Weekly Thoughts

11/3/07 – Wealth of the Wicked?

Hi all,

You know that I am a stickler for the Word and one who examines what I've been taught in light of the Word, but it took a long time before I actually examined the popular teaching concerning the wealth of the wicked being laid up for the just. There are examples in the Word of such transfers, but is the way it's often taught today scriptural?

As I understand it from reading advertisements for meetings and conventions, the essence of the teaching is that the wealth of the wicked will be transferred to Christians and then they will fund the gospel, then revival will come. I've been in several meetings in which the host pastor/leader had everyone turn to the north, east, south and west telling the wealth of the sinners to come in, or the wealth of the nations to come in. I'm curious about the how and why the transfer takes place.

In the largest sense of the word the initial transfer of wealth happened in reverse when Adam gave his authority and the earth over to Satan in the Garden of Eden. Satan even tempted Jesus with this fact in Luke 4:6, telling him "the kingdoms of this world have been delivered to me and to whomsoever I will, I give it."

Jesus then "filed" the legal necessity of his blood at the cross and rose from the dead so he could be the Executor of his own estate to get the earth back, and the transfer will be completed when the meek inherit the earth at Jesus' return and the setting up of his earthly kingdom. In that very large sense we can say we are in the process of transfer already.

There was a transfer in Egypt when Pharaoh bought all the real estate and even the people in exchange for food when Joseph was Prime Minister, (Genesis 47:23) but I don't think that is quite consistent with the question at hand. There was a very quick transfer when Israel borrowed gold, jewels and clothes from the Egyptians right before the final plague and they left town. (Ex 12: 35-36) It could also be said that when Israel conquered the Promised Land the wealth of the people became their own. 

So the transfer of wealth and authority from one realm or people group to another is in the Bible.

How it's used today 

It is sometimes seen in conjunction with various "key" conferences scattered here and there, and often tied to prayer for a region. They often openly say their meeting will be the breakthrough for that region or nation, and if you don't go you are made to feel like you are missing God - yet no system is set up to measure the results.

Having seen conference after conference over the years making such claims, with no change in the local area of the type so advertised, nor mechanism established to monitor results of the proclamations and prayers, I am amazed people still flock to these things. Don't get me wrong - we need to pray for our region and nation - but run don't walk from conferences that claim they are "the" breakthrough event that will change things.

The conference that will truly change whole regions and nations with measurable results will be one held in Jerusalem with Jesus presiding personally - until then we need to meet and pray and teach and share - but not make huge claims like some late night infomercial selling a cure-all for weight loss.

In a business context

Often the teaching is found among business owners: To them it means the success of businesses that have at their core the belief they exist to help fund the spread of the gospel. I know many business men and women who are called of God to be in business, and I applaud and admire them so no problem there!

Pastor says

Outside of business people, I've heard pastors and other ministers use it to describe a transfer of wealth in connection with a coming revival, and in their thinking it means more people coming to their church or giving to their ministry, expanded buildings and programs, and so forth. Sadly, more than one ministry has chosen to concentrate on this message rather than their God-given mission, thinking it will help fund their ministry.

I'm sure many readers have seen this doctrine in other contexts as well, but at it's core every use I've seen revolves around the idea that money the sinners have now will be transferred to Christians who will then give a portion to the spread of the gospel and then revival will come.

How does scripture indicate a transfer might take place?

The scripture quoted

The passage quoted in this teaching is the last half of Proverbs 13:22:

"...and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just." (KJV)

"...but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous." (NIV)

If the passage quoted was a stand-alone verse we might be able to read it and run with it, but it's just the last half. Here is the whole verse:

"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children; but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righeous." (NIV)

Setting the verse in context changes everything. This particular set of proverbs is written in a manner that uses contrast and opposites between the first half of the proverb and the second half. For instance, in this same chapter, in verse 12: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes it is a tree of life." Also note verse 13: "Whoso despises the Word shall be destroyed; but he that fears the commandment shall be rewarded."

