Part 4 of “Proverbs: Walking in Wisdom” || April 28, 2024 || Glynwood Baptist Church, Prattville, AL || James Jackson, Lead Pastor
Week 4: Living in the Land of Havilah
(Wisdom With Our Wealth)
Genesis 2:11-12; Proverbs 10
Good morning! Please open your Bibles to Proverbs 10. You can probably guess from the intro video what we are talking about this morning—probably one of the least popular things a pastor can talk about. Money. If you’re a guest with us this morning, or maybe haven’t been to church in a long time, you’re probably saying, “I knew it! See—all churches ever talk about is money.” But the truth is, I probably don’t talk about money often enough. And I know for sure I don’t talk about money as often as the Bible talks about money. I want you to consider this:
- 16 out of 38 of Christ’s parables deal with money.
- More is said in the New Testament about money than Heaven and Hell combined.
- Five times more is said about money than prayer.
- While there are 500 plus verses on both prayer and faith, there are over 2,000 verses dealing with money and possessions.
- Of the 915 verses in the book of Proverbs, one blogger identified 101 that deal with money. (By the way, you may have noticed that’s a little more than 10% of Proverbs. So Solomon tithed his wisdom!)
Why did God talk so much about money in the Bible? He knew we would have a problem with it!!
So we are going to start in Proverbs 10 this morning. We’ll read down to verse 5:
10 The proverbs of Solomon.
A wise son makes a glad father,
but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.
2 Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit,
but righteousness delivers from death.
3 The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,
but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.
4 A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
5 He who gathers in summer is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.
Skip down a bit to verse 22:
22 The blessing of the Lord makes rich,
and he adds no sorrow with it.[b]
[Let’s pray together]
One of the things I have noticed so far in these topics we’ve studied from Proverbs is that you can go all the way back to creation for some foundational principles about each of them. And that’s not an accident. In Proverbs 8, King Solomon personified wisdom as a beautiful, regal woman. Turn back to chapter 8, and notice how wisdom describes herself as being present with God at creation. Verse 25:
25 Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth,
26 before he had made the earth with its fields,
or the first of the dust of the world.
27 When he established the heavens, I was there;
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 when he made firm the skies above,
when he established[d] the fountains of the deep,
29 when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 then I was beside him, like a master workman,
and I was daily his[e] delight,
So it makes sense that we would see each of these topics from Proverbs being established in creation as well:
- We learned about the power of words when we saw how God used words to create the universe.
- We learned about the value of work when we understood that work was given for man to do even before sin came into the world.
And today, I want us to see how wealth, and the opportunity for financial gain was also in the world before the Fall.
Ray Ortlund, in his commentary on Proverbs, points out that when God created the world, he stocked it with multiple opportunities and potential for building wealth. When a farmer grows food, God doesn’t make the earth stop producing once he has enough to feed his family. God has created a system where it is possible to have more than enough. And all the previous metals and gems that are hidden in he ground. God is the creator of all of that.
I’d like you to kook at Genesis 2 with me. Remember—this is before the serpent, before sin, even before God made Eve as a companion for Adam. Look at this:
10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. (Gen 2:10-12)
Now, let’s just imagine that you were born in Havilah. You are a Have-a-lot. This is different from the ones who are not born in Havilah. We’ll call them, oh, I don’t know… the Have-a-nots.
So if you are a Have-lot, Did you choose to be born there? Was there anything you did to earn being born in a place where there is gold, and the gold is good? Because here’s the thing: God wouldn’t have made a point of saying Havilah is “where there is gold, and the gold there is good” if there was gold everywhere. So it is a quirk of creation, or maybe we should say it’s a feature of creation, that natural resources and wealth-building opportunities are not evenly distributed throughout creation. Why would God make the world that way?
We’ll come back to that.
No, if you are a Have-a-lot”—it’s because God blessed you.
Wealth is a Blessing
And that’s the first point for is to think about this morning. Wealth is a blessing. Look at Proverbs 10:22:
The blessing of the Lord makes rich,
and he adds no sorrow with it.
Look, God didn’t say in Genesis 2 that there was gold in Havilah, and the gold in that land is the root of all evil. He said, the gold in that land was good. Wealth is a blessing.
