What other scriptures warn against reliance on wealth and idols? Jeremiah 48:7—Moab’s False Security “Because you have trusted in your works and treasures, you also will be captured, and Chemosh will go into exile along with his priests and officials.” Moab’s downfall began long before Babylon marched in; it started the moment the nation placed its confidence in money, achievements, and a powerless idol. Scripture repeats this warning from Genesis to Revelation. Old-Testament Warnings Against Trusting Wealth or Idols • Deuteronomy 8:17-18 – “Otherwise, you might say in your heart, ‘The power and the 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…” • Job 31:24-28 – “If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security…this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have been unfaithful to God on high.” • Psalm 52:7 – “Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction!” • Proverbs 11:28 – “He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like foliage.” • Isaiah 31:1 – “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses…They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.” • Ezekiel 7:19 – “They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be like something unclean…their silver and gold will not be able to rescue them in the day of the wrath of the LORD.” • Zephaniah 1:18 – “Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the LORD’s wrath.” New-Testament Echoes • Matthew 6:24 – “You cannot serve both God and money.” • Luke 12:15, 20-21 – “Guard yourselves against every form of greed…‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you.’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” • Mark 10:23-25 – “How hard it is for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” • 1 Timothy 6:9-10, 17 – “Those who want to be rich fall into temptation…The love of money is a root of all kinds of evils…Command those who are rich…not to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in God.” • Hebrews 13:5 – “Keep your lives free from the love of money…‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’” • James 5:1-3 – “Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you…You have hoarded treasure in the last days.” • Revelation 3:17 – “You say, ‘I am rich…’ but you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” The Common Thread Whether addressed to Moab, Israel, or the church, God’s message is clear: anything we lean on besides Him—money, power, possessions, even religious symbols—becomes an idol. When that idol topples, everyone who leaned on it falls too. Living It Out Today • Regularly thank God as the true Provider; gratitude breaks the grip of greed. • Practice generosity; giving loosens wealth’s hold on the heart. • Hold possessions with an open hand; they’re tools, not security blankets. • Evaluate modern “Chemoshes” (status, technology, career). If it rivals God for trust, it must be dethroned. |
    |