A review of Living by God’s Promises by Joel R. Beeke & Lames A. La Belle.

A review of Living by God’s Promises by Joel R. Beeke & Lames A. La Belle.—Travis Daggett

This book is part of the Deepen Your Christian Life series published by Reformation Heritage Books. As with most books published by RHB, the series presents the writing of Puritans in contemporary language. Everything I’ve read to date by RHB has been first-rate and I can heartily recommend anything they publish.

“Apart from Christ, we have no right to any of God’s promises. But through our union with Christ, we have access to all of them.”

This is the central theme of the book, and is certainly one of the primary threads in the Bible. Unlike the universalist dribble from many false teachers today, this book affirms the Scriptural doctrine of the exclusivity of Christ. We are not all God’s children, who can call upon Him as a divine Santa Claus when we need something. No, if we are not in Christ, the only promises of God that we can expect are those for covenant-breakers. 

“If we hope for the things the Lord has promised us, our hope is solid.”

The TBN crowd, the prosperity preachers, the health-and-wealth, name-it-and-claim-it, word of faith hucksters offer a hope that is no hope at all. The Lord has not promised houses and cars and health. No, His promises are far superior. He promises eternal life, fullness of joy, peace that isn’t dependent on circumstances. He promises Himself. He is a solid rock. When we know God’s Word, we know what He has promised and what He hasn’t. This is biblical hope; hope that doesn’t disappoint because it’s rooted in the promises of a covenant-keeping God. 

Idolatry seeks the promises of God apart from God Himself. But consider, “Christ is the Head of the church who receives the promises and Christ is the Savior of sinners who apportions the promises to those He saves.” Thus, the one who finds the true riches of Christ is the man who seeks Christ Himself. He seeks His Kingdom and receives more than he could possibly ask or imagine. God is the giver of all good gifts for His children. 

Read this book. Then search the Scriptures for the promises of God made to Christ and rejoice that if you are in Christ, Christ is yours and all He has is yours as well.

Travis Daggett is the husband of Sharlene Daggett, who together are the parents of some children.

Additional notes:

The Puritan Thomas Goodwin says only two men stand before God, the first and second Adam, and we all hang from their girdles (or belts). Christ is the Son of Man and Head of the church, to whom God the Father has promised all blessings for us. We have a right to the promises of God only as we are found in Christ. . . . Moreover, Paul states plainly in Galatians 3:16 that the promises of the covenant of grace made to Abraham and his offspring were made to Christ, so that any benefits that the Israelites enjoyed from the promises were due to their belonging to Christ, to whom the promises rightfully and singularly belong.

As William Spurstowe says: “The manner of the fulfillment of it may be various, but the performance of it is most certain.”

Defects in our faith towards God’s promises:

Our faith in the promises is not specific. We believe the general truth of God’s promises, but we do not study His Word to make particular application of them.

All the objections you might summon as to why you cannot come to Christ can be cut in two with this knife: This is His commandment.

Spurstowe:
Were the way which leads to heave a ladder of duties, and not a golden chain of free grace, I could not but fear, that the higher I climb, the greater would my fall prove to be; every service being like a brittle [rung] that can bear no weight; and the whole frame and series of duties at the best, far short of the ladder in Jacob’s vision . . . .

Late repentance is seldom true repentance. 

His servants have ever found Him better and never worse than His Word.

When the Lord has placed conditions and exceptions on a promise, our prayers must be conditional. 

“God assures me, he will lay no more on me, than I shall be able to bear, either my burden shall be made lighter or my faith stronger.”

As a man will not lose what he buys with his own money, so Christ will not lose you, whom He purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28).

Your endeavoring after holiness is how the Lord works His holiness in you (Phil. 2:12-13).

We have not waited so many years in the means of grace for comfort, as God has waited for our conversion.”

Offering in Worship

The Session of Christ the King has decided to have an offertory prayer in our worship service. This paper will look at whether an offering should be part of our worship service, and if so how it can be incorporated. I will not discuss the more general issue of tithes and other Christian giving.

Scripture

The key passage is 1 Corinthians 16:1-4. There Paul is urging the Corinthian Christians to financially support their fellow Christians in Jerusalem. He says to them, “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.” This is clearly not talking about tithing out of one's paycheck: there is no reason to suppose that the Corinthians were paid weekly, on Sundays. Instead, he sees the giving as a regular activity and connects it to the weekly gathering. It appears to be part of worship.

