Leviticus 19: Leave Room for the Poor in Your Harvest

Introduction

Every year, churches set aside one Sunday to reflect on poverty. This year, the theme was the link between poverty and work. For this service, the Église Évangélique Baptiste de Paris-Centre opened two verses from the book of Leviticus.

"When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not glean your vineyard, neither shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God." (Leviticus 19:9-10)

"The text is very short, but its teaching is very rich," the preacher points out. He takes the time to understand what this law about gleaning says, what it implies, and then how it applies to you today, even if you have neither a field nor a vineyard.

Outline of the message

1. A law that touches all of life

Leviticus 19 is addressed, through Moses, to the whole assembly of the Israelites. The people are in the desert, after leaving Egypt, but the text already looks ahead to life "in your land": God explains how to live on the land he is about to give.
The chapter deals with the Sabbath, sacrifices, the occult and idolatry, but also with relationships with parents, the elderly, enemies and the most vulnerable. This is where the commandment first appears: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (verse 18).
This variety is a reminder that God cares about our whole life. The preacher quotes a theologian: "There is not a square centimeter in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'"
Every dimension of your life belongs to the Lord, not just a religious sphere or a small corner of your private life.

2. Your field, but not all of your field

You can imagine a reader's reaction: if it is my field and my vineyard, I will do what I want with it. What right does the poor person have to come and help himself? The preacher admits that this could be his own spontaneous reaction, because he has "a fairly strong sense of property."
All the more so because the text speaks of the harvest, the moment when you gather the fruit of your labor. This is not what grows by itself in the forest: it is the fruit of the toil of the owner who sowed and looked after his land.
The law of Moses goes even further. In Deuteronomy 23, anyone who enters a neighbor's vineyard may eat as many grapes as he wants, without putting any in his basket, and pluck ears of grain by hand, without putting a sickle to the standing grain. This keeps anyone from saying too strictly: "Don't touch it, it's mine."
These laws do not call property into question. The text speaks of "your field" and "your vineyard." Goods are not held in common by everyone: the poor person takes from the corner and from what is left after the sickle has passed, by hand, and most of the harvest stays with the owner.
Paul says it in a spiritual context, but it is also true in the natural realm: the farmer who toils should be the first to receive his share of the crops (2 Timothy 2:6). The first, not the only one, but the first. We work first to provide for our own needs and those of our family.
Yet we do not work only for ourselves and our own. From Genesis on, God calls humanity to be fruitful, to fill the earth and to subdue it. We are interdependent in this mandate. In a world marked by poverty, "there must be a place for the poor in the fruit of our work."

3. God, owner of everything and author of growth

The field is my field, the vineyard is my vineyard, but the whole earth belongs to God. It is first of all his field and his vineyard, so he has the right to tell us what to do with it.
"Before my neighbor, I am the owner of what belongs to me, but before God, I am the steward of what is his."
During the harvest and the grape picking, everyone gathers the fruit of his labor, but it is God who made the wheat and the grapes grow. "I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase" (1 Corinthians 3:6). And Psalm 127: "Unless Yahweh builds the house, they labor in vain who build it."
The strength, health, energy, intelligence, life and breath you put into your work come from God. Being able to farm your field is already an undeserved favor, the favor of a God who makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and who gave the land freely to his people.
Under these conditions, it is impossible to fight over the fruit of your work by saying "it's mine, and mine alone." What you have comes from the work and the grace of God. He gives it to you so that you will manage it generously.
God therefore calls his people to share with the afflicted, which can also be translated as the poor, and with the immigrant. Along with the widow and the orphan, the foreigner is one of the typical figures of the poor in the Old Testament. He is not part of the people, and yet he is meant to benefit from its generosity.

4. Leaving rather than bringing: the dignity of work

The law does not say: bring wheat, grapes and barley to those in poverty. It says: leave it for them. It was up to the poor and the immigrant to come and take it.
To see the difference, the preacher invites you to read the book of Ruth: it shows that gleaning was hard work. What the poor person brought home in the evening depended in part on the effort he put in.
Only in part: it also depended on the goodwill or ill will of the owner, who could let it happen, put obstacles in the way, or show himself more generous than the law required. There was both the work of the poor person and the goodwill of the owner.
In the Bible, work is fundamentally positive, even if Monday mornings are sometimes hard. The verse in Genesis about eating bread by the sweat of your face does not say that work comes from sin: what comes from sin is the painful nature of work.
Human beings were created to work. They express their dignity through their work, because God is a God who works and because man, created in his image, reflects something of his Creator when he works.
Someone who cannot work, because of illness, unemployment or other reasons, does not lose his dignity. But he can no longer express it in the same way, and that is a misfortune, as those who have been out of work for a long time can testify. We must therefore encourage, as much as possible, everyone's participation in the life of society.
The law of gleaning respects the dignity of the poor by giving them the opportunity to work.

