We are doing a series of posts on what the Bible says about living justly. We have talked about all humanity bearing the image of God and being given the dignity of work and the gift of rest. In this post we will build on these ideas and discuss what the Scriptures teach about the accumulation of wealth.
Our first passage is Exodus, chapter 16. I will include an excerpt:
16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each person needs to eat. You may take two quarts per individual, according to the number of people each of you has in his tent.’”17 So the Israelites did this. Some gathered a lot, some a little. 18 When they measured it by quarts, the person who gathered a lot had no surplus, and the person who gathered a little had no shortage. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat. 19 Moses said to them, “No one is to let any of it remain until morning.” 20 But they didn’t listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank. Therefore Moses was angry with them.
21 They gathered it every morning. Each gathered as much as he needed to eat, but when the sun grew hot, it melted. 22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much food, four quarts[d] apiece, and all the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He told them, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Tomorrow is a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil, and set aside everything left over to be kept until morning.’”
24 So they set it aside until morning as Moses commanded, and it didn’t stink or have maggots in it. 25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the Lord. Today you won’t find any in the field. 26 For six days you will gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will be none.”
Here in this passage we see God teaching His people a rhythm of work and rest. We discussed the rhythm of work and rest in the Ten Commandments in a previous post. In this passage in Exodus, God is instructing them to gather manna, in order to eat, but to only gather enough to sustain them that day. God clearly instructs them not to accumulate more than they need, regardless of how productive a gatherer they may be. The extra will just rot overnight! Conversely, the gatherers who are less skilled or less energetic also have enough. Somehow, God has miraculously worked through their gathering to provide enough for their daily need. I suspect this is a special situation, which may not have universal application to us today. However, it still has something to teach us.
In His provision of manna, God puts an impediment to pride and overwork, while also teaching dependence on Him. He thwarts the ability of the highly productive individuals to “get ahead” and continually accumulate more. This prevents them from getting to a point when they are no longer dependent on God’s daily provision, and erroneously think they are providing for themselves without His help. It also prevents overwork. Since “working overtime” has no cumulative value for those tempted to be “workaholics,” the daily Manna rhythm leaves time for other daily rhythms, like worship, family time, neighbor time and rest.
But the genius of the provision of manna also instructs in the other direction – the temptation to laziness. All Israel had to gather daily, in order to eat. The daily need to gather prevents laziness both among the productive and the lazy. The productive gatherers are prevented from gradually having to work fewer and fewer days because they have already amassed enough. In contrast, the less productive gatherers are forced to work every day because without gathering their food they will not eat. So in the monotonous daily provision of manna to His people, He teaches daily faithfulness BOTH to work as a way of daily practice AND to trust God for the provision of needs, both present and future.
Now the Bible isn’t against storing up for the future. This is an illustration of why it is important not to look at one verse or passage in isolation from the rest of Scripture. The ant in Proverbs 6:6-11 teaches something about storing up for the future, specifically for the season when there will be nothing to gather:
Go to the ant, you slacker!
Observe its ways and become wise.
Without leader, administrator, or ruler,
it prepares its provisions in summer;
it gathers its food during harvest.
How long will you stay in bed, you slacker?
When will you get up from your sleep?
A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the arms to rest,
and your poverty will come like a robber,
your need, like a bandit.
Clearly, this passage cites laziness and poor foresight of future need as a cause of poverty, and gives validity to saving for the future. But perhaps we need to hear both lessons, and not just the one we prefer, depending on whether we love to work and plan for the future excessively or love to “live in the moment!” Exodus 16 teaches us to always remember in our work that God is our provider and He knows our future needs well. We are to rely on Him, and not our own effort, even as we obediently work according to a humane rhythm which He teaches. And the Proverbs passage teaches us to save for the future, knowing that there are seasons of great productivity and other seasons of greater need and lesser productivity.
In both of these passages we can see God’s care for each of his people whether they are talented at work or not. It is true we are commanded to work. In the New Testament, there is a verse which says, “If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat!” (2 Thessalonians 3:10) Work is mandatory for all who are able. However, in our work we are to always rely on God as our provider while also using the wisdom He gives us to steward our resources carefully.
I will close with this thought. If God is compassionate, and He provides for his people sufficient food daily, whether they are talented workers or less able workers, should we not also be compassionate? I want to “lean” in the direction of compassion, rather than merit. Yes, humans were made to work, like our ever-working God. But that is not the whole story. Let’s help our fellow humans have opportunity to work and opportunity to rest, and let’s also provide compassionately for the shortfall of what they need.