I think it high time I started a messages or messages on Money and The Kingdom. There has been so much said by prosperity preachers that I think the subject requires more investigation.
— Parable of the Sower
First, let’s start with a Parable that does not deal directly with money. This is the parable of the sower found in (Matt. 13:1-9 & 18-23, Mark 4:1–9; Luke 8:4–8). I have heard much about ‘seed’ faith in recent years. It is true that a seed is needed to bring in a crop. What is not true here is that the seed is always money. Six times in verse 20-23 Yeshua speaks about the word of the Kingdom. Mark 4:14 says ‘the sower sows the word’ and in Luke 8:12 ‘the seed is the word of God’. In Matthew 13:23 we bear fruit, some 30, 60, and 100 fold (see also Mark 4:8).
Can the seed be money? Can it bear more fruit? This is entirely possible but it was not the focus in this parable. So we have to start with what Yeshua focused on. The Kingdom. When your theology is based upon money it becomes the seed but when it is Kingdom based, which is relational, it is something else. Romans 14:17 says ‘the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’. Righteousness, peace, and joy or intangibles. It is not food or drink, nor money. It is not here nor there, it is within or among you.
When Yeshua was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:20)
If it were money in hand or a bank account balance then we could easily point to it and show that ‘this is the kingdom!’.
Why not rather assume that the Kingdom of God is relational? This includes evangelism, discipleship, maturation, and the corportate body and with it associated gifts and fruit of the spirit. So many get decieved this day as fraudsters and imposters worm their way into homes to steal the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs (Matt. 15:26). The little dogs in this story represent gentiles but let’s assume it relates to those not yet mature enough to have been tutored by the law. Bread is the fruits of righteousness, as we shall see.
Giving money is more directly spoken about in 2 Corinthins 9.
this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:6-7)
Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness (2 Cor. 9:10). So just saying, sowing seed can reference money and giving offerings but I think it is what we do with money that is the most important thing. It blesses people and helps build up the Kingdom of God. I just think saying that sowing should bring in 30, 60, or 100 fold financial blessings is really abusing the parable of the sower since Yeshua said the seed is the Word of God or Word of the Kingdom.
Yet in the parables of the talents and minas proper investment can bring in much gain.
— Parables of the talents and minas (Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 19:11-26)
The parables are very similar but differ in amounts given and amounts earned. The lesson is similar, however. God expects us to invest our resources to make money.
Matt. 25:14-15:: the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
Notice that the rich man gave his servants the talents. They did not earn them or inherit them. It was a gift. There are different types of talents during bible times but the idea is it was a lot of money.
There is no specific instruction in this parable to invest the money but the ones with five and two talents doubled their money and so the response was ‘well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things’ and they get rewarded as ruler over many things. But let’s listen to what the master says about the wicked and lazy servant who did nothing with the one talent.
Matt. 25:25-27:: I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. ‘So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.
So not investing our talents, our resources, is actually sinful.
The parable of the 10 minas is similar story but differes in several ways.
Luke 19:11-13:: Yeshua was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately.
Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.
So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.
One mina was worth about three months salary. A nice sum!
One servant turned his money into ten minas, and a second into five minas. The third kept his mina in a handkerchief. Notice the reward (cities given) to each servant was equivalent to how many times they increased their mina. But the third man did not have a good story but said instead:
I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow (Luke 19:21). The story breaks down here because only three came forward and the other seven are not even mentioned as doing anything with the minas. I think this is more of a lesson, an allegory, so let’s not get hung up on who came back and who did not. The point here is the one who kept his mina hidden had to give it away to the one who earned 10 minas. This seems a bit unfair but it highlights the idea we are to invest our resources or expect to eventually lose them.
— Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21)
Yeshua spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. He thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.
Now Yeshua was recently asked to be arbitrator of dividing an inheritance between two brothers. He responds with ‘who made me arbitrator between you two?’ and ‘beware of covetousness’. So the parable of the rich man is really about sharing our resources and not being covetous. You see, the rich man was already rich. He did not have to hoard more with bigger barns. His life ended there and then. We need to invest in our brothers and sisters in Christ.
— Parable of building the tower (Luke 14:28-30)
This is a short parable but is sandwiched inbetween lessons on counting the costs. Bearing our own burdens which includes forsaking even our own family. In spiritual warfare we may need to count the burdens of leadership.
The parable says:
For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.
Can we forsake earthly relationships? Do we have enough support to go to war? This is something I take personally. Do I have enough support and finances to do the task the Lord has called me to do? Where is family backing?
Then there is the issue of the purpose of the tower. Is it in Babel? Is it a tower build on humility and not one of arrogance? I am remined of the Twin Towers coming down on 9/11. Was that a work for the Lord or arrogance?
I remember Jonathan Kahn quoting this verse after 9/11: The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with hewn stones (Is. 9:10)
End here week #1
— Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-13)
Yeshua said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’
We are not told exactly what the steward did wrong but the point is he wanted to safeguard his livelihood before being let go. Are we not stewards of what God has blessed us with?
We could win friends and influence people by forgiving part of their debt owed to our master. Technically it is not our right as stewards to forgive debt but the parable does not approach it that way. The master commends the unjust steward instead.
Verse 16 sum’s up the lesson here: No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
Unrighteous mammon or true riches from God? We live in a very materialistic world. We cannot see clearly what is true riches.
1 Cor. 2:9:: But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”[Is. 64:4]
Is. 64:4:: For since the beginning of the world
Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him.
