20. Understanding Riches (2)
Hymns: 104 All That Thrills My Soul, 324 Trusting Jesus, 30 When This Passing World Is Done
Study of the Book of Ecclesiastes
(Remember Now Thy Creator)
– Understanding Riches (2)
Ecclesiastes 5:13-17
13 There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt. 14 But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand. 15 As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. 16 And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind? 17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.
OUTLINE
- The Snare of Riches (v13-17)
- Hurt Its Owners (v13)
- Has Wings (v14)
- Temporal (v15-16)
- Utilized in Sorrow, Sickness and Anger (v17)
INTRODUCTION
When man’s affection is not centred upon the living and true God, he experiences many miseries in life. This is Solomon’s assessment of life under the sun. Solomon painstakingly pens his observations of man’s miserable, godless life, citing firstly, one of the greatest snares of man – worshipping riches and wealth. There is that misguided passion to hoard material things for the heart to feel secure! It will only lead to great disappointment.
The Apostle Paul warned in 1 Timothy 6:9-12 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
The word “root” in verse 10 comes first in the Greek text giving the emphasis that one of the major source and origin of evil in the world is that inordinate love for money. Swindoll said well when he quoted one commentator, “The hidden root is the source of life. If one is to rid a garden of weeds, the roots must come out. Similarly, Paul’s hearers must not simply treat the problem caused by greed. They must tear out the root that prodces the problems. As we examine the problem of sin in society and in our own lives, we will discover that many sins – far too many to overlook – are vicious weeds sprouting forth from that single root of greed.”[1]
One writer observed well, “When I trust money to do for me what only God can do, it has become my God.” Scripture gives many warnings to God’s people on the snare of riches. One pastor rightly pointed out, “16 out of 38 of Christ’s parables deal with money; more is said in the New Testament about money than heaven and hell combined; five times more is said about money than prayer; and while there are 500 plus verses on both prayer and faith, there are over 2000 verses dealing with money and possessions.”[2]
We, in Singapore, live in a society where within one generation have come out of utter poverty to a state of relative material prosperity. We saw the statistics last week. Singapore is the third wealthiest in the world.
How do we treat this unprecedented wealth that has been accumulated? How do we build an enduring future for ourselves as Christian pilgrims on earth? The late Dr. Goh Keng Swee said insightfully in Parliament on 9 March 1970, “There is greater social cohesion, more social discipline, and self-reliance, pride in performance and achievement in the face of adversity. These are the intangible yet supremely important factors for the progress of any society. By our common endeavours and achievements, we are slowly acquiring an identity of purpose and in this way building up a sense of belonging and nationhood. The rootless, migrant and parvenu values, where each is out for himself, attitudes so prevalent at the beginning of the last decade, are giving way to more positive group values of a self-reliant people, determined to build on an enduring future for themselves in this part of the world. In the final analysis, it is on the firm framework of these values rather than on steel and concrete structures that economic progress is to be achieved and sustained.”
Indeed, we live in a materialistic world where if we are not careful, we can be preoccupied with only self-gratification and “getting ahead” of the Tans or the Lims. Many may have chosen to struggle at all cost to keep up with their neighbour and many struggle desperately to surpass each other.
It is sad such an attitude may have infiltrated the Christian community. Our motive for life shifts from being God-centred to self-centred. There is nothing wrong with honest hard work to keep body and soul together. But there is everything wrong when we choose to get ahead at all cost even by forsaking the God that brought us this prosperity.
Solomon warns of the snare of riches (v13-17):
- Hurt Its Owners (v13)
- Has Wings (v14)
- Temporal (v15-16)
- Utilized in Sorrow, Sickness and Anger (v17)
1. Hurt Its Owners (v13)
13 There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
The owners attempt by all means to manage well and hoard their riches. They did not get to truly enjoy the fruit of their fortune instead end up hurt. The word “hurt” is the same word “evil” at the beginning of the verse that Solomon calls “sore evil”. It means “misery, distress, injury.” The word “sore” literally means “be made weak or sick.” Accumulating riches for the love of it will only sickened and made oneself weak. It is a profitless endeavour. The word “kept” literally means “being kept” attesting to a deliberate attempt by the owners not to lose it by savagely guarding and keeping watch over it and yet he loses it without having the opportunity to profit by it. How so?
Adam Clark analysed:
- He may make an improper use of them, and lose his health by them.
- He may join in an unfortunate partnership and lose all.
- His riches may excite the desire of the robber; and he may spoil him of his goods, and even take away his life.
- He may leave them to his son, who turns profligate; spends the whole, and ruins both his body and soul. I have seen this again and again.
A predominant theme in Scripture is that Christians should share their material possessions to meet human needs.
The Apostle Paul reasoned:
Galatians 6:7-10 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Special needs emerge and when they do, God’s people should respond to those needs. Not to respond when it is possible to do so is to violate the will of God. Jesus said in Acts 20:35 “I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
The blessing of giving has to be experienced. How can we understand this truth except through the exercise of faith in our giving? We are to support the weak, those who are unable to return our favour, those who are truly in need. We have to take God at His Word to give and experience God’s blessing. When we give, we lose what we have given, how can it be more blessed? We are to take Jesus at His Word, obey and behold His glory in our lives in our giving.
Giving to God – Giving to the Lord’s work for the extension of His kingdom is to give wisely. By giving we invest treasures in heaven – Matthew 6:19-20 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.”
