Wednesday 22 September 2010
- Bible Book:
- Proverbs
"Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need, or I shall be full, and deny you, and say, 'Who is the Lord?' or I shall be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God." (v.8-9)
Background
The collection of sayings from which today's reading comes isascribed to Agur, a non-Israelite teacher of northern Arabia.Although hard to date, commentators suggest that this collection ofsayings (along with others attributed in the Proverbs to particularpeople) dates from before the exile to Babylon in 586 BC. The bookof Proverbs was probably not collected in the way we have it nowuntil the 3rd or 4th centuries before Christ, at which time editorsincluded these much older texts.
The collection may have been used in schools for educating theyouth of the higher echelons of society, but the material containsmuch teaching about the daily necessities and problems of communitylife: family, work, money, laziness, ambition, and dealing withconflict. The Proverbs as a whole are associated with King Solomonand his God-given wisdom (see
Although the particular request - 'Give me enough, but not toomuch' - of God is unique to this passage, this pragmatic approachto holy living is recognisable in many places from the Proverbs.The teacher here is very sophisticated in his understanding of hisown psychology. He might hope that he would have the moral fibre toresist the temptations of unlimited wealth, but he does notespecially want to find out. Nor does he want to put his faith inGod to the test of starvation either.
In Matthew 6:11 Jesus teaches that Christians should pray, "Give usthis day our daily bread", that is, enough to eat. Jesus does notteach against wealth or money in itself, but he does instructpeople not to hoard more than enough when others are in poverty. Aswith today's passage, holy living is not about disregardingmaterial needs, but giving them appropriate attention so that theydo not become a spiritual stumbling block.
To Ponder
Is inequality of wealth a problem for Christians,as long as everyone's needs for survival are met? Why?
What would you ask God for, in relation to yourwealth?
Would you make the same request to God in today'spassage, or ask for something different?