Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all. Proverbs 22: 2, NIV.
Most gracious God, You have made us of one blood, and given to all of us the possibility of becoming great in Your hand (1 Chronicles 29: 12). Please help us to be inspired to our full potential as we meet to study Your Word. In the holy name of Jesus we pray. Amen and Amen!
We are continuing in Proverbs 22. This chapter of the Proverbs is very rich in sayings that apply across the board – chronologically, culturally, and, spiritually. If we should stop to consider what the rich and the poor have in common, we would discover that the life cycle is the same for all of God’s creatures: We are born, we grow, we reproduce, and then we die. This is how it is, normally. There are always exceptions to the rule. Of course, in-between this cycle, a lot of things can take place, depending upon the circumstances of every life, and the opportunities that come our way.
We find in Paul’s famous speech given on Mars hill, the following declaration: “And He has made from one blood every nation of [human beings] to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17: 26-31). Beside the fact that God is the Maker of both rich and poor, there are some other interesting commonalities that exist in “every nation” of human beings. Let us take a look at some of them:
We all have a common blood-line. Please take note that I did not say, blood type. The blood of every human being has a common basic composition (red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma, and platelets), and most people belong to one of these four blood types (A, B, AB, or O). There are exceptions of people with rare blood types. What I am trying to say, is that the human blood does not have any kind of nomenclature that distinguishes it as belonging to a poor or a rich person. Under normal circumstances, blood is blood!
The earth is our dwelling place – nations rise and fall – humankind was scattered “over the face of all the earth. God has given us the earth to dwell on. There is enough land for all of us. If we can put aside our selfishness, we can dwell together in peace and harmony; because, even in a perfect world, a world without sin, God gave our first parents a garden home, here on earth! In the vision given to Nebuchadnezzar, God revealed the period of time each of the four great nations would reign (Daniel 2: 31-46). Different groups migrated to different areas of the globe, after God confused their language at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11: 8). These eventually constituted the different ethnic groups. They live in these areas; but they should have the freedom to travel over all the earth ,which is God’s, and not man’s! Remember, He created us “to dwell on all the face of the earth.”
God has done all of this in the hope that we would seek Him and find Him. He is not far from us. “He is only a prayer away!” The heavenly creatures worship Him as their Creator. They hail Him as “worthy” for He created all things, and by His creative power they exist (Revelation 4: 11)! We have come full circuit back to square one: “The LORD is the Maker of them all,” both rich and poor; and “in Him we live and move and have our being” (exist)! Should we not seek Him with our whole hearts? Is He not worthy of our highest praise?
We will continue this conversation tomorrow.