By far, the wisest and most rewarding investments of all are those that are given for the furtherance of His work. The Scriptures are punctuated with commands, warnings, and promises regarding the need to lay up treasures in heaven rather than on earth. [3]
1 Timothy 6:17-19 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; 18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
Giving to the Lord, beyond the tithe, will be prompted by Him and confirmed by your wife. The prompting will be completely consistently with Scriptural guidelines.
How to give? Jesus taught us to give secretly in Matthew 6:3-4 “But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.”
2. Has Wings (v14)
14 But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.
He has been stripped of his property by unfortunate trade or by plunderers; and he has nothing to leave to his children. [Adam Clark]
The stock market is one place where speculators lose their hard earned fortunes. The clash of 1997 when Singapore investors in the Malaysian stock exchange have their fortunes locked it and turned overnight to almost waste paper. Many a speculator who over-leveraged had to sell their homes to make for their loss impacting their families. The housing market is another place where a clash in prices caused many a speculator to lose their hard earned fortune.
As Solomon observed in Proverbs 23:4-5 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. 5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
There is something deceitful about wealth. It offers much but gives little. It cannot satisfy and even when it appears to do so, that satisfaction soon evaporates. Jesus described riches as deceitful because they fail to give true and lasting happiness, comfort and security to their pursuers. They promise much but satisfy little. They are deceptive. They do not satisfy the true need of the soul. This idol often blinds the heart, making it insensitive to the Gospel. More often than not, those who possess material prosperity deny the existence of God. They ascribe success to self or factors other than God. Hearts deluded by riches are often full of conceit. Jesus warned that riches dull the senses and make the heart grow cold towards the things of God.
Jesus says in Matthew 6:19: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.” As depraved earthlings, our daily struggles are often between two states. When we have plenty, we want more. When we are poor, we worry non-stop. Our Lord Jesus knows our weaknesses and offers us true wisdom. He deals with the sin of covetousness (Luke 12:15). He sees covetousness as a result of the relentless pursuit for more material possessions (Matt 6:19- 34). He addresses the weariness of worrying when there is not enough food on the table for each meal. He shows us how Christians should view their material possessions. He wants us to learn to be good stewards of our material possessions. When we have resources to invest, let us give to the extension of God’s kingdom for the saving of souls. That is the best investment which moth and rust cannot corrupt. And when we are in need, let us continue to trust God for His provision.
Our Lord in the parable on Christian stewardship commended the unjust steward for acting wisely to make provision for his future by rewriting the bill of the rich man’s debtors. He commended the wisdom of the unjust steward when He said this, “…the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light” (Luke 18:8b). He wants us to learn from the example of the unjust steward who made provision for his future, “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations” (Luke 16:9). The “unrighteous mammon” (Luke 16:11) refers to the physical resources of this world. These resources are neither evil nor good. However, they are means adopted by the world for wicked purposes. But God’s children can use them wisely for God’s work so that they store up treasures in heaven by their wise investments.
3. Temporal (v15-16)
15 As he came forth of his mother’s womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. 16 And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?
Jesus gave the example of the rich man who pulled down his barns to build bigger barns. This man thought to himself, “…there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:18b-19). God pronounced judgment upon such a man: “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luke 12:20). Indeed, a man who lays up treasure for himself is not rich towards God (Luke 12:21).
The end of a man’s life is a sobering reminder to us of the temporal nature of these material things of this world. Their value is not permanent to the possessor. It cannot be counted for truly valuable is Solomon’s assessment.
Jesus says in Matthew 6:20: “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” Give your heart to God. Give it not to inordinate desires for more money and power. They do not give better security though we are often deceived to think otherwise. The old nature within us will seek to challenge us to have worldly ambitions. As the saying goes, “all that glitters is not gold.” As the wind, comes and disappears.
The sins associated with prosperity are denying God, forgetting and departing from Him and ascribing praise for success to self or factors other than God. There is a sense of self-conceit. Such a man is not rich towards God.
4. Utilized in Sorrow, Sickness and Anger (v17)
17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.
The misery that accompanies the rich man’s whole life is summed up here, where one has to think chiefly of his distress after his loss of fortune. All his days also he eateth in darkness; i.e. passes his life in gloom and cheerlessness. To eat in darkness is not a common metaphor for spending a gloomy life, but it is a very natural one, and has analogies in this book (Eccl. 2:24; 3:13).
All his life, a certain man wanted to be rich. He saved every dollar he made, and invested wisely. With money came power, and his ambition was to be one of the most powerful men around. Over time, he came to desire money with all his heart. His investments became more risky to satisfy his craving. Before long, he had given himself totally to making money. This can happen to any one of us.
There was a certain German billionaire who committed suicide. His family made a statement to say that he had been “broken” by the financial crisis of 2008, and had taken his own life. What a sad ending to this man’s ambition for money and power. It did not give him any satisfaction in life and he ended it all by taking his own life. What a tragedy. Yet, why do many (Christians included) today continue in this path?
CONCLUSION
May the Lord open our spiritual eyes to the snare of the love of riches! Amen.
[1] Charles R. Swindoll, Living on the Edge Workbook – Finding Joy in the World Gone Mad, W Publishing Group, 2005, 115.
[2] Norma A. Whitcomb, Managing Family Finances Book Two, Whitcomb Ministries, 2002, 9.
[3] Adapted from Man’s Manual Vol. II, Institute of Basic Life Principles, Inc., 1983, 9.