Almsgiving: A Powerful Way to Turn Towards Yahuwah and Away from Sin

This last etymological consideration provides the final clue to reading Daniel 4:24 as an instruction of almsgiving for the redemption of one’s sins. Analogous to the debt slave of Leviticus 25, King Nebuchadnezzar’s “horrible sins” have “turned him into a debt-slave in the eyes of Yahuwah. One way out of debt is physical punishment [as the dream portends], but Daniel informs us that there is a second option: giving away one’s money to the poor.”³³ There is no “get out of jail free card,” but there are two ways to repay a debt: to offer sacrifice voluntarily or to suffer punishment forcibly. As Anderson notes, “In rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity, Daniel’s advice will become commonplace. Repentance without the giving of alms, in some sources, is unimaginable.”³⁴ Almsgiving becomes a kind of “spiritual currency,” to use the phrase of Anderson.³⁵ Thus, Daniel’s advice to King Nebuchadnezzar finally can be appreciated. King Nebuchadnezzar is in the debt of sin and to redeem himself (to buy himself out of slavery to debt-sin) he either has to endure the physical punishment that will come about as predicted in the dream, similar to Israel’s experience of exile and physical punishment for its sinfulness, or he can redeem his sins through almsgiving to the poor. By giving alms, King Nebuchadnezzar gains a kind of spiritual currency to pay down his sin-debts. Additionally, by turning to and caring for the poor Yahuwah’s face will not be turned away from” King Nebuchadnezzar. This story from the book of Daniel points to almsgiving as a practice of repentance, in that a sinner has accumulated a debt due to sin and in order for the sinner to alleviate this sin-debt one must practice almsgiving. In this understanding, almsgiving serves as a powerful way for a sinner to turn towards Yahuwah and away from sin.
 

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This lesson was taken from a non-WLC article written by James W. Stroud (Journal of Moral Theology, Vol. 10, Special Issue 1 (2021): 84–103).

We have taken out from the original article all pagan names and titles of the Father and Son, and have replaced them with the original given names. Furthermore, we have restored in the Scriptures quoted the names of the Father and Son, as they were originally written by the inspired authors of the Bible. -WLC Team

WLC Source: https://www.worldslastchance.com/topical-biblical-studies/download/512
 
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