A number of passages see giving as an act of sacrifice or worship. Hebrews 13:16 says, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” In 1 Corinthians 9:12 Paul says, “For the ministry (diakonia) of this service (leitourgia) is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.” Finally, when Paul talks about the “offering of the Gentiles” in Romans 15:16, it is in the context of financial contributions (verse 24).

Confessional background

The Westminster Confession of Faith does not include the offering in its list of the elements of worship (XXI.5). The Directory for the Publick Worship of God says “The collection for the poor is so to be ordered, that no part of the publick worship be thereby hindered.” This implies that the offering is not part of the worship (and seems to be saying that it should not be allowed to interfere with it) – perhaps similar to what we have with our collection box.

The Heidelberg Catechism, on the other hand, lists what should be done on the Lord's Day (Q & A 103): “I diligently attend the assembly of God’s people to learn what God’s Word teaches, to participate in the sacraments, to pray to God publicly, and to bring Christian offerings for the poor.”

Although it does not explicitly say this takes place in the “worship service”, it lists offerings alongside hearing the Word, prayer, and participation in the sacraments.

Theology and practice

The offering fits in well with our view of worship as dialog. God speaks to us in his Word (read and preached) and we respond in prayer and praise – and with the offering. This might lead us to conclude that the best position for it is either after the Bible reading or after the sermon.

How might the presentation of our tithes and offering fit into covenant renewal worship? Jeffrey Meyers sees it as corresponding to the tribute offering (sometimes called the “grain” or “meal offering”, Leviticus 2:1) which was customarily attached to the ascension offering (traditionally known as the “burnt” offering, Leviticus 1:3). In other words, it is part of our consecration to God, along with our hearing of the Word.

Steven Nicoletti points out that the tribute offering of Leviticus 2 did not itself involve the whole tithe: it involved only a symbolic portion of grain. In this way, it may be appropriate to collect a representative tithe: for example, a member may wish to give the bulk of their tithe electronically, but reserve a token amount to give in cash as part of corporate worship.

In the same way, it may not be necessary to actually collect an offering during the service with plates, bowls, or bags. Rather, it might be deemed appropriate to bring our offering box to the front as symbolic of the whole congregation's offering. This could be accompanied by an offertory prayer.

Conclusion

There are good reasons to include an offering in our service, although the theology and practice of Reformed churches is by no means uniform on this point. There would be a number of ways to do this, and we decided on the simplest of these: to have a deacon bring the offering box to the front and have a short prayer of dedication.

A Biblical Theology of Money #5: Blessings and Curses in the Law of Moses

Before we leave our survey of money and economics in the Pentateuch, we need to consider the concept of blessings and curses. We have already seen how possessions were included in the promise of blessing to Abraham. This concept of blessing is picked up again later in the Pentateuch:

If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely.

(Leviticus 26:3-5)

This blessing is conditional: it has an “if... then” structure. The blessings are largely physical, as seen in the agricultural prosperity mentioned here. There will be plenty to eat and to spare:

You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new.

(Leviticus 26:10)

Leviticus 26 also lays out the consequences of disobedience, and this passage is twice as long as that which lays out the blessings of obedience. These include sickness, enemies, drought, cannibalism, exile, and fear. Many of them are the opposite of the blessings promised, including lack instead of plenty:

When I break your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

(Leviticus 26:26)

A similar list of blessings and curses is found in Deuteronomy 28:

And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

(Deuteronomy 28:1-6)

What does it mean for a kneading bowl to be “blessed”? It doesn't refer to miraculous multiplication of loaves, but simply having plenty to eat. In an agricultural society, this means having good rains (plenty of it, and at the right times):

The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.

(Deuteronomy 28:12)

Prosperity means having enough money to lend out, while lack means having to borrow money. (The opposite of how some people view debt today, where the capacity to borrow large amounts is seen as a sign of prosperity!)

Disobedience, however, brings a curse:

Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock.

(Deuteronomy 28:17-18)

Rain is a blessing, while drought is a curse:

And the heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron. The Lord will make the rain of your land powder. From heaven dust shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

(Deuteronomy 28:23-24)

How are we to understand these passages as Christians? Do the blessings and curses still apply to us?