The LXX translates at the end ‘your works that you do are merciful to those who endure’
What I want you to see there is the idea that God rewards the faithful. We can say, I will recieve when I get into heaven but the promise is a little more immediate than that. It is during our lifetime if we wait long enough.
John 10:10 says ‘I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’
3 John 1:2 says ‘Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.’
I do not think this is a health, wealth, and prosperity message. But it is one of anticipatory blessings for those that act and do as the Lord requires. The unjust steward presumable got invited to live with some of his debtors.
— Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)
Luke pointed this out between the parable of the unjust steward and the rich man and Lazarus:
the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him (Luke 16:14).
Maybe the Pharisees were the rich fool in mind, maybe they are the unjust stewards. They did believe in the resurrection of the just. But did they share with poor beggars like Lazarus. I have been fascinated with the resurrection of Lazarus, brother Mary and Martha. Perhaps there is no connection but it is still interesting to consider.
In this parable Lazarus is seen in Abraham’s bosom, comforted. We are not told this Lazarus was risen from the dead but you know the Pharisees believed in resurrection of the just. So the message they received is ‘you better shape up or else hell is coming after you and you shall be in eternal torment’.
Then he (the rich man) said, ‘I beg you therefore, father (Abraham), that you would send him (the beggar) to my father’s house, for he had five brothers. But Abraham replied to him ‘they have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them’.
So they story gets told in front of the Pharisees for a lesson to them that they need to listen to Moses and the prophets. For Lazarus was laid at the rich man’s gate who apparently never took care of his needs. So what is the lesson for the Pharisees and other rich men? That they take care of the beggars at their own gates.
The beggar even desired to get the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. This means there was a connection between the rich man and Lazarus. They were close together and must have know each other’s situation. Yet the rich man had no compassion on Lazarus. It was a heartless situation.
We have precious promises in Christ our Messiah:
Philippians 4:19: “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
— Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16)
The parable has to do with workers in the vineyard who are promised a denarius to work the fields. It says the kingdom of heaven is like…. the landowner is obviously the Lord himself. He promises us earthly wages for our service. But the problem is we each get equal no matter how many hours we work.
The owner called in the servants, starting with those who only worked the last hour. When those who worked all day came they expected more yet receieve only a denarius also. The lesson here ‘the last will be first, and the first last’.
I think there is another lesson in the story. The Lord pays us the same. We all get salvation despite our tenure as Christians working for the Master. The crowns we get for more labor is what we do with our time and talents, even our resources. It is not our longevity but our efforts and the results which count.
1 Cor. 3:12-15:: If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
So we must always be doing the Master’s business but should be building something along the way. I am not saying it has to be buildings and property or a business even. We can build friendships, and relationships and community irrespective of physical structures.
— The sower in the woman at the well
The story of the woman at the well in Sychar, Samaria is not a parable but a true story. It combines the parable of the sower with the parables of the talents and minas. You probably remember the story of a somewhat tawdry samaritan woman who came to Jacob’s well late in the morning to avoid other women because of her questionable past. We have here what some call a markan sandwich. I like the case of Nabal in 1 Samual which is inbetween chapters 24 and 26 where David spares Saul’s life twice. In this case the sandwich is between Yeshua prophesying to the woman at the well and the results of the fruit gained in all of Samaria.
Fruit, as in the parable of the sower is not dealing primarily with money. It is the word of God bearing precious seed, the harvest of souls.
John 4:36-38: “And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors
In the parables of the talents and minas the servant who did nothing is called a ‘wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed (Matt. 25:26) and ‘you knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow’ (Luke 19:22)
So tell you that Yeshua also comissions us as gatherers. We sometimes reap what others have sown. In the case of the Jews much of that labor is done in synagogue’s and through traditions. On the day of Pentecost Peter and others harvested 3000 souls for which they had done no sowing little labor.
I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors (John 4:38).
It is really a partnership of those sowing and those reaping. Apostle Paul spoke to the Corinthians:
1 Cor. 3:6-8:: I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
In the case of the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, Yeshua is talking about reaping. Others had already sown the Word of God into her life. Despite the shame and sinfulness in her life, Yeshua was still able to harvest her life, and then many in Samaria.
Let me digress for a bit on an earthly example. In the Torah it says:
You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year (Deut. 14:22).
This is not a lesson on tithing but just pointing out here this tithe was on increase which is net, not gross.
Notice verse 26 says ‘you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires’. This tithe is a celebration of what God has done during planting season. Is it not ok to spend part of the proceeds celebrating?
Now the harvest of souls in Samaria was not a physical crop, but a spiritual one. Still, should we not celebrate what the Lord has done in bringing in the spiritual crop? This might even be a crop for which others have labored. If God can be accused of being an austere man, can not we also gather in where others have labored.
Even in the business world, we can often profit for where others have labored. We might patent an idea that has elements already present by gathering together seperate pieces and bringing a technology to market. The working computer mouse was brought to market by Xerox and Apple who did not invent it. Steve Jobs is accused of stealing the mouse from Xerox. Bill Gates cashed in on technologies to market personal PCs, despite much work going into computer development by IBM. The application of ideas for profit are endless, but this should never be to steal or take advantage of others so ethics is something the Lord takes very seriously. This is the subject of another lesson in the future.
Sources:
https://powerfuljesus.com/parables-of-jesus-dealing-with-money/
https://medium.com/bc-digest/the-xerox-thieves-steve-jobs-bill-gates-6e1b36fc1ec4
https://www.cultofmac.com/news/how-steve-jobs-invented-the-computer-mouse-by-stealing-it-from-xerox#google_vignette