I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Leviticus 19-21.

    Today’s passage contains many miscellaneous rules. Some of them I do not understand why they were given, some I do not consider to apply to those who are followers of Christ, but some contain principles which teach us how we should behave. Several of them deal with social justice and making provision for the poor. The law regarding harvesting is a great example of how we should provide for the poor. The instruction is clear that we should run our businesses in a way which leaves room for the poor to provide for their needs. The instruction is to leave the grain, or grapes, which would require extra effort to gather for the less fortunate to gather. There are two separate aspects to this. The first, and more important aspect, is that it allows the poor to provide for themselves by making an effort. The second is about how this is accomplished. We are not to every last penny from our business transactions, leave opportunities for others to make, or save, money. There is a second command which relates to this as well. It concerns paying your workers promptly. I believe that this verse is a condemnation of the practice of large businesses delaying when they will pay their smaller suppliers in order to maximize the interest they can earn on the money involved (it also applies in the obvious way to employees as well).
    There is one other verse which strikes me. It is a verse against twisting justice. There it warns against favoring the poor over the rich before it tells us not to be partial to the rich. I think it presents it in this manner because the latter is somewhat obvious to anyone who reads the Bible. However, it is easy to make the mistake of siding with the poor in a conflict with the rich because, “Well, they are so poor, and he can afford it.” We are not to favor the poor over the wealthy, nor are we to allow the wealthy to buy our favor. We should judge a dispute between the rich and the poor on the merits, not on the economic status of those in the dispute.