Deuteronomy 15:1

Deuteronomy 15:1 says, At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release.  Ever seven years, the people of Israel were to make a release.  Verse two adds, And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD’s release.  This release was for every creditor to release the debtor from his debt.  He was not to seek repayment from the man's brother, neighbor, or anyone else, because the release was God's release, meaning that God had commanded it.  As followers of Christ, we are forgiven of our sins every day and not just every seven years, but we are also called on to forgive the debts of others, just as God forgives our debts.  Verse three continues, Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release;  This release did not apply to those who were not Israelites, but to their people of Israel only.  They could reapply, or not release, the debt of strangers, or none Israelites.  We can make this apply to release from the penalty of sin only for those who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, but I believe it also tells us that how we treat our Christian brothers and sisters in financial matters should be different than the world would treat them.  Matthew Henry points out that the seventh year was the year that the Israelites were to do no planting and harvesting, so there really would be no way for those who were already barely surviving to repay any debt, and says that this applied to debts to maintain daily needs and not to business debts.  Of course, the Bible really doesn't specify if this applied to some specific debts and not others.  Verse four states, Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it:  Moses said that this would not apply when there were no needy among the people of Israel because of God's great blessings.  If the people of Israel lived by God's guidance, there should be no group that had more than they needed while others didn't even have enough to survive.  If we put our faith in God, and He richly blesses us, we should not leave our fellow Christians to suffer without even enough to meet their basic needs.  Verse five adds, Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day.  Moses said these things would only be true if they obeyed God's commandments.  When it comes to how we treat our fellow Christians, we must obey God's laws if we expect His continued blessings.   Verse six continues, For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee.  Moses said if they obeyed God's commandments, that they would lend to many nations, but  not borrow from them, and then they could reign over many nations, but none could reign over them because of debts to these nations.  They needed to put their faith in God alone, and so must we today.