Leviticus 25:35

MERCY TO THE POOR ENJOINED, Leviticus 25:35-43.

35. Thy brother Of the seed of Abraham.

Thou shalt relieve him The singular number here seems to signify an individual obligation to relieve the poor, though systematic relief by the commonwealth is by no means excluded.

That he may live Bare existence is not here intended, but a happy life. This explains the significance of the terms “life” and “eternal life.” The more abundant life which Jesus Christ came to inspire in the believer, (John 10:10, note,) is fulness of joy. The annihilationists, whose fundamental error is that immortality is a gift of grace and not inherent in human nature, take their first false step in their definition of life as mere animate being, and not a blissful existence.