Today’s Scripture Reading (October 9,
2013): 2 Chronicles 9
In the midst
of a shutdown of the United States Government because of a lack of agreement on
a budget is lost one small fact. The power that the Tea Party candidates has
been exerting on the nation as a whole is only theirs because of the debt of
the nation. I know, the comment seems obvious and grants the win to the Tea
Party, but the reality is that a lack of money (or in the case of most of the
advanced nations of the world – debt) implies a level of slavery. If we are in
debt we cannot do the things that we want to do. Debt, whether it is personal
or national, gives leverage to other people. As an independent person, if I
have debt then I am always in jeopardy of having my loan being recalled – and
because of that I am no longer in charge of my own future. The Tea Party has
made great use of that fact, attempting to enslave a nation to do what they
think is right – something that is only possible because of the debt of the
nation.
Israel
during the reign of David had already become a military power. David was a
great military strategist and he gathered around him generals who knew how to
wage war, and the result of David’s prowess was that the borders of Israel were
expanded and the neighboring nations were subdued. But Solomon was to be a
different kind of king. Solomon’s emphasis was to build economic alliances with
the nations and set Israel on the path to becoming an economic power house.
Because of Solomon’s wealth, he could afford to be the lender, giving more to
the nations that he was building alliances with than he received from them. In
truth, his father David had sought to enslave the nations through military
strength, Solomon was doing the same thing using monetary strength – and
finding that taming the nations economically reached far beyond the places
where Israel’s armies could reach.
Traditionally,
the middle section of the Book of Proverbs (Proverbs 10:1 to 22:16) is thought
to be the part of the Book of Proverbs most likely penned by Solomon himself.
If this is true, then late in this section Solomon includes what might have
been the basic philosophy after which he patterned his life - The
rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender – Proverb 22:7.
It seems that Solomon was determined to never become a slave, but he
knew deep down that he would not only need a strong army to keep that from
happening – he would also need to build an economy that made him the lender to
the nations, and not the borrower.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2
Chronicles 10
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