On the one hand, Charles Spurgeon says, “Indeed, it has been said, with much truth, that the Old Testament promise was one of prosperity, but that the New Testament promise is one of tribulation.” On the other hand, the Westminster Confession of Faith appeals to Leviticus 26 to argue that the law is the rule of life for the Christian:

The threatenings of it [the law] serve to show what even their [the regenerate's] sins deserve; and what afflictions, in this life, they may expect for them, although freed from the curse thereof threatened in the law. The promises of it, in like manner, show them God’s approbation of obedience, and what blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof: although not as due to them by the law as a covenant of works.

(WCF XIX.6)

The two uses of “although” are helpful and instructive here: we suffer afflictions in this life as a consequence of sin, but we are freed from the curse of the law; we receive blessing for our obedience, but not because we deserve it.

The way to resolve these tensions is to understand that Jesus has suffered the curse for us:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

(Galatians 3:13-14)

If Jesus took the curse for his elect, ultimately there is only blessing in store for them, no matter what persecution, affliction, or tribulation they suffer in this life. Conversely, for the reprobate there is ultimately only cursing, no matter what prosperity or wealth they enjoy in this life. The blessings and the curses of the covenant still apply: for covenant-keepers, everything ends up as blessing, since Jesus took the covenantal curse upon himself; for covenant-breakers, all these blessings are turned into a curse. In this way, we need to take a long-term – or eschatological – view of things. This is not so much “spiritualising” the promises as looking at the bigger picture – beyond this life.

We will explore this further when we look at relevant New Testament passages, but for now it should be clear that this provides the groundwork for a biblical view of wealth: it is never sure evidence that a person is right with God.

A Biblical Theology of Money #4: Tithes and offerings in the Law of Moses

The Israelites were commanded and encouraged to give various types of contributions. The first reference to giving in the Law of Moses is a comment about giving God the firstfruits:

You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me. You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep: seven days it shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to me.

(Exodus 22:29-30)

This reflects the principle that the firstborn belongs to Yahweh (Exodus 13:1), which was also expressed in the tenth plague of Egypt: the Death of the Firstborn.

The last part of the Book of Exodus is concerned with the construction of the Tabernacle. This was to be funded by freewill offerings:

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me. And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze ... And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.

(Exodus 25:1-3, 8)

This is indeed what happened:

And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord's contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord.

(Exodus 35:21-22)

It is highly significant that the first offerings given were from peoples' hearts being stirred: this was meant to be a joyful response to the salvation they had just experienced. This is identified as a “freewill offering” (nedabah), a word used throughout the Mosaic law:

All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.

(Exodus 35:29)

Many of the sacrifices described in Leviticus were like this; they were not obligatory, but if they were offered, they had to be offered according to strict rules:

And when anyone offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it.

(Leviticus 22:21)

The law of the tithe comes right at the end of Leviticus, in the context of rules about vows.

Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord's; it is holy to the Lord. If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman's staff, shall be holy to the Lord. One shall not differentiate between good or bad, neither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.

(Leviticus 27:30-33)

“Tithe” means a tenth (10%). Although many have been fixated with this number, it is a bit more complicated than this. It could be redeemed, so that instead of giving fruit, a man could give money instead – but in this case, it would be increased to 12%. Conversely, every tenth animal had to be given to Yahweh, so someone with 29 animals would give two, which works out to a bit less than 7%. Sometimes people have emphasized the tithe as giving the “first 10%” to God, but the text does not say this. Nor, indeed, does it suggest giving the “best 10%” to God – every tenth animal was to be given, regardless of condition.

In fact, the passage does not talk about “giving” the tithe to Yahweh at all – it says that it already belongs to him. And it doesn't explain what actually happens to the fruit and the animals. In Numbers 18, we learn that the tithe was given to the Levites:

To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting.

(Numbers 18:21)

The Levites were also obliged to tithe this income, this time to the priests:

When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe. And your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. So you shall also present a contribution to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel. And from it you shall give the Lord's contribution to Aaron the priest.

(Numbers 18:26-28)

It should be noted that the Levites' work was not restricted to the tabernacle: they were also to function as teachers of God's law:

They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law;
They shall put incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.

(Deuteronomy 33:10).

A further set of commands regarding tithes is given in Deuteronomy:

You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the Lord your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the Lord your God chooses, to set his name there, then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you.

