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Chapter 12—Help for the Unemployed and the
Homeless
There are largehearted men and women who are anxiously con-
sidering the condition of the poor and what means can be found for
their relief. How the unemployed and the homeless can be helped
to secure the common blessings of God’s providence and to live
the life He intended man to live, is a question to which many are
earnestly endeavoring to find an answer. But there are not many,
even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes
that underlie the present state of society. Those who hold the reins of
government are unable to solve the problem of poverty, pauperism,
and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business
operations on a more secure basis.
If men would give more heed to the teaching of God’s word, they
would find a solution of these problems that perplex them. Much
might be learned from the Old Testament in regard to the labor
question and the relief of the poor.
God’s Plan for Israel
In God’s plan for Israel every family had a home on the land,
with sufficient ground for tilling. Thus were provided both the means
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and the incentive for a useful, industrious, and self-supporting life.
And no devising of men has ever improved upon that plan. To the
world’s departure from it is owing, to a large degree, the poverty and
wretchedness that exist today.
At the settlement of Israel in Canaan, the land was divided among
the whole people, the Levites only, as ministers of the sanctuary,
being excepted from the equal distribution. The tribes were num-
bered by families, and to each family, according to its numbers, was
apportioned an inheritance.
And although one might for a time dispose of his possession, he
could not permanently barter away the inheritance of his children.
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