27/05/2026
...cont.
BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ON MONEY AND POSSESSIONS.
CHAPTER 5.
HONESTY.
B. Curses reserved for the dishonest.
1. Curse of being hated by/ sepeeated from from God.
- Deuteronomy 25:16
[16]For all who do such things, all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to the Lord your God.
- Proverbs 3:32
[32]For the perverse are an abomination [extremely disgusting and detestable] to the Lord; but His confidential communion and secret counsel are with the [uncompromisingly] righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with Him). [Ps. 25:14.]
- Isaiah 57:17
[17]Because of the iniquity of his [Judah's] covetousness and unjust gain I was angry and smote him. I hid my face and was angry, and he went on turning away and backsliding in the way of his [own willful] heart.
- Isaiah 59:2
[2]But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.
2. Curses of punishment/judgment.
- Deuteronomy 27:17
[17]Cursed is he who moves [back] his neighbor's landmark. All the people shall say, Amen.
- Psalm 63:11
[11]But the king shall rejoice in God; everyone who swears by Him [that is, who binds himself by God's authority, acknowledging His supremacy, and devoting himself to His glory and service alone; every such one] shall glory, for the mouths of those who speak lies shall be stopped.
- Proverbs 19:5
[5]A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he who breathes out lies shall not escape. [Exod. 23:1; Deut. 19:16-19; Prov. 6:19; 21:28.]
- Proverbs 20:17
[17]Food gained by deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
- Ezekiel 22:15
[15]And I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your filthiness out of you.
- Ezekiel 22:30-31
[30]And I sought a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.
[31]Therefore have I poured out My indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; their own way have I repaid [by bringing it] upon their own heads, says the Lord God.
- Hosea 5:10
[10]The princes of Judah are like those who remove the landmark [the barrier between right and wrong]; I will pour out My wrath upon them like water. [Deut. 19:14; Prov. 22:28.]
- Amos 8:5,10
[5]Saying, When will the New Moon festival be past that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath that we may offer wheat for sale, making the ephah [measure] small and the shekel [measure] great and falsifying the scales by deceit,
[10]And I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation, and I will cause sackcloth to be put upon all loins and baldness [for mourning] shall come on every head; and I will make that time as the mourning for an only son, and the end of it as a bitter day.
- Micah 6:16
[16]For the statutes of [idolatrous] Omri you have kept, and all the works of the house of [wicked] Ahab, and you walk in their counsels. Therefore I will make you a desolation and an astonishment and your [city's] inhabitants a hissing, and you shall bear the reproach and scorn of My people.
3. Curse of deathf/destruction.
- Joshua 7:15
[15]And he who is taken with the devoted things shall be [killed and his body] burned with fire, he and all he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord and because he has done a shameful and wicked thing in Israel. [Josh. 7:25.]
- Psalm 52:4-5
[4]You love all destroying and devouring words, O deceitful tongue.
[5]God will likewise break you down and destroy you forever; He will lay hold of you and pluck you out of your tent and uproot you from the land of the living. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
- Proverbs 1:19
[19]So are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain; such [greed for plunder] takes away the lives of its possessors. [Prov. 15:27; I Tim. 6:10.]
- Proverbs 6:12,15
[12]A worthless person, a wicked man, is he who goes about with a perverse (contrary, wayward) mouth.
[15]Therefore upon him shall the crushing weight of calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken, and that without remedy.
- Proverbs 21:6
[6]Securing treasures by a lying tongue is a v***r driven to and fro; those who seek them seek death.
- Proverbs 22:8
[8]He who sows iniquity will reap calamity and futility, and the rod of his wrath [with which he smites others] will fail.
- Proverbs 22:22-23
[22]Rob not the poor [being tempted by their helplessness], neither oppress the afflicted at the gate [where the city court is held], [Exod. 23:6; Job 31:16, 21.]
[23]For the Lord will plead their cause and deprive of life those who deprive [the poor or afflicted]. [Zech. 7:10; Mal. 3:5.]
- Amos 5:9
[9]Who causes sudden destruction to flash forth upon the strong so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
- Micah 2:2-3
[2]They covet fields and seize them, and houses and take them away; they oppress and crush a man and his house, a man and his inheritance. [Isa. 5:8.]
[3]Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, against this family I am planning a disaster from which you cannot remove your necks, nor will you be able to walk erect; for it will be an evil time.
4. Curse of family.
- Proverbs 15:27
[27]He who is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live. [Isa. 5:8; Jer. 17:11.]
- Jeremiah 8:10
[10]Therefore will I give their wives to others and their fields to those who gain possession of them; for everyone, from the least even to the greatest, is given to covetousness (is greedy for unjust gain); from the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely.
5. Curse of possessions.
- Genesis 31:7-9
[7]But your father has deceived me and changed my wages ten times, but God did not allow him to hurt me.
[8]If he said, The speckled shall be your wages, then all the flock bore speckled; and if he said, The streaked shall be your hire, then all the flock bore streaked.
[9]Thus God has taken away the flocks of your father and given them to me.
- Proverbs 10:2
[2]Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation) delivers from death.
- Proverbs 13:11
[11]Wealth [not earned but] won in haste or unjustly or from the production of things for vain or detrimental use [such riches] will dwindle away, but he who gathers little by little will increase [his riches].
- Jeremiah 6:12
[12]And their houses will be turned over to others, their fields and their wives together; for I will stretch out My hand against the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord.
