WEALTH AND GIVING IN THE BIBLE

A CONCISE SUMMARY

Author: Joshua M. Carpenter 10/22/2011

Apollos Ministries | Wealth and Giving in the Bible: A Concise Summary

10/22/2011

The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when you give the LORD's offering to make atonement for your lives. Exodus 30:15 (English Standard Version) 1

The above verse is commonly quoted as: No human life is worth more or less than another, regardless of wealth or poverty. Exodus 30:15 (translation unknown)

Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways. Proverbs 28:6 (ESV)

Prosperity in the biblical sense can often be twisted and forced to mean many things.
Interpretations of this kind often come from economic liberation theologians that are often disguised as Sunday morning televangelists. Because of their hyper-focus on finding support for the premise that it is okay for Godly people to have nice things, the seed that is germinated is all too often reinterpreted by the individual as God will give me the financial means to get through life with nice things if I follow him. The context from which the verse in Exodus comes shows that when speaking about the general financial support of the tabernacle (and/or in matters concerning worship), the rich should give more. 2 But this particular offering was meant for the atonement of sins. And because the value of saving a soul does not vary from one person to the next meaning that every soul that is saved is equal in the sight of God this offering, therefore, necessarily demanded an equal offering. 3 In Deuteronomy 15:13-15, at the end of the enslavement the rich were commanded to give enough to the slave so that it prevented them from returning into slavery:

1 2

All biblical passages are from: http://www.esvbible.org Deuteronomy 15:13-15; 16:10 3 Jesus died for all, whether or not only one person or an infinite amount of people would be saved through his death. The cost of salvation was the death of Christ.

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Apollos Ministries | Wealth and Giving in the Bible: A Concise Summary

10/22/2011

And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the LORD your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. (ESV)

These were temporary slaves because they were the part of Jewish society, peasant farmers, who were often in poverty. The farmers economic trouble was because they often could not afford to take a loss when the crops they farmed had a bad yield. 4 In its context 5, the passage commands the slave owner to furnish the slave liberally, as [] God had blessed [the slave owner]. In Deuteronomy 16:9-10, the wealthy are commanded to give a freewill offering as the LORD your God [had blessed them]. You shall count seven weeks. Begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you. (ESV) A freewill offering is an individuals expression of how thankful s/he is of his/her blessings from God. 6 This is not to say that the impoverished are not blessed. It should be obvious that the blessings of the poor come in forms of things other than wealth. But, this is to say that both of these verses in Deuteronomy help to determine the context of the verse in Exodus. These two verses are Gods commands, telling the wealthy when and how to give. This giving comes from their personal appreciation for the blessings God had bestowed on them, and therefore meant as an offering of worship. 7 When we apply this knowledge to Exodus 30:15, we can finally see why there is friction between these four verses. It is simply because they are speaking of two different types of offering. The verses in Deuteronomy establishes what is commanded of the person when giving through worship, whereas the verse in Exodus is a mandate for the entire nation of Israel and thus is specifically speaking about giving as an act of atonement for the individuals sins which, in all matters, everyone is equally valued, poor or not.

Paul Barker, Ph.D., The ESV Study Bible, Personal Size, English Standard Version (ESV), Study Notes: Deuteronomy, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2008), 354. 5 For broader context, read Deuteronomy chapter 15 6 Paul Barker, Ph.D., The ESV Study Bible, Personal Size, English Standard Version (ESV), Study Notes: Deuteronomy, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2008), 355. 7 Defining worship as showing reverence and adoration toward God

Apollos Ministries | carpenj4@gmail.com

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Apollos Ministries | Wealth and Giving in the Bible: A Concise Summary

10/22/2011

The book of Proverbs, in the greater context of the covenant, including all the verses we have discussed thus far, should be seen as a book that promotes the skill of the art of Godly living. 8 That is to say that the prior three verses show that everyone is required to atone for their sins. And for those that are wealthy, they not only need to worship the LORD by giving generously to the church, but also by giving generously to their slaves who were plucked out of the impoverished population within the society in which the wealthy did business. A final thing to notice is that once we consider the context of all of these verses, the wealthy have already helped the poor once by taking them in and providing stable employment. But that is not enough in the eyes of God, because they are then commanded to give an additional amount to those same people after their enslavement so that they cannot easily return to poverty. Therefore, in matters of giving to the poor, the wealthy of society who walk with Christ are commanded to provide during times of need in such a way that when the poor return as free individuals it is not easy for them to again be economically oppressed.

Apollos Ministries | carpenj4@gmail.com

Duane A. Garrett, Ph.D. and Kenneth Laing Harris Ph.D., The ESV Study Bible, Personal Size, English Standard Version (ESV), introduction to Proverbs, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2008), 1130.

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