Leviticus 19:9-10

 Leviticus 19:9-10 ESV  “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest.  10  And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 23:22  “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.” 

This was a way for poor people to work to sustain themselves. Note that the farmers were not supposed to harvest and reap their fields entirely and then give some to the poor. This would mean the poor had not worked for their sustenance, it was just given to them. But God commands the farmers to leave some in the field so the poor can come behind them and reap with their work. They would glean for themselves. This is what Ruth was doing when Boaz, the owner and farmer, noticed her. God wanted the farmers to have a generous heart and He wanted the poor to be actively working for their food and provide for their needs with dignity.

Our government has done the opposite. They forcibly take taxes from each worker and freely gives it to the poor. They get it without any labor of their own. The poor become dependent on it and then begin to think they are entitled to it. Meanwhile, forcibly taking taxes out to give to non-workers, doesn't generate a generous heart in the taxpayer but rather a resentful heart. This income distribution is anything but godly on either side. And we must also take into consideration when that much money is taken in by the government, there are those who are drawn to it like flies and steal in any way they can. From politicians down to welfare fraud, there are many hands dipping corruptly into the tax dollar barrels and from this corruption much sin flows. The taxpayer is the loser. It is as though our hard earned money is stolen from us. It's why some people call taxes "highway robbery". We are forced to hand over the money and then it's taken and used with little oversight.

God's way makes so much sense. But how would we do it today? Stan gets a paycheck for his work, it's not a field of wheat. So God said we should tithe (10%) and this is to be given responsibly to our local church. God said we can give offerings above our tithe but our tithe is what He requires. This keeps money flowing in for ministry but is also voluntarily given from a generous heart. There is much better oversight of the money if done through a local entity like our church. Of course, we know there can be embezzlement, theft and scandal in churches too. But not on the massive scale of what is happening with our tax dollars in the secular government.

In our own church we've seen elderly widows have home repairs, abandoned wife get a car, a couple got plane tickets to go minister to someone dying of cancer, school supplies given to children in need, money given to other ministries such as local homeless shelters, missionaries, Women's shelters, Girl's home, etc.

What if we weren't having 30% of our income (more or less) forcibly taken from our paychecks to fund corrupt and ungodly government programs? Wouldn't more come in from generous people to be used locally to help others? Wouldn't it be done much more responsibly with more money getting to the truly needy, or to help out rather than developing a dependent relationship on the government? It might require those who can work, to work to feed themselves and the families they've created, or are a part of. For those who cannot work, the church and ministries could help them better because they would have more funds given freely from generous hearts. Would our country not be in better shape? I guess I'll never know. There is too much money, power, control now for politicians to ever willingly give it up and give it back to the people. And now that our votes are meaningless (after the 2020 election and the 1/6/2021 refusal to investigate a fraudulent election) the politicians don't represent the people any more. So it's taxation without representation in my opinion which was the main reason we went to war against England in 1776.

I don't want anyone to suffer or starve. That is nowhere near what I'm thinking of. I don't want an elderly person, who can't work any more and has no family to take care of them, to suffer. I don't want an orphan or handicapped person to suffer. But I have to wonder if the government wasn't forcibly taking our tax money and then corruptly using it, how much money would be freely given to ministries and churches who would then use it with better discretion to help those who are truly in need. We all know there are frauds and users and losers who make it their main goal in life to manipulate the system to get what they want. We will never be free from that because it's the nature of sin in mankind. But wouldn't we see maybe less of it if decisions were made locally based on need. Local people would have a better chance of knowing if it was a true need versus a user who is being manipulative. A local church might get burned once or twice but would know to cut it off when it they realize they're been manipulated, lied to and used.

But, as I said, I'll never know if it would have worked. I know that before government programs (which President Roosevelt started in the Great Depression) a lot of good was done for people in their local neighborhoods. Jane Doe knew that John Smith was dying and leaving a widow with 4 kids. So she would take food over and would help by giving knitted socks to the children. That kind of kindness and generosity went on all the time, there just is little record of it. On the other hand, during the Great Depression, it seems the needs were more than could be taken care of by ministries. It was too big of a problem. I can, and do, understand it was an unusual situation. Some of the programs I think were a good idea such as the CCC and WPA. Where the government paid men to work on public projects. That created jobs that built an infrastructure. I believe social security was a good idea where workers had FICA taxes withheld to put in savings for their retirement years. Unfortunately, that money was raided by politicians and not saved for the elderly. Now, when the elderly or disabled need it, it's not there despite us having had it removed from our paychecks throughout our lives. Politicians stole the money to use in other ways and then try to keep us in penury and poverty by giving us such little to live on per month. It's their fault that we don't have enough in Social Security because they didn't save it for us, invest it for us... they stole it from us. Then want to blame us when we grow old or disabled and need it. Some programs were NOT a good idea. Giving money to unwed mothers and increasing the amount they get with each new child she has out of wedlock rewarded women for staying home and having children out of wedlock. It made the men not responsible for their own children. It's destroyed the basic building block of marriage and family in people by making the government responsible. On the other hand, children are children. They aren't responsible for what their biological parents did, but they suffer if there is no money to support them. It's a sad cycle in which the children then grow up, raised to depend on the government and live the same lifestyle they learned from their mothers and fathers. We now have had maybe 6 generations that have known nothing but taking handouts from the government and if you stopped the handouts, all hell would break loose because they don't know how to work. They don't know any work ethics or how to handle their money and pay bills. All they know is to let someone else take care of them.

Much like the slave situation in the South before the War. Slaves were mostly illiterate, had never taken care of themselves and only knew the job they had on the plantation. For instance, they knew how to grow cotton but didn't know how to make shoes or work in a factory or grow wheat, etc. No real job training except for what they had done on the plantation. So all these millions of former slaves were to be set free in a hostile environment and with no way to make a living and no money to start on. How were they to survive? Nobody thought of all that when they demanded the slaves be set free. They didn't think of the hordes of illiterate and pitiful black people would come in and take their jobs from them. A business owner would love to have a low wage former slave than pay your high wage Yankee tail so you lost your job to a former slave. Bet they didn't think of that. It's why there was so much anger towards newly freed blacks. Same with an influx of any foreigners. Newly immigrated foreigners were willing to take lower wages just to get a job and get started. They were desperate for any job. So those who were paid higher wages were let go and foreigners were hired at lower wages. That would make the displaced angry with new foreigners. Nobody liked the Irish when they swamped us. Nobody liked the Chinese when they swamped us. Just like today, all the illegal aliens from our Southern border will swamp this country and employers can hire them much more cheaply. American citizens, making higher wages, will be displaced with illegal aliens who will take lower wages. But people don't think of that.

Anyway, it's refreshing to think of how God said it should be. We were to be generous and give according to His commands, voluntarily and with a cheerful heart. Those who could work, even if they were poor and didn't have their own land, could glean the leftovers from the fields to feed their family with dignity. They worked for their food. Those who were unable to work were to be taken care of by their families, by the generosity of others and by the church.

God doesn't say we shouldn't pay our taxes. We will study how Jesus directed the disciples when we get to New Testament study. There is a whole subject on the government and how we are to relate to it as Christians. There is a reason for government. God is the one who sets things up for our benefit. We are to pray for our government leaders. We are to pay our taxes. BUT our allegiance is first and foremost to God. We must do His Will and follow His Way and Commands before all other.