PART 11
By
Pastor Roger Anghis
March 13, 2011
NewsWithViews.com
When I was growing up the church I was attending taught that wealth was essentially a sin. The preacher stated that if a person was making a $100,000 a year he was probably being dishonest in his dealings and that a person really did not need to make that much money. Then he took up an offering for a new wing on the church building. I’ll bet that if someone had offered to pay for the whole wing himself, the pastor would not have turned it down even though that person would have to be making more than $100,000 a year.
The idea that money is evil is ridiculous. Money is not evil at all; it is what a person does with the money. A person can build an orphanage or a brothel with money. The orphanage is a good thing, but the brothel is a place of dishonor and death. It wasn’t the money that determined the good and the bad of these two places, but the intent of the people behind the building of these two places.
Wealth can be used for good or for evil. The money itself is not the determining factor but it is the heart of the person using it. For those who believe that we should live in a world of just getting by shopping at Goodwill, buying used cars, small houses, eating meatloaf 5 times a week need to understand how God treated the patriarchs who obeyed His commands and principles. NONE were poor and I believe that all were benefactors to the poor, as commanded in God’s Word. That lifestyle can only happen when there is abundance in your life.
The next scripture is Isaiah 48:17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. Here the Lord is speaking declaring Who He is and what He has stated that He will do. The Hebrew word for “teacheth” is lamad and it means to learn, instruct, teach. God is saying that He is the one that teaches us to profit. The Hebrew word for “profit” is yaal (yaw-al) and it means to be profitable, have profit, to be valuable. Is it not strange that God Himself states that He will teach us to be prosperous, yet the church generally denies that it is the right of a believer to be prosperous. The Hebrew word for “leadeth” is darak and it means to guide, lead forth. God will lead and guide us in the way that we should go. When we follow that lead with faithfulness and obedience, He shows us ways to be profitable, He gives us ideas for products, ideas for business. He gives us whatever we need to be profitable. Not all will follow the leading of the Lord. Not all will follow His advice in business matters, but those that do will benefit abundantly.
Our next verse is Isaiah 54:2-3 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; (3) For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. This is a command to begin to think bigger, to prepare for bigger things, bigger ideas. The Hebrew word for “Enlarge” is rachab (raw-khab) and it means to make room, make larger, broaden, make wide open. The lexicon states the meaning as; to enlarge your limit of territory. This indicates a larger area of ownership which, during the time this was written, is an indication of wealth. This is confirmed with the Hebrew word used for “place,” which is maqowm (maw-kome) and it means country, place, home. The word used for “tent” is ohel and it means house, dwelling place, tent. The command here is to increase the size of your property. The command is to ‘spare not’. The Hebrew word for “spare” is chasak (khwa-sak) and it means hold back, to restrain. We are NOT to restrain from increasing, expanding, getting bigger, having more goods.
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We are instructed to “lengthen our cords.” These are the ropes that are used to tie down the tent. The bigger the tent the longer the cord is necessary to properly support the tent. The stakes of this tent are to be made stronger. The bigger the tent the more resistance on the stakes making it necessary to use larger, stronger stakes that will carry a heavier load. We are told that we will “break forth” on all sides. The word used for “break” is parats and it means to burst forth, grow, increase. This is all an indication of increase of material goods and wealth. Then we are told that our seed, our posterity, will inherit the Gentiles, the literal translation says posses nations, which is the Hebrew word yarash which means occupy by driving out the previous occupants and possessing in their place. This indicates that our posterity will inherit the world. I believe that He was talking about THIS generation. This whole verse is speaking about nothing but increase. Increase of property, possessions, lands, material goods, money, honor, everything that God promised those that will follow Him and obey His commands.
The next verse I want to look at is Jeremiah 33:9 And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it. Here we see God speaking of the return of Israel from captivity and what He will do for them. In verse 7 God states that He will bring them back to Israel and make them as they were when they took possession of the land that He gave them. In verse 8 God states He will cleanse them of all their sins and then in verse 9 He states that the name of Israel will be the favored nation to Him and that the rest of the world will know of all the good that He does for them. The word “good” is the Hebrew word towb which is a word that we have seen used many times so far in this study and it means welfare, prosperity and happiness.
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All this is in reference to physical wealth, monetary growth, increase of material possessions, and economic strength as a nation. The Hebrew word used for “fear” is pachad and it means be afraid, be in fear. The word used for “tremble” is ragaz and it means to quiver, be afraid, stand in awe, shake, tremble. This is telling us that the nation of Israel will have such wealth that all will be fearful of its power. The word used for “goodness” is towb and it means welfare, prosperity and happiness. The word for “prosperity” is shalom . This is another example of the Hebrew word for completeness being used to describe prosperity. This word carries the meaning of health, happiness, prosperity, peace, favor, welfare, wholeness. All of this is what GOD will do for Israel. As believers, He will do the same for us.
Click here for part -----> 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,
� 2011 Roger Anghis - All Rights Reserved
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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
