Money in the Word Episode 8: Leviticus 19:9-10

In this video, we take a look at Leviticus 19:9-10 with Amy Artiga, CFP®, of Guide Financial Planning, and how it applies to us today.

Welcome to Money in the Word. I'm Amy Artiga and I'm one of the financial planners here at Guide Financial Planning. Thank you for taking the time to join me today as we dig into what the Bible says about money and how it applies to our lives.

Today's passage is in Leviticus 19:9-10. It says, "When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God." If you're not familiar with the book of Leviticus, I'm not surprised. It's not exactly easy reading and not a commonly quoted book. That's because it's just pages and pages of laws. You see, the Ten Commandments aren't the only laws that God gave the nation of Israel. The whole book of Leviticus is full of additional laws designed to help the Israelites live together peacefully in community and reflect God to the rest of the world.

This passage talks about leaving margin for the needy, and how that was God's community-funded welfare system for an agrarian society. We actually get to see an example of this law and practice in the book of Ruth. Ruth and Naomi were widows who had just returned to the land of Israel empty-handed. They were both poor and Ruth was a foreigner herself, so they fit the description perfectly of who this law was designed to help. We read in the book of Ruth that she went to the field of someone she didn't know, Boaz, and followed his workers picking up grain that they left behind. At this point, Boaz wasn't intentionally helping Naomi and Ruth because he had any knowledge of them or their situation. He was simply following God's law. Thanks to his obedience, they didn't starve to death and they had food to eat.

So how does this apply to us today? Most of us don't have fields where we grow our food, rather we have jobs where we earn money to buy food and other things we want and need. Instead of leaving margin in a plot of farmland, we're to leave margin in our budgets and spending habits. When we leave margin in our finances, we're following God's commands and we get to experience the joy of helping those in need.

Let's break down this passage a little bit. The first part says not to reap to the very edges of your field or collect every last grape. I don't know about kids these days, but when most of us went to school, we had to complete writing assignments on lined paper like this. When you write a paper, you're supposed to leave a 1-in margin instead of writing all the way to the edge. It even has little red lines as guides. Now on a computer, you're supposed to leave margin as well, because otherwise your document won't print properly. And so God commanded his people to also leave margin instead of collecting the fruit of their labor to the very edge. Now unless you're a subsistence farmer, this means you're not supposed to spend every penny you earn. You should produce more than you require to live on.  In the notes below, I've linked to a blog series that we wrote that talks about how to create margin in your budget. It's not just a good idea, it was actually commanded by God.

Now if you look at the scripture passage, the third sentence explains the purpose of the margin. They are for the poor and the foreigner. The reason behind having margin was to help those in need. The margin wasn't to be used to save for the future. That came out of what they did collect, and it was part of what the harvesters had already gleaned. The same goes for giving to the Lord. Their offerings for the house of God came out of their usual harvest. The margin that was left was something completely different, that margin was to help those who didn't have the means to support themselves without a husband or family. Widows were essentially helpless in those times since they couldn't just go get a job at Walmart or something like that like we do today. Also, foreigners didn't have a means to support themselves when first arriving in or passing through Israel, because they didn't have farms there. What could they eat without a farm?

We still have needy people today. In fact, in Matthew 26:11, Jesus said there will always be poor people around, so there's still a need for this law now. I know, I know, you may be thinking that because it's the Old Testament that it no longer applies today. However, when I look at the New Testament at Jesus' teachings, he didn't just throw away all the old laws, rather he asked his followers to go above and beyond what was commanded in the Old Testament. I think that still applies to us today.

The last sentence of this passage is a simple declaration," I am the Lord your God." Why does God remind them of who he is at the end of this command? It's to remind them that their provision and security ultimately comes from him, not their Harvest. Instead of squeezing every last penny we can get our hands on, we should intentionally leave some for those in need and trust that God will make it all work. Also, he's putting his stamp of approval on it and saying it isn't just a good suggestion, but it's God's command. Let me read this again, "When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God."

To summarize, when we leave margin in our finances, we're following God's commands and get to experience the joy of helping those in need. Let's pray. Jesus, thank you for giving us your Word that's full of guidance for how we are to live our lives. Please give us wisdom to create margin in our budgets and manage our lifestyles. Give us eyes to see those in need with the love of Christ. Create in us a generous heart. A heart like yours. Please guide us in how best to help the needy with our margin and be wise stewards for you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen

Well, thank you for joining another episode of Money in the Word. If you'd like to receive more devotions like this, subscribe with the button below and click the bell to get notifications. If you enjoyed this this look at Leviticus 19:9-10, you can click on Like and help us reach more people with God's Word. Thank you.