The Gracious Creditor Text: Exodus 22:25-27
Introduction: Economics is Theological
We live in an age that has tried, with a great deal of frantic energy, to separate every area of life from God. We have been told that politics is downstream from culture, which is true enough, but our adversaries have successfully convinced many Christians that economics is a separate and sterile science, a realm of neutral numbers and amoral market forces. This is a lie from the pit. There is no square inch in all of creation over which Christ, who is sovereign, does not cry, "Mine!" And this most certainly includes your checkbook, your business dealings, and the nation's treasury.
Every economic transaction is a theological statement. It reveals who you worship. Do you worship Mammon, a god who is tight-fisted, anxious, and demanding? Or do you worship the triune God of Scripture, who is open-handed, generous, and gracious? The laws we find here in Exodus are not dusty regulations for a bygone agrarian society. They are case law applications of God's unchanging character. They reveal the heart of a God who is intensely interested in justice, particularly for the vulnerable. These laws are the guardrails that prevent a society from driving off the cliff into the canyon of systemic oppression and greed.
Our secularists and socialists believe the solution to poverty is to empower the State, that great and grasping beast, to manage everything through coerced redistribution. But God's solution is different. It is covenantal. It is personal. It is rooted in the character of a people who have been redeemed by grace and are therefore called to live graciously. The laws concerning lending, interest, and collateral are not about economic theory first. They are about love of neighbor. They are about imaging a God who is Himself a lender of grace, who does not treat us as our sins deserve.
So as we come to this text, we must not treat it as an archaic financial code. We must see it as a window into the heart of God. This is a passage about the dignity of the poor, the responsibilities of the prosperous, and the ever-present reality that God hears the cries of the afflicted. This is applied theology, where the rubber of our doctrine meets the road of our daily dealings with one another.
The Text
"If you lend money to My people, to the afflicted among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest. If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun sets, for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body. What else shall he sleep in? And it shall be that when he cries out to Me, I will hear him, for I am gracious."
(Exodus 22:25-27 LSB)
Charity, Not Commerce (v. 25)
The first principle laid down deals with the motivation and manner of lending to a brother in need.
"If you lend money to My people, to the afflicted among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest." (Exodus 22:25)
Notice the context immediately. This is not a universal prohibition on all forms of interest. This is a specific kind of loan: a loan to "My people," and more specifically, to "the afflicted among you." The Bible makes a sharp distinction between a business loan and a charity loan. A business loan is an investment where the lender shares in the risk of a productive enterprise. If you lend money to a man to buy a second fishing boat so he can expand his business, it is entirely appropriate to expect a return on that investment. That is commerce.
But this passage is not talking about commerce. It is talking about charity. This is a loan to a poor man, an afflicted brother, who needs money not to make more money, but to survive. He needs money for groceries, not for growth capital. To charge him interest in his moment of desperation is to take advantage of his affliction. It is to kick a man when he is down. God says you are not to act as a "creditor" to him. The word implies a professional, hard-nosed, demanding lender. Instead, you are to act as a brother.
The prohibition on "interest" here is a prohibition on usury. In the biblical world, usury was not defined as "excessive interest" but as any interest charged on a charitable loan. It was making a profit off your brother's poverty. God is protecting the dignity of the poor. He is forbidding His people from turning their brother's crisis into their own financial opportunity. This is a direct assault on the payday loan industry and any other system that preys on the desperation of the poor.
This law establishes a fundamental principle of a healthy society: the community has a responsibility to care for its own. This is not a job to be outsourced to the civil magistrate. The welfare state is a monstrous parody of true biblical charity. God's plan is for His people, the church, to be the safety net. When a brother falls on hard times, the first responders should be his brothers and sisters in the covenant, lending freely, "hoping for nothing again" as Jesus would later say (Luke 6:35).
The Collateral of Compassion (v. 26-27a)
The next verses provide a specific, tangible example of this principle in action, dealing with the issue of collateral.
