If I were to ask you what that word avarice meant, would you know? I did ask someone this question recently and they had no idea. What if I were to ask you what you were hearing from the pulpit, what teaching you were receiving concerning avarice? What might you answer to that! or how have you allowed your understanding concerning avarice shape your walk of faith with God?
But then again maybe I’m being silly, cause I had to check 11 bibles before I got to one version that included that word avarice. A Darby bible.
Maybe I am expecting too much. Then again, the word rapture only appears once in those same 11 bibles, and everybody knows what that is all about. Rapture, rapture, rapture sermons, teachings and messages everywhere, but poor old avarice scarcely rates a mention.
Why is that?
If you live in western culture and count yourself a Christian then maybe you ought to be concerned. But then again, maybe not cause you’re “covered by the blood of Jesus” and it doesn’t concern you. The old I’m off the hook cause I’m “covered by the blood” confession is a wonder to behold, and will work for me every time, Amen brother!
Or then there’s the “I’m born again” confession. Amen brother. Yep I can live like the devil, but hallelujah, I’m born again.
Yep the poor can go hungry, the naked can be cold, the weak can be oppressed, injustice can abound, we can pay paupers wages to third world workers whilst showering ourselves with material possessions, sit on our butts and praise God. Cause we’re covered by the blood, and born again. Hallelujah to that…
If you live in Western Christendom of our day, you ought to be concerned about that word avarice. You see the Lord has set a snare for the occupants of Babylon the great, and she knows it not. She is proud, arrogant and boastful, acts rebelliously, contends with Him, knowing full well His desire toward the poor, the oppressed and the weak. Yet she lives luxuriously whilst many in this world suffer.
And so we see Jeremiah unveiling this “setup” for Babylon of the last days, this snare in which many will be caught. A snare of which Jeremiah writes “I (the Lord) have laid a snare for you Babylon”
Jeremiah 50:24 I have laid a snare for you; You have indeed been trapped O Babylon And you were not aware; You have been found and also caught Because you have contended against the LORD.
Selah
And so to the heart of this post, avarice. Why am I talking about a word that is not found in the bible in any majorly sense. What has this got to do with a snare laid for Babylon the Great in these last days.
A metaphor is offered in Gesenius’s Lexicon for comparison, which gives us some further understanding concerning the use of the word snare in the above text : Metaphorically to be snared or seduced by avarice. To be taken in a noose.
Yes the people of the kingdom of Babylon the Great have in these last days ensnared themselves in the abundance of their riches. The have arrogantly presumed upon God, contended with Him, supposed He was pleased to bless them with an abundance of treasure so that they might store up to themselves riches. They have contended against the Lord, contended with His word, contended with His known will, and they knew it not for they even supposed that they were the blessed of the Lord, prosperous Christian nation, under God.
James knew how this would all play out ;
James 5:1 Come now you rich weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 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. 4 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. 5 You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.
The last days in which many presume a literal physical tribulation, a time of great persecution and suffering for Western Christendom will be one which in fact is marked by an abundance of wealth, abounding prosperity and financial hoarding. And in that day in which the Lord judges the hearts of men, their hoarding of gold, silver and material wealth will testify to this truth, that is was not God they trusted in, but their wealth.
They will stand their wide eyed in fear and attempt to explain how they really did trust Him, but those words will seem shallow in light of the way they lived their lives. For had they truly known God they would have had no confidence in that which is perishing.
The definition of avarice is “immoderate desire for wealth” That is a desire for wealth which makes no sense, serves no purpose except for a personal longing to accumulate, to hoard, and to store up and make one feel secure. At the outset of this post I mentioned the one occasion which I found the word used, was in the derby bible ; Psa 52:7 Behold the man that made not God his strength, but put confidence in the abundance of his riches, [and] strengthened himself in his avarice.
Have you ever really thought about that issue of trusting God, and how easily money and material wealth usurp trust in God. Have we truly recognized the warnings that Christ gave us concerning the deceitfulness of riches. Jesus said “you cannot serve God and mammon” He did not say maybe some could, or perhaps if you try real hard and are careful. He said you cannot. Never the twain shall meet.
This end time money snare will catch many in Christendom unawares. Many I imagine who testify to being born again, or covered by the blood, or filled with the spirit. Many who say they trust God, but really they trust in their wealth and it’s ability to provide for their needs.
I am at times in anguish as I listen to Christian’s in our day explaining with some excitement their ability to invest in this or that. To buy investment properties, superannuation or play the stock market etc. I don’t know what is in people hearts and it’s wrong for me to presume, but I just pray His people truly perceive what it is they are called to in Christ, and understand the will of God for our lives in this day. To fail to do so may be very, very costly.
Flee this wickedness Christian, lest you also partake of the judgement of Babylon the great.
That was to the point.
Keep it up.
Thanks Michael, for the short and to the point comment. Hope you and yours are all well.
Excellent post Tim.
Its funny money, it can be held as an idol in many ways, having too much, not having enough. I have known people who will never have a chance at having alot of money but obesses over it just as much as a rich man with many barns.
The Proverb is right when it says ‘not to much and not to little’
In Jesus,
Deborah
Deborah,
Thanks…. I always liked that proverb that you quoted. And I have also been told I’m stupid for thinking the Lord would not want to bless me with financial abundance. Every time I attempt to argue against financial prosperity the automatic response seems to be “so you believe that God wants you to be a pauper”
Well no actually, I believe there is middle ground and it’s called contentment.
And rightly as you point out there are those who obsess over little. And sadly for them they live in a culture that aspires to those who have much. In a culture which flaunts financial prosperity as something to behold. It makes it hard on those who have not yet arrived. And so they sell themselves to Babylons bankers for a 20 year term of enslavement, or they find some way to make it to the pinnacle of Western success. By hook or by crook, the place of Financial security.
Bless you,
Tim
Thanks Tim. Glory to God.
Just want to say it was your witness in the videoi that tipped us over into finally coming out of all debt. We are now by Gods grace out of debt. And I hope we are never tempeted to return. The strange thing is God is blesesing us more finacially since we came out. To give more.
In Jesus
Deborah
Deborah,
That’s lovely to hear. I did get a lot of feedback about that testimony, and I still tell it quite often.
I too am glad to be out of debt and the accompanying bondage. It’s just seems so much better when we’re the head and not the tail.
Blessings,
Tim
Do you think preparedness is sinful in light of that line of thinking? I agree that one shouldn’t live for material things….but also we can read the signs and we know what is in store for the future.
Austin,
That is a really good question that I have thought about often. When exactly does wise preparation become sin. Certainly there are examples in the scriptures of the Lord leading His people to prepare for a coming famine, both OT and NT.
The issue which would concern me at this present time is that we live in a culture of fear concerning financial calamity, and that fear is motivating people to store up and hoard beyond that which is sufficient.
Of course there is some pretty good evidence to support a coming economic upheavel, and so one ought to do their best to be lead by the Spirit on this issue.
I used to write quite a few articles concerning the coming economic upheavel but sensed that it was not wise to encourage one to a covetous attitude, and so for some time now have resisted speaking of such things.
In the end money cannot save the soul, and so whether we live or die, our lives belong to the Lord.
I think Johns words are challenging and set the benchmark “If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion–how can God’s love be in that person?”
If we decide to store it up, we better be prepared to give it away when required.
Tim