Bible Synapse
Is wealth a blessing or a curse?
Hard question · Psalms, wisdom and the prophets · raised by 3 of the lists sceptics circulate
See the passages joined in the interactive mapThe passages
The man who fears the Lord is blessed; “wealth and riches shall be in his house”.
Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.
“The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.”
The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.
The writer prays for neither poverty nor riches, lest he forget God or steal.
Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
Jesus blesses the poor and pronounces woe on the rich, “for ye have received your consolation”.
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.
Those who want to be rich fall into temptation; the love of money is the root of all evil.
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
The rich are told not to trust in uncertain riches but to be rich in good works.
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
The objection
The Old Testament treats wealth as a blessing for those who fear God (Psalm 112:3) and calls the rich man’s wealth his strong city (Proverbs 10:15). Jesus says, “woe unto you that are rich!” (Luke 6:24), and Paul says the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Is wealth God’s reward or a danger to the soul?
The answer
The Bible says both, and the two fit: wealth is a good gift that is dangerous to love or to trust. Psalm 112 praises the God-fearing man whose house holds “wealth and riches”, and then says he gives freely to the poor (verse 9). Proverbs 10:15, like Ecclesiastes 10:19, is an observation rather than advice: money does shelter people in this world, and poverty does crush them. The same book warns that “Riches profit not in the day of wrath” (Proverbs 11:4) and prays for neither poverty nor riches (Proverbs 30:8–9).
The New Testament warns against the same things. Paul does not say that money is the root of all evil but “the love of money” (1 Timothy 6:10), and a few verses later he tells the rich, not to give up their wealth, but to stop trusting it and be “rich in good works” (6:17–18). Jesus’ woe in Luke 6:24 falls on the rich who “have received your consolation”, whose comfort is their wealth, as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus shows (Luke 16:19–31). Riches are a blessing when they come from God and are held loosely; they become a curse when they take God’s place.
From the classic commentators
people may have money, and yet not love it; but, if they love it inordinately, it will push them on to all evil.Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on 1 Timothy 6:10
Rich people think themselves happy because they are rich; but it is their mistakeMatthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, on Proverbs 10:15
Sources
- Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible: 1 Timothy 6, at Bible Hub
- Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible: Proverbs 10, at Bible Hub
- John Gill, Exposition of the Bible: Luke 6 (HelloAO)