So what is Solomon contrasting in verse 22? Think it through; A good man leaves an inheritance (money, business, resources, assets) for his grandchildren - how does that help the grandchildren? It helps them along in life, starting them out with a little more than their peers, perhaps giving them the tools to start out in what they are to do in life, or continue in the family business.

In Solomon's day, as in our day in various cultures, the family business is often passed down from parent to child to grandchild; keeping the business or finances in the family means ever spreading influence and prosperity for that family and offspring.

The contrast is that Solomon describes a grandfather passing his assets to the 2nd and 3rd generation, whereas a sinner/wicked man will not do so - to the 2nd & 3rd generation. Thus a gradual transfer takes place from the sinner to the just as the sinner's grandkids aren't left assets in life like the grandchildren of a just man. Partly as a result we could observe the sinner's grandkids will come to the blessed grandkids to do business, thus gradually transferring what money they have into the hands of the righteous..

No cataclysm

For teachers to pull this out of the family inheritance or family business context and twist it to mean a general transfer of money that sinners now have will be given to believers is error. Solomon describes very specifically how the transfer he was talking about will happen. To make a general teaching proclaiming of a transfer by some unknown method is at least ignorant, and perhaps misleading.

What Solomon wrote is in keeping with other commands about money the Lord gave Israel. Concerning interest payments for instance: The Lord said no Israelite could charge interest to another Israelite, but they could charge interest to foreigners within their borders and those in the lands around Israel. As the nations around Israel paid interest charges into Israeli businesses, that money would stay in Israel because they couldn't charge interest among themselves and they dealt with each other in day to day transactions, thus Israel would soon have the majority of money while surrounding nations would be depleted and poorer. In that way Israel would be the head and not the tail, and would loan but not borrow.

(Short economic lesson here: The condition of the US economy today is like we are one of the 'surrounding nations' and China and Europe is like Israel. Our dollar only buys 65 cents compared to 5 years ago - our money has been flowing out by the billions to other nations as we've paid them for their goods (cars, toys, electronics, food, etc) over the years, thus they are getting richer and the US is getting and will continue to get poorer. It's not that prices have increased, it's that the dollar has lost 1/3 of it's value in the last 5 years.)

Back to Israeli law in the Old Testament

When you combine the bankruptcy laws the Lord built into Israel - every 7 years all debts were canceled except to foreigners, and every 50 years all debt was canceled and real estate returned to it's original owners, it meant that everyone's standard of living was comparable to his neighbor's, and all of them rose together as a nation to become wealthy. These passages are Leviticus 25: 8-16 and Deut 15: 1-6, and the Lord even told them if they obeyed this there would not be any poor in the whole nation! 

Of course Israel and Judah strayed from God and they only saw a glimpse of what could have been, but God put it in the books as a gradual rising to wealth over time - not suddenly.

But...

There are sudden transfers: I know in business there are often sudden increases - deals are done, businesses are expanded, big orders come in and so forth. But again, a business increasing suddenly is more in line with what Solomon taught in the above Proverb; a transfer via inheritance and business over time.

Foundational New Testament understanding

That said, do you realize a sudden transfer of wealth into the kingdom of God takes place in the New Testament? Notice the subtle difference of what I just said. In the New Testament there is a sudden transfer of wealth into the Kingdom of God - not into your or my pocketbook. Let me explain.

We have to go back to the Word: "Giving thanks to the Father...who has delivered us from the authority of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." (Col 1: 12-13)

The sudden transfer of wealth from the kingdom of Satan/sinners into the kingdom of God takes place when a person is born again and becomes a disciple of Jesus. They go from all they are and will be in the authority of Satan, instantaneously transferred into the kingdom of God.

WE are the temples of God, not a building. Thus all we have and all we are belong to God. Our homes, our vehicle(s), our computers, our furniture - it all belongs to God because we belong to God. Paul said that even when a believer is married to an unbeliever that unbelieving spouse is sanctified (set apart) for God, as well as their children. (I Cor 7: 13-14) There is no sacred versus secular for a believer - all is sacred because we are individual temples of God. Even your office at work is for God's use because Christ lives in you and you take him to work every day!