(Deuteronomy 14:22-27)

This modifies the use of the tithe that we saw in Numbers 18:21; feasting and celebration are part of how the tithe would be spent. Once again, however, the Levites are mentioned as the recipients. Although many scholars have seen this as a second tithe, it is best to see this as the same tithe discussed in Leviticus 27, although wine and oil were not mentioned in that passage.

The verses that follow should similarly not be seen as an additional tithe:

At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

(Deuteronomy 14:28-29)

This tithe also paid for feasting, but the differences are that it is local (“within your towns”) rather than national (“in the place that he will choose”) and that the poor are explicitly included in the feasting rather than just the Levites.

Thus, tithing in the Mosaic law is somewhat different to what is often assumed. It was for religious purposes, but that included both feasting before Yahweh, as well as financially supporting the Levitical ministry.

A Biblical Theology of Money #3: The Law of Moses

The Law of Moses (or “Mosaic law”) has a lot to say about money. It is best to see all the various laws given through Moses as applications of the Ten Commandments. In this way, most of the laws concerning money flow from the ninth commandment: “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15). This implies there is such a thing as personal property.

Thus, immediately following the Ten Commandments, in the body of laws that God gives to Moses (Exodus 20:22) are laws about restitution:

When a man opens a pit, or when a man digs a pit and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, the owner of the pit shall make restoration. He shall give money to its owner, and the dead beast shall be his.

(Exodus 21:33-34)

Damaging another person's property is therefore viewed as being a form of stealing. However, intentional stealing is still worse than this, and the restitution was to be for a greater amount:

If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.

(Exodus 22:1)

Different situations call for different levels of restitution: an ox requires greater restitution because of its status as a work animal; its loss would be felt more keenly.

However, this rule is only for someone who gets caught. If a thief were to confess of his own accord, the restitution was set at 120% rather than 500%:

If he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing that he found or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt.

(Leviticus 6:4-5)

Later in Exodus 22 is a verse about lending money:

If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him.

(Exodus 22:25)

The same prohibition is given in a different form in Deuteronomy:

You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother, interest on money, interest on food, interest on anything that is lent for interest. You may charge a foreigner interest, but you may not charge your brother interest, that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.

(Deuteronomy 23:19-20)

This has traditionally been taken to mean that that Christians should not charge interest on any loan made to another Christian, and in the Middle Ages this led to Jews becoming the sole money-lenders in Europe. When we look back at the Exodus verse, however, we see that the prohibition only extends to lending to poor brothers. We should probably read Deuteronomy 23:20 in the light of that: there is an implied contrast between the working Israelite poor and the foreign trader or merchant. Thus, we can conclude that it is wrong to charge interest on the money we loan to fellow Christians for necessities and emergencies, but it is permissible to charge interest on business loans.

In fact, many of the economic laws in the Pentateuch concern oppressing the poor. These obviously include the fatherless and widows, concerning whom the gleaning laws were established:

When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

(Deuteronomy 24:19)

The “poor”, however, also include hired labor:

You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.

(Deuteronomy 24:14-15)

Recognizing the continued existence of the poor should lead to generosity:

For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

(Deuteronomy 15:11)

This is in tension with Deuteronomy 15:4 which says almost the opposite thing, but makes it conditional:

But there will be no poor among you; for the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— if only you will strictly obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today.

((Deuteronomy 15:4-5)

In this way, it is no sin to be poor, but for the Israelites in the Promised Land, the existence of poverty was the result of national disobedience.

Generous giving was to be above and beyond the tithe, offerings, and taxes that were required. We will look at these in more detail next time.

Finally, we should note that the laws about sabbaths and jubilees had a significant impact on the Israelite economy. Every seventh day was to be a day of rest, for animals as well as people:

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

(Deuteronomy 5:13-14)

Then, every seven years was to be a sabbath year where the land would rest:

For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.

(Leviticus 25:3-4)

All debts were canceled in the sabbath year:

At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the Lord's release has been proclaimed.

(Deuteronomy 15:1-2)

In addition to this, after seven sabbath years (that is, in the 50th year), there was a special Jubilee year in which land was restored to its original owners:

And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.

(Leviticus 25:10)

This is because the promised land could not be actually be bought and sold, but only given in leasehold agreements:

The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land.

