Economic Inequality

God's law respecting economic inequality

The law given by God to Moses that are given to ensure general equality, or social justice. For example:

• If using “poor and destitute” day laborers, Israelites were to pay their wages at the end of every day “before sunset because they are poor and counting on it.” (Deuteronomy 24:14-15)
• During the harvest, Israelites were not to go back over their fields a second time or glean the edges of their fields. They were not to beat their olive trees twice, or go back a second time after picking grapes from the vine. All the gleanings were left to the “foreigners, orphans, and widows.” (Leviticus 19:9-10, 23:22; Deuteronomy 24:19-22)
• Every three years, the entire tithe of Israel’s harvest was to be given to Levites, as well as “to the foreigners living among you, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, so that they can eat and be satisfied.” (Deuteronomy 14:28-29)
• Every seven years, all debts were to be cancelled among the Israelites and all male Israelite slaves who had sold themselves released. God specifically warned against reticent lending when the time for cancelling debts grew near, because “If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the Lord, you will be considered guilty of sin.” (Deuteronomy 15:1-11)
• Every 50 years (or, the seventh debt-cancelling cycle), the Israelites would celebrate the Year of Jubilee, when not only would all debts be cancelled, but all land would be returned to its original family assignments. This did not apply to houses in walled towns, but only to land in the countryside that could support agriculture. I believe this provision had an incredibly powerful leveling effect in Israelite society because the ability to produce and accumulate wealth was based on the land. If someone lost their land, they would be reduced to a day laborer or tenant farmer with little hope of escaping their situation. In agrarian economy, the Year of Jubilee ensured there was not a huge gap between rich and poor, where the rich get ever richer. God did not prohibit wealth, but He did make vast inequality impossible. (Leviticus 25:8-55)