Father's Day Money/Contentment
Intro:
Covetousness is plainly forbidden here and elsewhere in the Scriptures. “Keep your lives free from the love of money,” begins the command. The Scriptures present a desire for wealth as a danger. After Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man, Mark tells us:
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (10:23–27)
Jesus’ point was that it is impossible for a man who trusts in riches to get into Heaven, because a rich man trusts in himself! However, by the grace of God it is possible. God’s grace can change hearts. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus recommended:
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19–21)
Miserly hoarding casts a metallic, lifeless heart. A few verses later Jesus concludes, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” (Matthew 6:24).
Wealth has its disadvantages. It is difficult to have it and not trust in it. Material possessions tend to focus one’s thoughts and interests on this world alone. It can enslave so that one becomes possessed by possessions, comforts, and recreations. Jesus said, “The deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word” (Mark 4:19).
Though wealth has its intrinsic disadvantages, the preacher here is not forbidding wealth but “the love of money.”
… But Contentment
The covetous, those who love money, will never be content. The author of Ecclesiastes informs us, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income” (5:10). Our hearts resonate with the wisdom of these ancient words. C. H. Spurgeon amplifies this thought:
It is not possible to satisfy the greedy. If God gave them one whole world to themselves they would cry for another; and if it were possible for them to possess heaven as they now are, they would feel themselves in hell, because others were in heaven too, for their greed is such that they must have everything or else they have nothing.
5 Sins of impurity and covetousness are also linked elsewhere in the NT (e.g., 1 Cor 5:10–11; Eph 4:19; 5:3–5; 1 Thess 4:3–6).
Where in the Old Testament did God say he would never leave us or forsake us? Only occasionally explicitly, but everywhere implicitly! God told Jacob as he fled from Esau to Bethel, “I am with you.… I will not leave you” (Genesis 28:15). Moses encouraged the Israelites, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6, cf. vv. 7, 8). When Joshua was called to take over Moses’ leadership, God said, “I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). David instructed Solomon, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you” (1 Chronicles 28:20).
We will be content if we truly embrace the fact that we have God! The Apostle Paul was content. Destitute of worldly possessions, Paul sublimely speaks of himself as “having nothing, and yet possessing everything” (2 Corinthians 6:10). “I know what it is to be in need,” he told the Philippians, “and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation” (Philippians 4:12). And then to Timothy, he gave this jewel: “But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (1 Timothy 6:6–8).
13:5. The author draws this quotation especially from Deuteronomy 31:6, 8 and Joshua 1:5, although the idea was common in the Old Testament (cf. 2 Chron 15:2; Ps 37:28). Moses spoke it to all Israel in the third person, but the writer, who regards all Scripture as God’s inspired Word, uses Joshua 1:5 (an assurance oracle, one form of Old Testament prophecy, to Joshua) to adapt it to the first person. The reference to love of money is characteristic of general parenesis (moral exhortation) of the day but may be particularly related to the economic consequences of following Jesus in a hostile culture (Heb 10:34; 11:26).
13:5 covetousness. Lusting after material riches is “a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness” (1 Tim. 6:10; cf. 1 Tim. 3:3). I will never. Quoted from Gen. 28:15; Deut. 31:6, 8; Josh. 1:5; 1 Chr. 28:20. Believers can be content in every situation because of this promise. Five negatives are utilized in this statement to emphasize the impossibility of Christ deserting believers. It is like saying “there is absolutely no way whatsoever that I will ever, ever leave you.”
Contentment cannot come from material things, for they can never satisfy the heart. Only God can do that. “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15, NIV). When we have God, we have all that we need. The material things of life can decay or be stolen, but God will never leave us or forsake us. This promise was made to Joshua when he succeeded Moses (Deut. 31:7–8; Josh. 1:5, 9); and it is fulfilled to us in Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:20; Acts 18:9–10).
13:6. Here the author cites Psalm 118:6; cf. Psalm 56:11. The author may add this quotation to Deuteronomy 31:6 and 8 as an implicit gezerah shavah (linking of texts with a common key word or phrase), because Deuteronomy 31:6 and 8 say that the hearers should not be afraid (although the writer of Hebrews does not quote that line).
13:6 boldly. Not the usual word for boldness, this word has the idea of being confident and courageous. Cf. its use in Matt. 9:2; 2 Cor. 5:6, 8. Quoted from Ps. 118:6.
The affirmation of faith in Hebrews 13:6 comes from Psalm 118:6. This is a messianic psalm and is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, so we may claim this promise for ourselves. It was a source of great peace to the early Christians to know that they were safe from the fear of man, for no man could do anything to them apart from God’s will. Men might take their goods, but God would meet their needs.
A woman said to evangelist D.L. Moody, “I have found a promise that helps me when I am afraid. It is Psalm 56:3—‘What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.’ ”
Mr. Moody replied, “I have a better promise than that! Isaiah 12:2—‘I will trust and not be afraid.’ ”
The question is “What will man do to me?” rather than “What can man do to me?” as in NIV, JB, NEB, RSV, and TEV. It is performance rather than capacity the psalmist is speaking of. He is not thinking theoretically but of what will happen. Man will not succeed in anything he attempts to do against one who trusts in God.