The United States is the undisputed leader in private wealth creation. 37% of the world’s billionaires are Americans. The city of New York ALONE has almost 350,000 millionaires.[1]
You’re thinking, well, that’s all well and good for the people in New York City, but I’m not rich.
Yes you are.
In 2022 the average gross annual income of full time employees in the United States was $77,464. That comes out to $212 per day. That puts us sixth in the world. Alabama is a good bit lower—about $49,000 a year, or $134 per day.
Over half of the world’s population lives on $6.85 per day.[2]
The poorest country in the world is Afghanistan, where the average gross income for a full time employee is $380. A little more than $1 per day.
India is the most populated country on earth. Over 1.2 billion people live there. The average annual income in India is $2390. So over 1.2 billion people live on $6.50 a day.[3]
So yes, you are rich. You really do live in the land of Have-a-lot.
And according to verse 22, this comes from the Lord. You didn’t choose to be born in the United States. It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich.
Maybe at this point you’re starting to bow up and say, “Nobody gave me anything on a silver platter. I’ve had to work for everything I’ve earned.
And you may be right. If you look at verse 4, you will read something that may at first seem like a contradiction. Proverbs 10:22 says the blessing of the Lord makes rich, but look at Proverbs 10:4: “diligent hands make rich. So which is it?
This brings up a very important biblical concept, and that is that Divine work is often accomplished through human means. Yes, the blessing of the Lord makes rich. But the blessing of the Lord ALSO makes human hands diligent. It’s the same principle you see in Psalm 127: Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. God builds the house through human builders. Even your ability to work hard comes from the Lord. Was it your choice not to be born with a physical condition that keeps you from being able to work? Then maybe you should stop tooting your own horn about how it was your hard work that made you the man or the woman you are now. You were born in the land of Havilah. So you had the opportunity. You were born with no physical limitations. So you were able to work hard for what you have. But it still comes from God.
And so, since even the ability to get rich comes from God, then we get to our second point. Wealth is a blessing, but…
2. Tithing is an Obligation (3:9-10)
Look at the back of your listening guide. The first thing Proverbs has to say about money is in Proverbs 3:9-10, where Solomon writes,
9 Honor the Lord with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce;
10 then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.
A tithe is ten percent of your gross income. In the Old Testament Law, it was required of every God fearing Jew. And the expectation was that it would be from the first fruits of your produce, your flocks, and your vineyards. It wasn’t something you got a pat on the back for. It was considered entry level obedience.
There are Christians today who like to say that tithing is just an Old Testament concept, and that as Christians we aren’t under the Old covenant, we are under grace, so we aren’t required to give ten percent. But they don’t realize that the only thing the New Testament did was change your motivation for tithing. You no longer gave ten percent in order to be obedient to the law. You gave at least ten percent because God has given so much to you. You give at least ten percent because, as 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, you remember
9 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
See, Jesus didn’t just give you 10% of his blood. That’s a pint. You can give a pint of blood in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Jesus gave His life. And He doesn’t just give you 10% forgiveness, or a three day pass to heaven once a month. He gave 100% of his life. He forgives 100% of your sin. You get to spend 100% of eternity with him.
So why, Christian, are you being so stingy with 10% of what you have?
And why wouldn’t the tithe be the first check you write out of your budget? Proverbs 3 says to honor God with your first fruit, not with the left over fruit. Think about it this way. Something is going to be the first check you write. Something is going to be the first line item on your budget. And whatever that first thing is, that’s what is most important to you. Is your mortgage really more important that your Lordship?
Is your car really more precious to you than the grace that has been given to you?
Do you really have so little trust in God that you are going to budget for groceries and then give God the leftovers. I say this with all the love in my heart. If that is true, then please stop thanking God for your food before you eat. If you don’t make your tithe a bigger priority than your grocery bill, then you are effectively saying to God, “I’ll take care of the food.”
You say, well God doesn’t need my money. Doesn’t the Psalms say that “the cattle on a thousand hills” is his (Psalm 50:10). Yes it does. And you are correct. God doesn’t need your money.
But the people who live outside of the land of Havilah do. Remember, you live in the richest country on the planet. You are a have-a-lot.
And you didn’t choose to be born in Havilah. It is a gift of grace.
Remember how we talked about that the gold wasn’t evenly distributed all around the world, but was instead concentrated in once place? Why would God create a world like that? Why would God create a system in which some people—the Have-a-Lots– would have more financial opportunity than others– the Have-nots?
