Written By Joanie Stahl
First let’s keep always in mind that God has to be the springboard for all the questions sought and investigations pertaining to Him. If He initiated it then our perspective must rely on the authority and authenticity of the whole canon of scripture, it’s Author and Teacher.. Also remember when God proclaims in Job 41:11, “For who hast first given to Him that he must repay Him: for everything under the whole heaven is mine.”
These next two verses is where I will build a foundation on that will establish the premise of this discussion.
“The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine, declares the Lord almighty.” Haggai 2:8.
“Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son..” Ezekiel 18:4.
When He declares that everything is His,that means everything. Period. We understand that God is all power. For God hath spoken once, twice have I heard this, that power belongeth unto God.” Psalm 62:11. And “For ALL power (authority) hath been given unto Me in heaven and on upon earth.” Matthew 28:18. And if He wants anyone to give the most precious, valuable items away, He knows how to move people or peoples to do it. “When once the Lord hast spoken who can let it?” For a physical purpose I will begin.
God knew that the Jews were slaves. They were being freed not just to go out and begin a new existence and go on from there. In the wilderness when God’s presence manifested upon Mt. Sinai, “When the mountain was all on smoke and fire, and that no animal might draw near less they be thrust threw with a dart or stoned,” also says in Hebrews even “Moses quaked.” The people begged Moses not to hear the powerful voice of God any longer. They could not bear it any more.. So consequently, God said they chose a good thing, and that He would no longer speak to them any longer but only to Moses, and through Moses to the people as His representative.
God understood that He had a nation of people who lived for 400 years plus in an idolatrous, polytheistic culture. So knowing his, the silver and the gold that was plundered from the Egyptians was for the future building of the temple and the articles of if. It was also a prophecy regarding even the future Laodicean Period where the Lord commands us “to buy from the Lord gold tried in the fire that we may be rich.” Revelation 3:18. So this is a spiritual addendum. The silver represents the Levitical Priesthood,Malachi 3:3, while the gold represents Kingship
.Revelation 19:12-13.
This was also future.and still is and always will be. Also, it is indicative of future nations “bringing precious gifts” to the Lord in the Millennial Set-up. A fantastic indepth study in Ezekiel chapters 43 through 46 is well worth it.
The obvious is the fact that their Messiah would “spring forth out of Judah, a tribe of which Moses made no mention.” Hebrews 7:14. And is not Jesus Christ King/Priest? And will not He out of His life set us up to become “Kings and Priests unto God by the Blood of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 1:5-6.
Never forget what the High Priests garments were made of. Fine twined linen. And out of a thin plate of pure gold was beaten very thin threads which were woven in to their garments. And out of a plate of pure gold was the Golden Mitre hand crafted, which had the words HOLY TO THE LORD engraved upon it. Ezekiel chapter 28.
The scripture in Revelation where John “in the spirit on the Lord’s day” said he saw the Lord in His second phase of his three-fold profession. He came first a Prophet, Now as The Great High Priest, and future,as King of kings and Lord of lords.”. Revelation 19:12:13.
John said “And I turned to see the voice of Him that spoke unto me, and being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the candlesticks, one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot and girt about the paps with a golden girdle….”Revelation 1:12-13.So here we see the Lord Jesus Christ in His office as The Great High Priest.
Like I always espouse, God has maintained a righteous line in the earth, as well as Satan who also maintains an ongoing wicked line. God began His meticulous geneologies beginning in Genesis Chapter 5. and carries all the way through to the first advent of Jesus Christ’s birth which Matthew traces all the way back to the lineage of David, while Luke traces Jesus lineage all the way back to Adam.See Matthew 1:16 and Luke 3:23-38.
Satan wasted no time in doing a gold grab. He knew that it was not only the most superior and valuable of all metals. “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of this world.” 1 John 2:16. This was, and still is the three-fold use of man in his sinful state by Satan. The same ongoing things he used by our foremother Eve. So from the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, The knowledge of gold being the most precious and revered metals did Satan impress on mankind., Satan quickly implemented to relish upon images and paganistic embellishments gold and silver adornments.. “The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands…” Psalm 135:18.
It is embedded in all humanity to know that there is something more than what the eye can see. That there is more than this life. There is an untold awareness of a spiritual world. “For God has set eternity in the hearts of man that they may not know what is after them.(yet).” Ecclesiastes 3:11. The Mystery of Godliness has not as that time been revealed. Which is Jesus Christ made manifest in the flesh. 1 Timothy 3:16.
If we look at relics from Egyptian antiquity, was not everything encased in gold or made out of pure gold? This made the citizens, the poor citizens of that nation look at the pharaohs as what they claimed to be. That is deified. So this was in the mind of the Jews in their post-exilic pilgrimage.
Yet in this post-modern era, the demand and love of gold has only increased. Most especially since we see that all the world’s economies are crashing. Governments such as Russian and China are the massive horders.
Now back to the Jews in the wilderness.
So since the people no longer wanted to hear from God any longer, God had to immediately do the next thing. That is establish a local centralized place of worship. Because they were still ingrained with idolatry. We see this in Exodus chapter 32 when they thought Moses was not coming back from Mt. Sinai when receiving the 10 Commandments. They cast in all their gold from the Egyptians, the earrings and bracelets etc as Aaron said to Moses, “The people threw their gold into the fire and out came this calf (Bull).”
