25.176 | BEWARE OF USURY | Proverbs 28:8 | God’s Word for Today with Pastor Nazario Sinon
Description
Text: Proverbs 28:8 (ESV)
8 Whoever multiplies his wealth by interest and profit
gathers it for him who is generous to the poor.
BEWARE OF USURY
Under the Mosaic law, the Israelites were forbidden to charge their fellow countrymen with usury on money, food, or anything else (see Lev 25:36 –37). Usurious practices are wrong, even sinful. Loans were intended to help the poor. It is not to exploit them so the lender can become rich. This warning echoes God’s view that earthly wealth is temporary (Prov 23:4–5; Jas 4:13 –14; Luke 12:16 –21). A greedy person can hoard wealth, but that wealth does not follow them to the afterlife.
Ill-gotten wealth through usury will ultimately pass into the hands of someone who is generous to the poor. Justice will overcome injustice eventually. In Jesus' day, tax collectors, or "publicans," were notorious offenders of usury. They are tasked to collect taxes for the Romans who occupied Israel around the time of the Gospels. The Romans allowed the collectors to add additional charges, as payment to the collectors. Many abused this privilege to line their own pockets. Their reputation was so horrendous that being a tax collector was as offensive as being a prostitute.
One of those was Zacchaeus. He believed inJesus and became a faithful follower. To compensate victims of his prior sins of usury, he was willing to give half of his wealth to the poor and to give back four times what he had taken unfairly (Luke 19:8). His generosity was his resolve to prove he was sincere in his faith.
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