Nearing Midnight: Our Faith Based Monetary System – Todd Strandberg –
The Bible has a great deal to say about the subject of money. With over 250 verses about money, the Word of God shows how it influences nearly every facet of our lives. The apostle Paul warned in 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”
Our leaders in Washington DC have been locked in an endless debate over what to do about our nation’s federal debt. After weeks of name calling, the White House and Congress are working toward a solution that would kick the can down the road for a few more weeks.
I don’t need to go into any great detail about the indebtedness of our nation. We are currently $17 trillion in the hole, and we add nearly a trillion dollars each year to the tab. There is no doubt in my mind that we are on a path toward national bankruptcy.
The root of our fiscal problems is the amount of trust we place in money. We see it as a magic cure for all ills. Because our politicians love money so much they spend more of it than they take in from taxes. Because about half the people in this country like getting money from the government, there is no easy answer for how to balance our financial books.
Our leaders will never be able to get a handle on the problem until they realize how our entire monetary system is based on faith. Since the greenback, is not backed by any physical assets, trust is the only thing that maintains its value.
When you go to a restaurant for lunch you have faith that the dollars in your pocket will be accepted as payment for your meal. If you hand the person taking your order a $100 bill from the nation of Zambia, it will probably be rejected because he or she has no faith in its value. Even if you offered to pay in Canadian money at twice the rate and explained that most banks would be able to convert it to US dollars, the restaurant management would most likely still insist on being paid in US dollars.
What makes money the most sinister is how it has become a replacement for faith in God. If someone has a net value of $100 million, they strive to turn it into $200 million because of the common belief that having more money will increase their security and happiness. Never mind the fact the super-rich will never spend even a small portion of their holdings. The value of their life is measured by the size of their bank account.
Trust in the dollar is so all-important that our federal government does everything it can to combat any asset that would compete with it. Over the past few years the precious metals market has been repeatedly, attacked, by sellers with very deep pockets. (In the middle of the night some mysterious entity would drive down the price of gold by dumping contracts worth tens of billions of dollars on the open markets.) Even the new concept of electronic money called Bitcoin-although tiny in value-has been attacked by the feds. Just this past week the FBI raided a website trading in bitcoins.
The government can do all they want to prop-up the dollar, but eventually, the value of our currency will have to stand on good fundamentals. You can’t have faith in faith itself. Once people realize how bankrupt we really are, faith in the dollar will instantly evaporate.
The reason why the Antichrist will use money to enslave the world is because it’s the one thing that will entice the most number of people to join the “mark of the beast” system. This is why we need to decide if we own our money or does it own us.
There are some good uses for money. Everything you do for the Kingdom of God will be translated into a heavenly bank account. The knowledge that this world system is about to collapse should motivate us all to support efforts to spread the gospel.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).
