Basic HTML Version
ence unless he taught them also
about his law- the way that would
cause peace, happiness, abundance
- every
GOOD.
But how did our first parents
know that all tbis was true? Answer:
They had God's spoken word for it!
That knowledge could be known
ONLY
and solely by revelation -
that is, by believing what God re–
vealed! Satan implied that they
could not
BELIEVE
God - especially
when he had said that they were
mortal and could
DIE.
Satan implied
they were
IMMORTAL SOULS
and
would
NOT
surely die (Genesis 3:4).
Our first parents thereupon dis–
believed God's revealed knowledge
and rejected revelation as the basic
source of knowledge. They
TOOK ro
THEMSELVES
the production of the
knowledge ofwhat is good and what
is evil - what is right and what is
wrong. And humanity ever since has
rejected revelation as the founda–
tion of knowledge. Education ,
science, and religion reject it today!
In so doing, tbe most vital dimen–
sion of knowledge has been missing
in human life.
Everything is a matter of
CAUSE
aod
EFFECT.
Man has thus
caused
all this
world's evils to befall humanity -
tbe illiteracy, poverty, wretchedness,
filth and squalor in the poor
countries - the crime, corruption,
immorality, broken families, and
other evils in the "bave" countries.
Was it - is
it -
God's will for
people to be poor?
Our Maker Willed
Prosperity
Let's blow the dust off the Bible
and open surprised eyes to
what
ir
says.
It
says: "And the Lord God
planted a garden eastward in Eden;
and there he put the roan whom he
had formed. And out of the ground
made the Lord God to grow every
tree that is pleasant to the sight , and
good for food; the tree of life also in
34
the rnidst of the garden ..." (Gen–
esis 2:8-9).
Here was a garden of unrivaled
beauty. God put the man in that
garden "to dress it and keep it"
(verse 15), giving him free access to
the "tree of life" - symbolic of tbe
GIFT
Of
ETERNAL LIFE -
in an envi–
ronment of beauty and plenty!
But when the first man and
woman rejected God's word, bring–
ing on themselves the
CURSE
that
would cause unhappiness, poverty,
strife and evils, God "drove out the
man" "lest he put forth bis hand,
and take also of the tree of Jife, and
eat, and live for ever" (Genesis
3:24, 22), that is, lest he bring this
suffering of poverty, ignorance, and
evils on himself
foral/ eternity!
But
God
HAO WILLED -
had com–
manded - that the man receive the
GIFT
of eterna! life in prosperity,
abundance, peace, and happiness!
Tbe choice was the man's!
Come now to the case of Abra–
ham.
God told Abraham to leave his
own country and go to a land that
ultimately is to be as beautiful and
productive as the garden in Eden.
There was no balking - no resis–
tance - no arguing. It is recorded,
simply, "So Abram departed" (Gen–
esis 12:4). Here, at last, was a man
who believed and obeyed God!
"And Abram took ... all their sub–
stance that they had gathered" with
him (verse 5). Abraham was a
wealthy man, "and he had sheep,
and oxen, and he asses, and men–
servants, and maidservants, and she
asses, and camels" (verse 16). And
God blessed Abraham (verse 2).
And, referring to all the vast prom–
ised land, from Babylon to Egypt,
God said, "To thee will
1
give it, and
to thy seed for ever" (Genesis
13:
15).
Abraham be li eved God. He
obeyed God. He lived according to
God's 1aw (Genesis 26:5) - the way
that causes wealth, peace, happi–
ness. And Abraham was a
WEALTHY
man (Genesis 24:35).
Abraham's son, Isaac, becau11::
rich in his own right - because he
lived the way God set in motion to
cause prosperity (Genesis 26: 12-14).
Isaac's son Jacob also became
wealthy (Genesis 31: 18) because he
lived God's way which
CAUSED
blessing and prosperity.
Joseph, Jacob's son, "was a pros–
perous man ..." because "the Lord
was with Joseph" (Genesis 39:2).
The Wealth of Job
Take the case of the patriarch
Job. His substance was so much that
he "was the greatest of all the men
of the east" (Job 1:3). God allowed
Satan to take from him all bis great
wealth - but when Job had learned
bis lesson and repented of bis sin of
self-righteousness, God restored to
him
DOUBLE
all the vast wealth he
previously had (Job 42: 12).
God Willed Israel to
Be Rich
God took the descendants of
Abraham after 430 years and made
them one of the earth's nations.
What was bis will for them? He
said: "If ye walk in my statutes
[God's govemment, wbich is the
way that will cause prosperity and
every good] ... then
I
will
give you
rain in due season, and the land
shall yield her increase ..." and
they would bave had
PEACE
and be–
come the wealthiest nation on earth
(Leviticus 26:3-4). God
wrLLS
that
all be ricb - not poor. But God
reveals to us the
WAY
ttiat will cause
that happy result.
Jesus Chiist carne teaching the
ways of God's government and the
spiritual laws (ways) of that govern–
ment. He said: "Seek ye first the
kingdom of God , and his righteous–
ness; and all these things [material
needs] shall be added unto you"
(Matthew 6:33). When
l
had had
financial reverses and been reduced
to poverty 46 years ago, 1 read that
verse.
l
decided to take God at his
word. He tested my sincerity. But 1
PLAIN TRUTH September 1973