Bible Law On Money

Protestant Reformer Says Usurers Should Be Hanged

Quotation from Martin Luther, Leader of the Great German Christian Reformation of the 1500’s —

The great German Religious Leader of the Reformation of the 15th and 16th centuries was outspoken in his doctrine on Scriptural teachings and truth. Here is what he said in regard to usury:

“The Heathen, out of natural reason and understanding were able to render an account that an Usurer is a threefold thief and murderer. But we that are Christians hold them in such honor and esteem that in a manner (for money's sake) we adore and worship them; no regard is had, what scorn and derision thereby we procure to the name of a Christian and to Christ Himself. For although we were not Christians, yet natural sense and reason tells us (as well as the Heathen) that an Usurer is a murderer: for who so sucks the maintenance of another, the same not only robs and steals, but also (so much as in him lies) he commits even as great a murder as he that starves and utterly destroys one. This does an usurer, and in the meantime sits in his chair, whereas he justly ought to hang on the Gallows, and he devoured by so manv Ravens as he has stolen shillings, if otherwise so much flesh were on him that so many Ravens might be able to piece it and to part it out. Cato, the Usurer's enemy, said: 'Little thieves lie stocked, ironed in Prisons, but great Thieves ride prancing in silks and chains of gold,' but so much as we neither punish nor strive against them, therefore without all doubt in the end we together with the Usurers shall pay sweetly for it.”

(From “Colloquia Mensalia Martini Lutheri” printed in 1652.)

Why did this Great Christian say that? Read on:

The following pages are from a book by Pastor Sheldon Emry of Phoenix, Arizona. The book is now out of print.

God’s Law On Usury

In the Bible, following the Ten Commandments, God gave Moses the several hundred Commandments, Statutes and Judgments which make up God's Law for Government and for Individuals. In Exodus 22, as God exhorted Israel about the personal relationship of people, He told them not to oppress any stranger or afflict any widow or fatherless child (see v. 21 and 22) and then He speaks on lending money: “If thou lend money to any of My people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury” (v. 25). This is expanded in Leviticus 25: 35-37: “And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with (by) thee, then shalt thou relieve (help) him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.”

In Deuteronomy 23, God says He will bless them if they do not charge usury: “Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury: Unto a stranger (aliens) thou mayest lend upon usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury: That the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand to in the land whither thou goest to possess it.” v. 19-20.

Psalm 15 asks: “Lord, who shall be in Thy Tabernacle? Who shall dwell in Thy Holy Hill?” Part of the answer: “He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent.”

Jeremiah declared his righteousness by saying he had never charged usury. Jeremiah 15:10. Ezekiel said if a man did that which is lawful and right he would not charge usury Ezekiel 18:8 and declares of the usurer: “he shall not live, he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die” (v. 13.) Just imagine, in God's Word, the death penalty for lending money at interest, yet today there is hardly a Christian Church in the Nation that condemns the taking of this unjust gain!

God told Israel in old Canaanland that He would “scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries”, and one of the reasons was: “In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbors by extortion, and hast forgotten Me, saith the Lord God”; Ezekiel 22: 12-15. That sounds like the United States of America!
One of the most tragic errors taught from today's Christian pulpits is that these Laws are no longer in effect. But Jesus Christ said: “Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill” Matthew 5:17. From this and from other Scriptures we know He came to “put My Laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts” Hebrews 8:10. In Luke 6, He specifically told His followers they were not to lend for reward (gain) but to be merciful vs. 34-36. Jesus said: “If ye love Me, keep My Commandments”, John 14:15. In 1 John 2:4 it is written: “He that saith, I know Him, and keepth not His Commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

Martin Luther, the great light of the Reformation in Europe and others of his day, taught no such nonsense that God's Laws were not to be obeyed. He compared the taking of usury with theft and murder, as the Scripture does. From the Reformation era to within the last 100 years many Christian denominations refused Church membership to anyone who loaned money at interest! Today, churches not only condone this ungodly evil, but practice it, themselves. Our entire financial system is based and established on the disobedience of these Commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our ministers tell us we need not obey those Commandments, and the result is debt-usury-bondage for our People and the threatened destruction of our Nation.

During England's several hundred years' march towards personal liberty, the loaning of money at interest was declared illegal by the Kings. In the 10th century usurers had their land forfeited to the Crown, In the 11th century, in addition, the usurer was declared an outlaw and was banished from England. Up through the 15th century, the punishment varied from forfeiture of all property to the putting to death of lenders of money at interest.

By the 18th century, the turning away from Biblical Law led to the establishment of interest charges as a legal claim, and by the 19th century England had passed into the control of the Bankers. 800 years of upward struggle and thrust to personal liberty and National prosperity has been, all but, destroyed in the last 100 years by Banker's wars, usury and taxes.