(Leviticus 25:23-24)

Because of the restoration of property in the jubilee year, prices were adjusted accordingly:

And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. You shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after the jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops. If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you.

(Leviticus 25:14-16)

That is, land with 40 years left on its lease is worth much more than the same land with two years left: the price of land would decline in value until the jubilee year, at which time it would be reset. However, prices were not merely to be set according to supply and demand, but were subject to certain price controls: overcharging was condemned. There is such a thing as a fair price.

A Biblical Theology of Money #2: Jacob and Joseph

In the first installment of this series we looked at Abraham, now we will finish off the Book of Genesis.

We saw how Abraham gave a tithe (or “tenth”) of the plunder to Melchizedek in Genesis 15; in Genesis 28 we have another reference to the tithe. After Jacob sees a ladder up to heaven at Bethel, he vows,

If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.(Genesis 28:20-22)

This appears to be a one-off tithe of all Jacob's possessions at a future unspecified date, but he is essentially tithing his increase in wealth.

Indeed, Jacob accumulates wealth in a significant way while he stays with his uncle (and father-in-law) Laban. We have here the first references in the Bible to wages (Genesis 29:16): Jacob works for Laban in exchange for the privilege of marrying his daughter(s), and then continues to serve him (Genesis 30:28) in exchange for every spotted and speckled animal (Genesis 30:32). Jacob accumulates flocks, but this is due to God's blessing rather than Jacob's cleverness (Genesis 31:12). Jacob says that Laban “changed my wages ten times” (Genesis 31:7), and Laban is portrayed negatively on this basis. Thus, one common manifestation of dishonesty and theft is not paying the wage that was agreed upon. This is something we also see in the New Testament:

Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.

(James 5:4)

In the story of Joseph, we have a great example of financial planning: Joseph urges Pharoah to store grain during the seven years of plenty so that there is enough to eat in the seven years of famine.

This story also has the first occurrence of taxation in the Bible. In fact, Joseph twice taxes the Egyptians on Pharaoh's behalf. During the years of plenty, the Egyptians are required to give 20% of their grain to Pharaoh's storehouses:

“Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.”

(Genesis 41:34-35)

During the famine when the Egyptians run out of grain, Joseph buys both the people and their land on Pharaoh's behalf, in exchange for food. He then leases the land back to them in perpetuity in exchange for 20% of its yield:

Joseph said to the people, “Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh. Now here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.”

(Genesis 47:23-24)

We can also note that there is a money shortage in Egypt as a result of the famine (and Joseph's policies):

And when the money was all spent in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food. Why should we die before your eyes? For our money is gone.”

(Genesis 47:15)

Also, the Egyptians are very happy to go into slavery in exchange for food. They appreciate the security that Joseph's government provides:

And they said, “You have saved our lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh.”

(Genesis 47:25)

Joseph doesn't give free handouts, even to Egyptian citizens: he sells the grain to them. Joseph controls the flow of money, and the Egyptians are forced to trade long-term value (their land) for short-term relief.

What are we to make of Joseph's hunger relief program? Does this justify governments today acting in a similar way? Of course, Joseph's policy is quite different to that of modern governments. He doesn't borrow his way out of a recession, nor does he make stimulus payments. Quite the opposite, in fact: he sells grain to hungry people.

Throughout the narrative, Joseph is portrayed as a wise man. (More than a thousand years later his life will be mirrored by Daniel.) Therefore, the narrator must be seen to approve of his policy decisions. It simply will not do to conclude that Joseph's dreams are accurate but that his advice is poor.

However, we must also realize that Joseph's policies are driven by special revelation. There are a number of aspects of the story that present it as a unique occurrence, and so we need to be careful in the way we apply it to governments today. It is both an emergency situation, and something which was revealed beforehand.

A Biblical Theology of Money #1: Abraham

This week I begin a new series looking at what the Bible says about money, from the perspective of how its teaching unfolds. In other words, we will trace the theme of money from the beginning to the end of Scripture.

There are a number of references to money in the Book of Genesis. The first mention of gold in the Bible is in Genesis 2. The garden of Eden was the place where the river divided into four:

The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.

(Genesis 2:11-12)

No one knows for sure where Havilah was, but the emphasis in this passage is on the perfection of the earth that God had created. Both gold and onyx were used in the construction of the tabernacle, so there might be an allusion here to the world being a holy place.

