THE ECONOMIC FUTURE AND CORRUPTION OF MAN

The economic future and corruption of man

The Apostle James starts out by writing to his readers that you are rejoicing in your boasting but this is evil. I think James was trying to describe arrogance.

Then the Apostle turns to a different subject and defines what sin is to his readers. In laymen's terms he says if we know to do good and do not engage in this practice then it is sin.

James goes into a different subject by writing specifically to rich men and telling them to weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you because your money is corrupted and your garments are motheaten. He seems to get more specific by saying your gold and silver is cankered and the rust of them will be a witness against them. At this point he seems to get poetic in a dark way by saying this will eat your flesh as fire. He faces them with the reality of what they were doing which was heaping up treasure together for the last days.

Although this has practical application for their day it is also talking about a severe financial crash in the first year of the future seven year tribulation period. The corresponding verse to collaborate what I am saying is (6) "And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine." Revelation 6:6.

There might be areas of the world before the future great day of wrath where financial meltdowns happen but the big one happens after the rapture of the church and around the start of Jacob's trouble. There could also be a mini worldwide crash but let us face facts because we have seen this happen before in past history. Once again at the risk of repeating myself if this does happen it will be nothing in comparison to what James chapter five and Revelation chapter six are describing for the future after the antichrist confirms the 7 year peace covenant which starts the seven year tribulation period.

I do not pretend to know every detail of what the prophetic word of God says of the future economy but I will do my best to get as specific as I can regarding this subject; however, I can tell you that commercials for the RFID chip have aired for animals and they seem to be making a joke out of the whole thing by explaining what technology they can use on the animal. I also find it interesting that most financial counselors that I have spoken to know virtually nothing about this subject. 

Many people ask is the financial crash going to be like 1929 where everybody loses all their money. According to the Bible the answer is no. (16) "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads." Revelation 13:16. Notice the rich and poor are still living in the same existence on earth. Another widely asked question is will gold have any worth at that future time frame in history. The implication in James 5: 1 - 3 is no but I am not one hundred percent positive on that answer. What good is gold if there is no food on the shelves?

If you are a billionaire and say no to the mark then keep in mind you will not be able to get access to your money. Many people that choose this option will face prison. Just because a person does not take the mark does not in and of itself make them right with God. This individual would still have to accept Jesus Christ into his or her heart. If you say yes to the mark then you forfeit your soul for all eternity. (9) "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand (10) The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb." Revelation 14: 9 - 10.

It is my guess that some countries will reluctantly agree to this because they will be sucked in like a vacuum and as a result just like the Bible teaches the whole world will have to participate in this horrible future time period. This will be worldwide and probably around the time that the leaders of this earth start enforcing the mark of the beast which is a chip that gets inserted in the right hand or the forehead after the rapture of the church and the start of the seven year tribulation period.

The Bible talks about this in Revelation chapters 13, 14 and 20. The word of God warns us not to receive this mark for buying and selling purposes. If an individual does he or she will not go to heaven. I would urge people to receive salvation through Jesus Christ now so they can go up in the rapture and escape these horrible things but let me quote the original text so you can read the passage and perhaps make reference to it in this particular study of the Bible.

(16) "But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. (17) Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." James 4: 16 - 17.

(1) "Go to now, ye rich man, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. (2) Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. (3) Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days." James 5:1 - 3.

We as Christians are told to avoid vain boasting. They clearly desired a life with prosperity and the great things in this world without any regard for God but to add insult to injury these people were boasting of their lifestyle. James called this evil because it is foolish in the eyes of God.

Let me give you an example of true rejoicing in Jesus Christ. All our time is in His hands and our circumstances are at His disposal but with a devotion that Jesus Christ is our God. We rejoice in Him, not our vain confidence or our presumptuous attitudes that the world can not even guarantee us tomorrow for our riches or our life. By the way all this comes out so we will be able to tell if arrogance or true rejoicing in the Lord is inside of us or another person.

We are taught to have strong convictions based on what our knowledge is from the Bible. We should be careful of coming across to strong but remember if we do not stand on the promises of God we will stand for nothing.

The worst witness a person can do is when he or she sins against his or her own conscience. It is actually so simple because if a person knows the good he or she should be doing before God then the answer should be obvious. If a Christian fails to do it then not only will the conscience be pricked but God may apply more pressure on His child's life. On the other hand if a person does evil and knows that he or she should not be engaging in this sin then repentance would be the wisest course of action. One of my biggest fears for Christians is that they will fall into either a lifestyle of sin or a consistency of not doing what is right such as growing cold to a hungry person and not even caring. Both are dangerous and has the ability of kindling the anger of God. It is not easy doing right or resisting wrong but it is necessary to have true obedience and faith to Jesus Christ.

In James chapter five the Apostle starts out by writing to sinners and then Christians. James starts out by writing woe unto you that are rich for you have received your consolation. What was happening in that day was the poor Jewish people were accepting Jesus Christ into their hearts as their personal Savior but the rich rejected Christianity and they were persecuting believers in Jesus Christ. It is one thing to be rich and reject the Lord but it is far more evil to take it one step farther and make Christians suffer because of their wealth.

The Apostle James foretells that God will invoke on them by saying they will have miseries come upon them but it will be directly associated with what made them happy. They were eating, drinking and being merry but God wanted them to weep and howl. They were living like beasts but they should have been howling like an animal. The Apostle clearly writes that corruption, decay, rust and ruin would come on your wealth. Remember they were not just rich but were persecuting Christians because power corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely. If you have something that has worth to you and Jesus Christ is not in the center --- say goodbye. God judged them and it was worth nothing. In essence James was saying in verse three your treasures of wealth will become treasures of wrath. Their sins became their miseries. Their sin was covetousness but they took it to the next step in making Christians suffer through a persecution.

The only reason God gives us worldly possessions is to honor Him and to do good with our money for Him but hoarding for our own security will never save us because only Jesus Christ can redeem our sins. If we accumulate riches for selfish reasons it will be a witness against us but if we understand that everything we own is the possession of God then we as Christians will determine in our hearts that we will be good managers for Jesus Christ. If a wealthy person takes his or her power to a point that persecution against believers in Jesus Christ is happening then multiple judgments will be placed on him or her and these people will have to bear a very heavy burden of punishment from the Son of God.

If you do not know the Lord in a personal way whether you are poor or wealthy now may be a good time to accept Jesus Christ as your very own personal Savior and Lord by repenting of all your sins and inviting the Son of God into your life. Everything we have God owns but it all boils down to our response to Jesus Christ in that we should desire to honor, glorify and be profitable for Him. This passage should show us that we can lose everything especially if glory is in our riches. We were created to honor and glorify God through His Son Jesus Christ in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

God Bless you,

Bob D.