MASTERING YOUR MONEY
Does God Want us Poor?
Def.
The state of being without material
possessions or wealth. Scripture indicates that poverty is contrary to God’s
intention for his people, and that those who are poor and destitute are to be
treated with special consideration and compassion.
I.
WHAT IS POVERTY
1.
Govt. Def. USA
2.
World Bank
Although the World Bank established the most
widely held and understood definition of poverty in strictly economic terms,
the World Bank has also described poverty as follows:
Poverty
is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being able
to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to
read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a
time. Poverty is losing a child to illness brought about by unclean water.
Poverty is powerlessness, lack of representation and freedom.
Courtesy of Compassion International: http://blog.compassion.com/how-do-the-poor-describe-poverty/#ixzz3JSQEC0Z6
3.
Poor Describe Themselves
A
survey conducted in Niger in 2002 by the Office of the Prime Minister asked the
poor of that country to describe poverty. Their answers provided the following:
·
Dependence was mentioned by 40 percent of the
respondents, with some noting that a poor person always had to “seek out
others” or to “work for somebody else.”
·
Marginalization was noted by 37 percent, who defined a poor
person as one who was “alone,” had “no support,” did “not feel involved in
anything,” or was “never consulted.”
·
Scarcity was included in the poverty definitions of 36 percent, who used
statements such as having “nothing to eat,” a “lack of means to meet clothing
and financial needs,” a “lack of food, livestock and money,” and “having
nothing to sell.”
·
Restrictions on rights and freedoms were associated with poverty by 26 percent of
the respondents, who stated that “a poor person is someone who does not have
the right to speak out” or “someone who will never win a case or litigation
against someone else.”
·
Incapacity was mentioned in connection with poverty by 21
percent, including the incapacity to make decision, to feed or clothe oneself,
or to act on one’s own initiative.
Only
36 percent of the poor in this survey described poverty in terms of material
lack [scarcity]. Here, the poor described the experience of poverty primarily
in terms of suffering relationships and lack of belonging, dignity and freedom.
Similar descriptions were found in a major World Bank study published in 2000, Voices of the poor: Can anyone hear us?
4.
Bible Definition
There
are 178 uses of the word poor in
Scripture. Although there are a few exceptions, the term poor in Scripture means economic/material poverty. Review the following
verses and notice the characteristics: insufficient food, cannot afford, cannot
support himself, debt and shabby clothes.
·
“Then
the poor among you may get food” (Exodus 23:11)
·
“If . .
. he is poor and cannot afford these” (Leviticus 14:21)
·
“If one
. . . becomes poor and is unable to support himself” (Leviticus 25:35)
·
“Pay him
his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it”
(Deuteronomy 24:15)
·
“[T]he
poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb” (2 Samuel 12:3)
·
“[T]he
infant of the poor is seized for a debt” (Job 24:9)
·
“Do not
love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare”
(Proverbs 20:13)
·
“[G]o,
sell your possessions and give to the poor” (Matthew 19:21)
·
“For
Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor
among the saints in Jerusalem” (Romans 15:26)
·
“Suppose
. . . a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in” (James 2:2)
Courtesy of Compassion International: http://blog.compassion.com/the-meaning-of-poor-as-used-in-the-bible/#ixzz3JSPII7A0
II.
CAUSES OF POVERTY
1.
Human
Sin (Not that all who are poor are sinning-It’s the origin)
Gen 3:17-19
17 Then
to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have
eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of
it’: “Cursed is the ground for your
sake; In toil you shall eat of it All
the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring
forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. 19 In the
sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out
of it you were taken; For dust you are, And
to dust you shall return.”
Compare with
Gen 2:8-17
8 And
the Lord God planted a garden
eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And
out of the ground made the Lord
God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the
tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good
and evil. 10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden;
and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. 11 The
name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of
Havilah, where there is gold; 12 And
the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. 13 And
the name of the second river is
Gihon: the same is it that compasseth
the whole land of Ethiopia. 14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. 15 And the
Lord God took the man, and put him
into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of
every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the
day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
2. God’s Judgment Brings Poverty
Deut 28:47-48
47 “Because you did not
serve the Lord your God with joy
and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, 48 therefore
you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord
will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of
everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed
you.