Thus the foundational transfer of the New Testament is not a massive economic collapse like when the Egyptians gave their wealth to Israel just to get them out of their hair and be done with them; rather when a person is born again all they are and all they possess becomes God's in a moment of time.  

Therefore the key to "the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just" in the New Testament times we live in, is getting people born again. Consider how this applies in China for a minute. They are a nation of about 1 billion people and until recently had only a handful of Christians. That meant the finances of 1 billion people was in the hands of Satan/sinners.

In the last 10 years however house church and it's related lifestyle evangelism has exploded, with some estimating there are now 200 million Christians in China and more than one Chinese house church leader has said 1 million Chinese are coming to the Lord every month! In New Testament understanding that means 20% (200 million) of the wealth of the nation is now in God's kingdom, up from near 0% 10 years or so ago, with 1 million more switching their assets to God's kingdom every month!

Consider the case of Lydia in Acts 16, a "seller of purple". This means she sold the best cloth to the richest people - the Nieman Marcus and Tiffany's of her day - she owned her own business. Acts 16:14 says she was a worshipper of God (but not yet born again) "...the Lord opened her heart so that she attended to the things spoken of by Paul..." and her home became the base and initial church in Philippi.

Once born again, all her business assets and money came over from Satan's kingdom into God's. Paul even commented in Philippians 4:16 that her church sent 2 offerings to him in Thessalonica (Acts 16:40 through 17:1-9)

Now imagine having people like Lydia and the Philippian jailer all over the globe coming to God, now using their assets and resources to spread the gospel and you get the idea. It happened in Paul's day, it's happening in ours.

The summary

This means a sinner's wealth is transferred to God's kingdom when they are born again. It also means that righteous grandparents and parents leave assets for the 3rd generation while sinners won't, thus as Solomon stated, their wealth is laid up for the just.

I can find no New Testament teaching that describes a massive draining of the wealth of the wicked followed by a massive transfer into believer's hands who will then fund the gospel. It just isn't there.

I recently saw a statistic that said 1/3 of the people on the earth are Christian - 2 billion. That means 4 billion people are sinners and their wealth is in that kingdom, but 2 billion are God's people, thus their assets are in God's kingdom. In Jesus and Paul's day there were only 200 million people on the whole planet. What percentage were believers? A very small percent. But today 1/3 of all assets are in the hands of God's people...yes we are in a process of transfer.

The transfer of the wealth of the wicked into the hands of the just first and foremost comes from getting people born again, and this is happening at nearly 8% per year (world wide), making Christianity the fastest growing religion in the world. (US Center for World Missions)

Away with hype 

When you step back and examine how Proverbs 13:22 is often used versus what the Bible really says, you can easily spot and separate the pure from that which is supremely selfish, covetous, and greedy.

A side thought: While money is important to the spread of the gospel - even Jesus was supported by many people thus allowing him to travel full time in ministry - A statistic I saw years ago revealed that 92 out of 100 people come to the Lord because a friend, relative or co-worker led them. That requires no money because friends, relatives and co-workers are already in our sphere of influence. Revival is happening in China and India and parts of Africa not through western money financing evangelistic crusades, rather because people are sharing Jesus with family, friends, and business associates, thus transferring wealth into God's kingdom.

The other 8% does require money. Of the other 8; 3 responded to an altar call in church or on TV/radio, 3 read literature; and 2 from evangelistic outreach from strangers.

Even in the book of Acts it seems that once the gospel is brought into an area by strangers (apostles/evangelists) who establish new relationships with people, once a core group comes to the Lord the spread of the gospel is largely through already established friend, family, and business relationships.

The Bible admonishes us to be about our business, working so that we may have enough for ourselves and extra to give to those in need. (Eph 4:28; Titus 3:14) We can't let greed enter in, or worse, think that God will do something not detailed in his Word, and thereby falling into error.

 

Some thoughts today,
John Fenn
www.ifaithhome.org