Pertinent verses relating to Jubilee:
The Parable of The Widow's Oil in 2 Kings 4: because of the faith of the widow, Elisha uses his (priestly) authority to in effect cancel her debt. Her creditor had come to take compensation for her failure to repay (the collateral at this time being one's children; notice the parallel to God sending his Son as payment for our sins). God provides just enough oil for her to sell in order to recompense the creditor. This is also a good lesson in being resourceful.
Proberbs 13:13: The one who despises the word will be in debt to it, But the one who fears the commandment will be rewarded.
Colossians 2: having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him...If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees...
Finally, although not directly relevant, notice the contrasting fates of Babylon and the New Jerusalem in Revelation. Babylon, whose wealth was built on slavery (debt is a form of slavery, arguably), leads to destruction. New Jerusalem is founded on forgiveness of wrongdoings, and so lasts forever. Notice also that the inhabitants of Babylon temporarily enjoy a 'boom', and end up with a 'bust'. In the New Jerusalem, it is not objects that carry value; the city itself is constructed of all sorts of precious minerals. Seeking this kingdom will inevitably bring prosperity, because it is founded on solid foundations.
Sunday 27 June 2010
Saturday 26 June 2010
Re: Jubilee
Two afterthoughts:
A) "The city" of London and "Wall Street" - cities and walls. The locations most adversely affected by the financial crisis due to their adoption of earthly (selfish) laws based on greed, rather than following Nehemiah's example of instituting God's law (mercy) based on love.
B) The "Jubilee Movement" (made famous by Bono and LiveAid, and the Gleneagles G8 Summit along with the 'Make Poverty History' campaign) was criticised for playing into the hands of corrupt bureacrats and evil autocrats who would be forgiven (and by implication, rewarded), for decimating the economies of their countries. But according to the Jubilee idea, the reaction would be one of reciprocation rather than relapse.
A) "The city" of London and "Wall Street" - cities and walls. The locations most adversely affected by the financial crisis due to their adoption of earthly (selfish) laws based on greed, rather than following Nehemiah's example of instituting God's law (mercy) based on love.
B) The "Jubilee Movement" (made famous by Bono and LiveAid, and the Gleneagles G8 Summit along with the 'Make Poverty History' campaign) was criticised for playing into the hands of corrupt bureacrats and evil autocrats who would be forgiven (and by implication, rewarded), for decimating the economies of their countries. But according to the Jubilee idea, the reaction would be one of reciprocation rather than relapse.
Jubilee: Forgiveness, Reaping and Sowing, and Walls
The world economy is an a mess. This indisputable reality, most would argue, is the result of mismanagement of excessive debt, both on the part of creditor and debtor. An inordinately complex web of credit, equity, risk, and an incalculable cornucopia of other factors evolved (or devolved) into an unsustainable bubble. At the end of the chain, attempts to circumvent the basic reality of debt (that borrowed money must be repaid, and therefore the returns to any leveraged investment must outweigh the cumulative interest) by both borrowers and lenders, along with financial alchemy (the creation of sophisticated instruments purported to 'eliminate risk') were supported by sub-prime mortgages. Whether or not banks knew that people with no income would be unable to repay such loans (it has been revealed that many did), the incentive structure based on immediate returns and bonuses inevitably led to the proliferation of mortgage-backed securities. Although these securities were practically worthless (they were probably so risky that repayment was probably less likely than default, given the credit-card culture in consumerist society), by bundling them together with other obligations, their value was concealed (I would term this 'smuggling': compare it to similar methods of transporting drugs or weapons that bypass security checks). They were then sold off all around the world to private investors, sovereign wealth funds, and the like. A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down.
