.

Consumer debt

Debt is a big problem globally. In the United States consumer debt has grown at an annual rate of 4.1 percent. The country’s debt is currently around $2.6 trillion, or $11,000 per adult.

3 This release from debt, however, applies only to your fellow Jamaicans—not to the foreigners living among you.

4 There should be no poor among you in Jamaica, for the lord your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession.

5 You will receive this blessing if you are careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today.

6 The lord your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow. Jamaica will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you.

Credit card debt and loans

One of the main contributors to escalating poverty rates is credit card debt and loans. Presently the major banks are pushing credit cards on the people, at a time of high unemployment rates and increasing poverty levels. “The unemployment rate in Jamaica is about 13.2% (April 2015, Statistical Institute of Jamaica ), with youth unemployment more than twice the national rate (38%).” Loan interest rates are criminal. They are the vice which keeps Jamaicans shackled to poverty for decades.

IMF debt

Jamaica itself, has been shackled to an IMF debt for decades. Because of our borrowing habits, that debt,adds up to trillions of dollars.

7 But if there are any poor Jamaicans in your towns when you arrive in the land of Jamaica, which the lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them.

8 Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need.

9 Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the Lord, you will be considered guilty of sin.

10 Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

Here in Deuteronomy 15:10, we see the blessing to be inherited, as stated by God. Jamaicans have always been counselled that to give is better than to receive. It has been drilled into our consciousness by our parents.

11 There will always be some Jamaica who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Jamaicans in need.

Copyright © 2017 · All Rights Reserved · Denise N. Fyffe