How Does God Bless People (Financially)?
God’s blessings to Abraham
Genesis 12:2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
We tend to read this passage and only focus on the part where Abraham will be a blessing to the world. It is used as an example of how important generosity is to God, and certainly it is! But, if we are ALL supposed to be generous, I think there is another lesson that we also need to learn from God’s promise to Abraham.
If followers of Christ are to continue being a blessing throughout the world, for God’s Kingdom, maybe we should also understand how people are blessed by God, so we can be apart of His plan for the world.
Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Another way to look at God’s promise to Abraham — For God to bless the world, God will first bless His faithful people.
So, how did God bless Abraham?
Accumulating Wealth
We know that God can create wealth supernaturally (2 Kings 4:1–7 — The Widow’s Oil, John 2:1–11 — Jesus Changes Water Into Wine). There doesn’t seem to be an example in Abraham’s life showing wealth received by supernatural means, but wealth does come by other means.
Genesis 12:5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan…
Genesis 12:16 Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her — sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
From these passages we see that God can make blessings come from other people; such as Abram fathers’ estate when Abram chose to separate from his father in Haran, as well as, the generosity of Pharaoh because of his wife Sarai.
Many times though, God chooses to bless the actions of people that produce very favorable results.
Genesis 17:6 I (God) will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.
Though God blesses people, it is still up to the people to act in obedience so that God can bless the results.
“You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take.” ―Wayne Gretzky
Rhetorical question: How many incredible opportunities from God do we (including myself) miss out on because of our lack of faith and obedience in God?
Abraham acted in obedience.
Genesis 13:2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.
Genesis 13:5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together,
When God makes a promise, then people believe and obey His instructions, unbelievable results tend to occur.
No matter when or how wealth comes to us, no matter the quantity or quality of the wealth, it also must be managed properly once received.
Protecting Wealth
Genesis 17:10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.
This passage doesn’t necessarily talk about wealth, but it reveals an important concept from God. A covenant is an agreement or a contract between at least two parties. God established a “contract” with Abraham that both parties had a role in upholding.
God actually made 7 covenants with people throughout history, with various meanings and conditions: What are the different covenants in the Bible? (compellingtruth.org)
The point is, contract/agreements/covenants are very important to God.
Here is an example of an ancient “contract” between people:
Genesis 21:25 Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had seized . 26 But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.”27 So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men made a treaty. 28 Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, 29 and Abimelek asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?” 30 He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness that I dug this well.” 31 So that place was called Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there. 32 After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God. 34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time.
Abraham owned private property that was stolen by servants of Abimelek. Abraham wanted control of it back and to protect his ownership of it going forward. A “contract” between the two secured the ownership of it, and established Abraham’s ability to protect and defend his property from future harm. Then he was more fully able to enjoy the use of his property, which included planting trees, worshiping God, and creating a home on the land.
Today, contracts are everywhere from the receipt we have documenting our small transactions, to property deeds and titles.
Once ownership of private property is secure, people then are able participate in mutually beneficial exchange of their property.
Trading Wealth
Gen 23:1 Now Sarah lived 127 years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. 2 Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham came in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3 Then Abraham arose from mourning before his dead, and spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, 4 “I am a stranger and a foreign resident among you; give me a burial site among you so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
Abraham did not already own what he needed and therefore had to seek someone who did.
5 The sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, 6 “Hear us, my lord: you are a mighty prince among us; bury your dead in the choicest of our graves; none of us will refuse you his grave for burying your dead.”
The Golden Rule: He who has the gold, makes the rules.
Everyone knew Abraham was wealthy and powerful. His affluence opened opportunities that he would not have had access to otherwise. Furthermore, it put the choice in his hands instead of someone else telling him what he could and couldn’t do. Who better to have control of wealth and influence than humble servants of God?
7 So Abraham stood up and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Heth. 8 And he spoke with them, saying, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead out of my sight, listen to me, and plead with Ephron the son of Zohar for me, 9 that he may give me the cave of Machpelah which he owns, which is at the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in your presence for a burial site.” 10 Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham so that the sons of Heth heard, that is, all who entered the gate of his city, saying, 11 “No, my lord, listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of the sons of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.” 12 And Abraham bowed before the people of the land. 13 But he spoke to Ephron so that the people of the land heard, saying, “If you will only please listen to me; I will give the price of the field, accept it from me so that I may bury my dead there.”
It seems Abraham could have owned this property for free. He may have chosen not to for similar reason as he told other kings who have offered him gifts before, “I will not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, so that you do not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’” (Genesis 14:22–23). His integrity and faith lead him to not gain anything at the expense of others. He wanted it to be clearly known that God is his source of provision, no one else, which also gave him a great reputation amongst the surrounding people. This passage also reveals a key to proper negotiation and accountability, that is honest witnesses.
14 Then Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, 15 “My lord, listen to me: a plot of land worth four hundred shekels of silver — what is that between me and you? So bury your dead.” 16 Abraham listened to Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver which he had named in the presence of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currency acceptable to a merchant.
Money is any object that is accepted by at least two parties to simply transfer value between the parties indirectly (direct exchange: barter). In Abrahams circumstance, the acceptable medium of exchange was silver by weight (shekel). Price is the mutually beneficial exchange rate that is socially acceptable in a “free market” system. The price can only be established by the involved parties determining what is more beneficial to them individually than holding onto their own property (land or silver).
17 So Ephron’s field, which was in Machpelah, which faced Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees which were in the field, that were within all the confines of its border, were deeded over 18 to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who entered the gate of his city. 19 After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave of the field of Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. 20 So the field and the cave that was in it were deeded over to Abraham for a burial site by the sons of Heth.
Property ownership is documented and secured by a contract that can be transferred between people. If property rights are important, contract law is the means of protecting those rights.
Wealth will always transfer to others. We will either transfer it to acquire other desires for our life, or it will be transferred to heirs when we pass from this life.
Leaving Wealth
God indeed blessed Abraham during his life that became a real financial blessing to his family, as well as others.
Genesis 25:5 Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac. 6 But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east.
Servants of God strive to bless others while they live AND when they “graduate”.
Practical Application
“Economic problems are best solved by people freely contracting with one another and with government limited to the function of enforcing those contracts. The absolute best way to do so is through the magnificent idea of dividend-paying whole life insurance. It has more in common with banking than it does with life insurance. A better name would have been a ‘banking system with a death benefit thrown in for good measure.’ It has been around for over 200 years and stood the test of time. It is not compulsory. It is not a government sponsored idea. It preceded the income tax idea by a long time. It is Private Property! Also, the only people who participate in this idea are people who truly care about other people. What a great group of people to be engaged in business with.” — Excerpts from ‘Becoming Your Own Banker’ by R. Nelson Nash
Owning and controlling the most important and most profitable business in the world — the bank — through the simple solution of dividend-paying whole life insurance, is the most efficient tool today for Accumulating, Protecting, and Leaving wealth. When you own your own banking system, whatever the form of money is (“silver, currency acceptable to a merchant.”) won’t matter.
