The Destiny of the Wealth of Nations

December 22, 2025December 17, 2025Todd R Leave a comment

Here in the United States, the year 1776 is celebrated as the political beginning of the nation, because the Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4 of that year. Also in 1776, The Wealth of Nations by economist and philosopher Adam Smith was published and is foundational to our nation’s economy. Its full title of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations shows its purpose was to explore what makes some nations more well-off than others, with Smith concluding that capitalism, especially the elements of free trade and competition, was the best system. I won’t argue here for capitalism or about where wealth comes from, but about where wealth is destined to end up.

Interestingly, the phrase “wealth of the nations” appears in the Bible 3 times, all in Isaiah 60 and 61, and the phrase “wealth of all the surrounding nations” appears once, in Zechariah 14.[1] All of these references describe the future reign of the Messiah when all nations and peoples will acknowledge Him as Lord and dedicate their wealth in tribute to Him.

Isaiah 60:4-5 is the first mention of the phrase, and it says:

“Lift up your eyes all around, and see;
            they all gather together, they come to you;
your sons shall come from afar,
            and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.
Then you shall see and be radiant;
            your heart shall thrill and exult,
because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you,
            the wealth of the nations shall come to you.”

The next few verses read like an inventory of goods (camels, gold, flocks, ships, lumber) and places (Midian, Sheba, Kedar, Tarshish, Lebanon), showing that no thing and no place is excluded from the tribute to God. Wealth from every source belongs to Him.

In the same chapter, verse 11 declares about the eternal city of God:

“Your gates shall be open continually;
day and night they shall not be shut,
that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations,
with their kings led in procession.”

When we inquire into future of wealth, rather than its past and its sources, we find that the wealth of the nations is all His. We own nothing. We are only stewards and caretakers, regardless of what economic system we live in or believe in.

“The earth is the LORD’S and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein” – Psalm 24:1

Soli Deo Gloria

[1] It may be where Smith got his title idea, or it may just be coincidence.

God Has a Plan for Your Life

December 19, 2025December 18, 2025Todd R Leave a comment

In a commonly quoted Bible verse, the prophet Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” But who was Jeremiah talking to and what were God’s plans at that time? God was about to exile Israel from the Promised Land and take away all of their cherished (and God-given) political and religious institutions. Jerusalem and the temple would be torn down and burned by the Babylonians, while God would tell the Jews to love their brutal enemy, and to be a blessing to them[1], contributing to the prosperity of the Babylonian kingdom. After 70 years of exile, Jerusalem and the temple would be rebuilt, but disappointing: “many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid”.[2]

This is not the plan I would wish on any of us, but it was God’s will at the time, to discipline His people. Clearly, God has different plans for each one of us – specific to us and not a photocopy of specific Biblical people or situations.

The prophet Isaiah provides an excellent picture of how God has plans for each of us individually. Right after declaring that God would lay a new cornerstone, a new foundation, in Zion[3] (later revealed to be Jesus), he declares in Isaiah 28:23-26:

“Give ear, and hear my voice;
         give attention, and hear my speech.
Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
         Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
When he has leveled its surface,
         does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
and put in wheat in rows
         and barley in its proper place,
         and emmer as the border?
For he is rightly instructed;
         his God teaches him.”

Isaiah describes how a farmer works diligently with God-given wisdom to plant his crops. The farmer does things step by step, plowing, then sowing each plant according to its kind. Some crops grow best in rows, and some are suitable as borders. Everything is in its time and place. Isaiah then continues with verses 27-29:

“Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
         nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
but dill is beaten out with a stick,
         and cumin with a rod.
Does one crush grain for bread?
         No, he does not thresh it forever;
when he drives his cart wheel over it
         with his horses, he does not crush it.
This also comes from the LORD of hosts;
         he is wonderful in counsel
         and excellent in wisdom.”

Here, some crops need to be threshed or even crushed, but other crops do not. All of the farmer’s work is done with God’s wisdom. Yet is Isaiah only concerned with crops? No, because the context in Isaiah is a story of Judah’s discipline, followed by a restoration. Just as a farmer’s wisdom in dealing with crops is from God, in the same way God knows how to deal with His people skillfully, to each as needed.

