Proverbs 22:7

 The book of Proverbs gives us a lot of instruction on a lot of different subjects. One subject that can keep us in God’s wisdom is Godly Follower-ship. Who we follow; where we follow; how we follow are all spoken about in Proverbs. Here is one of them about debt:

Proverbs 22:7

The rich rules over the poor,

And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.

Our society's attraction to debt is unparalleled.   We seem to have a real passion for possessions beyond our means.   We want more even though we have less.   There may be few societies, ever in human history, who has borrowed more to obtain less.   As a result we find that some accumulate great wealth and others become enslaved to them for that wealth.   So Solomon is direct by the Spirit of God to pen the above proverb.   Those in debt are slaves to someone.   That Someone is the rich.   We are slaves to the lender.   We bind ourselves for long portions of our life for the immediate pleasure and trifle titillations.   God, in the Law to the Israelites, made a way for the rich to be corrected.  It was the law of the release where every 7 years and every 7 of 7 years (49 years) the debts of some were  released and the land purchased in a debt arrangement was returned.   Today's modern day capitalist would be shocked if they saw the real "check and balance" God instilled in His Perfect Law.   God knew some would manage possessions better than others.  He also knew that the heart was evil and some would try to capitalize on debt.    Solomon is telling us something we know but we put it out of our mind.   When we borrow we agree to be a slave and having a ruler take away our freedom.   We can't quit bad jobs because we are in debt.  We can't go where God wants us to go because we have to keep the job we have to pay for the debt we incurred.   The problem isn't our need for possessions.  The problem is our lack of fear for being slaves.