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Do Not Take Advantage of Each Other
Do Not Take Advantage of Each Other
Concerning the buying and selling of land among Israel, God set some guidelines as recorded in Lev. 25:13-17. In order to insure that such lands continued within their respective families, all such sales ended with the year of Jubilee (every 50th year). "The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants" said the LORD (Lev. 25:23). The land would revert back to its original family on that year. Hence they were selling not the land as a permanent possession but the number of crops that could be grown until the 50th year (vs. 15).
This poses an interesting dilemma. How do you determine the price then? The selfishness of the buyer or seller easily comes out in such transactions. “Bad, bad,” says the buyer, but when he goes away, then he boasts" (Prov. 20:14). The seller wants the highest price and the buyer wants the lowest price. Not much has changed, has it?
Underlying this buying and selling is a greater law than economics. "Do not wrong one another" (ESV). "Do not take advantage of each other (NIV). Do not oppress one another (KJ). Do not cheat one another (HCSB). If each would bargain for the OTHERS good it would make a profound difference in the whole affair of buying and selling! Imagine buying a used car this way! The second greatest law comes into play here: "… you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord." (Lev. 19:18). The law of love trumps the law of economics.
No wonder Jesus would state that all of the laws 'hang on these two commandments' (Matt. 22:40). In our dealings in the New Testament we ought also to love one another and look not to our own interests but unto those of our brethren (Phil. 2:4).
