Wednesday: Fat and Happy (for Now)
You have lived on the earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter
(James 5:5, ESV; compare Ezek. 16:49, Amos 4:1). What do these passages link to luxurious indulgence?
Image © Jeff Preston from GoodSalt.com
In the ancient world the notion prevailed that there was a fixed amount of wealth, meaning that if the wealth of some people increased, the wealth of others had to decrease. In other words, the rich can get richer only by making the poor poorer. Creating
wealth without adversely affecting the wealth of others, however, seems to be a relatively modern idea. Some even argue that, as the rich get richer, they can help make the poor richer too. On the other hand, considering the competition among developed and developing nations for increasingly scarcer resources, the limitations of wealth creation can seem more pressing. Hence, the issue of wealth inequality still rages today.
One of the most famous stories of Jesus dealing with issues of inequality is the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (see Luke 16:19-31). At the time of Jesus, most people were lucky to have two garments instead of just one, and happy if they feasted once a year. By contrast, the rich man in the story was clothed in purple and fine linen
(the most expensive kind of garments) and who feasted sumptuously every day
(vs. 19, ESV). Poor Lazarus, despite being carried to the gate of the rich man’s house, had to beg for the few crumbs he received.
Contrary to popular opinion, the real focus of the parable is this life, not the afterlife. In fact, the original Greek makes no mention of heaven
and hell
at all. Both the rich man and Lazarus are depicted in thesame place (vs. 23)-the grave (hades). The chasm separating them symbolizes the fact that after a person dies, his or her eternal destiny is fixed. Therefore, how we treat people in this life (as described in Moses and the prophets,
vss. 29, 31, NKJV) is extremely important. There is no future life in which we can make up for what we failed to do in this one: He who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
(1 John 4:20, NKJV).
What regretful things have you done that, though you might be able to make up
for them now, you won’t be able to make up for them later?
(26)
Its good to be rich but if we are not careful enough we will will not enter the gates of heaven as the bible says that it is hard for the rich man to enter the kingdom of God as it is for a camel to pass through a needle ...keep on working for the goodness of both the poor and salvation
God bless us to be blessing to other and not being stingy towards the poor and needy. as we have in abundance we should remember that God Owns Everything, and We Are His Managers that one day we will give account of whatever things being big or little, Romans 14:10, 12 — “... For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat ... So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” .Psalms 24:1 — “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”
In Luke 6:24 — “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.” .
Despite whatever we have we can give to those who need because as we do this we are shoring treasures in heaven.Mark 10:21 — “Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ he said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ Philippians 3:20 — “Our citizenship is in heaven.”
Romans 12:13 — “Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”
God will be very sad with us if we have all it takes to be happy and refuses to help those who are in need.
In conclusion, us Christians, our riches should not make us take advantage of others (over the poor and the defendless) and abuse them.Proverbs 19:17 — “He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.”.Luke 6:38 — “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
The Lord help us all.AMEN
I thank the Lord 4 guiding us even though he had blessed us, we also have 2 share wth others what the Lord has blessed us wth
I love this lesson. It has reminded me of kindness
Very good topics. It is good to know more about giving to the Lord what he had given us and also giving to the poor in society who needs our assistance.
Thanks Martha, it is actually RETURNING to Him what is His. Infact, nothing belongs to us that we should GIVE back to Him. Making Him the LORD (one whose everything belongs to) of of lords (even the wealthiers) challenges me to consider others in everything I am doing.
Very true brother Robert! We have a choice to either RETURN to Him or ROB Him.
— When a basket is full you can not add more because there will be no space. Make yourself the pathway of blessings to others. “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Nice lesson i like very much.
