Economics and Bible Study: A Way to Calm Economic Stress
Dinner Topics for Monday
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| Elijah and the Widow |
Unemployment continues to rise; people
despair of finding jobs. We all see the gloomy forecast before us continually.
It is not easy to keep from being oppressed by fear. But this is not the first
economic depression in history. How did people handle it in the past?
As always, we can look to history
and gain understanding for our present circumstances. In this case, Biblical
history is very enlightening. The first example is the story of Elijah and the
widow of Zarephath. Because of Israel’s wickedness, God had sent a great
drought upon the land.
When Elijah entered Zarephath, he
saw a woman gathering sticks and asked her to bring him water. While she was at
it, he asked her to bring him bread.
Sadly she told him that all she had
was a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a cruse. She was
preparing a small fire that she might make one small cake. She and her son
would then eat that last cake, and die of starvation.
Elijah told her not to fear, and to
go ahead and make him a cake first. He promised her that God would bless her,
so that the barrel of meal would not waste, and the cruse of oil would not fail
until rain came again upon the land. She did so, and as promised, the meal and
oil were sufficient, and she and her son were sustained.
The widow acted in faith, and she
was blessed, miraculously.
When I read this story recently, it
reminded me of a time several years ago when a leader in my church made us a promise:
if we would faithfully pay our tithings and offerings (generous offerings to
the poor), we would always have enough. I have always found that to be true.
But that leader’s words were not his alone; rather they are a promise from God,
as seen in the next example, where the Lord is speaking to the people through
His prophet, Malachi.
Malachi told the people they had
robbed God. How? They had robbed God in tithes and offerings; therefore the
whole nation was cursed. Note that when the people withheld their tithes and
offerings, their whole nation was
condemned.
Dallin H.
Oaks observed, on the other hand, that when many citizens of a nation
faithfully pay their tithes, they “summon the blessings of heaven upon their
entire nation.”
Note
the marvelous promises God gave to Israel if they would but give Him the mere
tenth that is His. He challenged the people to bring their tithes to the
church, and watch his promise be fulfilled. Just watch me, God said, and see
how I will “open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there
shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the
devourer for your sakes.”
What can we learn from these moments
in history? Has this nation robbed God? How much of this economic downturn is
due to consequences of unwise choices made by many people? Blessings are the
result of obedience to the laws upon which they are predicated.
“Return unto me, and I will return
unto you,” God told the people. When the people of a nation turn from
selfishness and entitlement, and once again honor the Giver of the blessings
they seek, He “returns” unto them, abundantly. Moses told the nation to “Look
to God and live.”
Generations, now, have not been
taught these epic stories, so the nation as a whole is being forced to learn
things the hard way. The wrongs will not be righted quickly.
In the meantime, we as individuals
can do something about it. Tithes and offerings will protect us and the fruits
of our labors from the devourer. If we look to God, we need not fear, for we
will be blessed.
Copyright © 2010 by Christine Davidson
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