The Spoil of the Needy

This line from Elder Holland’s recent talk has haunted me a little: “As Jehovah, He said He would judge the house of Israel harshly because ‘the spoil of the [needy] is in your houses’” (Ensign 2014, Are We Not All Beggars?).  This is a verse from Isaiah, and the implication is that the people are being chastened by the Lord because what belongs to the poor is actually in their homes.  This could be referring to those who physically stole from the poor, but it could also mean simply that those with much wealth are condemned because what the Lord would have them give to the needy is sitting in their homes.  In other words, they have way more than they need—their goods remain in their homes accusing them of their selfishness and failure to care for those less fortunate.  We see a similar idea in 2 Nephi 28:13 where Nephi wrote of those who “rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing.”  Again, this could refer to those who actually stole from the poor to obtain more for themselves, but perhaps again here we can think of it as a condemnation of those who have failed to share their substance with the poor.  Thus the fact that they “rob the poor because of their fine clothing” could be interpreted as simply choosing to spend their wealth to wear fine clothing instead of sharing their excess with the poor.  Alma asked the people of Zarahemla: “Will ye still persist in the wearing of costly apparel and setting your hearts upon the vain things of the world, upon your riches?... Will you persist in turning your backs upon the poor, and the needy, and in withholding your substance from them?” (Alma 5:53, 55)  I think there we see the root of the problem that most of us have to one degree or another: we have set our hearts “upon the vain things of the world” which entices us to accumulate things in our homes when we could otherwise share with others.  The Savior told us that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” and I think one of the great challenges of this life is make our treasure be the things of God and not the things of the world (Matt. 6:21).  This is an easy thing to speak of, but given the great pressures to obtain worldly possessions it is one of our greatest challenges.  It is so difficult for the rich that the Savior would say after His encounter with the rich man who had sorrowed at the thought of forsaking his goods, “With men this is impossible; but if they will forsake all things for my sake, with God whatsoever things I speak are possible” (JST Matt 19:26).  Perhaps the question for us is how we would respond to the Savior’s invitation to that young man to “sell that thou hast, and give to the poor”—would we too go “away sorrowful” because we have “great possessions?” (Matt 19:21-22)