Borrower Is Servant to the Lender

Many poor nations are deeply indebted to other, far richer nations. A recent Associated Press study of the twelve nations most indebted to China noted that “paying back that debt is consuming an ever-greater amount of the tax revenue needed to keep schools open, provide electricity and pay for food and fuel. And it’s draining foreign currency reserves these countries use to pay interest on those loans, leaving some with just months before that money is gone” (Fortune, May 18, 2023). Of the nations studied, most were devoting more than a third of their revenues to paying off foreign debt. Zambia and Sri Lanka have already defaulted and cannot even pay interest on major construction projects.

“In Pakistan, millions of textile workers have been laid off because the country has too much foreign debt and can’t afford to keep the electricity on and machines running.” In Kenya, the government skipped paying civil servants in order to pay foreign loans. A chief finance advisor tweeted, “Salaries or default? Take your pick.” These financial strains are impacting lives and families.

The sobering reality is that no one knows what will happen in the aftermath of national defaults. What does a lender do when the borrower cannot pay back debt? Will foreign lenders be lenient and forgiving or will they demand something tangible in exchange for money owed? The Bible has long warned, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). As more nations—including major Western nations—default on loans, international relations and national resources will become frighteningly unstable, causing the world to suddenly look very different. Yet, Bible prophecies reveal there is a better future beyond the trials of the present, when peace and prosperity will be available for all. In fact, God has a financial system already devised that will completely forgive debts on a regular cycle! To learn more about coming global instability, be sure to read or listen to Armageddon and Beyond!