26/08/2026
God’s Economy and Man’s Economy, Knowing The Difference (Part 3)
by Pastor Afolabi Oladele
Contrast the principles of God’s economy elaborated upon in our previous post with the basic human laws of economics that are concerned with utility maximisation, cost–benefit analysis or identifying unintended consequences of particular decisions;
Man’s economy stands on Adam Smith’s three laws:
1️⃣Law of self-interest – people work for their own good
2️⃣Law of competition – competition forces people to make a better product for lower price, and
3️⃣Law of supply and demand – enough goods would be produced at the lowest price to meet the demand in a market economy.
Marshall further defined economic laws in these words, “Economic laws, or statements of economic tendencies, are those social laws, which relate to those branches of conduct in which the strength of the motives chiefly concerned can be measured by money price.”
These sound humanly logical, but are bereft of God’s natural laws of sacrifice, equity and justice! Man’s economy inspired by Satan are the subject of Isaiah 5:8-10, a trap that has taken centre stage in church pulpits!
You buy up property so others have no place to live. Your homes are built on great estates so you can be alone in the midst of the earth! But the Lord Almighty has sworn your awful fate—with my own ears I heard him say, “Many a beautiful home will lie deserted, their owners killed or gone. An acre of vineyard will not produce a gallon of juice! Ten bushels of seed will yield a one-bushel crop!” Isaiah 5:8-10 TLB
Materialism is a trap so subtle that most probably do not even realize they are bound to it. Materialism calls from every crevice of the culture and seeks to measure life by this world, its focus entirely on the here-and-now and what can be gained, from riches, to popularity, to belongings. Isaiah 5:8–10 is further elaborated upon in Hosea 12:6-8 and Amos 8:4-7 (Profit maximisation).
Therefore return to your God! Hold fast to love and mercy, to righteousness and justice, and wait [expectantly] for your God continually! Canaan [Israel—whose ideals have sunk to those of Canaan] is a trader; the balances of deceit are in his hand; he loves to oppress and defraud. Ephraim has said, Ah, but I have become rich; I have gained for myself wealth. All my profits shall bring on me no iniquity that would be sin. [But all his profits will never offset nor suffice to expiate the guilt which he has incurred.] Hosea 12:6-8 AMPC
Hear this, O you who would swallow up and trample down the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail and come to an end, 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, that we may buy [into slavery] the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals; yes, and sell the refuse of the wheat [as if it were good grade]? The Lord has sworn by [Himself Who is] the Glory and Pride of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their [rebellious] deeds. Amos 8:4-7 AMPC
We see that what befell Achan and Gehazi is a warning against this trap, reminding us of the dangers of living in a mindset enraptured by this temporary world. Every second that a believer spends longing for the world is a second wasted in not gazing on the goodness of their God.
What are some things you as a reader must note?
📍First, materialism’s smallness—it takes all of life and measures it by what someone has; and
📍Second, it is selfish—the logical outcome of this worldview is for a person to think entirely of themselves and their existence here and how they can progress. What does materialism do? Ultimately, that God is not in the person’s thoughts. Naturally, when people cease thinking eternally, they begin to focus on this world more.
Even as Paul testified against the believers in Asia in 2 Timothy 1:15 (Acts 19:10-11), led by Phygellus and Hermogenes up to 2 Timothy 4:10 with the departure of Demas and as Haggai testified against the redeemed (returnees from Babylon) when they abandoned the purpose of their return in Haggai 2, so the Lord is testifying against the church and the people in it in Nigeria who have abandoned God’s purpose to make His name known and pursuing earthly wealthy. Selah.
Pastor Afolabi Oladele
