Divine Prosperity: Heresy or What? #2
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes & Psalms

In the first article of this series, we examined God’s original intentions for mankind concerning wealth as well as the biblical accounts of some “fathers of our faith” who were fabulously wealthy and what God had to say — and equally importantly, not say — about them and their money. The last person we covered was Solomon, the man primarily responsible for penning the Book of Proverbs as well as the Book of Ecclesiastes. In this article, we will tackle these two Old Testament books plus the Book of Psalms and briefly dip our toes into the Book of Joshua.

Proverbs

Proverbs is an amazing book because it is a book of applied wisdom. It covers everything from the importance of wisdom itself to applications of wisdom in areas ranging from child-rearing to marriage to the power of our words, but — most of all — finances.

Even if you discounted or even completely threw out everything else I have to say in every article in this series while wholeheartedly embracing and practicing what Proverbs has to say about money, you will prosper financially! One of the most important ways of doing this is finding everything in Proverbs saying a certain behavior leads to poverty and then not doing them!

Humorous? Yes, but absolutely true!

So let’s see what Proverbs has to say about what leads to both wealth and poverty. Moving from the front-to-back in this book, we read the following:

So we can condense all these verses into 3 categories:

1. Moral mistakes
2. Financial mistakes
3. A bad work ethic

1. Moral Mistakes

1. Immorality
2. Money obtained through wickedness
3. Troubling your family
4. Refusing correction
5. Covering your sins
6. Not hearing the poor
7. Loving pleasure or wine
8. Gluttony
9. Vain companions

One time I was ministering all this to about 20 inmates at the Pima County Jail in Tucson, Arizona. When we came to the topic of vice as something that “leads to poverty,” I simply asked them how much various vices cost. At that time, a pack of cigarettes was about $10/pack including tax, so a pack-a-day smoking habit totaled about $300/month. One guy used to drink a fifth of vodka per day at about $15/bottle: $450/month!

And all that wasn’t even touching the costs of their addictions to illegal drugs  such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and crystal meth, all of which ran into the thousands of dollars per month, hence their incarceration for various offenses that were directly related to drug use, drug distribution, and/or indirectly such as burglary and armed robbery to support their addictions. It’s no wonder that their families were living on welfare and food stamps in housing projects and tenements!

Vice is EXPENSIVE!

One other salient point is the recurring theme of giving to the poor. We have promises from the One True God to both prosper us because of our giving to the poor as well as poverty coming to those who ignore the needs of the poor. Interestingly, it seems that God blesses even the heathen who give to the poor!

Selah!

2. Financial Mistakes

1. Trusting in riches
2. Not being generous
3. Money without labor
4. Unwise use of credit
5. Giving to the rich
6. Get rich quick schemes
7. No planning

Another recurring theme we see in Proverbs is that of not becoming surety for others (cosigning a loan in modern parlance).

3. Poor work ethic

1. Sleeping too much
2. No diligence
3. Slothfulness
4. Talking too much
5. Chasing fantasies

I would have to say that the most important financial theme in Proverbs is that of being diligent in our work while avoiding laziness and sloth. God doesn’t bless slackers!

Ecclesiastes

This book, also authored by King Solomon, takes a completely different tack: exploring a life apart from being in right relationship with The Almighty in the pursuit of all things earthly. In it, Solomon describes how he sought satisfaction in life though work, pleasure, sex, and money, just to name four. Which now leads us to workaholism and the pursuit of riches for its own sake.

Workaholism is an addiction to our vocation, whether than be our work-a-day job, the business we founded and/or operate, or the ministry to which we are called. Whenever we start deriving our identity from anything or anyone other than Jesus, we have entered into the sin of idolatry because only God can righteously define who we are (our significance and worth), as well as our purpose and destiny in life.

Reasons abound as to why people become workaholics. An impoverished childhood, parents who expressed doubts about our intelligence or ability to succeed, the pride which comes through accomplishment, and the power which comes through success and financial clout are all reasons why people fall for this particular idol. I’ve covered addictions and recovery from them in my two-part series on the topic, so I won’t rehash the topic of addictions and recovery from them here.

We have all heard the clichés concerning depressed rich people and how money doesn’t buy happiness. While I have often joked that I would love to have a shot at being that melancholy dude driving a Ferrari, the reason this has become clichéd is because it is absolutely true. And, Solomon, the richest man in history as we have already covered in the first article of this series, appears to be the first person to say so in writing and speaks from his personal experience. He had anything and everything that wealth and power could obtain and he found it empty of meaning.

The clear message of Ecclesiastes is that a life without the One True God at the center of it, ruling over it, is “vanity and chasing of the wind.”

Psalms

Psalms also has a lot to say about finances. Again, we’ll work our way through the book front to back:

We can see some definite themes running throughout Psalms:

The first is the foolishness of trusting in worldly wealth. We’ll explore that issue in greater depth as this series continues.

