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Chapter One The Root of All Evil |
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“For the love of money is the root of all evil...” 2 Tim. 6:10
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The essence of original sin is hotly contested throughout religious circles today, and greater theologians than I have generated a host of convincing studies to prove their thesis. However, if we hold to the biblical truth that the love of money is the root of all evil, then the first and original sin ever committed in God’s Kingdom had to have been associated in some way to the quest for riches. The love of money is simply the lust for material possessions, which money is used to obtain. It lives and breeds in the business arena and has been the root source of evil from the first time that unrighteousness was found among the heavenly host. This takes us back to when and why sin was first found in Lucifer. The prophet Isaiah describes Lucifer as being so filled with pride that he attempted to raise himself above the stars of heaven and become like (equal with) God (Is. 14:12-14). This produced his violent attempt to overthrow God’s throne, which cost him his position as the covering cherub (guardian angel) of the garden and resulted in his fall. This act of pride is what established the biblical principle, “...pride goes before destruction...”(Proverbs 16:18) and has become what some consider to be Satan’s original sin. However, I submit to you that if “the love of money is the root of all evil,” then there had to be an earlier root sin in Satan, more vile than his pride, that was manifested as an unrighteous desire to accumulate riches.
Lucifer’s Original Sin
In Ezekiel 28:14-16, the prophet explains how Lucifer’s abundance of trade caused iniquity to be found in him, which led him to commit the first sin:
“You [Lucifer] were in Eden, the garden of God... You were the anointed cherub [archangel] who covers, and I [God] placed you there.... You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you. By the abundance of your trade [merchandise and business], you were internally filled with violence and you sinned...”
There are a lot of things happening in this passage of Scripture. First, it would appear that before his attempted coup against Jehovah (YHVH), Lucifer was involved in an abundance of business and trade that was being transacted in the Kingdom of Heaven. It would also appear that original sin was birthed in Lucifer while he was in the midst of those business activities. This abundant volume of trade filled Lucifer with so much violence that he actually launched a frontal assault against Jehovah to get more. Can you imagine anyone trying anything so foolish? This appears to be the first example of how the lust for money and material possession can drive anyone to believe that they don’t have to obey God’s word.
Vanity and Pride Enter Lucifer
Ezekiel goes on to point out how Lucifer’s lust for financial abundance, combined with his physical beauty, produced a vanity that corrupted his God-given wisdom:
“Your heart was lifted up [in pride] because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor...” (vs. 17, emphasis added)
Lucifer’s financial prowess caused him to focus on his own beauty instead of the beauty of the Lord. This produced vanity in him, which seduced him into believing that he was even more beautiful than God. This is why the wicked rich are referred to as “the beautiful people” whether they are or not. At this point, by reason of his splendor, Lucifer became wise in his own his own eyes and the sin of pride manifested in him. Pride has always been the danger surrounding the deceitfulness of riches. The richer a person becomes, the more pride rises up and causes them to think that they are the source of their wealth instead of Jehovah God. Moses points out that when this happens, they become delusional to the point where they walk away from obeying God’s commandments:
“When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the land which He has given you. ‘Beware least you forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinance and His statutes which I am commanding you today; Least, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and built good houses and lived in them and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, Then your heart becomes proud, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt [saved you], out of the house of slavery [prospered you]. (Deut. 8:10-14, emphasis added)
This is exactly what happened to Lucifer. His love for and accumulation of material possessions caused vanity and pride to rise up in him. The combination of abundant wealth, vanity and pride deceived Lucifer into believing that he was like (equal with), which deceived him into believing that he could conduct business contrary to the laws of God.
Unrighteous Trade
Once Lucifer came to believe that he was Jehovah’s equal, he lost his submission to God and began to make up his own rules. It was here that he began to operate according to his own unrighteous standards when conducting his business affairs. In verse 18, Ezekiel says:
“By the multitude of your iniquity, in the unrighteousness of your trade, you profaned your sanctuaries...”
