Deuteronomy 24:10-16 – Living justly and responsibly

In Deuteronomy 24:6, God called on His people to show compassion should a brother come seeking a loan. No one should take away a person's means of livelihood such as his mill or millstone as collateral for the loan. Now in verses 10-13, God went even further on the issue of the loan. He added a few more conditions regarding taking away something from the borrower as a surety for the loan. God further emphasized the need to show compassion. The lender in this case must trust the borrower. He was not to enter the house of the latter and choose the surety as he so desired. He must trust the borrower to act in good faith. And if the surety given was something that the borrower needed for the night e.g. his cloak, it must be returned to him. He must not be made to suffer the cold in the night. Of course, this presupposes that the surety would be given to the lender again in the morning. God called this action a righteous one. Treating a brother with compassion was the right thing to do in the eye of the Lord.

In verses 14-15, God expected His people not to oppress their hired servants. Whether a servant was a countryman or a foreigner, he must be given his due pay at the end of his work. The employer must not withhold the wage of the servant and made him starve because he had no means to buy food. To deprive what was rightly due to the hired hand, would be a sin in the eye of the Lord. In His reckoning, to act with compassion would be seen as righteousness in action, and not to act with compassion would be a sin before Him. God Himself promised to intervene on behalf of an oppressed servant when he cried for justice.  

In verse 16, the emphasis was on personal responsibility and culpability. The debt was the responsibility of the borrower. Neither the father nor the son of the borrower should be made culpable for his debt. Similarly, everyone was responsible for the offense he had committed and had to pay for it himself. If the offense would lead to the death penalty, neither his father nor his son must be made to pay for his sin. He himself had to pay for his sin. This instruction was needed to ensure personal accountability leading to responsible living.

God expects us to treat others fairly. We must be compassionate and not oppressive people. An employer must be fair to give his employee the due for the work he had done. Not to do so tantamount to an unjust act in the eye of the Lord. The implication of these verses is this: How we treat others is an indicator of how mature we are spiritually. Remember what the Lord said, the measure we use to mete to others will be the same measure meted to us. We are not to do to others what we will not like to be done to us. So be sure to live responsibly. Live for the glory of God! And then we will live righteously!