So what was meant for the Temple’s beginnings were used by the enemy to reproduce one of the principle deities of Egypt, to ensnare them spiritually, even though in the desert, to get them to return to worshiping Satan through this object. Never forget, Satan wants worship as God anyway he can attain it.
That is why later God had the Israelites in the Book of Joshua, after they won battles with the seven heathen nations, plunder all their gold and silver. He had to gather it now by the forces of war instead of the nations just handing it over to them. And the gold and silver was for Solomon’s Temple as King David in his last address to the people declared that he had laid up all these spoils of gold and silver with out weight and measurements for Solomon his son to build the Temple.
We know again the enemy worked at an instant fever pitch to bring down Solomon and eventually the loss of 10 kingdoms to the eventual destruction of the Temple and the plundering of all the gold and sliver under the command of Nebuzzeradan by the Babylonian armies. We see what happens later to Balshazzar in Daniel chapter 5 when he and his worthless revelers drank of the golden vessels of the Temple.
The fact that Jesus is now “counseling us” to buy for ourselves gold tried in the fire that we may be rich,” has everything to do with our bodies being the eternal dwelling places of the Triune God-head by the Holy Spirit forever.
I was just reading in Revelation 21:19-21, in the outward and inward tour of the Heavenly City where it says, “And the building of the wall of it was of jasper, and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones……….And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, every several gate was of one pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” So we see that gold according to the Lord is not something we gather here. We leave it here. There is a different, precious, eternal, glorious gold.
Also look at 1 Corinthian 3:11:15, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble: every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day (Bema Seat Judgment), shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire: and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
We are also to gather our riches in heaven where no rust, moth or thief can rob, eat away or destroy. James 5:1-3, renders an indictment for those that gather gold and silver as their personal earthly treasure who miss the mark of the “true riches.” Listen, “Go to now, ye rich man, weep and howl for your miseries, that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth eaten. 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.”
That is why in the address to the Laodiceans, Jesus says, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel to buy of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich…” Revelation 3:17-18.
Also, Solomon says, “Buy the truth and sell it not, also knowledge and understanding.” And one more in Proverbs 24: 3-4, “Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.” So we also know that it is good to have gold and silver in a proper perspective of earthly intelligent preparation for the future as investment. But that is all.
The fact the Antichrist honors a god whom his fathers do not know with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things, (Daniel 11:37-38), makes more sense. For this is an honoring of a “strange god, a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers knew not,” as an act of worship. Giving up of what is most costly as a sacrifice.
But the gold and silver brought by the Magi at Christ’s birth was a gift from the heathen nation of Babylon was more than a gift. It was an act of worship from the Magi who were off shoots of Daniel’s faith. Men who carried on with Daniel’s traditions. Jews who were looking for the Star of Jacob. Being in Babylon they learned the art of astronomy.. So as I mentioned, the giving of the gold and silver in honor to the Antichrist is more of an act of worship to the counterfeit messiah. The false prophet, priest and king’s three ring circus.
Our command from the Lord is to be rich toward Him, that our lives do not consist in the things that we possess. Our treasures are in heaven, and the gold that He counsels us to buy are wholly taken up in His doctrines that relate to common life.
To renounce the world,and to differ in every temper and way of life, from the spirit and the way of this present evil age: to renounce all it’s goods, to fear none of it’s evils, to reject it’s false joys, and have no value for it’s temporary happiness. To be as new-born babes, that are born into a new state of things: to live as strangers and pilgrims in spiritual fastings and watchings, in holy fear, and a heavenly aspiring after another life. To take up our daily cross, to deny ourselves, to profess the blessedness of mourning, to seek the blessedness of poverty, but not poverty of spirit. to forsake the pride and vanity of earthly riches. To take no thought for tomorrow and to live in the most profoundest state of humility.
To rejoice in worldly sufferings, to reject the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. To bear injuries, To forgive and bless our enemies. And to love mankind as God loves them. To give up our whole hearts and affections to God, and to strive to enter through the strait gate into a life of eternal glory.
And lastly, to care for our souls while we sojourn here on earth. To nourish it with good works, to give it peace in solitude, get it strength in prayer, make it wise with reading, enlighten it by meditation. Make it tender with love, sweeten it with humility, humble it with seeking the good of others before ourselves. To enliven it with Psalms and hymns and spiritual melodies in our hearts, and comfort it with frequent reflections upon the future glories that await us.
All these things are the gold that we are counseled to purchase from Him.”For we have brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we will carry nothing out.” That is what we we consider more valuable here, than what Christ died in order for us to receive. The “Reward of our Inheritance.”
So keep in the presence of God, and teach your souls to imitate, in a sense, those Guardian Angels, which though they attend on human affairs, and the lowest of mankind, “yet always do behold the face of our Father which is in heaven” Matthew 18:10.
*Editors Footnote: While we at A Minute To Midnite do believe in the role of gold & silver as being God’s truest form of currency on this earth, Joanie’s article here should be a great reminder to us all that ultimately we should not be seeking to lay up our treasure here on this earth and for this life, for if that is our pursuit then we are missing the boat entirely. I believe that she does a great job of bringing balance here. Nothing on this earth should become an idol for us. Anything that God does bless us with should be seen as a means that can be used to further His kingdom. If acquiring wealth becomes an end in itself, then surely it is a person’s idol and is therefore a stumbling block. I have never yet heard a preacher in this age of the “prosperity gospel” espouse the following scripture as something to aspire to, and yet the great man the Apostle Paul was the one who wrote it. He knew where hi true treasure was laid up!
“Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked and buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace:”
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