Chapter 25 of Leviticus deals with the poor. Several times through the chapter it repeats the phrase in Verse 25 “if your brother becomes poor…” It then goes on to address ways the society was responsible to care for them.
God has a special place in his heart for the poor. Jesus said “blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” They are blessed because they know they need help. One must know they need help to be saved from their situation. The poor have no exaggerated sense of their own importance. The poor can more easily distinguish between necessities and luxuries. When the poor hear the Gospel preached to them, it sounds like good news rather than a threat or a scolding. The poor can respond to the Gospel message with certain abandonment because, unlike the rich, they have so little to lose.
The poor find themselves in a situation where they need God. In that state of neediness, dependence, and dissatisfaction with life, they readily welcome God’s free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Blessed are the poor!