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I am spending a few lessons on the topic of gold because so much trust has been placed on it. From the governments of the world for their economic stability to the individual seeking to have a solid financial security for the future, gold has been the ch
oice of many.
The Old Testament role was quite straight forward. Gold served as money or adornment. Corruption certainly existed during Bible day. For example, people would shave gold coins, until they ended up as little more than nubs. Still gold remained and its value was not systematically destroyed nor manipulated through a financial money system. The time of King Solomon was known as the Golden Age of Israel. Solomon had lots of gold, in fact earning over 600 talents of gold per year and more.
We have seen what gold has done over the years of history since the birthing of the church. This history according to Acts chapter 2 is known as the period of “the last days”. Gold prices have climbed and fallen. However, it is the use and value of gold during the Tribulation period which should interest us. The Bible seems to suggest that gold holdings will be of little help at that time.
Ezekiel 7:19 ESV They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity.
People will continue to hold on to their materialistic idolatries and corrupt financial systems despite terrible times of crisis and tribulation.
Revelation 9:20-21 ESV The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, (21) nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
In Rev.6:6 we that it will take a full days wage to buy some grain for bread. I would like to share a story from the internet about a grandmother in Germany telling her grandson about a time between WWI and WWII.
Revelation 6:6 ESV And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!"
ONE MAN’S STORY:
As a little boy I used to ask my grandmother to tell me stories of her life as a young girl in Germany. She was always reluctant to talk about it, but I was usually able to coax something out of her. I didn’t understand until I was much older, but her reluctance was a result of the pain those memories caused. One of the stories that she would tell took place after the First World War.
Germany lost and, in so doing, agreed to the Treaty of Versailles. In addition to the loss of geographical territory, the German Weimar Republic was forced to pay enormous sums in reparations. In essence, the Germans had to pay for all of the damage done in the war. Germany did not have the financial means to pay these damages and their solution was to just print money.
As this new money moved into circulation the impact was devastating to the German economy. The inflation rate was absolutely staggering. A few years after the end of the war the German economy had an inflation rate in excess of 300% per month! The economy had essentially collapsed and the country was experiencing a depression of enormous proportions. This set the stage for the rise of the Nazi party several years later.
Which brings us back to my grandmother’s story. She would tell me how her father and brothers, all coal miners, would get paid twice a day. The currency was devaluing so fast that it needed to be spent as fast as it was earned. My grandmother told of collecting the money and going shopping for food.
The grocers didn’t even bother counting the money. They just estimated the amount by how large the stack was. A loaf of bread could be purchased for two bags of money in the morning, by the afternoon the price might be three bags. The currency had so little value that people would burn it in their stoves for heat because wood had more value than the money.
The reason I share this is because many people everywhere will be starving, and money and gold will be worthless compared to a scrap of bread.
oice of many.
The Old Testament role was quite straight forward. Gold served as money or adornment. Corruption certainly existed during Bible day. For example, people would shave gold coins, until they ended up as little more than nubs. Still gold remained and its value was not systematically destroyed nor manipulated through a financial money system. The time of King Solomon was known as the Golden Age of Israel. Solomon had lots of gold, in fact earning over 600 talents of gold per year and more.
We have seen what gold has done over the years of history since the birthing of the church. This history according to Acts chapter 2 is known as the period of “the last days”. Gold prices have climbed and fallen. However, it is the use and value of gold during the Tribulation period which should interest us. The Bible seems to suggest that gold holdings will be of little help at that time.
Ezekiel 7:19 ESV They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity.
People will continue to hold on to their materialistic idolatries and corrupt financial systems despite terrible times of crisis and tribulation.
Revelation 9:20-21 ESV The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, (21) nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
In Rev.6:6 we that it will take a full days wage to buy some grain for bread. I would like to share a story from the internet about a grandmother in Germany telling her grandson about a time between WWI and WWII.
Revelation 6:6 ESV And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!"
ONE MAN’S STORY:
As a little boy I used to ask my grandmother to tell me stories of her life as a young girl in Germany. She was always reluctant to talk about it, but I was usually able to coax something out of her. I didn’t understand until I was much older, but her reluctance was a result of the pain those memories caused. One of the stories that she would tell took place after the First World War.
Germany lost and, in so doing, agreed to the Treaty of Versailles. In addition to the loss of geographical territory, the German Weimar Republic was forced to pay enormous sums in reparations. In essence, the Germans had to pay for all of the damage done in the war. Germany did not have the financial means to pay these damages and their solution was to just print money.
As this new money moved into circulation the impact was devastating to the German economy. The inflation rate was absolutely staggering. A few years after the end of the war the German economy had an inflation rate in excess of 300% per month! The economy had essentially collapsed and the country was experiencing a depression of enormous proportions. This set the stage for the rise of the Nazi party several years later.
Which brings us back to my grandmother’s story. She would tell me how her father and brothers, all coal miners, would get paid twice a day. The currency was devaluing so fast that it needed to be spent as fast as it was earned. My grandmother told of collecting the money and going shopping for food.
The grocers didn’t even bother counting the money. They just estimated the amount by how large the stack was. A loaf of bread could be purchased for two bags of money in the morning, by the afternoon the price might be three bags. The currency had so little value that people would burn it in their stoves for heat because wood had more value than the money.
The reason I share this is because many people everywhere will be starving, and money and gold will be worthless compared to a scrap of bread.
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