5. Between almsgiving and gleaning, finding balance

"Don't misunderstand me, I am not saying that you should always demand something in return from the poor before giving them anything. Certainly not." Contrary to what is often done today, the Bible clearly values almsgiving.
Some have summed it up this way: "We should not do for people what they are able to do for themselves." When someone is able, you don't do it in their place. When they are not, you give.
The one who can do nothing, like the wounded man at the side of the road in the parable of the good Samaritan, you help, and that's all there is to it.
The preacher insists: the distress that calls for pure and simple help is not only mortal danger. It is also a broken spirit, a heart that can take no more. To people who have reached the end of their rope, you do not say: "You have arms and legs, you must work to get out of your poverty."
Sometimes poverty leaves a person in such a state that you have to know how to wait, be patient and support before you can say: "And now, you can also take part in some way."
Leaving a portion of your field for the poor does not mean: "For everything else, let them fend for themselves." The Bible teaches tact and balance. There is a time and a situation for almsgiving, and a time and a situation for gleaning.

6. And you, who have neither field nor vineyard?

"Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). This text must therefore have something to say to you.
The point is not to look for a literal application, or most people would say: "I have neither field nor vineyard, this text doesn't concern me." It is the principles behind the law that remain valid.
"So then, as we have opportunity, let's do what is good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith" (Galatians 6:10). Solidarity within the Church matters particularly, but it does not relieve us of our duties of humanity toward society.
One avenue to explore: help, when possible, in a way that allows the dignity of poor people to be expressed. Help them to work or to acquire the means to find work: schooling, literacy, vocational training, a mailing address (the people at the Mission évangélique parmi les sans-logis could tell you about this), starting an income-generating activity.
For many, the starting point will be to understand that the meaning of your work is not only to earn a living for your family. It is not only an opportunity to share the gospel with your colleagues. It is also to take part in the good of your brothers and sisters in Christ and of society, and to share with the poor.

7. Reading this text in the light of Jesus

The text does not speak explicitly of Jesus. Yet the preacher is convinced that it can only be understood in depth in the light of his person and his work.
In Jesus, God showed us grace when we were, before him, hopelessly poor, unable to contribute anything to our salvation. He lifted us up and began to restore his image in us. He even has us work in his service and welcomes the service we render him.
"Shouldn't this be reflected in the way we relate to the poor?"
Someone rightly pointed out to the preacher that the text remains vague: Leviticus 19 does not specify the size of the corner or the edges to leave. How many meters? How many centimeters? The text does not say. This leaves each person some room to maneuver: perhaps, depending on the year and the family situation, the amount of wheat, barley or grapes left for the poor could vary.
You too are called to make room for the poor in your life, and you have real freedom to decide how. Sometimes you cannot do much and you have to accept that. But sometimes God wants to widen your limits.
He does it above all by making you aware of his grace in Jesus Christ and by letting you taste how good the Lord is. The message ends with this appeal: seek the Lord's kind face to learn to make the right place for the poor in your life.

Key takeaways

Your whole life belongs to the Lord, including your work and what it brings in.
Before your neighbor, you are an owner. Before God, you are the steward of what is his, and he is the one who gives the growth.
The law of gleaning makes room for the poor in the fruit of work, while respecting their dignity by giving them the chance to work.
There is a time for almsgiving with nothing expected in return and a time for gleaning: the Bible calls for tact and balance.
It is the grace received in Jesus, when we were poor before God, that widens the place you make for the poor.

Personal application

When you think about your salary, your possessions or your time, is your first reaction "it's mine," or "God entrusted it to me"?
What "corner of your field" are you leaving today for the people in need around you?
In the way you help, can you tell the difference between the moment to give without expecting anything and the moment to let the other person take part?
How does your work contribute, beyond your family, to the good of your brothers and sisters in Christ and of society?
In what area might God want to widen your limits this year?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What does the law of gleaning require in Leviticus 19:9-10?

At harvest time, the Israelite was not to reap the corners of his field or go back to gather what was left after the first pass. He was not to pick the last grapes of his vineyard. What remained was left for the poor and the foreigner, who came to take it themselves.

Does gleaning call property into question?

No. The text clearly speaks of "your field" and "your vineyard," and most of the harvest stays with the owner. But the preacher reminds us that the whole earth belongs to God: before my neighbor, I am the owner of what is mine, and before God, I am the steward of what is his.

Should we always ask something in return from the poor?

No. The Bible clearly values almsgiving. Gleaning respects the dignity of the poor by allowing them to work, but someone who can do nothing, like the wounded man in the parable of the good Samaritan, or someone whose heart can take no more, must be helped with nothing expected in return. There is a time for almsgiving and a time for gleaning.