Debt,Usury,Surety? Neither A Borrower Nor A Lender Be!

Common Sense Commentary:
"Neither a borrower nor a lender be". Shakespeare said it but undoubtedly paraphrased the Bible verse spoken first by a much wiser man, King Solomon. "The rich ruleth over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender." Prov.22:7. Another wise man, author Norman Franz wrote, "Gold is the money of Kings, silver is the money of gentlemen, barter is the money of peasants, but DEBT is the money of slaves". I'm afraid that too often, the rich have made their riches on the backs of modern day slaves ... in the form of debt plus usury interest. Sometimes the desperate poor agree to pay exorbitant interest (usury) to survive or to pay older debts, only to become slaves to the lender. Excess debt, like a chain of steel, holds many a person captive. Usually it is their own addictive spending behaviour, but not always. There are more old alcoholics, smokers, drug addicts, prostitutes and spendthrifts who brought p0verty upon themselves, than there are "innocent" poor who did not. In many countries, including ours, the government is at least partly at fault. Our government is the most spendthrift nation on earth and our leaders are becoming tyrannically Socialistic. Thomas Jefferson said, "I have sworn UPON THE ALTAR OF GOD, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the minds of men". If he were alive today, he would be in prison. History shows him to be especially concerned with unreasonably restrictive Government, Political Correctness (new word- old problem), financial and tax "tyranny".

I. What is debt ? Debt can be breaking someone else's tool (we must pay for it), promising God or a person we will do something (we must fulfil that promise), or borrowing money. We must repay that debt with interest as the agreement or contract prescribes. A young man asked me one time, "Preacher, if I signed an agreement to repay a loan, but didn't actually promise, do I have to repay it ?" I have to wonder who raised such people or if they are aliens from another planet. Whether it's a signed agreement, my given word, a promise, or just the right thing to do, it's all the same in God's economy. See Ecc.5:4-5. Legitimate debts are a matter of sacred honor. Elisha even told a poor widow, "pay your debt" . He then gave her the resources to pay it and enough to live on as well. 2K.4:7. Debt causes more divorces that philandering.

II. What is usury ? Usury, according to Webster is, "Excessive interest". In my opinion, Credit Card companies charging more than 10% are guilty of usury. Many charge 18% or more. Credit Cards are a borrower's BLACK HOLE which sucks in every meteor, star, light and everything else, never to be seen again. Some credit card addicts have a whole deck of cards, maxed out, buying unneeded junk and useless "stuff". Companies that keep badgering young , just out of High School, children to take a credit card, deserve to lose their money but young people also need to learn the pit falls of debt and to pay what they owe, which they surely will with their first credit card. If you take the card, the terms are sent with it, you are responsible to read the fine print. The good thing is, that young people who get burned bad enough, and have to repay their folly, have learned an important lesson .... we hope. Yes, I know, those who get themselves in that bind are either very naive, very desperate or very dumb, but when a large "percentage" of a population wake up head over heels in impossible debt, even when it's their fault, can become volatile and even violent to the point of Civil Unrest and even Civil War. It was debt that drove Wiemar Germany to print currency until it was worth nothing and caused a tsunami of inflation which drove them into the arms of Hitler's Nazi, Socialist Party. Debt was also a factor in arousing the stress and dissension among a faction of Jews who came together in a rebellion against King Saul and caused Civil Unrest. "And every one that was in distress, and ...in DEBT ... and discontented, gathered themselves together ...." 1Sam.22:2. Civil War would have broken out except for David's leadership. Similarly, when Nehemiah saw the ruling class charging the poor people of Israel excessive interest (usury), he said, "I consulted myself, and rebuked the nobles, and the rulers and said unto them, Ye exact usury ... and I set a great assembly against them"! Neih.5:7. That is what we, in America, need ....a Nehemiah who will "consult with himself" and take action.Working Americans pay several hundred different types of taxes plus income taxes, inflation taxes and high interest on Credit Cards as well. See my blog on "Inflation: The Most Misunderstood Government Tax". We Must have leaders like Nehemiah who will "Rebuke them" and "Set a great assembly against them".... an assembly of conservative, voting patriots against these nobles, rulers and tyrants. These Liberal Socialist Tyrants think it can't happen in America; so they continue on down the same "deficit spending" track Wiemar Germany and Atheist Socialism (Communism) traveled to the end of the track, crashed and burned.

Concerning Debt, the ideal is, "Owe no man anything but to love one another." Rom.13:8.

III.What is Surety ? Again, Webster says it is "to make sure" or "to guarantee"... "One who has become legally liable for a debt, default or failure". In other words, to sign someone else's loan note. As a young pastor, I felt obligated to lend money to anyone who asked and to sign the bank notes of any family, friend or church member. It didn't take long to realize it was a mistake .... but it took considerably longer to pay off all those notes. Well, all but one. I had a wife and six children to care for and was getting deeply in debt. That all stopped when I read Prov.6:1 "My son, if thou be SURETY for thy friend , thou hast (shook hands with) a stranger. Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou are taken with the words of thy mouth. Do this
NOW, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go humble thyself, and make sure thy friend. Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Deliver thyself as a (deer) from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler." To paraphrase, If you co-sign a friend's loan, he won't be a friend long but a "stranger". He won't know you next month. Your words "sure I'll sign it", have caught your foot in a bear trap. So stop "NOW" and extricate yourself from financial ruin. Go weeping to your friend and beg him or her to forgive you for being an innocent idiot and to let you off the hook, free from the chains of debt slavery. Don't sleep a wink until you have ESCAPED THIS PAUPERS PRISON. You are only a little, fawn deer in his headlights .... run for your life ... he is the enemy.

My policy is, If you can afford it, give him $100 or $200 but never, ever sign any one's loan note unless you intend to pay it off yourself .... because you most likely will. "A man void of understanding shakes hands, and becomes SURETY in the presence of his friend." Prov.17:18. Take it for what it's worth.


Pass it on. RB