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1. Introduction
In this teaching, we will discuss wealth in the Old Testament, specifically the Mosaic and Davidic covenants. In the previous two studies, we looked at wealth in Abraham and tithing, then Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. We will answer the question, is there support for wealth in the covenants? Finally, we look at God’s covenant promise to Solomon, the richest of all persons in the Bible and whether his wealth gives us a license to believe God for wealth. Then we look specifically at 666 and how it applies to wealth.
2. Wealth in the Mosaic Covenant Cannot be Used to Believe for Wealth
A. The Law could not Annul the Promise to Abraham.
The Mosaic Covenant (the law) could not annul the promise as seen in Abrahamic Covenant Brings Wealth.
B. Mosaic Basis of Wealth Blessing.
The Mosaic Covenant had blessings of wealth found in Deuteronomy 28:1-14. Obedience to the law was the requirement to receive the benefits. As we saw in “The Law No Longer Applies“, we cannot claim these blessings since the law is obsolete.
C. The Law WAS our Tutor.
Now that faith has come, the law is no longer our tutor:
But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
Galatians 3:23-25
D. The Law was Nailed to the Cross and Obsolete.
having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Colossians 2:14
In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Hebrews 8:13
E. Therefore, the wealth and giving requirements of the law do not apply.
We will look into tithing in Giving Brings Grace.
F. Old Covenant Inactive.
Because the covenant no longer applies, there is no point in claiming Deuteronomy 28:1-14 as there is no legal basis for these blessings.
The Old Covenant was nailed on the cross, therefore there is NO basis for claiming the blessings of wealth in Deuteronomy 28.
3. Wealth in the Davidic Covenant.
A. The Davidic Covenant Refers to both Kingdom and Sonship.
In the following passage, God is making a covenant with King David:
“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
2 Samuel 7:12-14
We are in a relationship with God, being sons and daughters:
“I will be a Father to you,
2 Corinthians 6:18
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the LORD Almighty.”
But we are also kings and queens:
and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 1:6
B. The Seed is both Solomon and Jesus.
When it refers to seed, we know it refers to Solomon. Jesus also was the Son of David.
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:
Matthew 1:1
Unlike Solomon, Jesus never sinned, yet He BECAME sin.
C. Both Solomon and Jesus were Chastised.
Talking to David about Solomon, He said that God would chastise Solomon:
I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
2 Samuel 7:14
However, the seed of David, Jesus the Son of David, would also be chastised by men.
Now the men who held Jesus mocked Him and beat Him. And having blindfolded Him, they struck Him on the face and asked Him, saying, “Prophesy! Who is the one who struck You?”
Luke 22:63-64
God refers to David’s son being chastised, meaning Jesus also was beaten by the Roman soldiers. God rebuked Solomon for his sin. The Roman soldiers chastised Jesus because He became sin for us.
Because we are in Christ, we also are disciplined by our Father:
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:
Hebrews 12:5-8
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the LORD loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons
D. Wealth in the Davidic Covenant.
Although the Davidic Covenant does not explicitly mention wealth, Solomon was the wealthiest man in the Bible; therefore, the fruit of the seed reaped wealth.
E. Solomon is an Anti-type of Jesus.
Solomon is a type of Christ because Solomon was the son of David.
Jesus is the spiritual Son of David, fulfilling the Davidic Covenant.
However, Solomon becomes an anti-type of Jesus because of his sin. He, therefore, is a type of the Antichrist.
F. We also are Sons of David.
The reference to Jesus being a son of David is his humanity, as we learn in “Jesus, the Son of Man”. Because we are in Christ and Christ is in us, we are sons of David and can believe in God for wealth.
G. Solomon’s Kingdom.
Solomon’s kingdom was exceedingly wealthy, to the point that silver and gold were as common as stones!
Also the king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as abundant as the sycamores which are in the lowland.
2 Chronicles 1:15
4. Solomon and Wealth
Although under the Mosaic Covenant, Solomon finds wealth in the Davidic Covenant.
A. Early Reign of Solomon.
Solomon did not seek wealth in his early days.
Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?”
Then God said to Solomon: “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked riches or wealth or honor or the life of your enemies, nor have you asked long life—but have asked wisdom and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king— wisdom and knowledge are granted to you; and I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like.”
2 Chronicles 1:10-12
B. Solomon’s Dwelling.
Solomon’s wealth was so great that it took 13 years to build his palace, which consisted of six houses!
But Solomon took thirteen years to build his own house; so he finished all his house.
1 Kings 7:1
C. Solomon Honours God.
He only built his own house after he built the temple of God.
…the house (of God) was finished in all its details and according to all its plans. So he was seven years in building it.
1 Kings 6:38
D. Solomons Weakness.
It was not his riches that caused Solomon to turn away from God.
But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David.
1 Kings 11:1-4
Solomon’s wives turned him away from God, worshipping other gods. He then became an anti-type of Jesus.
5. Solomon and 666
A. The significance of the number 666.
The number 666 (Biblical Numerology) is not about money.
Some have said that the reference to 666 is to teach us the dangers of wealth:
The weight of gold that came to Solomon yearly was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold,
1 Kings 10:14
B. Solomon, the Son of David.
Solomon is a type of Jesus Christ, the son of David. Yet he sinned, as we saw in section 4D. He fell into adultery by taking many wives:
Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.
Deuteronomy 17:17
As a result, he fell into spiritual adultery – the worship of foreign gods.
C. AntiChrist and 666.
In Antichrist, we learn why the Antichrist’s number is 666. The Antichrist is not some future person because Jesus prophesied correctly the Antichrist would come within 40 years.
The apostle John said the AntiChrist was already alive in AD62 or thereabouts. Nero Caesar, starting in AD64, persecuted the church for three and a half years.
Remember that the language spoken by the Jews at that time was Hebrew. Nero’s name was NRON QSRN, which in Hebrew adds up to 666!
The Jews in the time of the Great Persecution knew who the anti-Christ would be – Caesar Nero!
D. 666 was not about wealth.
In summary, 666 was not about wealth. It was prophetically about a coming AntiChrist – Caesar Nero.
6. Summary of Wealth in the Mosaic and Davidic Covenant
- In Abrahamic Covenant Brings Wealth, we found that the Abrahamic promise of wealth applies to us as a specific promise.
- Then in Section 2 above, we found that the Mosaic Covenant does not promise financial wealth.
- In Section 3, the Davidic Covenant does not explicitly promise wealth.
- However, in Section 4, the fruit of the David Covenant is wealth for the sons of David. Because we are in Christ, this wealth is available to us.
- 666 is not a warning about being wealthy.
- The Mosaic Covenant does not bring wealth to the believer in Jesus today. However, the teaching of the Davidic Covenant allows today’s believers to believe in wealth.
In Giving Brings Grace, we will consider tithing the minimum we should do, but God wants us to partner with God’s heart of generosity.
© Use by Permission Awakening Impact Ministries/ Dr Neville van Eerten D.Miss. 2024
