The neglect of and contempt for the poor has been the common attitude wherever and whenever the revelation of God in the Holy Scriptures has been absent. This attitude is in marked contrast with the insistence of the Bible that the poor are a trust that God has confided to His more fortunate people (see John 12:8). Israel had a system of land ownership designed to preserve for every family their piece of land, and many regulations to ease the lot of the unfortunate (see Lev. 25:10, 23-28; Deut. 15:7-11; MH 184, 185).

 Because God has permitted poverty to exist, partly as a demonstration of the results of sin and of indolence, and partly as a test of the generosity of His people, those who do not aid the poor are dishonoring and disobeying the Father of all (see Mark 10:21; 14:7; Gal. 2:10).