Wealth seemed to be created at every stage: a borrower could own a house (with a price that was erroneously believed to rise invariably), a creditor could sell the debt, and the purchasers could count on future repayment. The missing link, of course, was the repayment. The price of the collateral (the mortgaged house) was the exact same asset that was purchased using the borrowed money. If this price of the asset were to fall, a slew of defaults would ensue, crashing the market, and thus destroying collateral. This is what Ben Bernanke has termed 'financial fragility'; I would call it 'building your house on sand'. Because of the entanglement of indebtedness, when this did occur it sparked a chain reaction that brought down the entire financial system, causing mass unemployment, bank failure, and even sovereign default. The ramifications are still being felt today, with the more 'developed' countries now in urgent need of rescue.
What does the Bible say about debt? The Old Testament is replete with directives for handling debt. One of these is found in Leviticus 25, which sanctions a Jubilee Year, calculated as “seven Sabbaths of years” - that is, every 49 years. All transactions, values, and debts are firmly based around this year, at which point “everybody is to return to his property” and all debts are to be forgiven. To me, this recalibration (return to fundamental values - “eat only what is taken directly from the fields”) represents a useful solution to prevent the kind of bubble inflation that has caused the financial crisis. This passage also teaches against the type of financial alchemy recently witnessed, both by commanding a return to fundamentals and a merciful consideration of others, especially the poor.
If we act responsibly, mercifully, and faithfully, God will rewards us, according to the passage, with more prosperity than if we act selfishly. This is classic example of 'you reap what you sow', similar to the directive not to store up the Manna but rather to trust God's provision. The reason is that “the land is [God's]”: selling it, let alone backing debt on it, assumes a type of human ownership that is fundamentally meaningless. It is, to say the least, “striving after wind”, and the notion of 'sovereignty' seems absurd as it pertains to human institutions. Notice, however, that in the passage, God draws a distinction between houses that are enclosed within a “walled city” and those in “open country”. Within cities, the Jubilee does not apply, whereas those outside are bound by the “redemption of the land”.
This leads me to Nehemiah. A previous post detailed the kind of covenants made after the rebuilding of Jerusalem, including the forgiveness of all debt. Notice that this occurred immediately after the walls had been built. The connection, I propose, is that walls serve a purpose: to delineate territory, inside which a certain law dominates. Nehemiah understood this, and so immediately injected the Wall with God's law, and ensured that the people would continually recourse to those directives. He therefore opened the Gates to the Jubilee. I think it is also pertinent here that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, he did so through a Gate, and this very fact is explicitly documented as if it had some special meaning. Moreover, when He returns, Revelation tells us that He will again come through a Gate.
What is the consequence if we establish our own law within our city, not based on God's law but rather on our own selfish desires? Study Matthew 18. A King is owed an unpayable debt by one of his slaves, and decides to annul the repayment. However, the unmerciful servant then harasses and imprisons one of his own debtors. The result is blunt: the King overturns his original decision, and sends the servant to the torturers until the debt can be repaid (by implication, for eternity).
As individuals we are morally in the same position as the servant. We owe an eternal debt to Jesus, through the cross. Jesus points out that the greater the debt forgiven, the great the love produced (by asking a hypothetical question to one of his disciples). So that is one option – we forgive our debtors, and God forgives our own debts, and the result is love. On the contrary, if we are unmerciful, Jesus says that “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.” For this reason, Paul tell us to “let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.” This is a perfect example of the Law of Love (see an earlier post). Our debt to Christ is eternal; therefore, the fact that we are forgiven that debt should lead to eternal love. If, however, we do not accept our position in the 'forgiveness chain', we are judged by our own actions, and that eternal debt will be repaid (for eternity, no doubt).
It is telling that some versions of the Lord's prayer read “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”, rather than “trespass” and “those who trespass against us”, respectively. I think that this article has also made an interesting connection between the (seemingly disjointed) elements of that very prayer - “give us this day our daily bread”, and “your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven”. This things all go together: forgiveness, prosperity, and God's Law.
