Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbour. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape. Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts. All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him (Proverbs 19:4-7.) These 4 verse seem repetitively intertwined, as if God is telling us they are intrinsically connected. Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbour. This much is obvious. When I was first in a wheelchair, first had problems with my left leg, I had 2 friends who helped me greatly. Once that distasteful episode ended, I didnt really see them again except accidentally (living in the same town, and all.) In other words, I have noticed this little rule literally fulfilled more than once in my life, as God has blessed me with poverty and the honest friendships that brings. I cant think how things would be that different if I had money because if I had money, Id be spending it on Gods things, not my neighbors or friends things (silly me, I always thought the point of friendships was time spent together, not money spent together.) Then God says, A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape. This is true, also: the false witness is a liar, someone who purports to tell the truth but knows he isnt. One of the great things about Christians being persecuted is how the persecution cleanses the church: we dont get the posers joining for appearance. As with my poverty, the churchs persecution clears out the deadwood, prunes the tree, and a holier people with sweeter fruit results to Gods glory. This verse, meanwhile, warns those who do join the church, or go about pretending to have joined, or purporting to have made their own church--in all 3 cases, theyre lying and GOD hears them, judges, and promises them theyll get what theyve earned. Any liar logically earns eternal solitude such that no one will hear their lies again. Theres a secondary connection in that many liars dont lie about religion, but politics, and the poor are the religion of politics. They are the pawns the polician purports to serve while abusing them for his or her own purposes (being re-elected.) One of many examples is raising the minimum wage. Logically, if the poor have more money, those selling raise their prices to get some of that money. The poor dont actually end up with more for their work, only bigger numbers. Thus, to our first two verses: the poor are not only abused, they are common fodder for the liar. Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts. Thru-out the Bible, gift is used as code for bribe. Many want the favor of those in charge (because money is involved) and the one spending money--whatever he or she is spending money on--is making friends exactly by spending money. This accurate description of human beings includes accurately describing law-breaking and moral corruption. NO ONE entreats the favor of the poor; the poor typically are the ones doing the entreating. Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me (Luke 18:5.) The judge wasnt going to do his job until this woman made clear the choice: do his job or be constantly annoyed. If he wanted to enjoy spending his bribes, he was going to have to do whatever was required to make this pesky poor go away, even if its justice. Thats what the poor put up with; thats how the poor get noticed. How bad is it for the poor? All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him. Fact is, I dont talk to my siblings that often. My youngest sister just called--shes as poor as I am. The others are relatively successful doing their own thing and Im the poor cousin proving blood is not thicker than water. I did try to contact my friends a couple of times but I never got a response. I would leave notes, phone messages, whatnot, but these turned out to not really be friends, were they? Or as one person I read noted upon being released from prison, I dont have friends, only acquaintances. Well, I have a very close friend who sticks closer than a brother. Thru Him, I have other friends who have become more reliable than those I used to know . . . who really turned out to be mere acquaintances. God forced me into the honest assessment, funny that. But be very careful about how you treat the poor because many of them will turn out to be Gods people, Jesus Christs disciples, and they could well end up having some eternal authority over you because of others temporal mistreatment of them now. Remember Joseph and his brothers. These 4 verses warn us to treat each human as our FELLOW HUMAN, not as poor or rich.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 18:09:52 +0000
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