All that belongs to the Father is Mine; this is why I said, 'The Spirit will tell you what ever He recieves from Me. John 16:15. I would say that makes me extreamly Spiritually wealthy. The wealthy can be Spiritually wealthy too, as long as they are void of the spirit. Philanthropist like Warren Buffit and Bill Gates can give the whole world, but if they are not having a relationship with Christ it profiteth them nothing. To be eternally wealthy, garnering a friendship with Christ is not a guideline, but an absolute. Garnering does not imply work, afterall I am only reaping the gifts Christ bestows.
The author of the lesson for Wednesday indicates that the Greek shows that both Lazarus and the rich man were in the same place and that the chasm there symbolizes a fixed destiny for them both. So what does the parable symbolize where it says that Lazarus was taken by the angels to Abraham's bosom but just indicates that the rich man was buried after death but makes no mention of Lazarus being buried after death?
Pete, a lot of Christians attempt to figure out what every little part of a parable means which I don't think is the way we should deal with parables. A parable is a kind of metaphor that is an illustration of something. For instance the parable of the soils in Mat 13 uses the illustration of a sower casting seed where the seed lands on different kinds of ground where Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field" (Matt. 13:24 NKJV), it is LIKE a sower but is not literally the sower. The parable is not about farmers planting seed but uses an example of it to teach a spiritual lesson. In the case of the sower it is about what happens to the word of God (the seed) when received by different kinds of people (the soils) where both are symbols of something that is real.
The parable of Lazarus and the rich man is the same way. It is not actual truth but is an illustration of something Jesus wanted to teach. In this case it is the consequence of the relationship between a man of means and a poor man and what happens in the judgment of a person that ignores the needs of a poor person within his sphere of influence. Jesus used Abraham because he was treated like an idol within the Jewish community and therefore it would have perked up the ears of the Jews.
Besides that, it should be obvious that all the saved can't possibly be carried to Abraham's bosom. By the same token a drop of water can in no way cool someone in hell. The details in parables are for the most part unimportant, those things are merely props in the story that illustrates a very important point - what we do here in his life determines where we will be in the resurrection.
Thank you for your input here about my comment regarding the part of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Tyler Cluthe.
Are you the author of the lessons for this quarter?
But I take the attitude, even with parables, and especially the words spoken by Jesus Himself, that every word spoken has a special message there for every believer. Therefore, to me, in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the angels and Abrahams' bosom has something symbolic there for every believer. Maybe the symbolism there has an assurance for us of how God in His mercy will definitley use every means, and because of the merits of His Son Jesus, to save the true believer for eternity.
Pete,
I agree with Tyler, but if you just have to have a symbol, perhaps this can help. The bosom of Abraham is his faith in God. Abraham believed God's word. Abraham's heart belonged to God even though he made mistakes in life. And that's what God wants from us---our hearts, our love for Him & our fellow man, and to simply believe Him at His Word.
That's all--- we don't need to over think it or try to find hidden meanings, because with God all is revealed in its time.
Peace
Pete, I am not the author of the lessons nor am I a denominational employee in any way. I am merely a lay volunteer who does the finial editing/formatting and posting of the lessons on the SSNet blog. We are an independent ministry from the Sabbath School Department of the General Conference and post the lessons with the permission of the General Conference.
I understand your position and agree to some extent but would caution how we deal with things like parables. There are those that take things to extreme and start doing such things as numerology that attempts to find hidden meaning in words rather than what is obviously being said and taking symbolism out of the context in which it was written and to attempt to apply it to symbols we use today.
For Seventh-day Adventists the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is important because if not handled correctly our interpretation can easily contradict doctrine established in other parts of the Bible.
The concept of "making up of for things later" is the story of so many lives. Some of us like to call it procrastination. Nonetheless, I know that I need to continue to surrender my perception of wealth and how to attain and manage it to God. That is one thing that I will not be able to make up for in the future but can do something about now. It will not be easy because creating new habits of dealing with money is just as hard as creating new habits of exercise. But I see more and more that how I perceive wealth impacts my decisions and willingness to include God in them.
I am so much blessed through ssnet. I can now understand the Bible /lesson deeply. May God bless you abundantly.