"Yhwh is Your Inheritance": A New Look at Consecrated Life, Economic Need and the Vow of Poverty from Deut 18:1-8
Evangelical Poverty is considered a critical pillar of Consecrated Life. However, its demand of modesty sometimes creates the illusion of abandonment of wealth for those choosing to dedicate themselves to the Consecrated Life. With such notions, the interpretation of this vow for an individual from a poor background becomes difficult for some. This article presents the thesis that everyone, including the poor, are called to live this vow. It examines this issue from the perspective of Deuteronomy 18:1-8, a legislation on the Levitical priesthood. The author argues that the “no-allotment” legislation of the text foresees a priestly tribe with inherent financial disadvantages in the Israelite nation. However, the text further makes legislative provisions to mitigate the effects of this social burden while the Levite is at priestly service fulfilling the demands of his consecration. The author therefore proposes the Deuteronomic Levitical provisions as a model of approaching the modern African Consecrated person who must live his vow of poverty from an inherent background of economic need. The study begins with an exegesis of the text and concludes with a hermeneutic that examines Consecrated Life from the result of the Biblical exegesis.
Keywords: Levites, Allotment, Inheritance, Consecrated Life, Poverty