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The Ministry of Healing
thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to
thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.”
Deuteronomy 15:11
.
“If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within
any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,
thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor
brother. But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt
surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.”
Verses 7, 8
.
“If thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then
thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner;
that he may live with thee.”
Leviticus 25:35
.
“When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly
reap the corners of thy field.” “When thou cuttest down thine harvest
in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go
again to fetch it.... When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not
go over the boughs again.... When thou gatherest the grapes of thy
vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger,
for the fatherless, and for the widow.”
Leviticus 19:9
;
Deuteronomy
24:19-21
.
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None need fear that their liberality would bring them to want.
Obedience to God’s commandments would surely result in prosper-
ity. “For this thing,” God said, “the Lord thy God shall bless thee in
all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.” “Thou
shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou
shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.”
Deuteronomy 15:10, 6
.
Business Principles
God’s word sanctions no policy that will enrich one class by the
oppression and suffering of another. In all our business transactions
it teaches us to put ourselves in the place of those with whom we are
dealing, to look not only on our own things, but also on the things
of others. He who would take advantage of another’s misfortunes
in order to benefit himself, or who seeks to profit himself through
another’s weakness or incompetence, is a transgressor both of the
principles and of the precepts of the word of God.