“There’s a contradiction in the Bible. It can’t be trusted!” I can’t count the times I’ve heard people say that to me. And yet, I was puzzled by the following statements made in Deuteronomy 5. Verse 4 reads, “There should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, He will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the LORD your God.” Then verse 11 states, “There will always be poor people in the land.” Come again? God just said there shouldn’t be poor people, and then in the same breath says there will always be poor people. Contradiction?
Upon further examination, the operative word is “should”. It’s about choice. God had just told the Israelites He would give them victory over the existing nations so they could own the land. He would give them rain to grow crops on that land and then provide peace with outside nations so they could harvest those crops from their land. In other words, an Israelite of that time period could expect to live comfortably if they chose to live God’s way. If they strayed from living His way, God would use poverty as a way to get their attention, to help them hit bottom if you will.
There’s no contradiction at all, but a comment on how God works. There is freedom in choice, but not in consequences. Every where we go no matter what time of day it is, we must choose to pick up our biblical tools and process daily life through the truths found in God’s Word. We can make that choice because there’s no contradictions in it. As we do, we will walk and stay in the freedom (Gal. 5:1) Christ provided us.
S“E”t Free Nowww