The Nugget: Luk 10:7  And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house. My Comment: Today, Monday, September 2, 2019, is Labor Day in the United States of America. The Bible has much to say about labor. Just what the Bible says about labor is pinpointed by the cross references given for this verse, which I share below from the Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury. I am greatly indebted to my brother, Mark (Martin Smith), for encouraging me over many years to focus on these issues. Please keep my brother Mark in your prayers. He has been suffering many years from the effects of prostate cancer. The cancer has migrated to his neck, where a tumor was discovered this past week to have grown entirely around a major blood vessel to the right brain. He is to be operated on for up to eight hours tomorrow, Tuesday, September 3, 2019, at Harper Hospital in Detroit. If successful, he will convalesce for six weeks in the hospital after that. I am thankful to the members and elders (especially my former student from Cass Technical High School, Mr. Gregory Scruggs, and fellow elder Mr. Dariun Hoskins, for their care and assistance) from the Christian Fellowship Church where my brother Mark has taught Sunday school for many years. Their prayer support is much appreciated. Proverbs 14:23 tells us that "In all labor there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury." A careful reading of the Bible will demonstrate that free market capitalism is perhaps the best, if not the only, Bible-supported economic system. David Barton of Wallbuilders has presented this Bible truth effectively in his many video presentations to be seen on YouTube on the Internet. The Founding Fathers knew these Bible principles very well. Mr. Barton has pointed out that even the supposedly least religious of the Founding Fathers knew the Bible far better than most Christian pastors do today. He demonstrates that this is evident from their speeches and writings. Benjamin Franklin, for example, in his fourteen-sentence speech to the Constitutional Convention, wherein Franklin beseeches those gathered there to begin each session thenceforward with a season of prayer, cites or alludes to at least fourteen Bible verses! Those among us today who wrongly suppose that socialism is a better option would do well to do some Real Bible Study to learn the truth. As early as Genesis 29:15 Laban bargains with Jacob regarding what wages Jacob wishes to be paid for his services. Even Laban knew that "the laborer is worthy of his hire," and by right has a say in what he should receive for his labor. This would show from the Bible itself that collective bargaining is a Bible principle that ought to be followed faithfully and honestly today. Laborers have a right to earn a living wage. It is against God's word in the Bible to export jobs to other countries where workers have no rights and must work, in some cases, as slave labor. In 1 Timothy 5:18, the Apostle Paul emphasizes that the Scripture says the laborer is worthy of his reward. Paul's statement demonstrates that the Gospel of Luke where this statement of Jesus is found is divinely inspired Scripture. Jeremiah pronounces a divine woe upon those who would build their own estate by dishonesty, and who fail to pay the appropriate wage for work done for them:

Jeremiah 22:13 13  Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work; King James Version

13 "Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages, English Standard Version

Jer 22:13 King Jehoiakim, you are doomed! You built a palace with large rooms upstairs. Jer 22:14 You put in big windows and used cedar paneling and red paint. But you were unfair and forced the builders to work without pay. * Jer 22:15 More cedar in your palace doesn't make you a better king than your father Josiah. He always did right-- he gave justice to the poor and was honest. (Contemporary English Version)

You ought to be able to see from just the cross references already shared that the Bible is very much in support of the laborer! The Bible demands fair treatment. The Bible demands justice. The Bible demands due process! The Bible demands that workers be paid on time (Leviticus 19:13). God has warned of dire consequences for those who disobey these principles (Deuteronomy 24:14-15):

14 If you hire poor people to work for you, don't hold back their pay, whether they are Israelites or foreigners who live in your town. 15 Pay them their wages at the end of each day, because they live in poverty and need the money to survive. If you don't pay them on time, they will complain about you to the LORD, and he will punish you. (Contemporary English Version)

I have never heard any pastor preach on Malachi 3:5. This would surely be a fruitful passage for careful exposition! Here is what it says:

Malachi 3:5 5  And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts. King James Version

Malachi 3:5 The LORD All-Powerful said: I'm now on my way to judge you. And I will quickly condemn all who practice witchcraft or cheat in marriage or tell lies in court or rob workers of their pay or mistreat widows and orphans or steal the property of foreigners or refuse to respect me. (Contemporary English Version)

So, from Genesis to Malachi, not to mention what is said in the New Testament, the Bible demands justice and fairness for the laborer, for the laborer is worthy of his hire. I have cited just some of the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and its sequel, The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury, given for Luke 10:7, in my comments above. To dig deeper into the study of this theme, read the full set of cross references to Luke 10:7 for yourself: Luke 10:7 in the same house remain. Luk 9:4, Mat 10:11, *Mar 6:10, *Act 16:15; *Act 16:34; *Act 16:40. eating and drinking. Luk 12:29, Num 18:31, Deut 18:8. such things as they give. 2Ch 2:10, Eze 48:13, 1Co 9:14; 1Co 10:27. for the labourer. +*Gen 29:15, +Lev 7:7, Deut 12:12; Deut 12:18, 19; +*Deut 24:14, Psa 90:17; **Psa 104:23 note. *Psa 128:2, Pro 14:23; Pro 22:29, Ecc 2:24, *Mat 10:10, *1Co 9:4-15, *Gal 6:6, *Php 4:17; *Php 4:18, 1Th 5:12, *>1Ti 5:17; *>1Ti 5:18, 2Ti 2:6, 3Jn 1:5, 6, 7, 8. his hire. Gr. misthos (S# G3408, 1Ti 5:18). +*Lev 19:13, Num 18:31, +*Deut 24:15, +*Jer 22:13, +**Mal 3:5, Mat 20:8, *1Co 9:4; *1Co 9:7-14. Go not. *Mat 10:11, *1Ti 5:13.