I think it’s so the Have-lots can share with the Have-nots. I think it is so we can experience the blessing of becoming more like God. God is the ultimate Sharer. We are never more like God than when we share what we have been given with others.
Let me be practical here. Some of you may honestly have no idea how to do this. You’ve never been taught how to create a budget, or live within your means, or cut up a credit card. You are living a lifestyle where you have no margin to give. We can help you with that. We’ve offered Christian financial planning classes in the past, and we can do it again. There is a course called “Financial Peace University” which we last offered about five years ago. We have volunteers that are ready to offer that class again.
Also, let me be honest here. Some of you know what tithing is. You know how to do it. You know you are supposed to do it. But for whatever reason you aren’t doing it. Since the beginning of this year, giving has been down. There are a lot of theories about why that may be. Inflation is way up. Uncertainty about the future is high. A lot of our faithful senior adults—the ones who built this church—have passed away, and the next generation doesn’t feel as invested in the work that is happening here.
Some of you are waiting to see what happens with the music program. Some of you are disgruntled over a decision we’ve made, and you’ve decided to hold your tithe hostage until we start doing things more to your liking.
You say, “Well, the Lord loves a cheerful giver,” and I just haven’t been very cheerful lately. Well, you are right. 2 Corinthians 9:6 says the Lord loves a cheerful giver.
But grumpy ones will do!!
Again, let me say this with all the love in my heart as a pastor. If any of that describes you, then you don’t have financial problems. You have obedience problems. You have a sin problem.
Wealth is a blessing from God. It is a blessing given to us who live in the richest country in the world in order for us to be a blessing to others.
But wait—doesn’t the Bible say “money is the root of all evil?” Actually it doesn’t. 1 Timothy 6:10 says,
For the love of money is a root (not the root) of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Look again at Proverbs 10:22. The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and He adds no sorrow to it. God doesn’t add sorrow to wealth. Wealth and riches are part of God’s good creation. But just because He adds no sorrow to wealth doesn’t mean we don’t.
We can pierce ourselves with many sorrows when we crave money. When we wander away from our faith in order to get more money. We don’t have time this morning to get to the blanks on your listening guide, but Proverbs talks about at least four ways wealth can pierce you with many griefs. [4]
SUM ALL THIS UP VERY QUICKLY. YOU ARE ALREADY OUT OF TIME.
When wealth becomes a problem:
- Control (11:26)
One surefire way to get people to hate you is to withhold help from those who need it. Proverbs 11 is talking specifically about those who take advantage of people by driving up the price of basic necessities. When the Have-a-lots try to control supply to increase demand, Proverbs says they deserve the curses they get. Proverbs 3:27 puts it this way. It says,
27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,
when it is in your power to act.
28 Do not say to your neighbor,
“Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”—
when you already have it with you.
The second Money Problem is Conflict (28:25).
This one is pretty obvious. When you are greedy, you cause conflict. You are unsatisfied with what you have, so you over-reach, you covet, and you cause conflict with others. In the book of James, which I told you last week many people refer to as the Proverbs of the New Testament, the Lord’s brother puts it this way in chapter 3:
4 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.,
The third money problem is about concealment. 11:18 says, “The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.”
Listen: when you try to hide your money, its not going to end well. Some of you have cheated on your taxes so you don’t have to pay as much. Some people try to hide income from their spouse so they can spend “their” money how they want. Listen: a
- Corruption (20:23)
- 23 Differing weights[a] are detestable to the Lord,
and dishonest scales are unfair.
Conclusion:
Riches do not profit in the day of wrath. but righteousness delivers from death. Proverbs 11:4
Jesus told a story in Luke 12. I’d like you to turn there as we close.
15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
Those who love money are headed for a breakup. Inevitably, you are going to leave money (when you die) or your money is going to leave you.
[1] “USA Wealth Report 2024: America Remains the World’s Top Wealth Hub but Faces Uncertain Future” Henley and Partners, 19 March 2024
[2] Half of the global population lives on less than US$6.85 per person per day. WorldBank Blogs, 08 December 2022
[3] “Average income around the world” World Data.info, accessed 27 April 2024
[4] These come from Ray Ortlund’s commentary on Proverbs, 177-178.
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