America is following in England's footsteps because She disobeyed God's Law on interest! Our Bankers' dictatorship would collapse without their ungodly usury; yet, American ministers are silent on this iniquity.

“There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof . . . her priests have violated My Law, and have profaned Mine Holy Things; they have put no difference between the Holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between unclean and the clean.” Ezekiel 22: 25-26. They do not show the People right from wrong!

On Debt

Although usury is forbidden, God's Law commands that we loan to a brother who needs money or food or clothing, etc. (Deut. 15:7-10), but to prevent unpayable debts from accumulating at the year of the Sabbath, every seventh year; any balance owing then was to be canceled and forgiven. This was not seven years after the origination of the debt, but at the National cycle of seven years, so that all debts in the Nation would be canceled the same year.

Deuteronomy 15 gives the Law: “At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbor shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord's release. Of a foreigner (alien) thou mayest exact it again; but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release; Save when (to the end that) 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.” vs. 1-4.

God's Law is quite specific and easy to understand. It includes a promise of blessing, even to the elimination of poverty among us, if we but obey — which we have not done. There is, also, a further release every 49 years, called the year of jubile (jubilee) in Leviticus 25, which we will discuss in detail — presently in the next Chapter.

On Gold And Silver

Many who recognize the evil of usury (interest) still assume that money should be composed of valuable metal and redeemable by some such precious material as gold and silver. As we have seen, however, it is the stability of the Government and the correct volume of currency available which gives value to money, not some arbitrary amount of metal.

The Bible has much to say about gold, and it is mostly bad. The reign of King Solomon will give us a good example. Scripture and history indicate that his empire. was the most peaceful and prosperous of that time and perhaps of all recorded history. Of gold and silver in his kingdom, the Scripture records: “And the king made silver and gold at Jerusalem as plenteous as stones. . .” 2 Chronicles, 1:15. Their value would, therefore, have been the same as stones, and certainly not used for the “backing” of money.

The vision of the beast empire which Daniel saw, had a head of gold. (Daniel 2.) Heathen gods are often represented by gold. Speaking of the end of the Age, Ezekiel said: “They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. . . because it (the gold and silver) is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.” Ezekel 7:19.

The control of the gold supply of the world, by the Bankers, has been used by them to fluctuate and to control the currencies of all the world's governments, not for the good of the People, but for the enrichment of the Bankers. Wise King Solomon did exactly the opposite.

A historical example of the inability of gold and silver to enrich a nation, is Spain. From the 16th to the 18th century
Spain attempted to enrich herself by bringing tons of precious metals from the New World. While she did that, America developed her production of real wealth through manufacturing and farming. By 1900 Spain had lost or sold her empire, and America was the fastest growing Nation in wealth and power in the world.

Gold and silver as wealth is an illusion. Food and products that people need and enjoy are true material wealth.

Yet, men are still deceived by the artificial price placed on gold and silver by the Bankers. If the Spanish king had considered gold and silver “as stones” — worthless — his people would have turned to the production of real wealth and Spain would have flourished.

America did have an early experience with gold. A small quantity was found at Jamestown, shortly after the colony began, and Captain John Smith wrote later that the men neglected their work to search for gold, and the colony almost-perished of famine the next winter. God seems to have blessed America with a LACK of gold, and its scarcity has had little effect on our production of food and real wealth. Christian teachings and God's blessings have provided American prosperity, not gold. Russia and India have large per capita supplies of gold, again providing nothing toward national prosperity.

On Stable Money

Our God is a righteous God; and since adequate and stable money is so necessary to peace and order, it would be expected that His Law would have something to say about it, and it does. “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight or in measure. Just balances, just weights. . . shall ye have: I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:35-36; Deuteronomy 25:13-16.

It is understood that these standards of measurement are to be established by the Government for all People. We do that with the inch, foot, pint, bushel, pound, etc. We even establish by law, grades of purity for food, fiber, metals, medicine, etc. This is not done by a private corporation, since we realize that they could, then, vary the value to their own benefit. Nevertheless, we allow a private corporation, the Federal Reserve Banks, to establish and control the measurement of our purchasing power-our money! This they fluctuate in value to their own benefit. They are described in the vision in Amos 8: “Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying: when will the new month be gone, that we may sell corn? and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat. . . ?” And how do they sell and trade? With equity and justice? No! “Making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit! that we may buy the poor for silver (control them with “money”), and the needy for a pair of shoes: yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat”? Amos 8:4-6.

