There’s no question that the Year of Jubilee and the Sabbath Year were both opportunities for people to exploit each other. Any time you have a blanket commandment that directly benefits one at the expense of the other (such as the manumission of debt), there are going to be those who try to take advantage of it.
Moses knows this, and addresses it head-on in Deuteronomy 15:7-11.
Imagine that a poor person asks you for help. According to Deuteronomy 15:1-6, you should give it.
But what happens if that help is asked for in year six, knowing that all of those debts will be forgiven in the next year? Should you still lend the money?
Absolutely. “Beware,” Moses says, “that there is no base thought in your heart.” You should not “harden your heart” or “close your hand” from the poor. You lend freely, despite knowing that there’s a good chance you won’t see any money back.
The reason for this ties into the point of the first six verses. On some level, this is seen as an act of generosity and charity. By giving to the poor, you’re helping to elevate them and your society out of poverty.
By addressing this issue directly, Moses calls out a specific type of abuse that could happen from the rich to the poor.
But what about the poor abusing the rich?
What if a poor man, knowing that it was year six, went to his brother and asked for money that he didn’t need? Because he knows he’ll never have to pay it back, he could theoretically cheat his countryman.
I’ve seen this scenario play out in other ways. A weaker brother, for instance, who doesn’t really struggle with a specific temptation, nevertheless lords it over his fellow church member, demanding that they bow to his “weakness.” According to 1 Corinthians 10:23-33, should we just give in to what they want?
There are probably other occasions that play out like this every day, but they operate on the same principle: I’m weaponizing God’s command for benevolence into an opportunity to get what I want. Deuteronomy 15:7-11 addresses the rich to the poor, but the poor can do it to the rich.