When we come to the story of Abraham, we are introduced to the concept of wealth. Abraham is a rich man, in that he has large flocks as well as servants, and this comes as a result of God's blessing:

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

(Genesis 12:2)

Yet the first time we see this promise being fulfilled it is as a result of Abraham doing the wrong thing: he goes down to Egypt and pretends that his wife Sarah is actually his sister.

And for her sake Pharaoh dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

(Genesis 12:16)

Thus, as soon as we are introduced to the concept of possessions being a blessing from God, we are warned that this does not justify the actions we take to acquire those possessions! God does not bless Abraham because of Abraham's righteousness, but in spite of Abraham's sin:

Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

(Genesis 13:2)

The first reference to tithing is in Genesis 14:20. Abraham has just won a battle, and the priest-king Melchizedek comes out to bless him. It then says that Abraham “gave him a tenth of everything”. This is not a tenth of all that Abraham owns, but rather a tenth of the plunder obtained in the battle (Hebrews 7:4). However, we read later (verse 24) that Abraham didn't keep anything for himself.

The tithe here is a one-off event (as opposed to a regular contribution) made in response to the victory God has given Abraham, and in acknowledgement that Melchizedek is God's representative.

We now come to the first economic transaction described in Scripture. Sarah has just died, and Abraham is looking for a place to bury her:

Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. And he said to them, “If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me and entreat for me Ephron the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as property for a burying place.” Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, “No, my lord, hear me: I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the sight of the sons of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.” Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. And he said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, “But if you will, hear me: I give the price of the field. Accept it from me, that I may bury my dead there.” Ephron answered Abraham, “My lord, listen to me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.” Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.

(Genesis 23:7-16)

This is a fascinating example of Ancient Near Eastern negotiation. Abraham just wants a cave in which to bury Sarah, but Ephron forces him to buy the field as well. Abraham offers to pay full price, and Ephron is going to milk him for everything he's got. It appears that the Hittites loved indirect speech (like many non-Western cultures today), and “a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that between you and me?” really means “this is the price”. If we compare this amount with other purchases in the Old Testament, it seems exorbitant: a thousand years later, David pays fifty shekels for a threshing floor (2 Samuel 24:24).

We need to see this story in the context of God's promise to give Abraham the land. On the one hand, this is the first fulfilment of the promise – Abraham now owns some real estate in Canaan. Abraham made sure that he got a final and fully legal sale. On the other hand, he has to pay through the nose to get it, and so the promise of the land will be difficult to fulfil: if just a field and cave costs so much, how will Abraham get the whole land?

In some ways, Abraham allowed himself to get ripped off in order to do what was right. In this he is like the Hebrews commended in the New Testament:

You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

(Hebrews 10:34)

How to vote

I'm not going to talk about who to vote for in our upcoming election; rather, I'm going to discuss the principles we need to use as we come to vote. There are a number of passages we could draw on – including some important Old Testament texts – but I am going to restrict myself to two important New Testament ones. The first is from Paul's letter to the Romans:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer: Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

(Romans 13:1-7)

Principle #1: Vote humbly

This passage teaches us that governing authorities are established by God, and are God's servants. Whoever wins the updating presidential election will have been appointed by God. It's very easy to be cynical about politicians, but God has set them over us. Because of this, we owe them respect and honor. This is respect for their position, even if they are not personally respectable.

Principle #2: Vote cautiously

Romans 13 also gives us a description of what the governing authorities ought to be doing: protecting the innocent and punishing the wicked. This is a limited view of government: its role is as a protector rather than a provider. Therefore, we must not expect the government to do great things for us. On the other hand, it is fully appropriate that we prioritize abortion as a voting issue, since one of the government's main jobs is protecting the vulnerable.

Principle #3: Vote thankfully

There is, however, another way of reading this passage. We must not think of the “governing authorities” as merely the various branches of government. In a democracy, they are all accountable to us, the people. As we vote, we must remember that we are the governing authorities, answerable to God for those we elect. And let's thank God for the opportunity.

The second passage is from Paul's first letter to Timothy:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

(1 Timothy 2:1-4)

Principle #4: Vote prayerfully

Whoever wins the election will need our prayers! We are told here to pray for all who are in high positions: presidents, senators, governors, mayors. We can pray for their personal conversion, for integrity, for humility, for wisdom, for courage, for health and for strength.

