Money and wealth are very important issues. For many people, they are the most important issues. The Word of God deals extensively with the issues of money and wealth. We want to make sure that we understand what God’s inspired Word teaches, and have a Biblical attitude regarding money and wealth. That’s very important.
Let’s start with the revelation to Israel found in the Five Books of Moses. According to the Torah, as part of the Sinai Covenant, if the Chosen People were faithful to God and the Lord’s commands and teachings that were part of the Covenant, the great God of Heaven promised to bless us and prosper our special nation. The nation would have enough to meet the needs of everyone within the nation. But, if we were not faithful to the great God of Heaven, the Creator promised to remove our blessings, including our wealth. The nation would become poor and we would suffer.
These promises of blessing and prosperity were made to the nation as a whole. They were not made to specific individuals in the nation. Not everyone was promised that they would get rich. And, there was no promise that if an individual was godly, he would become rich.
It could happen that due to the blessing of God, a man could become rich. Abraham is a good example of that. He became very wealthy. But, consider that, although Abraham became wealthy, he did not seek wealth. He sought the Lord. This godly man was willing to leave his country and relatives and home. He was willing to give up everything – country, home, family, safety, even later in life his special son Isaac, in order to be faithful to the God who appeared to Him. In spite of these sacrifices, Abraham wound up a rich man. But, he didn’t seek wealth. He sought God.
Under the Sinai Covenant, faithfulness to the Lord and to Torah included the duty to be generous –
To be generous to the Lord by supporting the Temple and the Priests and Levites.
To be generous to the poor and needy.
Generosity was part of Sinai Covenant Judaism.
An emphasis on accumulating personal wealth was not part of Sinai Covenant Judaism.
One the problems with some Jewish people in the time of Yeshua was an overemphasis on materialism – the desire to get rich. Many of our people, even many of the religious role models like the Pharisees, had become too materialistic. Rabbi Yeshua understood an overemphasis on materialism is harmful and the desire to get rich is against Torah, and He challenged those worldly values.
And just as the Jewish people who lived under Sinai Covenant Judaism were to love God with the totality of their being, and not love wealth, the Son of God does not want the members of His New Covenant community to focus their thoughts, their desires, their time and energy on becoming rich. There are much more important things to be doing than accumulating wealth.
To teach His followers this very important truth, Messiah told a story about a corrupt manager who managed the resources of a rich man, and how the manager used the rich man’s resources to insure his own future well-being.
Now He was also saying to the disciples: There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. And he called him and said to him, “What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.” The manager said to himself, “What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.” And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, “How much do you owe my master?” And he said, “A hundred measures of oil.” And he said to him, “Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.” Then he said to another, “And how much do you owe?” And he said, “A hundred measures of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill, and write eighty.” And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.
Here are the lessons that the Son of God wants us to learn: And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.
We can do things in the present that will benefit us in the future.
We can insure a comfortable and safe future for ourselves by our actions in the present.
By our use of money, we can influence others to help us when we really need their help in the future.
The Lord does not want us to focus on becoming wealthy. He wants us to be kingdom-minded – to focus on extending God’s kingdom, to be generous with our money and support the Kingdom of God here on Earth – by supporting the local community of believers, so that there is a community where we can learn and grow and worship and bring people to; by supporting the work of evangelism, so those who are gifted in outreach are able to reach people that we can’t; and to be generous to the needy that the Lord brings across our path.
This, not the accumulation of wealth, is to be the focus of what the Lord wants us to do with our money. If we do this, we will please our Creator; we will gain the friendship of the Lord of Hosts and the hosts of Heaven; and we will insure for ourselves a comfortable and safe and blessed and eternal future!
We tend to think that the little things – the little lies, the little thefts, the little sexual immoralities – aren’t that important. It’s when we are entrusted with large responsibilities that things become important. But, Messiah is of another opinion. He knows that the little things are important – things like the way we use our money, even if it is a small amount.
He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.
It’s in the little things, even what Messiah calls “a very little thing”, that we show ourselves to be genuinely close to God, and faithful to the Lord’s ways, and spiritual and responsible and trustworthy men and women. This especially applies to the way we use our money. Messiah asked a question designed to teach us that lesson.
Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches (the things of highest value and the greatest worth) to you?
Whoever is unfaithful with his money, by not using it in the right way – even if he appears to be very religious – is spiritually unfaithful, and the Lord will not entrust him with real spiritual authority and spiritual blessings (paraphrase of Geldenhuys).
