Solomon declares in Proverbs 22:7, The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. God never intended Israel to borrow or even have to borrow from anyone, as stated in Deuteronomy 15:6, For the LORD your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. National borrowing indicates an absence of God's favor, and as a curse for disobedience, borrowing becomes a burden, as seen in Deuteronomy 28:44. In the time of Nehemiah, the people had been borrowing money against their homes and lands, and when hard times came, they were unable to pay, facing the loss of their possessions and even their children to lenders (Nehemiah 5:1-5). Paul brings this to a personal level in Romans 13:8, Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Society is structured around borrowing, extending credit, and raising debt limits, yet God never wanted these practices among His people. Borrowing reflects a state of neediness and dependence, often leading to debt for extravagances and desires far beyond one's means.

The U.S. government's national debt surpassed $34 trillion for the first time on December 29, 2023, reflecting the total amount borrowed over the nation's history that remains unpaid. Each year, deficit spending forces the government to borrow more through bond sales, increasing the debt as interest accumulates and adds to the financial burden. Until 1971, borrowing was constrained by the gold standard, which imposed fiscal discipline based on gold reserves. However, President Nixon's decision to unpeg the dollar from gold turned the USD into a fiat currency, allowing the Federal Reserve to issue money as needed to fund government expansion, with debt sold to foreign banks based solely on the faith and credit of the United States. Since then, the national debt has spiraled out of control, accelerated by events like the War on Terror, the 2008-2009 recession, the green energy transition, and the governmental response to COVID-19. Interest payments on this debt now cost about $2 billion a day, and without drastic fiscal restraint, these costs may soon exceed defense spending. The Treasury expects to borrow nearly $1 trillion more by the end of March, continuing to add to the debt with no signs of slowing spending, as the country struggles to avoid economic disaster.