Principle #5: Vote strategically

In 1 Timothy 2, however, there is a particular content and purpose to our prayers for those in authority: it is for freedom. We pray that our government will leave us alone, that we will be free to worship and evangelize and proclaim God's word. God wants people to be saved, and so we pray for the freedom and opportunity to preach the gospel. We live in a society where religious freedom is under threat, particularly in being able to clearly state what the Bible teaches: for example, that homosexuality is a sin. (Of course, we preach these things because we, like God, want to see homosexuals saved.) In this way, it is fully appropriate to prioritize religious freedom as a voting issue as well.

So when you vote, vote humbly, cautiously, thankfully, prayerfully, and strategically.

The historical background of Daniel 11

Daniel 11 is a blow-by-blow account of the history of the Middle East in the third- and second- centuries BC.

Thus, although all this was future for Daniel (Daniel 10:14), it is no longer future for us. Instead, the precise fulfilment of all these prophecies remind us that God's Word is sure.

Daniel's Seventy Weeks

This is one of the most difficult and obscure passages in the Bible. John Calvin says it has been “almost torn to pieces by the various opinions of interpreters, that it might be considered nearly useless on account of its obscurity.” In its basic thrust, it is simple: it is a prediction of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. It appears that the “seventy weeks” (or “seventy sevens” in some translations) refers to a period of 490 years, but it is not clear precisely when that period begins and ends.

Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing.

(Daniel 9:24-26a)

Since this is an answer to Daniel's prayer, the most natural way of taking the “going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem” is Cyrus' decree for the Jews to return home and rebuild the temple in 538 BC, while the most natural way of taking “an anointed one shall be cut off” is the death of Jesus in 30 AD. The period between these dates, however, is 567 years, out by more than 80 years.

To get around this, some interpreters (like James Montgomery Boice) see the decree to be the one that Artaxerxes makes in Ezra 7:12. This occurred in 457 BC, so 483 years (69 sevens) take us up to 27 AD, the start of Jesus' ministry. (He is then cut off in the middle of the 70th seven, 3 ½ years later.) This emphasizes building the wall, but it doesn't answer Daniel's prayer.

Furthermore, the text seems to distinguish between a period of 7 sevens and then a further period of 62 sevens. Possibly the Messiah comes after 49 years, and then is cut off 434 years later. Some interpreters see the decree as the promise that God makes to Jeremiah, and the first anointed one to be Cyrus, but the numbers still don't work out. Sometimes the 7 sevens are seen as overlapping with the 62 sevens, while sometimes a gap between the two periods is suggested. A number of interpreters view the two “anointed ones” as different people, and a range of people have been suggested as fulfilling the prophecy, including Onias III (a Jewish high priest who was murdered), Aristobulus I (the first of the Hasmonean kings of Judaea), Antiochus IV Epiphanes (the Seleucid king of Syria who persecuted the Jews) and a future Antichrist.

In addition to this, some interpreters see the years (or some of them) as being metaphorical (particularly in seeing fulfilment in a future Antichrist), while others get around discrepancies in the numbering by positing 360-day “prophetic years”.

We are thus in a position to create a table of the suggested chronologies of the 69 weeks:

Of course, after all this we still have to work out the chronology of the 70th week!

And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.

(Daniel 9:26b-27)

The starting point of the 70th seven depends largely on when the 69 sevens are considered to have ended, but there is also significant variation regarding its length: a literal period of seven days (namely, Holy Week); the seven years centered on Jesus' death; or seventy years from Jesus' birth to the Jewish War. In each of these cases, Jesus' death is viewed as being the midpoint of the seventieth week. Dispensationalists, however, tend to see the 70th week as having been delayed on account of the Jews' rejection of Jesus and occurring at the end of history.

The “prince who is to come” is either regarded as Jesus (in which case “his people” are the Jews, who brought the destruction of the temple upon themselves), the Roman general Titus (who destroyed the temple in 70 AD) or a future Antichrist:

Although the chronologies are deeply disputed, it is clear that this passage is a prophecy of Jesus' death. It also raises the intriguing possibility of whether it would have been possible for a first-century Jew to work out what year the Messiah would die. Certainly, when Jesus was born there were at least some godly Jews who were waiting for and expecting the Messiah (Luke 2:25).