The second is how God is the Champion of the poor and oppressed. This should definitely inform our decisions concerning our business dealings, governmental policies, and who we vote for. Oppressors look out! Your abuse of the poor is a stench in the nostrils of the Almighty and He will avenge them in this life or the next. And it ain’ta gonna be good for you, either!

And finally we see promises of abundance for the righteous, those who fear the Lord and choose to obey His dictates.

Nowhere in any of the verses within this book are riches considered evil in and of themselves, only the unrighteous pursuit of them, especially at the expense of other people.

Psalm 1

Which leads us to the single psalm I will explore in its entirety, the very first one. In it, we have a massive set of promises to the righteous and evildoers alike.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Psalm 1

So, according to this passage, what qualifies a person to be blessed by God?

1. He doesn’t listen to the ungodly or heed their opinions.
2. He doesn’t associate or identify himself with sin or those who pursue it.
3. He doesn’t associate or identify himself with those who mock and scorn the Almighty or other people.
4. He delights in God’s Word and constantly meditates on it.

And what blessings will be bestowed upon those who meet these qualifications?

1. He shall bear much fruit.
2. He shall be resistant to lack and will not be subject to disgrace or contempt.
3. Whatever he pursues will prosper.

Let’s take a look at some of the Hebrew words used here to ensure we are interpreting this passage correctly.

meditate (hagah)

to speak, to mutter

wither (nabel)

to be senseless, foolish, contemptible

prosper (tsalach)

to make prosperous, bring to successful issue, cause to prosper; to show or experience prosperity

And now we’ll explore what the dictionary says about that final word:

prosper

succeed in material terms; be financially successful; flourish physically; grow strong and healthy; make successful

What we can clearly and accurately conclude from this psalm is that financial prosperity follows those who:

• Eschew evil and evildoers, and;
• Meditate on God’s Word. And the kind of meditation involved here is not that found in the Eastern religions, but of speaking the Word of God aloud to ourselves.

Joshua 1:8

There is yet another verse which conceptually ties into Psalm 1, one found within God’s personal commission of Joshua as Moses’ successor. To establish context, God has spent the previous 7 verses encouraging Joshua to be strong, courageous and not be afraid, promising that he will be successful and prosperous in everything he does as God’s anointed leader of Israel. In verse 8, we find an extension of the concepts found in Psalm 1:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
Joshua 1:8

Interestingly, the words meditate and prosperous here are the selfsame Hebrew words hagah and tsalach, respectively, we just covered in our discussion of Psalm 1. Let’s add a couple of new definitions to our list:

observe (shamar)

observe, keep, give heed to, celebrate, watch over

success (sakal)

to have insight, to be prudent, to have comprehension, to act circumspectly, to act prudently, to act wisely

So what’s the bottom line here?

It’s this: if we speak God’s Word aloud to ourselves with the goal of applying His Word to our lives in obedience, we will have insight and comprehension, we will act wisely, prudently, and circumspectly, and we will be prosperous.

Confessing God’s Word Aloud

More than a few non-charismatic pastors and teachers have blown off the concept of confessing God’s Word aloud as nonsense, dismissing it as cultish mind-science, However, the underlying fact of the matter is it has been scientifically proven that, though we can filter out what we hear or read from others, we cannot help but believe every word we personally say, regardless of its truth or falsehood. This explains why some people who have repeated a lie long enough actually start believing it to be the truth, even though it is demonstrably false and they knew it was false when they started telling it.

When we confess the Scriptures aloud, we cannot help but believe our own voices. Since our voices are speaking the Truth, we cannot help but believe the Truth. Over time, that Truth becomes our “reality.” This is what is meant by the term “being transformed by the renewing of our minds” in Romans 12:2 and “pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5.

Meditating on God’s Word is one of the most effective tools God has given us to accomplish that and He prewired our brains from the foundations of the earth so that His promises would work as He commanded. WOW!

Conclusion

There are those who would read this article and derisively dismiss it, saying, “that’s just charismatic doctrine” or “that’s just the health & wealth gospel.”,

Point of fact: Joshua 1:8 and its practical applicationI’ve described here was actually taught to me by The Navigators — a non-charismatic organization — well over a year before I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and a solid 6 years before I started attending my first Word of Faith church.

My brothers and sisters, this isn’t “charismatic doctrine” or “the health & wealth gospel,” it’s the Bible, God’s Word, using the original languages while applying proper hermeneutical standards. You are free to choose to accept and practice it -OR- not accept it and ignore it. Why? Because you are a free moral agent created in the likeness and image of God, Furthermore, this is a peripheral doctrine having zero impact on your eternal destiny or right standing before the One True God.

In other words, whether you ever agree with me or not, your place in heaven is assured if you have named Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

What you are NOT free to do is dismiss it as false doctrine or “another gospel” because it’s right there in black and white on the page!

Thanks for reading!

God’s Provision to Abraham’s Children Eden & The Hebrew Patriarchs