Fritz Springmeier

ear of the wise seeketh knowledge." (Prov. 18:15) "Study to show thyself approved untoGod...rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Tim 2:15)FIVE O.T. SCRIPTURES FORBIDDING INTEREST TAKING"If thou lend money to any of my people...thou shalt not be to him as an userer, neither shaltthou lay upon him usury." Ex 22:25"I pray you, let us cease this exacting of interest." Neh 5:10"he that by interest and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he (God) shall gather it for him thatwill pity the poor." Prov 28:8"And if thy brother hath become poor, and cannot support himself among you, then thou shaltrelieve him, yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner, that he may live with thee. Take nointerest from him, or increase, but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shaltnot give him thy money upon interest, nor lend him thy food supplies for profit." Lev 25:35-37"Thou shalt not lend upon interest to thy brother." Deut 23:19LET US..."Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord; look unto the rockfrom which ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which ye are digged." Is 51:1When the Master's sheep hear his voice they obey it. "He that saith, I know him, and keepethnot his commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him." 1 Jn 2:4 "If ye love me, keep mycommandments." Jn 15:14 "We ought to obey God rather than men." Acts 5:29The Bible has no promises to those who obey Him only partly. When we know something iswrong and do it, it is sin. Look at examples in Biblical history —Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10:1,2),Saul (1 Sam 15), and Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11). Remember, "His commandments arenot grieveous." (1 Jn 5:3)"God resisteth the proud but giveth grace unto the humble." Js 4:6 The scriptures repeatedlyask us to submit ourselves under God's authority. By doing so we also come under his protection.That doesn't mean we will not suffer— but we will be protected as He knows we should be. Thisauthor knows of amazing miracles of protection, but each person needs to trust God himself, andlearn for himself that the Lord is good.LEARNING THAT THE NT. ALSO CONDEMNS INTERESTA teacher who is hired by school to teach a class, is a steward over the books she dispensesto her students. It would not be viewed lightly if she decided to make a profit for herself bycharging her students money to use the schools books? The teacher can choose to some degreehow she uses those school books, but as a steward it is not her job to make a monetary profitfrom them. Likewise, but even more so, we are to put to good use the wealth that God hasentrusted to our stewardships. In the same fashion that the teacher is aware of her stewardship,the Christian realizes that what we use is "God's money" not "ours".("The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof..." Ps 24:1, it was intended that men bestewards of this planet. As it is today, our present government taxes the land, thereby taking