Yes, with their fluctuating money and their planned inflation, they buy control of the nations, place the poor and the needy into bondage to themselves, and end up selling us contaminated food and shoddy merchandise! The Book of Proverbs calls false balances and unjust measures an “abomination” to the Lord. Proverbs 11: 1-16: 11-20: 10, 23.

We have already read the prophecy of Micah 6, where God calls this Banker-created money “the scant measure,” or the measure of scarcity. And He refers to their “wicked balances” and “deceitful weights,” Since our weights and measures of other things have been established for hundreds of years, and have not been changed, the Scripture is obviously-referring to money manipulation.

We are not suffering from a varying inch, foot, mile or pound, but from a “wicked” and “deceitful” system of money control.

Micah proceeds to tell of the injustices, the chaos and rebellion, even of the children against their parents, as a result of unjust money manipulation. But, praise ye the Lord, he follows it immediately, (Ch. 7) with the promise “that God will deliver.” “According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I shew, unto him marvelous things.” (v. 15). The Exodus from Egypt was a deliverance of our ancestors from bondage, just as this time it will he of Christian Israel in America. “He will turn again, He will have compassion on us; He will subdue our iniquities. . . thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.” Micah 7:19-20.

That “mercy” is what Zacharias referred to when he prophesied of Jesus Christ: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people. . . that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant; the oath which He sware to our father Abraham, that He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life.” Luke 1:68-75.

America cannot serve the Lord, while we remain in debt bondage and servitude to the Bankers' Mammon.

Jesus Christ said: “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon.” Luke 16: 13

Let us now turn our thoughts to that day of deliverance which may be almost at hand.

All Debts Cancelled — Year Of Jubilee —

As we have pointed out in Chapter 9, God's Law directs that all outstanding debts, which a debtor is unable to pay, are to be canceled and forgotten at the end of every seven years. Then, at the end of every 49 years there is to be a further release, in that all properties, which may have been lost to others, are to be returned to their rightful owners. Since this would take considerable time to accomplish, God set aside the entire year, the,.50th year, and this was called The Year of Jubile (Jubilee). You can read it in Leviticus 25, as follows:

“And thou shalt number seven Sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven Sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.” Vs: 8-10

For 45 more verses, God's Law prescribes how this is to be done. The important point for our purposes here is that this is a year of cancellation of all debts and the return of all foreclosed properties to the rightful owners. This is what can, what must, and what will be done in America.

Many people, and not necessarily wealthy people, express fear that the economy would be upset by disrupting the present system. Such fears are not justified.

In the first place, the present evil system is obviously-leading us into National anarchy, widespread poverty, and the rulership of the Nation by wicked men. In the second place, it is giving our enemies the image that our position is helpless. What could possibly be more cataclysmic than what lies ahead of us, if we continue on this same road?

Thirdly, debts, such as mortgages on homes, farms, businesses, automobile loans, the Federal Debt and all State and Local Bonded Debts are all iIlegal under God's Law; and they have been obtained by the money-lenders through violations of the law and Constitution of the U.S.A., as we have reported, and they must be cancelled. God's Laws, Christian honesty,
justice and integrity and the Nation's salvation require that they be cancelled.

Fourthly, the cancellation of such fraudulent debts and the declaration by the Court that Federal Reserve money, and any other Bank's money, is illegal and worthless (two steps which we have indicated have already been taken by Court Decisions) will make the issuance of an adequate supply of constitutional money by Congress a simple matter; issuing the money, by Congress, directly to the people. The combination of these procedures will result in a minimum of, if any, disruption in the economy, in businesses and in the comfort and convenience of Citizens.

The natural outcome would be that all properties owned by the Money-lenders, including Bank properties, would be immediately “Nationalized” and taken over by the Government, until they could be disposed of by sale or restitution to private Citizens. The Banks, with their bookkeeping machines and computers, would remain in Government hands to function as part of the Government-controlled and managed money system.

The electronic computers of the Banks, with the help of others in Industry, would be used to compute the payment of just debts, cancel unjust debts, issue an adequate money supply and provide new and correct records of property ownership, as required.

It is not impossible that this could he done within just 12 months-a year of “jubile.”

This release from the control of Mammon will be coincidental with a National turning to our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. This will be done by the National acknowledgement of His Sovereignty and His atoning sacrifice for His People. It is no coincidence that the proclamation of the year of “jubile” was to be made on “the day of atonement” Leviticus 25:9. We will be forced by circumstances to proclaim and accept the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our Nation and turn to His Word, the Holy Bible, for instruction in all Government operations, including money.

Referring to this time “at the end of the Age”, God said, through Isaiah His Prophet: “And I will turn My hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: And I will restore thy Judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning”: Isaiah 1:25-26.

