Father Orthoduck was sent the following e-mail four days ago, and finally has time to begin a reply:
I wanted to get your take on possible applications of Lev 19:9-10 to state welfare systems today. A friend and I have a friendly disagreement over whether the passage has application today, and whether it implies that a state should have some sort of meager welfare system, albeit one in which recipients have to work for their relief. My take on it is that Leviticus is a book of laws, and hence were enforceable by the Israeli state. Therefore, we can use such as a model for the modern tax-based meager assistance programs. The old rules on gleaning from fields were also compulsory on the landowners, right? He disagrees, and argues that the “law” in this case involves a law of the heart that wasn’t enforceable by the state. Which of us (perhaps both) is engaged in eisegesis?
So, what is Leviticus 19:9-10? It is:
When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.
Actually, this question brings up for Father Orthoduck the whole issue of Biblical interpretation. And it brings it up because the chapter is a chapter that contains several commands that Christians consider as applying today, to the point that they try to make sure that they are legally enforced to this day. This lets Father Orthoduck point out the sad state of modern American Protestant Biblical interpretation.
Today, let’s just begin with one thought and one bit of homework because Father Orthoduck is still busy.
One of the ways to tell whether something still applies in the New Testament is an obvious one. Is it quoted in the New Testament as still applying? But, it need not be a straight quotation, it can be a summary or a clear allusion. When you find one of those, you need to check carefully because it probably means that the Old Testament passage in quotes or in allusion still applies in some way or other, and often it simply still applies. The converse is that if you find a New Testament passage that says that something from the Old Testament is finished, then it is finished. For instance, Hebrews makes the case that the Levitical priesthood is finished, and that our priesthood is after the Order of Melchizedek. But, that is another subject.
Let’s look at Leviticus 19. Here is your homework. First, read the whole chapter in context. Then notice that the section begins with the phrase, be holy as your God is holy. Is there a parallel New Testament passage? Certainly, go to Matthew 5, where the section finishes with the words from Our Lord Jesus Christ, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Both of these passages are holiness codes. They explain in practical ways what it means to live a life in the likeness of God. How can we be imitators of God? Well, the holiness codes give us guidance. Now read both passages in parallel and notice how similar they are in some of their concepts.
Father Orthoduck will speak to this tomorrow.
===MORE TO COME===
I take my hat off to the author. My brother, you are spot on. I leave in South Africa, and what prompted me to read your article was the amount of suffering that I see in this beautiful country of ours. Poverty levels are sky rocketing, unemployment is just unacceptably so high that there are no official accurate stats to quantify it. But surprisingly, there are so many churches mushrooming and flooding every part of our country. I’m talking about prosperity churches. These are the churches where you know that every sermon preached is used to prepare and soften you to what is actually the real message of the day: Malachi 3:10.( Pay tithe or else) It’s like everybody is trying hard to fend for himself to a point where there is no more fear of God. The very pastors whose sermons are centered on tithe hardly ever lift a finger to help anybody. These pastors seem to do the opposite of what the bible requires of them. Instead of visiting the poor, they visit the rich, instead of giving to the poor they take from the poor (and the rich alike). The question is, are we as Christians preaching and bringing good news or bad news to the world? Is capitalism mentality so deeply entrenched in our minds that we want to use anything to enrich ourselves? Can God be pleased to see so many people suffering while only a few are having all the luxuries?