What the Bible says about Wealth, Lesson 4

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What the Bible says about Wealth,

Lesson 4

Text Amos 8:1-6 “Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. 3 And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. 4 Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, 5 Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? 6 That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?”

Intro: In our study about what the Lord says about wealth, we have looked at the period before the Law, after the Law, and the books of Wisdom. In this lesson we are going to look at the remaining books of the Old Testament, the book of the Prophets.

There are 17 books of Old Testament Prophecies, and they all contain many commentaries about wealth, and the use of it. As with the other lessons, we are only going to take a sample of them to try to get the general idea of the mindset of what Our Lord would have us to understand. Most often it appears that the Prophets would cry out over the injustice they saw, particular injustice against the less fortunate. Martin Luther King Jr. used Amos for one of His famous quotes when seeking equal rights for people of color, he quoted: Amos 5:24 “But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. ” Unfortunately, this cry is still relevant today, not just to people of color, but people of poverty, and many other less fortunate individuals.

The Cries Against Injustice,
1. The Coming Judgment,
  1. A Basket of Summer Fruit,
    1. The word of God often uses common objects to make a Spiritual point,
      - Pottery in Jeremiah 18&19, Seeds in Luke 8:11, Yeast in Matthew 16:6
      - in this text it uses a basket of fruit, not just fruit, but ripe fruit.
        
        Ripe for eating, in vs.1, the word summer, is the same as ripe, and has the same root as END.
        
        It was the end of the harvest, time for the reapers to go into the fields.
        
        This was God telling the Nation that the time of Judgment was upon them.
        
        There is a similar judgment pronounced by Jeremiah, in Ch.1 vs.11&12, and then in Ch.8 vs.20 it states that the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved”
  2. Time is Up,
    1. there is a time when God’s Long Suffering will run out, and Judgment will begin,
      - Isaiah 55:6&7 “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
      - and this is something we should all be aware of,

1. 1. 1. - notice vs.2&3 (Text) The end is come upon my people of Israel….And the songs of the temple shall be howlings …There shall be many dead bodies in every place…They shall cast them forth with silence”

1. 1. 1. - back to the point of the series, it is important for us to do with our wealth as God would have us t.
    2. and as we look at the reason for the judgment, we will see some of the problems they faced, and many face today.
  2. The reason,
    1. swallow up the needy,
      - we see this in today’s world, where the ones who truly need are taken advantage of.
    2. Making the poor to fail,
      - setting the odds against the poor, it is hard to get ahead,
    3. When will the New Moon Be Gone, that we may sell,
      - when will the Sabbath come to an end that we can get back to business, (cheating the poor)
    4. Making a Ephah small and a Shekel great,
      - an ephah was about 6 ½ gallons, where a shekel was 160 grains, (½ oz)
        
        the equivalent, when you buy the large box of Cereal, you notice that it is only half full, and when you buy from say a mini mart close to the poorer part of town, a can of soup that would be 75cents at the bigger market, goes for $1.25. taking advantage of the poor.
    5. Using false weights for things,
      - the law was very clear in this matter:
        
        Leviticus 11:35&36 “Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. 36 Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have:…”
        
        Proverbs 20:10&23 “Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD…. Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good.”
    6. They were financial gaining at the expense of the less fortunate, and the Lord commanded judgment because of it.
2. Isaiah,
  1. Preforming the Work of God while Exploiting the downtrodden,
    1. Isaiah tells of those who were fasting for religious reasons, but still took advantage of the poor.
    2. Isaiah 58:1-7 “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins….(Vs.2&3 points out that they have been acting like they were doing all God wanted, and they were glad to fast, and afflict their souls, but)….5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?”
      - they put on a good show, but their worship was false, they were not obedient to what the Lord had commanded them to do.
  2. What were they Called to do,
    1. one of the other prophets makes it as simple as possible,
    2. Micah 6:8 “ He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? ”
      - this is applicable to every part of our lives, to do justly with our wealth, our time, our abilities,
      - to Love mercy with time, abilities, wealth,
      - and to live a humble life,
        
        the idea here of humility is not to be poor, and to give away everything, but to be submissive to God, to be modest, (how many know someone who loves to show off their wealth?)
  3. Jeremiah Condemns King Shallum,
    1. King Shallum was the son of King Josiah, (Yo-She-Ya) a good king in Israel, yet he didn’t follow the footsteps of his father.
      - See Jeremiah 20:11-16 “For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more: 12 But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more. 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;14 That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. 15 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him? 16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.”
        
        what he had done was to build himself a beautiful home, and didn’t bother with the poor of Israel.
3. The Separation of Wealth and Happiness,
  1. Not Dependent on one another,
    1. In this last section of the prophets, I want to point out what many fail to recognize,
      - Wealth does not equate to Happiness, and Happiness does not equate to Wealth.
    2. What I mean by this is, 1^st how many people live miserable lives yet have all the money one could need?
      - We spoke of King Solomon in the last lesson, and he counted it all vanity.
    3. Yet at the same time, it is not a virtue in being poor either. Happiness comes form someplace other than wealth.
    4. In fact,
    5. Habakkuk 3:17-19 “Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 18 Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 19 The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments. ”
      - what’s it saying? There is no figs, no fruit, no olives, no produce of the field, no animals, neither in field or in the barn…..Yet my rejoicing and joy will come form the Lord, and For Him.
    6. The Prophets present a convicting message about wealth: that it ought to assist the cause of the needy, enact justice for the oppressed, be gained through honest means, without exhorting the powerless.