The Reformation Study Bible notes on verse 29: “Yet the Lord is wiser than any good farmer…and knows exactly the methods to use to cultivate His harvest—when to judge and when to restore His people.” As different grains need to be planted and treated differently, so God treats each person according to His own intentions for them and to their own needs. After laying the cornerstone of Jesus Christ, God, like a farmer, knows how to deal with each of His people individually, giving each exactly what they need when they need it, building His family diligently, step by step, and with infinite wisdom.

Therefore, when Jeremiah says: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope,” he declares the general principle that for each of us, God has a plan, a future, and a hope. The Lord delivers us from evil and provides for our welfare in eternity for all time, after our sojourn in this world is complete.

For every meal, thank a farmer, but for every opportunity to grow in Christ, in good times and in bad, thank the Lord for His wisdom in dealing with you as an individual. Only He, as Creator, knows best how we are broken and how we are intended to be.

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” – Philippians 1:6

[1] Jeremiah 29:7
[2] Ezra 3:12
[3] Isaiah 28:16

He Humbles and Exalts Nations

December 18, 2025December 17, 2025Todd R Leave a comment

In a parable about humility, Jesus said in Luke 14:11: “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” While the parable is about individual people, elsewhere God also makes clear that he can humble or exalt entire nations. While Luke 14:11 may contradict much of what we see in our world today, at the final judgment the truth of the verse will be made manifest, and God promises it will be so.

As an example, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah spoke of God’s power over the nations. Around 605 B.C., Babylon invaded Judah and carried them into captivity, and about 70 years later, Judah was allowed to return home by Cyrus the Mede, who had defeated Babylon. Over a century before Babylon’s invasion, Isaiah prophesied their entire rise and fall around 700 B.C., when Babylon was not yet even a world power. Isaiah described the final destinies of both Babylon and of God’s people in startling images.

As recorded in Isaiah 47:1-3, God’s vengeance on Babylon was described, probably before they even considered capturing Jerusalem:

“Come down and sit in the dust,
            O virgin daughter of Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
            O daughter of the Chaldeans!
For you shall no more be called
            tender and delicate.
Take the millstones and grind flour,
            put off your veil,
strip off your robe, uncover your legs,
            pass through the rivers.
Your nakedness shall be uncovered,
            and your disgrace shall be seen.
I will take vengeance,
            and I will spare no one.
Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts is his name—
            is the Holy One of Israel.”

This is contrasted to the future of God’s people in Isaiah 52:1-2:

“Awake, awake,
            put on your strength, O Zion;
put on your beautiful garments,
            O Jerusalem, the holy city;
for there shall no more come into you
            the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
            be seated, O Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
            O captive daughter of Zion.”

Did you notice the parallels? In Isaiah 47, Babylon is disgraced, cast down from the throne and made to do menial labor. Babylon is stripped of their beautiful clothes and publicly shamed, sitting in the dust.

Contrast to Isaiah 52, which describes the daughter of Zion as rising up from the dust of disgrace under Babylon, from whom she has been freed. She dwells in peace, awakening and dressing herself in beautiful clothes. What a beautiful future!

However, note that God removes Babylon’s temporary throne but does not put His people on a throne. That honor belongs only to Him, and Babylon’s presumption in taking that place is the reason they need to be humbled. By humbling themselves before God’s throne, His people follow the example Jesus gave at the wedding feast in verse 10 of the Luke 14 parable: “But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.” God will honor the humble.

By demonstrating power over entire nations in history, He has proven He has power over nations now and in the future. And if He has power over nations, He has power over whatever frustrations we have with the state of the world. He alone is on His throne.

So, if you are frustrated with the powerful and influential who puff themselves up in defiance of God, or if you wonder whether being humble is really a better alternative, remember:

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

For people as well as nations.

