Proverbs 22
Verse 22:7 is so true, especially in this day and age:
The rich rules over the poor,
and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
The rich do tend to be in positions of leadership, not because they are privileged but in most cases because they earned it. Think about how they got rich anyway. Would you rather have leaders that in the past made poor decisions, squandered their money and did not become rich? Granted our current political bunch has made poor decisions and squandered our money while becoming rich so maybe that is wrong. I think the problem today is we have broken that “social contract” John Locke talked about in 1790.
Now the second half is something I think most of us know, as most of us are slaves to some loans. Hopefully it’s only a home loan, but even that makes you a slave to that payment. In the past 5 years we have seen these “slaves” revolt and stop paying. The natural consequence is losing their home and a market crash, but in the end opportunities exist for the savers. We need to all take this to heart and understand the freedom we think we have is limited when we owe others.
Verse 22:16 ties into this in today’s context:
Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,
or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.
This is this “social contract” that John Locke was talking about. We can be rich and generous to all if we learn to reward those who have helped us along the way. Giving to those who really don’t need it may make you feel good, but is really a waste. I think one of the reasons those who oppress the poor will eventually end in poverty is because the poor will eventually revolt. One can live under oppression only so long before they decide they have had enough, be it a company, a “plantation” or a country.
Verses 22:22 – 23 continue with this theme:
22 Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,
or crush the afflicted at the gate,
23 for the LORD will plead their cause
and rob of life those who rob them.
God believes in social justice and is in no way wanting people to be taken advantage of in life. The problem I see today is the rich are being held up as the evil entity in the USA and ironically the most vocal seem to want things handed to them like the rich children. Free health care, free college, free homes and not wanting to work for their “fruits” but rather live of the backs of the rich. This again is a violation of the “social contract” only on the other side.
I am off on a tangent, but follow me for a bit longer. Now the rich that rob from the poor only to increase their already comfortable position needs to be dealt with and should not live with ill-gotten bounty. Today these protesters, specifically Occupy Wall Street, are protesting these gains, but the solution is wrong. We cannot accept companies “rigging” the game for profit and moving their losses into pension funds they “manage”. At the same time the penalty should not be giving us a comfortable life.
The problem today is rules are being broken and then changed so when they “break” them again the act is now legal. Or in the case of our Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s leaking interest rate changes in 2007. This was known to the Fed then and just came out recently. This kind of abhorrent disregard to the Biblical “social contract” is sad and IS the problem today.
God knew this would always be a problem and that is why so much of the Bible focuses on money and the handling of such assets. We need to all review how we honor God; not only with our tithes but with how we make our money also! Here are three examples that God does not abhor the rich, but at the same time He does not like them to abuse their position of power.