I've begun occasional postings of biblical passages that talk about economics, poverty and/or wealth. Despite the reality that we don't discuss personal economics much in most churches, the topic is dealt with extensively in the Bible (over 2000 times, according to some sources such as this one).
And, as I believe we shall see as we continue bringing up these passages, they are exceedingly on the side of the poor and fraught with warnings for the wealthy.
Hear now what the LORD is saying,
"Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
And let the hills hear your voice.
"Listen, you mountains, to the indictment of the LORD,
And you enduring foundations of the earth,
Because the LORD has a case against God’s people;
Even with Israel God will dispute…”
God has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
[God says] “…Is there yet a man in the wicked house,
Along with treasures of wickedness
And a short measure that is cursed?
“Can I justify wicked scales
And a bag of deceptive weights?
“For the rich men of the city are full of violence,
Her residents speak lies,
And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth…”
Micah 6:1-2, 8, 10-12
One thing we see in many passages such as this one is the tying of violence and oppression to the wealthy in their actions against the poor.
Thoughts?
20 comments:
As a secularist, my comments are likely ignorant, but I cannot resist observing: wealth and power were consistent targets of the OT
prophets..I'm not sure if ANY of them failed to excoriate the halls of power. It must have been an ongoing problem since even as late as the sermon on the mount the poor, the widow and the down-trodden were held up as worthy
while wealth (power?) was seen as
if not downright evil, a lowly thing in the scales of Hebrew justice. Distribution of wealth and our perceptions...some things never change...do they?
also, i'm constantly hearing my close friends and family remarking on how blessed they are to have so much money, and i always wonder if God would necessarily give money and material things as blessings. wouldn't His blessings trancend those things?
You'd think, wouldn't you?
Thanks for the thoughts, y'all.
Some have observed that the Christian god doesn't love his people as much as the Pagan gods love theirs. The things to be valued are gold and jasper (that's what he made heaven of) and he made very little of it for the people. However to the Pagans the things to be valued were the grass, the buffalo, corn, and such and the gods made LOTS of those.
It often gets pointed out that God greatly favored certain wealthy men such as Solomon, Abraham, Job, Boaz, etc. But to understand this, one must rewind to the late bronze age and early iron age from which the stories ultimately come.
So what if Abraham was wealthy? What did that mean? He (likely) wore hand woven woolen clothes, ate cheese, barley bread, and lamb chops, etc. But then again, so did everyone else. Being "wealthy" didn't necessarily mean you personally and gluttonously consumed a disproportionate amount of goods to the poverty and expense of everyone else. Wealthy meant that you were head of a large household with X number of cows and sheep at your command.
But as the Preacher observed in Ecclesiastes: When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? (Eccl 5:11)
Rather I see a distinction being made between this view of 'wealthy' and those who have an easy life at the expense of the rest of humanity.
Dr. ER and I have always snarkily referred to our next-door neighbors as "the Flanderses" since the week we moved in in '99 the youngest, about 8, came over and announced that "Mommy is praying for a Lexus."
Sheesh. Home-schoolers.
Now, Ned Flanders is a simple-living fella who I have a hard time imagining praying for a Lexus. Or his kids.
Take it back!
So is God real? That is, Did they get that Lexus or is it all a fraud and there is no God?
E said:
"The things to be valued are gold and jasper (that's what he made heaven of) and he made very little of it for the people."
Ahh, but it is also the Promised Land, a place of rest, a land flowing with milk and honey, no?
Different imageries, none of which need necessarily be taken literally, unless one wrongly considers themself a literalist.
You reckon John's audience (John, who described the streets of gold in Revelation) was more gold and material-minded than were the hearers of the good news of a land of milk and honey?
Ah .... remind me again where the NT mentions a 'land of milk and honey' or where the OT mention of same means anything but the physical, earthly land Israel was to occupy.
No Lexus. Know God.
LOL. Hey, that could be a bumper sticker for the back of increasingly aged, scratched and beat-up pickup.
i'm totally loving the "No Lexus. Know God." bumper sticker--sign me up!
i tend to go with ace--i can't imagine that all of our "wantings" are the same things that God would wish for us to have.
"So is God real? That is, Did they get that Lexus or is it all a fraud and there is no God?"
Dan...you really think a lot of your creator, don't you?
Vulgar shmuck!
Schmuck? That's Yiddish. Is Dad a faux Christian or a non-Messianic Jew? Or a dadgum radical, hate-filled "Islamofascist"?
Hard to tell, all hate being, you know, stupid and evil.
Or a dadgum radical, hate-filled "Islamofascist"?
And, what makes a fellow make that accusation?
mom2
"also, i'm constantly hearing my close friends and family remarking on how blessed they are to have so much money, and i always wonder if God would necessarily give money and material things as blessings. wouldn't His blessings trancend those things?"
Yes, but I think it is great to give the glory to God for material blessings as well. Or would you rather them give the credit to themselves? As long as they remember to praise him for other things.
That being said, I think a true measure of thankfulness is what they do with those blessings, not just words.
"
Hard to tell, all hate being, you know, stupid and evil." - Right Reverend Redneck
You should know, Rev.
It's apparent that you know how to hate well...from the condescention you display regularly in your posts...and comments on others' blogs.
"Is Dad a faux Christian or a non-Messianic Jew?"
Hmmm...are you a genuine Christian, Right Rev? I mean...do you base your beliefs upon the innerant Word of God...or your emotions?
FYI, I am an adopted Jew.
Boys, behave.
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The passage in Micah 6 (and others like it) demonstrate that wealth and splendor (nebulous concepts, to be sure) are inconsistent with holy living.
I don't think that the passages have much to say about public policy, but they do establish how Christians should, as individuals and community, take a stand against wealth.
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