We will, then, have Christian Judges and Counsellors, once again in the land, and that means we will have a Christian Supreme Court, Christian Presidential Advisors, Christian Congressmen, Governors, Mayors, Attorneys and all others in authority to judge and to counsel.

With Christians in authority, it will be God's Word which will be the guide for the restitution and the punishment. “And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed” Isaiah 1:28. It is the wicked who will suffer-not the righteous-in the year of “jubile.”

It Has Been Done Before!

The Apostle Paul recounted some Israel history in 1 Corinthians, 10: and then wrote v. 11: “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples (or types): and they are written (recorded) for our admonition (learning), upon whom the ends of the world are come.”
The Book of Nehemiah, in the Old Testament, gives us an account of the cancellation of all debts in a Nation and the restoration of foreclosed property to its rightful owners. Christian Authorities in the United States of America may use this
as their guide.

The description of their condition reads like present day America: “And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. For there were that said: We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them (work for them), that we may eat, and live (earn a living).”

“Some also there were that said: We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.” They had borrowed money on their property in order to carry on trade and buy food because of the “dearth” (lack) of money!

They had even borrowed money to pay taxes! “We have borrowed money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards.”

They went on to complain that they were obliged to place their children in bondage to the money-lenders: Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children (that is to say: we are literally-owned by them!): and 10, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought unto bondage already (they have had to go to work for these people): neither is it in our power to redeem them: for other men have our lands and vineyards.” Those from whom they had borrowed had foreclosed and taken possession of their homes and farms! This sounds like America today if and when the Bankers decide to bring on a depression, then foreclose on our homes.
But Nehemiah was a righteous Ruler and he said: “And I was very angry. . . . and I rebuked the Nobles, and the Rulers (the National Leaders were participants in or condoned the crime), and said unto them: Ye exact usury (they charged interest for money). . . . and I set a great assembly against them.

“And I said unto them: We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, which were sold unto the heathen (that is to say: we have saved the Jews from their enemies); and will ye (Jews) even sell your brethren?”

Nehemiah went on to condemn them for disobeying God, in the next few verses, and then he gave the order for restoration: “Restore, I pray you, to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their oliveyards and their homes (return title to all foreclosed property), also, the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, that ye exact of them.” We owe the Money-lenders many times more money than exists, so they cannot restore it all to us. But cancellation of all debts, restoration of all property, and restoration of what money they have in their possession, will destroy their power over us, just as it did then. Nehemiah forced them to do this under threat of punishment from the Government, and the huilding of the Nation went on successfully.

It shall be so in the United States of America when we return to, and obey, the Word.

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The Nations Dictator

YES, YOU, the Federal Reserve Banking System, you are the dictator in our great nation. You are the Nero that fiddles while Rome is burning.

We in Congress can study for years, travel for miles, and legislate for months, striving to enact sound legislation. We come to Washington holding aloft a mandate from the people. We come clothed in power by the ballots representing the will of 135,000,000 citizens. We come to enact laws for the general welfare, but in every nook and corner of the Nation's Capital you are here, the invisible government, the power behind the throne of government. You with your red flag of economic dictatorship, you whisper into the ear of Congress, "Listen! We hold the power supreme, the power of money, and by this power we can dictate and determine just who shall occupy our seat." You whisper into the ear of the Public Press, "Listen! We hold by the power of money the control of big business that buys your advertising contracts, that determines the life or death of your paper." You whisper to the management of radio broadcasting stations, "Listen! We own the bonds and the stocks directly or indirectly. Your salary depends upon us."

We pass worthy laws through the House and Senate, and the President signs. We attach a large penalty for violation, and congratulate ourselves that we have expressed the will of the people in laws, but you, the Federal Reserve Banking System, you hold in your hand a mightier power, the power of money, for by this power you control God Almighty's first law, the law of self-preservation. By the power of money you command and inflict the penalties of starvation and deprivation, misery and want. You can break every law Congress can ever make. You can starve the most righteous soul until he will steal that his loved ones may have food and shelter.

You can crowd the most peaceful man until he will kill in murder and war that the reasonable wants of his loved ones may be satisfied. On the auction block of starvation and deprivation Man will sell his honor and Woman will sell her soul to satisfy that inward craving for food that God has put in the mind and body of man.

Yes, with this magic wand, the power of money, this firebrand of destruction, you can change to criminals our citizens of most worthy stamp, change a patriot into an enemy, love for country, into hate. You can destroy-as you are doing today and as you have done twenty-three other times in the past-the homes of the nation, the units in the foundation of government, that determine the perpetuation of our great Democracy. You, by the power of money, can turn back the clock of time from civilization to the dark past. For no power on earth to man for evil or for good can equal the power of money.

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Excerpts from speech, Congressional Record, by C. G. Binderup

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