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The Stalk Has No Head; It Will Provide
No Flour
Proverbs 6:6-11 -- Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider
its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,
yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little
slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest -- and poverty will come
on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. (NIV)
Proverbs 24:30-34 -- I went past the field of the sluggard,
past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come
up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was
in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson
from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding
of the hands to rest -- and poverty will come on you like a bandit and
scarcity like an armed man. (NIV)
There are many in our culture today who have come to view government
as provider from womb to tomb. The word of God, however, does not
endorse that view, but rather one of responsibility for one's own welfare.
Government's sole function, as established by God, is to maintain order
(and we shouldn't hold our breaths, expecting that, either), not encourage
a nation of lethargic sluggards who've come to expect something for nothing
-- whose only contributions to society are a higher crime rate and epidemic
class envy.
In I Timothy 5:8, the Apostle Paul calls those who do not provide
for their own families worse than an unbeliever.
And, while our society today caters to and rewards the indolent, while
punishing the diligent, laziness is consistently and universally condemned
throughout the word of God.
Proverbs 10:4 -- He who has a slack hand becomes poor,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
Proverbs 13: 4 -- The soul of a lazy man desires, and
has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.
Proverbs 19:15 -- Laziness casts one into a deep sleep,
And an idle person will suffer hunger.
Proverbs 21:25-26 -- The desire of the lazy man kills him,
For his hands refuse to labor. He covets greedily all day long, But
the righteous gives and does not spare.
Proverbs 22:13 -- (see also Proverbs 26:13) The lazy man says, "There is a lion
outside! I shall be slain in the streets!"
Likewise, in the New Testament, the sympathy of the believer is
not to lie with the indolent.
II Thessalonians 3:6-15 -- But we command you, brethren, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who
walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from
us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were
not disorderly among you; nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge,
but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden
to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves
an example of how you should follow us.
For even when we were with you, we commanded
you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear
that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working
at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command and
exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat
their own bread. But as for you, brethren, do not grow
weary in doing good. And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle,
note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed.
Yet do not count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
Today, rather than disassociating ourselves from the slothful
and indolent in order that [they] may
feel ashamed, we send them checks in the mail, encouraging their
shiftless behavior. If a man will not work,
he shall not eat, but not today -- food stamps have taken
care of that! The second chapter of Genesis records that The
LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and
take care of it. (Genesis 2:15)(NIV) Even in paradise
man had to work. There was no welfare state in the
Garden.
"But, it just isn't fair! Some people have
so much, while others have nothing at all!" That's right, and promoting
class envy doesn't help matters at all. Jesus said:
"For you have the poor with you always..." (Matthew 26:11 --
see also: Mark 14:7, John 12:8) And, that doesn't sanction a soaking
of the rich, by any means. The word of God is very clear in that
both rich and poor are to be treated alike -- without partiality, and that
envy
is
sin.
Leviticus 19:15 -- (the LORD speaking) "'You shall do no injustice in judgment.
You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty.'"
Exodus 30:15 -- (the LORD speaking) "The rich are not to give more than
a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering
to the LORD to atone for your lives." (NIV)
Exodus 20:17 -- (the LORD speaking) (paralleled in Deuteronomy 5:21)
"You shall not covet your neighbor's
house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant
or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (NIV)
Proverbs 14:30 -- A sound heart is life to the body, But
envy is rottenness to the bones.
"But, what should we do -- let people starve?"
Not at all. In as much as we are able, we are to assist the truly
needy. The word of God is full of compassionate adjurations for believers
to help those who are needy not through indolence, but through legitimate
hardship.
Deuteronomy 15:7-8,10-11 -- If there is among you a poor man of
your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the LORD your
God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from
your poor brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly
lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs.... You shall surely give to him, and your
heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing
the LORD your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which
you put your hand. For the poor will never cease from the land;
therefore I command you, saying, "You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your
poor and your needy, in your land." Proverbs 3:27-28 --
Do not withhold good from those to whom
it is due, When it is in the power of your hand to do so. Do not
say to your neighbor, "Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it,"
When you have it with you.
Personal responsibility to those to whom
it is due -- not "every shiftless bum" -- is required only as
much as it is in the power of your hand to do
so. Also, note that the poor
will never cease from the land. Neither man's nor government's
best efforts will ever erase all poverty. Pouring more and more money
into problems will never solve anything.
Proverbs 11:25 -- The generous soul will be made rich,
And he who waters will also be watered himself.
Proverbs 14:21 -- He who despises his neighbor sins;
But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.
Proverbs 17:5 -- He who mocks the poor reproaches his
Maker; He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
Proverbs 19:17 -- He who has pity on the poor lends to
the LORD, And He will pay back what he has given.
Proverbs 21:13 -- Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of
the poor Will also cry himself and not be heard.
Proverbs 22:9 -- He who has a generous eye will be blessed,
For he gives of his bread to the poor.
Proverbs 22:22-23 -- Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
Nor oppress the afflicted at the gate; For the LORD will plead their
cause, And plunder the soul of those who plunder them.
Proverbs 28:27 -- He who gives to the poor will not lack,
But he who hides his eyes will have many curses.
As evidenced here and elsewhere, the word of God certainly encourages
-- indeed, commands -- generosity to the poor, but never to the lazy and
slothful. Also, it is not the responsibility of government to provide
for the needy, but of individuals possessive of the means. The word
of God is just as censurable of the greedy rich who hoard their wealth
while their brothers go naked and starve.
James 5:1-5 -- Come now, you rich, weep and howl for
your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted,
and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded,
and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh
like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed,
the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by
fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears
of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and
luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
Now, whereas the word of God does not require governments to feed
and clothe their poor (its wealthier citizens bear that responsibility),
it does require them to provide the poor with one thing they're lacking:
justice.
Proverbs 31:8-9 -- Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge
righteously, And plead the cause of the poor and needy.
Isaiah 10:1-4 -- Woe to those who make unjust laws, to
those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights
and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their
prey and robbing the fatherless. What will you do on the day of reckoning,
when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help?
Where will you leave your riches? Nothing will remain but to cringe
among the captives or fall among the slain. et for all this, His anger is not turned
away, His hand is still upraised.
(NIV)
Justice, not welfare, is government's
obligation to its poor -- maintenance of order, safety, and the protection
of its citizenry, not rewards for the idler
and handouts to the slothful.
Psalm 146:3-4 -- Do not put your trust in princes, Nor
in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he
returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish.
Those who put their trust in princes,
who expect government to provide anything more than order and justice (and
expecting that, these days, is expecting a lot) are looking
to the wrong place for salvation. Salvation for the truly needy comes
from the LORD God, but as for the shiftless and indolent, do
not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed.
Psalm 146:5-10 -- Blessed is he whose help is the God
of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them -- the LORD, who remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD
lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous. The LORD
watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but He
frustrates the ways of the wicked. The LORD reigns forever, your God, O
Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD.
(NIV)
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