Are you faithful with your money? Are you using it the way Messiah is instructing you to?
The Rabbi from Nazareth asked a second, related question to drive home His point.
And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?
Everything that a human being has – his gifts and talents, his privileges, his money – belongs to his Creator. God has loaned him these things so that they are used in the right ways – to be a blessing to that individual himself, and to his fellow man, and to honor His Creator. If a man is not faithful with these borrowed things, including his money, he should not expect to be given his own things – spiritual gifts and authority given for time and eternity to the sons and daughters of God to keep as their own permanent possessions (paraphrase of Geldenhuys).
Again, are you faithful with your money? Are you using it the way Messiah is instructing you to?
Messiah concludes this part of His teaching to His disciples on the proper attitude we are to have with money. Just as God and Messiah must come first in our love and affections above parents, and brothers and sisters, and husbands and wives, and sons and daughters, and even our own lives, our devotion and service to God must come before our desire for money.
No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
What is your life really about? Who or what is your master? What do your choices reveal about who or what you are serving? The things we pursue, and the way we use our money, and the things we invest in, reveal where we are really at spiritually. Are you focused on building up the Kingdom of God? Advancing the Good News? Is your mind filled with thoughts about evangelism and how to best serve the community of believers, and how to build it up? Or, is your life mostly about you, and what you want, and your advancement, and getting more and bigger and better things?
Luke tells us that not all of the Jewish people who were there and listening to Israel’s Supreme Rabbi agreed with Him.
Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him.
The Pharisees were religious leaders and role models to many of the ordinary Jewish people. We have seen how there were conflicts between the Messiah and many of the Pharisees over other issues. The proper attitude toward wealth was another issue in which there was disagreement.
The Son of God, who understood the Torah better than anyone else, knew that these Pharisees, who seemed so religious and yet loved money, were wrong and were in real spiritual danger themselves and were a danger to others who considered them to be religious authorities. And Yeshua had the love and the grace and courage to try and correct them.
And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.
Human beings, even many human beings who seem to be very religious, are actually far from God and truth and salvation and life. What they think is religious and good and important, is in reality not good but bad; not important but trivial; not part of true religion but something that God finds disgusting!
We must make sure that we are not putting on a religious show, but that our religion is genuine and really pleases the Lord; that we really know and love God at the core of our being; and that our priorities are in order.
Rabbi Yeshua gives us several examples of genuine religion that those who will be saved will practice:
The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the Gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.
With the coming of the Son of God’s forerunner, and then the arrival of the One who truly is Immanuel, something amazing and new had taken place! A whole new age had started. The King of Heaven had come to reclaim planet Earth! God’s kingdom had come in a very real and new and powerful way.
But, human beings can’t force their way into it. They can come into this very real dominion of God that exists now, and will exist forever, but only by ending their rebellion against the Creator and by submitting to His rulership. They must enter God’s kingdom on God’s terms, not on their terms, and God’s terms include the acceptance of the Good News about King Messiah.
Genuine religion that saves men and women is based on knowing and properly applying the Torah.
But it is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.
The Law, the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, and now the rest of the Bible, is divinely inspired. It is true, accurate, lasting and authoritative – down to each and every individual word, and even down to the little strokes that make up each individual letter of each word!
Therefore, what the Bible teaches on any and every subject is true and authoritative and must be submitted to. What it teaches on our attitude about money is authoritative and must be submitted to. What it teaches about marriage and divorce is authoritative and must be submitted to.
Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery.
The Torah teaches that God’s will for marriage is for one man to marry one woman, and for them to stay together until death do them part. Divorce is permissible when the marriage covenant is broken by immorality and adultery.
If however, there are no Biblical grounds for divorce and a divorce takes place, and a new pairing up occurs, in the sight of God that husband and wife have committed adultery. We don’t have the right to marry and then divorce to suit our whims. True religion that pleases God respects the Creator’s design for marriage that is revealed in the Torah.
Let me add some additional thoughts. The Son of God has expressed God’s will and standards when it comes to marriage and divorce. However, I believe that the Creator takes into consideration our ignorance of Him and His ways, especially before we come to know Him and His standards. Here is an example: If someone made mistakes in marriage due to sin and ignorance, and got divorced, and then remarried, and had children in his second marriage, it is best for him to stay married and to raise those children in a stable and loving home. Or, if someone made mistakes in marriage due to sin and ignorance, and got divorced, and his spouse remarried, and there is no possibility of that original marriage being restored, and then that person becomes a Christian, and wants to marry again, I believe it is permissible for him to marry.