Lucifer’s abundant trade produced the root sin of lust to obtain wealth faster than righteous trading would allow. So he began to implement dishonest business practices that he used to cheat his trading partners. This ended his ministry as the covering Cherub, and God expelled him from the kingdom and its business affairs. In doing so, Jehovah clearly established that dishonest trade would not be tolerated anywhere in His Kingdom. At this point, Lucifer became his own god, who is now “the god of this world”( 1 Cor. 4:4). Lucifer became Satan and began to follow the leading of his own spirit, which is “the spirit of the world” (1 Cor. 2:12), and began to build his own kingdom, which is “the kingdom of this world” (Matt. 4:8; Rev. 11:15).
God’s Enterprising Nature
To some, the thought that there were business activities in God’s kingdom before the fall is unsettling. However, it’s important for us to understand that God’s very nature is about creating wealth through enterprise. His best example of this is the creation itself, where He built His greatest enterprise ever. Within that labor, God made man in His own image and likeness. It was here that God imparted to man His own work ethic of honesty and integrity. Then, He put man in the garden where he could exercise that work ethic:
“Then God took man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work and to take care of it.” (Genesis 2:15 NIV, emphasis added)
It’s also important to note that Jehovah rested on the seventh day, which set the heavenly pattern of six days on and one day off that creation still follows down to this very day. Since wealth is created when man applies labor to natural resources, Adam’s work in the garden was actually man’s first wealth producing enterprise on the earth. In that sense, the garden became man’s first market place, which God created to operate according to the righteous standards of His kingdom. Standards that reflected His image and character. God’s character, in this pure and undefiled market place, was one of servanthood. It was a place where true service to one another was the only motivation for being in business. This produced a continuous flow of wealth, because it required wealth to serve in the market place. As Adam worked the garden, it was God who gave him “the power to create wealth” (Deut. 8:18). This prospered through the work of his hands to the Lord’s delight; because “God delights in the prosperity of His servants” (Ps. 35:27). It was heaven on earth, especially as it related to business endeavors.
Man’s Original Sin
Tragically, Adam and Eve allowed themselves to be seduced by the god of this world. It was clear that Satan’s plan was to tempt Adam and Eve with the same sin that had so easily beset him. After all, if it worked on him, it was sure to work on them:
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and the tree desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” (Genesis 3:6, KJV)
Here, we see that the same three things that seduced Lucifer also seduced Adam and Eve: 1) The lust of the flesh: They saw that the abundant fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was good for food ¾ i.e., it produced a lust in their flesh for more than what God provided. 2) The lust of the eyes: It was pleasant to their eyes, which produced a lust in their eyes that only having more of its fruit would satisfy. This is known in the God’s kingdom as having an “evil eye” (Pr. 28:22). 3) The pride of life: This lust caused them to become wise in their own eyes, which produced a pride that led them to believe they could become like (equal with) God.
Man’s Fallen Nature
When this happened, there was an infusion of the root of all evil that caused man’s love for God to be replaced with a love for riches and the things of this world. This produced a painful change in man’s very nature, where he went from being an uncorrupted and imperishable man to a corrupt and perishable sinner. He went from being filled with God’s Holy Spirit, to being filled with Satan’s “spirit of the world.” This began the war between the kingdom of heaven led by God, and the kingdom of this world led by Satan. One conducts its business affairs according to God’s nature of righteousness, while the other conducts its business affairs according to Satan’s nature of unrighteousness. It’s the age-old battle between good and evil, and the largest battlefield centers on money and trade. And just like in the garden, man is right in the middle of it trying to decide which tree to eat from. The Apostle John puts it all together, when he warns us not to follow the lusts that are in the world:
“Do not love the world, nor the things of this of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.” (1 John 2:15-16, emphasis added)
Unfortunately, this warning has gone largely unheeded by Adam’s descendants, and unregenerate man has been seduced with the same love of money and riches that Lucifer seduced him with in the garden. As a result, Satan has been able to systematically lead modern man into establishing an international financial network that conducts his brand of unrighteous trade through a worldwide system of dishonest scales - End Chapter.
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The remaining chapters explain the satanic mystery behind the worldwide system of dishonest scales and teaches you how to come out from under its control and prosper on a practical level. |
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