"If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun sets, for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body. What else shall he sleep in?" (Exodus 22:26-27a LSB)
In that world, a man's outer cloak was often his most important possession. It was his coat by day and his blanket by night. It was his shelter. Taking it as a pledge, or collateral, for a loan was permissible. This acknowledges the principle of responsibility; the loan was real and was meant to be repaid. Taking a pledge was a formal way of sealing the agreement and reminding the borrower of his obligation. It was not an act of stripping him bare.
But God places a severe limitation on this practice. You can take the cloak during the day, as a token of the debt, but you must return it by sunset. Why? Because a man's basic human dignity and his essential needs trump your financial security. God asks a searingly practical question: "What else shall he sleep in?" Your desire to secure your loan does not give you the right to leave your brother shivering through the night.
This is a profound statement. It means that there are certain things that are off-limits in the pursuit of repayment. A man's life, his health, his ability to survive, cannot be seized as collateral. Our modern world has forgotten this. We have bankruptcy laws that can strip a man of everything, leaving him destitute. We have systems that value financial ledgers over human flourishing. God's law builds a fortress of protection around the poor man. It says, "You can conduct business, but you must not crush people."
This law forces the lender to think covenantally. Returning the cloak every evening is an inconvenience. It requires relationship. It means you have to see the man again, talk to him, and in that process, you are reminded that he is not a line item on a spreadsheet. He is your neighbor, your brother, made in the image of God. This law is designed to keep the transaction personal and humane, preventing it from becoming cold, impersonal, and oppressive.
The Court of Heaven (v. 27b)
The passage concludes with a solemn warning, reminding the lender that every transaction takes place before an audience of One.
"And it shall be that when he cries out to Me, I will hear him, for I am gracious." (Exodus 22:27b LSB)
This is the ultimate enforcement mechanism. The poor man may have no recourse in the courts of men. He may have no leverage, no power, no advocate. But he has a direct line to the court of Heaven. And God makes a promise: "I will hear him." The cry of the oppressed is a sound that always reaches the ears of the Lord of Hosts.
This should put the fear of God into any who would think of exploiting the poor. It reframes the entire situation. The transaction is not just between a lender and a borrower. It is a triangle: lender, borrower, and God. And God declares Himself to be the advocate for the poor, the defender of the afflicted. To mistreat the poor is to pick a fight with their divine Patron.
And what is the basis of God's advocacy? He tells us plainly: "for I am gracious." This is the foundation of everything. Why should you be gracious to your afflicted brother? Because God has been gracious to you. You were the afflicted one, spiritually bankrupt, in a debt you could never repay. You were shivering in the cold night of your sin, with no cloak to cover your shame. And God, the great Creditor, did not demand payment. He sent His Son to pay the debt in full. He did not take your cloak; He gave you His own robe of righteousness.
God's grace to us in the gospel is the engine of our grace to others. We are commanded to image our Father. He is gracious, so we must be gracious. He hears the cry of the afflicted, so we must not be the cause of that cry. Our economic practices are to be a living sermon, preaching the good news of a God who "lends" us forgiveness and mercy without interest.
Conclusion: Gospel Economics
So what does this ancient law have to do with us? Everything. It establishes the principles of gospel economics that should govern the people of God in every age.
First, it teaches us to distinguish between productive enterprise and charitable care. We should be wise investors and shrewd businessmen, creating wealth and opportunity. But when our brother is in need, we must switch hats. We are no longer investors; we are ministers of mercy. Our goal is not profit, but restoration.
Second, it reminds us that our dealings must always be tempered with compassion, protecting the dignity of the other person. We are not to be ruthless. We are not to secure our own interests at the cost of another's well-being. The law of love must always govern the laws of finance.
And finally, it points us to the ultimate reality of God's grace. We lend without interest because we have been given righteousness without cost. We return the cloak at night because Christ has covered our nakedness permanently. We act with grace because God has declared over us the final verdict: "I will hear you, for I am gracious."
The world's way is to use money to gain power over people. The kingdom's way is to use money to serve people. When the church begins to live this out, when we become known as a people of radical, open-handed generosity, we will show the world a kind of economic order that they cannot explain and cannot resist. We will be showing them the heart of our gracious Father.