PART 7
By
Pastor Roger Anghis
February 13, 2011
NewsWithViews.com
Our next verse is Proverbs 28:20 A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. God is declaring that a man that is true to Him will be blessed mightily. The Hebrew word used for “faithful” is emunah and it means stability, firmness, fidelity, faithful. The lexicon states that in this verse the word means steadfastness. Webster defines steadfastness as Firmness of standing; fixedness in place. Firmness of mind or purpose; fixedness in principle; constancy; resolution; as the steadfastness of faith. This is speaking of a man/woman that does not waiver from his faith. They stay on course. Paul calls us to stay strong in the ways of God in 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
The Hebrew word for “abound” is rab and it means exceedingly, full, increase, much, multiply, plenteous. This describes the amount of blessings the faithful man will receive. The Hebrew word for “blessings” is berakah and it means prosperity, liberal. We have seen this word many times before and we will see it again, but we learn by repetition. The next part of this verse references those that attempt to get wealthy with quick schemes, by cheating, lies and deception, ponzi schemes and underhanded tactics to gain wealth. These people will always be found out. The Hebrew word for “maketh haste” is uwts (oots) and it means to make haste with an understanding of deception, i.e. being crooked in your dealings with people. The Hebrew word for “innocent” is naqah (naw-kaw) and it means unpunished. So we are being told that the person who cheats, lies, steals and deals corruptly to gain wealth will not go unpunished.
Our next verse is Ecclesiastes 2:24, 26 There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. The literal translation states: Is it not good with a man that he should eat and drink and cause to see his soul good in his labor? This also I saw, that from the hand of God. In the literal translation the word used for “good” is tobe and it means pleasant, best, bountiful, wealth. In this verse it carries the meaning of welfare and prosperity. The first thing spoken of here is prosperity being good. The rest of the verse consists of enjoying that prosperity and it finishes with the declaration that the “good” that a man enjoys is from the hand of God. I have to wonder that if money is so bad, which many preachers teach, then why does God give it to believers that are industrious and faithful to His Word? Either the Bible is lying or the preacher is confused. I have to believe that the preacher is confused.
In
verse 26 we see where this “good” comes from: For God giveth
to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but
to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may
give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation
of spirit.
The Hebrew word used for “wisdom” is chokmah (khak-maw)
and it means skillful, wit wisdom. There is one reason why God gives
a believer wisdom and that is to be prosperous, to have an advantage
over someone so that you will be the head and not the tail. The word
used for “knowledge” is da’ath and means cunning,
knowledge. Webster defines cunning as Knowing; skillful; experienced;
well-instructed. It is applied to all kinds of knowledge, but generally
and appropriately, to the skill and dexterity of artificers, or the
knowledge acquired by experience. Wrought with skill; curious; ingenious.
Again, this is given to a believer so that he will be able to compete
and be the best at what he does. The word for “joy” is simcha
and it means exceeding joy, gladness, pleasure. None of these are the
attributes of poverty, or just barely getting by, living from paycheck
to paycheck. These are attributes of living in abundance. Then God says
that to the sinner he gives travail.
Advertisement
The
literal translation states: To the sinner He gives the task of gathering
and collecting to give to the good one before God. The word used for
“gathering” is acaph (aw-saf) and it means to fetch, gather
in, put all together. The word for “collecting” is kanac
(kaw-nas) and it means to heap up, gather, collect. God has given the
job of gathering wealth to the sinner for one reason only, so that he
will give it to the believer. He may think that he is doing it for himself,
but there will come a time when he will have to give it to the believer.
And it will be such a strong urge that he will not be able to sleep
until he has given it to the believer that God has told him to. We saw
this in the exodus from Egypt. When the Israelites asked for something,
the Egyptians gave it and even gave them more than what they asked for.
Our next verse is Ecclesiastes 5:19 Every man also to whom God hath
given riches and wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and
to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift
of God. This verse again confirms that God gives wealth. King Solomon
wrote the book of Ecclesiastes so this is information directly from
God.
The Word used for “given” is Nathan (naw-than) and means bestow, bring, distribute, recompense. It also carries the implication of without fail. The word used for “riches” is osher and it means wealth, riches. Webster defines riches as Wealth; opulence; affluence; possessions of land, goods or money in abundance. Splendid sumptuous appearance. This is not the position that most of the church takes on prosperity. Most churches will speak of the ‘prosperity message’ as akin to greed. There is no doubt that greed can, has and will effect some people, but that does not mean that prosperity is to be shunned like a disease. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:24 that we are not to serve money, as many people do. Money is their god.
Making money is their only purpose in life. They serve money. All we have learned so far in these lessons is when you serve God, the prosperity will come to you by the hand of God. This is how God wants us to live. Seeking His face and as He did for Solomon, He will do for us. The word “wealth” is used in the KJV where the Hebrew uses ‘treasure’. This is the Hebrew word nekec (neh-kes) and it means to accumulate riches, wealth, property, gain. God has given the faithful believer material possessions, money, honor, prestige, lands and He has given us the power to enjoy it all. The Hebrew word for “power” is shalat and it means to have dominion, govern, to rule. Webster defines dominion as Sovereign or supreme authority; the power of governing and controlling.