The Jesus of Love and Wrath

December 11, 2025Todd R 1 Comment

Some people talk about their willingness to accept the God of the New Testament, but not the God of the Old Testament, believing that the NT God, in the person of Jesus, is a God of love, but that the OT God is a God of wrath and judgement. However, there is plenty of God’s love in the Old Testament, and plenty of God’s wrath in the New, and all of these aspects are part of the character of Jesus Christ, who shows us a perfect image of God the Father. There aren’t two Gods, but all of His characteristics aren’t obvious at all times.

A good illustration comes from Luke 4:18-19, when Jesus announced His public ministry by quoting Isaiah 61:1-2a aloud in the synagogue on the Sabbath:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

After reading this, Jesus stopped and rolled up the scroll, and said to those assembled: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21)

Jesus announced here that He would be the one to overcome every form of poverty, captivity, blindness, and oppression. He would be a God of love. But some of those listening, especially the religious leaders, would have been familiar with the further context of what Jesus was quoting. Isaiah 61:2 reads, in full:

“to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn”

Jesus didn’t accidentally stop reading in the middle of the verse; He intentionally stopped reading right before a phrase on vengeance.

Isaiah was saying the Messiah would come to proclaim both God’s “favor” and “vengeance,” but why didn’t Jesus read the next part? The full verse shows Jesus as both a God of love, and of vengeance, but I think He left it out because the vengeance part was not being fulfilled “Today,” but later, which might have been a surprise to people based on their expectations of the Messiah.

Many expected a conquering Messiah that would overthrow Israel’s oppressors, which was Rome at the time. In contrast, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem shortly before his death was described in John 12:15:

“Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

The people were glad to celebrate Jesus’ arrival, but Jesus came to Jerusalem humbly with no intention of defeating Rome, much less conquering the entire world. Many Jews were disappointed in this peaceful Messiah, and this was part of the reason He was crucified. This image of love and humility was the Jesus of His first coming, proclaiming “the LORD’s favor” and offering peace to anyone who will have it. 2,000 years ago, Jesus was focused on winning the spiritual battle for souls.

But Jesus will not always arrive in peace. Later, in Revelation 19:11-16, Jesus is shown as the conqueror coming in vengeance:

“I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”

This time Jesus isn’t riding into the city on a donkey, but the image is similar with the expectation many had that the Messiah would be a conquering king. This is the Jesus of His second coming, but really the same Jesus just in different circumstances. Having won the spiritual battle on the cross, in the end He will be victorious in every way.

So, Jesus is a God of love, but He is also a God of wrath and vengeance. He spoke much of forgiveness during His time here 2,000 years ago, but he also spoke much about how God’s patience will eventually run out and He would come again in a much different way. He also tells us that if we know Him, we also know the Father, so the Father has the same aspects to His character as well.

What could this separation of Jesus’ mission into two parts mean for us today?

I think it means that the primary purpose of our witness before He comes again is “to proclaim the year of the LORD’S favor” in love. The church shouldn’t hide any parts of the character of Jesus, including His role as judge, but the mission of His church excludes taking vengeance, because He will take care of that Himself later. Love is the way we win the spiritual battle, the fight for men’s souls, and mirrors what Jesus emphasized during His first advent here.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:12 that the spiritual battle should be our focus: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

We don’t win this battle in wrath, pursuing vengeance on this world’s sinners (which is all of us). We win it by following the path He has laid out for us. In the end, He will be the judge of all.

The Savior Among Us

December 3, 2025November 30, 2025Todd R Leave a comment

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” – Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23

In the Gospel of Matthew, this verse from Isaiah is applied to our Lord Jesus. The name Immanuel means “God with us” and the name Jesus means “the Lord saves.” In these two names is a beautiful picture of salvation, which means a restoration to a life lived with God beginning imperfectly here on earth, but eventually perfectly in His paradise. Salvation and togetherness go together. What we are saved from is our inability to live with God because our sin and His justice were unreconciled until the cross.

Among Jesus’ last words on earth were His command to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Included in this is bringing the hope to the world that He brought to us by being present. God did not leave us alone but bore the cost of our reconciliation on Himself.

Today, be among those who need the hope God provides through the salvation He bought. His desire is to live among the world through us, calling His current and future people to live with Him.