Now, back to the economy. A similar 'chain' of debt can be found (but perhaps its end is still not in sight). In short, by buying mortgage-backed securities, China as a massive surplus nation lent money to American banks, who in turn lent money to consumers (who in turn bought Chinese-made products). On a separate level, what of the 'debt' of developing countries in Latin America and Africa owed to the developed world? The problem of aid is that it creates perverse incentives: adverse selection (it rewards failure through allocation to poor countries, which are usually poor because of bad governance) and moral hazard (there are no consequences for those who accept the aid if it is not repaid). Others argue that the problem with aid is that is has been accompanied by stringent conditions, which do more harm than good; what is indisputable is that those conditions are certainly painful, as even the creditors are finding now in their choice between austerity (e.g. Britain's 'emergency budget') and default (Greece?), both of which are unpopular and in their own ways weigh down economic recovery (unemployment in the former, currency collapse in the latter). I would propose that maybe there is a connection to the way that we have handled debt to us, and the consequences of our own debt (by 'our', I refer to the developed world). It is telling that the largest debtor nations are no longer 'underdeveloped' countries, but rather those previously in a position to forgive debt. If they had done so, maybe they would have returned to Jubilee, creating a type of 'international social capital' that would correct those perverse incentives (I.e. Love). Mercy would have brought prosperity.
This is speculation, but is seems consistent with the evidence (I.e. the Bible). Notice that these principles apply on every level, micro, macro, and meta: a bond is a bond, after all (interestingly, this term derives from slavery). Seek first his Kingdom and His righteousness, and all this things will be added to you as well. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? The answer seems to be that he ends up forfeiting the world as well.
Wealth seemed to be created at every stage: a borrower could own a house (with a price that was erroneously believed to rise invariably), a creditor could sell the debt, and the purchasers could count on future repayment. The missing link, of course, was the repayment. The price of the collateral (the mortgaged house) was the exact same asset that was purchased using the borrowed money. If this price of the asset were to fall, a slew of defaults would ensue, crashing the market, and thus destroying collateral. This is what Ben Bernanke has termed 'financial fragility'; I would call it 'building your house on sand'. Because of the entanglement of indebtedness, when this did occur it sparked a chain reaction that brought down the entire financial system, causing mass unemployment, bank failure, and even sovereign default. The ramifications are still being felt today, with the more 'developed' countries now in urgent need of rescue.
What does the Bible say about debt? The Old Testament is replete with directives for handling debt. One of these is found in Leviticus 25, which sanctions a Jubilee Year, calculated as “seven Sabbaths of years” - that is, every 49 years. All transactions, values, and debts are firmly based around this year, at which point “everybody is to return to his property” and all debts are to be forgiven. To me, this recalibration (return to fundamental values - “eat only what is taken directly from the fields”) represents a useful solution to prevent the kind of bubble inflation that has caused the financial crisis. This passage also teaches against the type of financial alchemy recently witnessed, both by commanding a return to fundamentals and a merciful consideration of others, especially the poor.
If we act responsibly, mercifully, and faithfully, God will rewards us, according to the passage, with more prosperity than if we act selfishly. This is classic example of 'you reap what you sow', similar to the directive not to store up the Manna but rather to trust God's provision. The reason is that “the land is [God's]”: selling it, let alone backing debt on it, assumes a type of human ownership that is fundamentally meaningless. It is, to say the least, “striving after wind”, and the notion of 'sovereignty' seems absurd as it pertains to human institutions. Notice, however, that in the passage, God draws a distinction between houses that are enclosed within a “walled city” and those in “open country”. Within cities, the Jubilee does not apply, whereas those outside are bound by the “redemption of the land”.
This leads me to Nehemiah. A previous post detailed the kind of covenants made after the rebuilding of Jerusalem, including the forgiveness of all debt. Notice that this occurred immediately after the walls had been built. The connection, I propose, is that walls serve a purpose: to delineate territory, inside which a certain law dominates. Nehemiah understood this, and so immediately injected the Wall with God's law, and ensured that the people would continually recourse to those directives. He therefore opened the Gates to the Jubilee. I think it is also pertinent here that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, he did so through a Gate, and this very fact is explicitly documented as if it had some special meaning. Moreover, when He returns, Revelation tells us that He will again come through a Gate.
