{"id":606,"date":"2018-03-05T12:39:03","date_gmt":"2018-03-05T11:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=606"},"modified":"2018-03-05T12:39:03","modified_gmt":"2018-03-05T11:39:03","slug":"act-justly-3-the-problem-of-debt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=606","title":{"rendered":"Act Justly 3 &#8211; The problem of debt"},"content":{"rendered":"<span itemprop=\"description\"><p>The Old Testament Jubilee laws show God\u2019s concern for justice in society. We are challenged to loose the chains of injustice. Today, this may include tackling the root causes of poverty and the traps of debt, locally and globally.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.\u2019 (Psalm 89:14)<\/p>\n<p> \u2018Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you\u2026\u2019 (Leviticus 25:10)<\/p>\n<p>Read Deuteronomy 15:1-15.<\/p>\n<p>For Moses, the long journey is over. He has led the Israelites through the miraculous exodus and the desperate years of wandering in the desert. Moses\u2019 life is almost finished, but finally the people stand at the entrance to the promised land. A new generation is ready to cross the Jordan and enter Canaan. Now Moses reminds them of the road they have travelled and the agreement they made with God in the desert.<\/p>\n<p>1.\tHow would this particular law have affected the lives of the Israelites as a covenant people? (vv1-3)<br \/>\n2.\tHow does God\u2019s promise in verse 4 relate to the statement in verse 11?<br \/>\n3.\tWhat do verses 7-10 add to the law that has been given?<br \/>\n4.\tWhat concerns underlie these laws and what relevance do they have to our lives?<br \/>\n5.\tEvery 50 years you make a new beginning \u2013 this is the Jubilee principle in the book of Leviticus. You cancel any debts still owed; if there are slaves, you set them free \u2013 it is a chance for renewal for everybody.\u2019 How should this principal be worked out in UK society today?<br \/>\n6.\tWhat are the causes of debt in UK society today?<br \/>\n7.\tWhat should the church be doing to help people caught in \u201cthe debt trap\u201d?<br \/>\n8.\tWhat should individual Christians be doing about the problems of debt.<br \/>\n9.\tRead Leviticus 25:35-38 and Exodus 22:25-27. How should we as Christians and as nations approach the issue of loans?<br \/>\n10.\tWhat does Jesus say in Luke 6:32-36 about lending to others?<br \/>\n11.\tWhat does Matthew 6:12 teach us about forgiveness?<\/p>\n<span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"excerpt\"><span itemprop=\"description\">The Old Testament Jubilee laws show God\u2019s concern for justice in society. We are challenged to loose the chains of injustice. Today, this may&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p btn-align-left\"><a class=\"blue zoom-btn\" href=\"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/?p=606\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,35],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=606"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":607,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606\/revisions\/607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/pbthomas.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}