What other Scriptures warn against relying on material abundance over God? Setting the Scene: Hosea 9:2 and the False Security of Plenty “Threshing floor and winepress will not feed them, and the new wine will fail them.” (Hosea 9:2) Israel’s barns could be bursting, yet disobedience meant the harvest would still disappoint. Scripture keeps circling back to that same warning. Foundational Warnings in the Torah • Deuteronomy 8:11-14, 17-18 – “Be careful that you do not forget the LORD… You might say in your heart, ‘The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.’ But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth…” • Deuteronomy 32:15 – “Jeshurun grew fat and kicked… he abandoned the God who made him.” In the very soil of covenant life, God planted the reminder: prosperity is a gift, never a god. Wisdom Literature: A Reality Check on Riches • Proverbs 11:4 – “Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.” • Proverbs 11:28 – “He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf.” • Proverbs 23:4-5 – “Do not wear yourself out to get rich… when you glance at wealth, it disappears.” • Proverbs 30:8-9 – “Give me neither poverty nor riches… Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’” • Psalm 49:6-7 – “They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches. No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.” • Psalm 62:10 – “…If riches increase, do not set your heart on them.” From Solomon’s proverbs to the psalmists’ songs, the consistent refrain: riches are temporary; God is permanent. Prophets: Abundance That Turns to Ashes • Haggai 1:6 – “You earn wages, only to put them in a bag with holes.” • 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… their silver and gold cannot deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath.” • Zephaniah 1:18 – “Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the day of the LORD’s wrath.” • Amos 6:1 – “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion…” (wealth lulled Israel into complacency). Exactly what Hosea promised—a harvest that fails—echoes through the prophets: trust in assets ends in judgment. Jesus: Treasure in Heaven, Not in Barns • Matthew 6:19-21, 24 – “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… You cannot serve both God and money.” • Mark 10:24-25 – “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle…” • Luke 12:15-21 – “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (The parable of the rich fool ends with barns full and a soul bankrupt.) • Matthew 13:22 – “The deceitfulness of wealth chokes the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” Jesus doesn’t merely caution; He draws a line—hearts can orbit only one center. The Apostolic Echo • 1 Timothy 6:17-19 – “Instruct 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 who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.” • Revelation 3:17-18 – “You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched… Buy from Me gold refined by fire…” The early church faced the same tug of material security; the apostles answered with the same straight talk. Bringing It All Together From Moses to Revelation, the storyline is seamless: prosperity is never the problem—idolatry is. Whenever abundance starts to feel like armor, Scripture pulls it off piece by piece, showing that only God secures the harvest, the heart, and the future. |
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