What is the consequence if we establish our own law within our city, not based on God's law but rather on our own selfish desires? Study Matthew 18. A King is owed an unpayable debt by one of his slaves, and decides to annul the repayment. However, the unmerciful servant then harasses and imprisons one of his own debtors. The result is blunt: the King overturns his original decision, and sends the servant to the torturers until the debt can be repaid (by implication, for eternity).
As individuals we are morally in the same position as the servant. We owe an eternal debt to Jesus, through the cross. Jesus points out that the greater the debt forgiven, the great the love produced (by asking a hypothetical question to one of his disciples). So that is one option – we forgive our debtors, and God forgives our own debts, and the result is love. On the contrary, if we are unmerciful, Jesus says that “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.” For this reason, Paul tell us to “let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.” This is a perfect example of the Law of Love (see an earlier post). Our debt to Christ is eternal; therefore, the fact that we are forgiven that debt should lead to eternal love. If, however, we do not accept our position in the 'forgiveness chain', we are judged by our own actions, and that eternal debt will be repaid (for eternity, no doubt).
It is telling that some versions of the Lord's prayer read “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”, rather than “trespass” and “those who trespass against us”, respectively. I think that this article has also made an interesting connection between the (seemingly disjointed) elements of that very prayer - “give us this day our daily bread”, and “your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven”. This things all go together: forgiveness, prosperity, and God's Law.
Now, back to the economy. A similar 'chain' of debt can be found (but perhaps its end is still not in sight). In short, by buying mortgage-backed securities, China as a massive surplus nation lent money to American banks, who in turn lent money to consumers (who in turn bought Chinese-made products). On a separate level, what of the 'debt' of developing countries in Latin America and Africa owed to the developed world? The problem of aid is that it creates perverse incentives: adverse selection (it rewards failure through allocation to poor countries, which are usually poor because of bad governance) and moral hazard (there are no consequences for those who accept the aid if it is not repaid). Others argue that the problem with aid is that is has been accompanied by stringent conditions, which do more harm than good; what is indisputable is that those conditions are certainly painful, as even the creditors are finding now in their choice between austerity (e.g. Britain's 'emergency budget') and default (Greece?), both of which are unpopular and in their own ways weigh down economic recovery (unemployment in the former, currency collapse in the latter). I would propose that maybe there is a connection to the way that we have handled debt to us, and the consequences of our own debt (by 'our', I refer to the developed world). It is telling that the largest debtor nations are no longer 'underdeveloped' countries, but rather those previously in a position to forgive debt. If they had done so, maybe they would have returned to Jubilee, creating a type of 'international social capital' that would correct those perverse incentives (I.e. Love). Mercy would have brought prosperity.
This is speculation, but is seems consistent with the evidence (I.e. the Bible). Notice that these principles apply on every level, micro, macro, and meta: a bond is a bond, after all (interestingly, this term derives from slavery). Seek first his Kingdom and His righteousness, and all this things will be added to you as well. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? The answer seems to be that he ends up forfeiting the world as well.
Saturday 12 June 2010
Re: The Calling of the Saint
Relevant passage for the last post: Matthew 7
21"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
22"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
23"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
Scary stuff. According to this passage, we can prophesy, cast out demons, and perform miracles, and yet not truly serve God. We can receive authority, and misuse it: we can fail to fulfill our prieslty annointing.
It is indispensable, therefore, that we commit wholeheartedly to Christ, rather than dither, to be spiritually infantile or even dead, or to be lukewarm, for these are abominable in His sight. We know that He spits such people out of his mouth.
From Ecclesiastes: When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow.
21"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
22"Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
23"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
Scary stuff. According to this passage, we can prophesy, cast out demons, and perform miracles, and yet not truly serve God. We can receive authority, and misuse it: we can fail to fulfill our prieslty annointing.
It is indispensable, therefore, that we commit wholeheartedly to Christ, rather than dither, to be spiritually infantile or even dead, or to be lukewarm, for these are abominable in His sight. We know that He spits such people out of his mouth.
From Ecclesiastes: When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow.
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