- Jeremiah 17:11
[11]Like the partridge that gathers a brood which she did not hatch and sits on eggs which she has not laid, so is he who gets riches by unjust means and not by right. He will leave them, or they will leave him, in the midst of his days, and at his end he will be a fool.
6. Curse on a leaders subordinates.
- Proverbs 29:12
[12]If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will become wicked.
7. Curse in eternity.
- Revelation 21:8
[8]But as for the cowards and the ignoble and the contemptible and the cravenly lacking in courage and the cowardly submissive, and as for the unbelieving and faithless, and as for the depraved and defiled with abominations, and as for murderers and the lewd and adulterous and the practicers of magic arts and the idolaters (those who give supreme devotion to anyone or anything other than God) and all liars (those who knowingly convey untruth by word or deed)–[all of these shall have] their part in the lake that blazes with fire and brimstone. This is the second death. [Isa. 30:33.]
- Revelation 22:15
[15][But] without are the dogs and those who practice sorceries (magic arts) and impurity [the lewd, adulterers] and the murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and deals in falsehood (untruth, error, deception, cheating).
8. Curse in general.
- Deuteronomy 27:17
[17]Cursed is he who moves [back] his neighbor's landmark. All the people shall say, Amen.
- Nahum 3:1
[1]WOE TO the bloody city! It is full of lies and b***y and [there is] no end to the plunder! [Ezek. 24:6, 9, 10; Hab. 2:12.]
9. People's view of God nor pursuing dishonesty.
- Job 24:1,12
[1]WHY [seeing times are not hidden from the Almighty] does He not set seasons for judgment? Why do those who know Him see not His days [for punishment of the wicked]? [Acts 1:7.]
[12]From out of the populous city men groan, and the very life of the wounded cries for help; yet God [seemingly] regards not the wrong done them.
VII. Bribes.
A. People bribe.
1. Bribed are effective.
- Proverbs 21:14
[14]A gift in secret pacifies and turns away anger, and a bribe in the lap, strong wrath.
2. Wicked people bribe.
- Psalm 26:9-10
[9]Gather me not with sinners and sweep me not away [with them], nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
[10]In whose hands is wickedness, and their right hands are full of bribes.
- Proverbs 17:23
[23]A wicked man receives a bribe out of the bosom (pocket) to pervert the ways of just.
3. Example otf those who took/gave bribes.
- 1 Samuel 8:3
[3]His sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.
- Isaiah 1:23
[23]Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes and runs after compensation and rewards. They judge not for the fatherless nor defend them, neither does the cause of the widow come to them [for they delay or turn a deaf ear].
- Matthew 28:12
[12]And when they [the chief priests] had gathered with the elders and had consulted together, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers,
- Acts 24:26
[26]At the same time he hoped to get money from Paul, for which reason he continued to send for him and was in his company and conversed with him often.
B. Commanded not go participate in the bribe.
- Exodus 23:8
[8]You shall take no bribe, for the bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the testimony and the cause of the righteous.
1. Bribe corrupt.
- Ecclesiastes 7:7
[7]Surely oppression and extortion make a wise man foolish, and a bribe destroys the understanding and judgment.
2. The Lord an example of refusal to take bribe.
- Deuteronomy 10:17
[17]For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, the terrible God, Who is not partial and takes no bribe.
3. Leaders may not take bribes.
- 2 Chronicles 19:7
[7]So now let the reverence and fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord our God, or partiality or taking of bribes.
- Proverbs 29:12,4
[12]If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will become wicked.
[4]The king by justice establishes the land, but he who exacts gifts and tribute overthrows it.
4. Examples of people who did not take bribes.
- 1 Samuel 12:3
[3]Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and Saul His anointed. Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded or oppressed? Or from whose hand have I received any bribe to blind my eyes? Tell me and I will restore it to you.
- Job 6:22
[22]Did I ever say, Bring me a gift, or Pay a bribe on my account from your wealth
C. Blessings and curses.
1. Those who offer and/or accept a bribe are cursed.
- Deuteronomy 27:25-26
[25]Cursed is he who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person. All the people shall say, Amen.
[26]Cursed is he who does not support and give assent to the words of this law to do them [as the rule of his life]. All the people shall say, Amen.
- Ezekiel 22:12,15
[12]In you they have accepted bribes to shed blood; you have taken [forbidden] interest and [percentage of] increase, and you have greedily gained from your neighbors by oppression and extortion and have forgotten Me, says the Lord God.
[15]And I will scatter you among the nations and disperse you through the countries, and I will consume your filthiness out of you.
- Micah 3:11-12
[11]Its heads judge for reward and a bribe and its priests teach for hire and its prophets divine for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, Is not the Lord among us? No evil can come upon us. [Isa. 1:10-15.]
[12]Therefore shall Zion on your account be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps [of ruins], and the mountain of the house [of the Lord] like a densely wooded height. [Jer. 26:17-19.]
2. Those who do not bribe are blessed.
- Psalm 15:5
[5][He who] does not put out his money for interest [to one of his own people] and who will not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. [Exod. 22:25, 26.]
- Proverbs 15:7
[7]The lips of the wise disperse knowledge [sifting it as chaff from the grain]; not so the minds and hearts of the self-confident and foolish.
- Isaiah 33:15-16
[15]He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises gain from fraud and from oppression, who shakes his hand free from the taking of bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes to avoid looking upon evil.
[16][Such a man] will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; water for him will be sure.
