“When harvesting the grain in your field, if you forgot a sheaf of grain there, you are not to go back and get it; it will remain there for the foreigner, the orphan and the widow, so that Adonai your God will bless you in all the work you do.“-Deuteronomy 24:19
Verse 19 of Deuteronomy 24 expounds on the commands first given in Leviticus by declaring that…
…a portion of the fields, vineyards, and tree crops must be left for the foreigner, widow and orphan to eat from.
Earlier in Leviticus, it was specifically stated that…
…the “corners of the fields” must be left for the poor.
However, Deuteronomy 24 builds on this and gives us more detail concerning what exactly is to be left so that the disadvantaged of society will not perish due to starvation.
Again, this is one of those sections where it’s best to go to the Oral Law to really learn the practical application of what’s being said here (That’s right folks. To gain a more in-depth understanding of some parts of Torah, you need to go to the Oral Law).
So the Rabbis came to the conclusion that all of these laws about gleaning can be boiled down into the following four categories:
-The edges of the vineyards, groves and fields must be left unharvested.
-Anything the owner forgets in the vineyards, groves and fields is to remain “forgotten”
-During reaping, any grapes or grains that fall to the ground are to be left there
-The smaller and unripened clusters of grapes are to be left on the vines and NOT be later harvested
Now what does Moses say will be the results of obeying these instructions?
The answer is simple.
God will bless everything he does.
The Lord understands it’s a sacrifice for a farmer to have to give up what is legitimately his for the sake of showing mercy towards the disadvantaged in society.
On the other hand, another way to look at it is to consider that the Hebrew farmer’s land is not really his land to begin with.
The Lord gave it to him.
In fact, we should consider everything we own, including our health, to be gracious gifts from the Lord.
One final point before I close.
There are some pastors out there who will beat their congregation over the heads with this verse in order to make them feel guilty so they’ll pull out their wallets and give their tithes and offerings.
That is a misapplication of this verse.
Why?
Because Deuteronomy 24:19 ain’t about people giving to the temple or even to the Lord for that matter.
The situation being presented here is about the people DIRECTLY helping the poor and disadvantaged in society.
I’m done.
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN DEUTERONOMY CHAPTER 25
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