What other scriptures warn against placing hope in material wealth? Job’s Heart Check • “If I have put my trust in gold or said to pure gold, ‘You are my security,’” (Job 31:24) Job refuses to anchor his hope to wealth; Scripture repeats the warning many times. Warnings from Wisdom Poetry • Psalm 49:6 – “So sure are they of their wealth, and they boast in the abundance of their riches.” • Psalm 52:7 – “Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted the abundance of his wealth…” • Psalm 62:10 – “…if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.” • Proverbs 11:28 – “He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like foliage.” • Proverbs 23:4-5 – “Do not wear yourself out to get rich… when you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies away like an eagle.” • Proverbs 28:20 – “A faithful man will abound with blessings, but one eager to be rich will not go unpunished.” • Ecclesiastes 5:10 – “He who loves money will never be satisfied with money… This too is futile.” Prophetic Wake-Up Calls • Isaiah 2:7-8, 20 – “Their land is full of silver and gold… In that day men will cast away… their idols of silver and gold.” • Jeremiah 9:23-24 – “Let not the wealthy man boast in his riches… but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me.” • Ezekiel 7:19 – “They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be like refuse… Their silver and gold cannot deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD.” • Habakkuk 2:6-7 – “Woe to him who piles up stolen goods… will not your creditors suddenly arise?” Jesus’ Straight Talk on Money • Matthew 6:19-21 – “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” • Matthew 19:23-24 – “It is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven… easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.” • Luke 12:15 – “Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” • Luke 12:20-21 – “‘You fool!…’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” • Luke 16:13 – “You cannot serve both God and money.” Apostolic Counsel • 1 Timothy 6:9-10 – “Those who want to be rich fall into temptation… For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” • 1 Timothy 6:17-19 – “Command those who are rich… not to put their hope in wealth, which is uncertain, but to put their hope in God.” • James 1:10-11 – “The rich man… will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.” • James 5:1-5 – “Come now, you rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.” • Revelation 3:17-18 – “You say, ‘I am rich’… but you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.” Living Out Hope in God, Not Gold • Wealth is temporary; God is eternal. • Riches may vanish, but faithfulness bears everlasting fruit. • Use possessions as tools for generosity, not idols for security. • True riches—knowledge of God, righteousness, loving devotion—never corrode. |
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