Amos 4:6
6 “Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all
your cities. And lack of bread in all your places; Yet you have not returned to
Me,” Says the Lord.
3.
Idleness
brings poverty
Pr
6:10-11
6 Go
to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, 7 Which,
having no captain, Overseer or ruler, 8 Provides her supplies in the
summer, And gathers her food in the
harvest. 9 How long
will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep? 10
A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep—11
So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.
Pr 10:4
4 He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the
hand of the diligent makes rich.
Pr.
14:23
23 In all labor there is profit, But idle
chatter leads only to poverty.
4. Unrestrained Behavior leads to Poverty
Prov 6:26
26 For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread:
And the adulteress will hunt for the precious life.
Prov 21:17
17 He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; He who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
Prov 23:21
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall
come to poverty: And drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
Prov 28:19
19 He that tilleth his land shall have
plenty of bread: But he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.
5.
Lack of
discipline brings poverty
Pr
13:18
18 Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction, But he who regards a
rebuke will be honored.
Pr. 21:5
5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.
6. Debt Brings Poverty
Mt
18:23-25
23 Therefore the
kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his
servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was
brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he
was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and
children and all that he had, and that payment be made,
Prov 22:26-27
26 Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a
pledge, One of those who is surety for debts; 27 If you have nothing
with which to pay, Why should he take
away your bed from under you?
7.
Oppression
brings poverty
Judges
6:1-6
Then
the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord
delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, 2 and
the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the
children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds
which are in the mountains. 3 So
it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and
the people of the East would come up against them. 4 Then they
would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza,
and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. 5 For
they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous
as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would
enter the land to destroy it. 6 So Israel was greatly
impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to
the Lord.
James
5:4
4 Indeed the wages of
the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and
the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
III.
GOD’S COMMANDED RESPONSE TO POVERTY
1.
Punishment for Oppression
Ezek 22:29-31
29 The people of the land have used oppressions,
committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully
oppress the stranger. 30 So I sought for a man among them who
would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I
should not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Therefore I have
poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My
wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.
2.
Punishment for Refusing to Help
Prov 21:13
13 Whoever
shuts his ears to the cry of the poor Will also cry himself and not be heard.
3.
Jesus came for Poor
Luke 4:18
18 “The Spirit
of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has
sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed
4.
Give Liberally
Deut 15:7-10
7 “If there is among
you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the
Lord your God is giving you, you
shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, 8 but
you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his
need, whatever he needs. 9 Beware lest there be a wicked
thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at
hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing,
and he cry out to the Lord against
you, and it become sin among you. 10 You shall surely give to
him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for
this thing the Lord your God will
bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand.
5.
Relieve Them
Lev 23:22
22 ‘When
you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of
your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest.
You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your
God.’
IV.
THE KINGDOM AND ETERNITY
Isaiah 35:1-10
The
wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall
rejoice and blossom as the rose; 2 It shall blossom abundantly and
rejoice, Even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
The excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, The excellency of our God. 3 Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the
feeble knees. 4 Say to those who
are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, With the recompense of God; He will come and save you.”
5
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be
unstopped. 6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of
the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in
the desert. 7 The parched ground shall become a pool, And the
thirsty land springs of water; In the habitation of jackals, where each lay, There shall be grass with reeds and
rushes. 8 A highway shall be there, and a road, And it shall be
called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for others. Whoever walks the
road, although a fool, Shall not go astray. 9 No lion shall be
there, Nor shall any ravenous beast
go up on it; It shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, 10 And the ransomed of
the Lord shall return, And come to
Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy
and gladness, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
REV 21:1-17
THE WHOLE CHAPTER OF REVELATION 21 NEEDS TO
BE AVAILABLE ON SCREEN ONE VERSE AT A TIME AS I PROMPT IT
