One of the main problems in our country today has to do with money. We are currently about 36T in debt. The government borrows a lot of money every year just to keep functioning. Right now, we are paying more in interest on that debt than we are paying for the defense budget.

Much of the spending for entitlements is for the poor—people in poverty, people who are homeless or jobless. Our country has generous programs for the poor, and that’s one of the reasons our country is going broke.

OT Israel also had programs for the poor. The passage we’re looking at today describes several laws that obligated Israel to care for those who often did not have many financial resources—Levites, orphans, widows, and strangers.

The Bible mentions care for the poor quite frequently. OT Israelites were required to care for the poor, and NT Christians also must be sensitive to the needs of the poor among them.

Of course, today we have government programs to take care of some of these needs. Some of our taxes pay for programs to help the poor. But the church also has some responsibilities to care for the poor among us.

I’ve titled this message Money Matters because much of the text deals with money—giving it as a tithe, loaning it out, paying off a loan, and generosity toward the poor.

Let’s see what Moses says here regarding money matters.