Re: your second point: It is not the governments role to care for the sick and needy, it is the individual Christians duty. Yes, God can use the government to provide for those that Christians have failed to provide for, but that does not make it “right” or “okay” for the government to be doing that. The poor are a big issue, and the Bible lays out some clear directions for how we are to deal with them, something I will cover more in the third post.

So couple of things: first, I think it’s dangerous to separate individual responsibility against the law applicable to all. I’m not a Hebrew scholar, but there is a possibility that the ‘you’ used there could be referring to Israel as a whole in the law.

Secondly, if the church was filing this void then there would be no need for the government to do so. Since there is a need why wouldn’t God use this to provide for the needs of those He loves? He used a donkey to speak to Balaam, why not the democrats to speak to the church? I am not saying this is a tithing issue, I am instead saying this may be God’s way of providing for those who we have been neglecting.

One thing I have been learning lately is God’s heart for the poor. A staggering 54% of homeless people that seek medical attention (in Canada where we have universal health care) have a mental illness as opposed to 5% of the general population (Canwest News Service). People who cannot hold a job, who have no one to look after them or who leave a home situation that is so bad the streets are better. According to CBS News the majority of people this is assisting are actually our age, college students who get kicked off their parents insurance and cannot afford their own.

Another thing: we may have to wait longer in Canada (not by much – I got an ultrasound same day non emergency) but people do not lose their homes, go bankrupt, or have to ignore serious medical conditions.

Of course you’re right though – these passages are meant to be instructional to the individual. In fact, this is the purpose of scripture. You’re absolutely right about what David said: “The law of the Lord is perfect… converting the soul.”

When you say “…there are clear precedents for the law to take what belongs to me…”, I would like to know what you mean by that. I agree that the Law commands us, as individuals, to do certain things which help the poor. However, it seems that you mean that those verses give the civil government authority to take what belongs to me.

However, just because “the Law” commands me to do something, does not necessarily mean the government has authority to do that thing: E.g., the Law commands me to give my tithe, does the government now have authority to take my money and give it to the church? So just because the Law commands me to do certain things for the poor (excellent verses, by the way) does not automatically give the government any authority to force me to do those things.

In fact, both of the verses you mentioned ( Leviticus 25:35, Exodus 23:11) are quite clearly a personal responsibility: “you shall help him”, and “you shall let it rest”, etc. (emphasis added)

Anyway, in the next section I hope to examine more thoroughly the arguments that Christians have made in support of government run health care, and hold those views up to the Bible for examination.