Deuteronomy 15:1 –
At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money.
Boy doesn’t most people in this nation wish that was the case today! As you read this section you see many interesting facts on how Israelites were commanded to loan money. The first is this 7 year period was not a floating period based on the loan, it was a hard time. Technically you could borrow money on the 6th year and have it forgiven. Interestingly this only applies to fellow Israelites and not the foreigners who live in their land. The segment says don’t be mean spirited in your loans either. It also touches on giving to the poor and how you should do so without question.
I think the key here is people were not loaning money they did not have or could not repay. Although this segment does not touch on quality of the loans, it does imply giving to the poor and not loaning. So technically they are being commanded to make “loans” they know cannot be repaid. This is an interesting subject when you think about if this applied today. Would the money have been given out so freely? Would the poor be given enough to purchase over priced homes? Would everyone have access to plastic money that they could use without thinking?
He commands them to loan money to other nations but not borrow it so the other nations cannot have control over them. Now as I read this it’s not clear on the wisdom of the borrower. I know when I purchased 3 homes that included a $100k equity line without a job that seemed unwise, but I figured the banks knew what they were doing. In reality I should NEVER have even tried to get those loans or taken the $200k in credit card limits. I wonder if they had a way to control the borrower if God did not put real controls on the condition of loaning money. Would we be in better shape if the banks knew their money would be lost after 7 years? Or would there be a flurry of foreclosures at 6 years 11 months and 29 days?