January 29, 2023
WHO SHALL DWELL IN YOUR SANCTUARY?
Psalm 15:1-5 : “ Lord, … Who shall live on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart;he who doesn’t slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, (...) he who doesn’t lend out his money for interest, nor take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be shaken."
Most of the blessings of the beatitudes are referring to the kingdom of Heaven, as it says that "Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven." Some blessings are referring to the end of the earthly history, like, when the meek will inherit the Earth.
However, none of the blessings offers immediate relief, though we could feel, that we are blessed right now and immediately through our sufferings, because we suffer for the cause, which is for the sake of Christ, for the sake of God.
We can feel, that we are blessed now, because we have the promises of God, that things will turn for the better, though mostly not on Earth but in Heaven. Some of the beatitudes offer comfort, meanwhile some of them expressing a request from God, that in order to inherit Heaven, we must become merciful, we have to act as peacemakers, we have to hunger and thirst for righteousness, we have to purify our hearts, etc. The Psalm 15 ask the pivotal question, that “ Lord, who shall dwell in your sanctuary? Who shall live on your holy hill? ”
And the author points it out that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the one, “… who walks blamelessly and does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart;he who doesn’t slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor casts slurs against his fellow man; in whose eyes a vile man is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; he who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and doesn’t change;” .
Among the last requests in the Psalm 15 we can find the ban on money lending with interest as it is clear from the Hebrew Bible, that in any dealings no interest rate of any kind, even one percent interest rate is acceptable, as it is written in the Book of Deuteronomy, that “Thou shalt not lend upon interest to thy brother: interest of money, interest of victuals, interest of any thing that is lent upon interest.”
Regarding the path which surely leads to the admittance into the kingdom of Heaven, sometimes over-zealous ancient sages simply just over-regulated some issues, on a level that a rule can be completely so made up, that Jesus had to bitterly declare in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 11, that "Woe to you scribes also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won't even lift one finger to help carry those burdens.”
Some of the forced rules, obeyed by the general populations, were clearly not biblical. They came from the wisdom literature, created around the Bible, which literature was trying to interpret and to explain the very content of the Hebrew Scriptures, including the clearly biblical laws and regulations. Many times the interpretations and the explanation went extreme, leaving way behind the original intention of the original legislation.
One of them is for example, that the Five Books of Moses gave no detailed clarification regarding the prohibition of carrying practically any sizable items on the Shabbat, when work was generally prohibited, and carrying is considered as work. It is curious, but the whole Hebrew Scriptures are not really talkative and explaining this prohibition in details.
The Book of Jeremiah, which actually mentions carrying, is also very short worded, saying that in its 17th chapter that Thus says the Lord: “Be careful, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.” And that is it. Many times the blueprint is just missing from the biblical prohibitions. Thus, it was a great social-religious need to fill this void, the lack of details.
Nonetheless, the ancient wisdom literature provided abundant details and explanations outside of the Bible. However after a while, it was thought that even these non-biblical regulations are also binding at least on their own level, in order to enter Heaven.
Like once upon a time there were a lot of argument that what exactly is prohibited to carry on Shabbat, what item, what material, what quantity, from a public place into the private house, or from the private house into the public place, how many people are involved in the act of carrying, and so on. One issue was for example, that how much eye shadow painting material one allowed to carry on Shabbat Day?
It was a serious and legitimate case, because we have archaelogical evidence, that as early as like 7k years ago in Egypt, people, not only women actually, used eye makeup and eye paints, most commonly malachite, a green mineral, and galena, a black mineral. At ancient burial sites, almost in every culture, cosmetic palettes, pots and applicators were found in burials from this very early period.
Most of the advisors said, that the permitted quantity to carry is equivalent, to which is needed for a woman to paint eye shadow on her both eyes. Nonetheless, at least one from the ancient sages argued, that the amount should be reduced to the quantity, which must be enough to paint a single eye only, because some modest women in Judea used to wear such a burqa like garment, which had only one opening for one single eye. The argument says, that a really modest woman is able to navigate on the street with a single eye. Thus, there is no need of the doubled quantity from the eye shadow paint.
This advisory opinion was given by Rav Huna in the 3rd century, although it never became a ruling, still it was put into writing and it can be found in the Book of the Shabbat tractate 80.7. of the Gemara. Some advice just went to far, that is why Jesus had to bitterly utter that “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!”
Nonetheless, the requirement in the 15th Psalm, that one must not lend out his money for interest, is completely biblical, it is underscored not only by prophet Ezekiel, by the Book of the Exodus, followed by the Book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
The biblical ban on the taking of any rate of interest was so self evident that even the Roman Catholic church uphold it as an inherent Christian value for a millennium. And Jesus went even further, saying, that “lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.”
We may find the blind guides, Jesus mentioned, unreasonable, but when the interest rate levied by the greedy private banks come into biblical scrutiny, then we feel to be put on the defensive on behalf of the greedy banks. Like, oh, only the excessive interest rate is detrimental, and it is called usury. Otherwise, interest should be legitimate, we say, how the modern economy will operate without lending on interest?
It is obvious that the Bible renounced the Mesopotamian custom of taking interest, as a gentile greed, just as the Bible renounced the Egyptian slavery. It is clear, that the modern society and the biblical values are incompatible.
When the Psalm asks that Oh Lord, Who shall live on your holy hill, and the Psalm clearly answers, that the person who dose not lend out money for interest, we have to realize, that hardly anybody listens to the Psalm, or to Ezekiel, or to the Book of the Exodus, or to Jesus himself.
May God help us listen and obey, by the Holy Spirit. AMEN
