Wages

Monday, October 6, 2008: Haggai 1:6-7

“You have sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways!

Background: The Jewish exiles in Babylon had returned, started building the Temple, and had stopped. Haggai’s and Zechariah’s prophecies restarted them.

Why were the Jews unable to prosper? God asked them to examine themselves and see their neglect of God. Their wages were spent as if their purses had holes. Isn’t this reminiscent of today’s conditions?

Tuesday, October 7, 2008: 1 Samuel 2:5

Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
And the hungry have ceased to hunger.
Even the barren has borne seven,
And she who has many children has become feeble.

Background: the time of the Judges ended in failure: everyone did what was right in his own sight. God brings in the prophet, the anointer of Kings, into history as the son Hanna (Samuel’s mother) prays for and receives.

What is the symbolic message in the parallel couplet of verses? Those who are unmindful of God’s purposes in their lives and dependent on self-accomplishment have to learn through difficult circumstances (which turn things around) that God is the blesser and from him material blessings flow.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008: Zechariah 8:10

For before these days
There were no wages for man nor any hire for beast;
There was no peace from the enemy for whoever went out or came in;
For I set all men, everyone, against his neighbor.
But now I will not treat the remnant of this people as in the former days,’ says the Lord of hosts.

Background: same as Haggai.

What lies behind a time of trouble? God’s hand is present. We often depend on our own strength and resourcefulness only to find it lacking in such times.

Thursday, October 9 2008: Romans 4:2–8

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:

Background: Paul writes about attitude that our work or good deeds are sufficient in God’s sight. He uses two prominent men of the Bible to demonstrate faith and forgiveness of sins.

Do good works set you right before God? No. If they did, then you could earn God’s favor. But even the patriarchs believed God and had their sins forgiven to the point that they were right before God.

Friday, October 10, 2008: Romans 6:22–23

But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How are wages different from a gift? The former is earned the latter given free for the taking.