Power to direct, control, use and dispose of at pleasure; right of possession and use without being accountable; as the private dominion of individuals. This is being the head and not the tail, above and not beneath as we learned in Deuteronomy 28 WHEN we hearken unto the voice of the Lord our God. The problem we see today is that not many hearken unto the voice of the Lord. Most people live how they want to live and expect God to rain down His blessing on them and He can’t do that. He has set out the rules and He can not break them. God also states that we have been given a portion. The word used for “portion” is cheleq (khay-lek) and means inheritance. The lexicon defines it as portion, award of profit from God. We are also told that we are to rejoice in our labor. This is the Hebrew word sameach (saw-may-akh) and means gleeful, joyful, merry.
Advertisement
How
many people are joyful in the work that they do? I believe that our
attitude towards what we do in our everyday life is very important.
I have worked with people that do nothing but complain about their job.
They never have a good thing to say. There is always somebody out to
get them. Somebody is always against them. Complaining is the only thing
they can do. These people are usually miserable at work and at home.
They hardly ever advance and are stuck at the same level. When we rejoice
in what we do, the whole picture changes. In the last line of this verse,
“this is the gift of God”, the word “gift” is
the Hebrew word mattath and it means present. Webster defines present
as that which is presented or given; a gift; something given or offered
to another gratuitously; We do not earn this. It is freely given to
us by God. But the key point here is it is prosperity, money, lands,
all good things from God!
Our next verse is Isaiah 1:19-20 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall
eat the good of the land: (20) But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall
be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
There is a key point in this verse and that is being BOTH willing and
obedient. Kenneth Hagin once told the story of his ministry and he complained
to God about not enjoying the good of the land and he reminded God of
this verse and God told him that he was obedient, but not really willing.
Kenneth Hagin said it took him about 15 seconds to change that.
From that point on, he began to experience the “good of the land”. The Hebrew word for “willing” is abah and it means consent, be willing. Webster defines it as determining; resolving; desiring. The word used for “obedient” is shama and it means to hear intelligently with the implication of obedience. In other words, doing what you are told to do. To rephrase this to understand in today’s language, when you are determined to do what you have been told to do by God and His Word, you will enjoy the good of the land. The good of the land is what is available to man, food, shelter, and other resources that cause you to increase. These you will possess and consume and enjoy. And it is all the best the land has to offer. Today in this nation we have the best of everything available to us; automobiles, homes, clothes, healthcare. God has nothing against us having these things as long as these things don’t have us. One problem with people having RV’s, yachts, vacation homes and other things is they begin to spend more time with them and less time with God. This is the situation that God does not want us to fall into.
Paul wrote about this to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; This is the big thing that the church seems to ignore. Paul didn’t say don’t be rich, he tells the rich not to be high minded. The Greek word for “rich” is plousiou (ploo-see-os) and it means abounding in material things. Also keep in mind that Paul is writing to the church, not the world. So these ‘rich’ people are people in the church, believers. These people with money are instructed to NOT be high-minded. Webster defines high-minded as proud and arrogant. How often do we see people that have a lot of money look down on people that are not of the same economic class as they are?
This is what Paul is warning Timothy about. Webster defines arrogant as assuming; making or having, the disposition to make exorbitant claims of rank or estimation; giving one’s self an undue degree of importance; haughty; conceited. We are not to be ‘stuck up’, as some would say, nor are we to “trust in uncertain riches”. The Greek word for “trust” is elpizo (el-pid-zo) and it means hope, trust. The lexicon states to build hope on as on a foundation.
The Greek word for “riches” here is ploutos (ploo-tos) and it means abundance of external possessions. Scripture calls worldly wealth ‘uncertain’ riches. Webster defines uncertain as doubtfulness; dubiousness. By ‘worldly wealth, I am referring to mans economic system. We saw in September 2008 how dependable mans economic system is. Hundreds of thousands of people lost their entire life savings depending on ‘The System’. Many people lost their retirement funds.
| Subscribe to the NewsWithViews Daily News Alerts! |
This is why we are not to depend on the world’s economic system but on God. Then we see again who is the one that gives us these riches, “the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy” The word ‘giveth’ is used in the KJV the word ‘offered’ is used in the literal Greek translation and that is the Greek word parecho and it means to furnish, to bring, to afford. The lexicon states that it means to render or afford from one’s own resources or by one’s own power. This simply means that it is God who is supplying to us all that we need and in many cases just simply want. As a parent blesses his/her child with a special present on occasion, God also blesses the believer with items that they simply want because it is something that they desire and God rewards faithfulness.
Click here for part -----> 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
� 2011 Roger Anghis - All Rights Reserved
Share
This ArticleSign Up For Free E-Mail Alerts
Pastor Roger Anghis is the Founder of RestoreFreeSpeech.org, an organization designed to draw attention to the need of returning free speech rights to churches that was restricted in 1954.
President of The Damascus Project, TheDamascusProject.org, which has a stated purpose of teaching pastors and lay people the need of the churches involvement in the political arena and to teach the historical role of Christianity in the politics of the United States. Married-37 years, 3 children, three grandchildren.
Web site: RestoreFreeSpeech.org
E-Mail: editor@restorefreespeech.org