Genuine religion that saves men and women is based on the Messiah and the Bible. What the Bible teaches on any and every subject is authoritative and must be submitted to. What it teaches on our attitudes about money is authoritative. Yeshua concludes his teaching on the right attitude about money, and His correction of these Pharisees, with a story about a rich man and a poor man.
Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.
Most people, particularly including these Pharisees, no doubt identified with the rich man and wanted to be like him – not poor pathetic Lazarus. But the story about the lives of the rich man and Lazarus is not over. Another, very real and important part of their story is told.
Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.
In Hades (Hades is the same as Sheol and is not to be confused with Hell – the ultimate place for those who refuse to enter the kingdom of God. Until Messiah died and rose from the dead, Sheol was the temporary holding place for the dead. But there were separate compartments in Sheol for the righteous and the God-ignorers).
In Hade he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame”. But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.
During his earthly life, the rich man focused on the pursuit of money and wealth. He did not follow what God had communicated to the Jewish people in the Holy Writings about the right attitude about wealth and the proper use of money. The reality that become crystal clear in Sheol was that during his life on Earth, the rich man had chosen to serve wealth, not God. Because He didn’t put God first, but instead pursued and enjoyed riches and pleasures on Earth, riches and pleasures would be denied him in the afterlife, while poor but righteous Lazarus would enjoy them. That was right and that was fair.
Besides the issue of fairness, there was another reason why Abraham, the father of the faithful, could not grant the rich man’s request.
And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us”.
Unable to be helped by Lazarus because of the separation of the righteous and the wicked in Sheol, the rich man now asked Abraham for Lazarus’ help with his brothers who were still alive.
And he said, “Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house – for I have five brothers – in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment”.
The afterlife is very real. Life after death for the righteous and for the wicked is very real. Sheol is very real. The Day of Judgment is very real. Heaven is very real. Hell is very real. How foolish to ignore these realities and live your short life on Earth as if they weren’t real or important! To live your life not serving God and not submitting to His teachings in every area of your life – including having the right attitudes about the pursuit of wealth. The father of the faithful within Israel and among the nations knew that. Now the rich man understood that, and was concerned that his five brothers understood that before it was too late. He wanted Lazarus to be sent to them to warn them. But that was not the right solution to their very real need.
But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them”. The Law and the Prophets, and also the Writings and the New Testament are divinely inspired and true and accurate and lasting and authoritative. They are the Word of God. They reveal the will of God about how to live a successful life on Earth. They teach us the way to God. They gave us the answers to every area of life.
Abraham’s answer to the rich man’s request was that Lazarus did not need to go from Sheol back to Earth to warn the rich man’s five brothers! They had the Bible which was available to them. It was read and taught and preached and studied throughout Israel. All they had to do was read what the Law and the Prophets had to say about seeking God and not wealth.
But he said, “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent”!
The rich man, like many people then and now, thought that the Bible wasn’t enough. After all, it’s just a book. It’s just words written on animal skin or printed on a page. How real, how powerful can that be? The rich man believed that the Law and the Prophets weren’t powerful enough to get their attention. The rich man’s brothers needed a miracle!
It is primarily through the Bible, and not through miracles, that God communicates His will to human beings. In fact, the Bible itself is a miracle. God is its author. It is divinely inspired. When it is read with a humble heart, with a mind that is open and searching, the Spirit of God adds His blessing and spiritual power is unleashed. The Bible is very powerful for the purpose of leading us to salvation.
We must approach it in that way, and respect and practice everything it teaches. If we do, we will be safe. If we don’t, even if we experience one miracle or many miracles, like the generation who escaped from Egypt, there is little likelihood that we will be saved – and Abraham knew it.
But he said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead”.
According to the Son of God, true religion that saves is based on the Bible – the Law, the Prophets, the Writings and the New Testament.
True religion that saves is based on coming to God on His terms, not our terms, and His terms includes Messiah Yeshua.
True religion that saves is based on applying the truths of the Bible to every area of our lives, including marriage and divorce, and including the need to seek God with all our hearts and souls and minds, and not seeking materialism and money and wealth and riches.
May God’s grace prove to be sufficient for each one of us, so that we are practicing true religion that genuinely pleases God and leads to eternal life!