A Study of Matthew Chapter 24, Part 10 -- Matthew 24:7b(Stay tuned for more posts until study of Matthew 24 is completed.)
"...and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes." (Matthew 24:7b)
The predictions of Christ, speaking on the Mount of Olives, coincide with the events described by John in Revelation chapter 6. The famines in the early years of Daniel's seventieth week (Matthew 24:7b) are symbolized by the third horseman of John's apocalypse:
When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come."
I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.
And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine." (Revelation 6:5-6)
A denarius was a Roman coin, a day's wages for the average laborer. The word translated "quart" is the Greek word choinix. This was a dry measure equivalent to less than our quart. It might satisfy the daily appetite of the average person. So, the idea is that a day's wage will only purchase bread for that day and will not cover the cost of anything else, such as meat, eggs, cheese, vegetables, rent, utilities, etc. This describes severe famine conditions! At the time John wrote, a denarius would buy eight of these measures of wheat, or twenty-four of barley. Wine and oil will be luxuries enjoyed by a few--but you always have the rich and the poor, even when attempts have been made to establish an egalitarian society, where everyone has the same amount of wealth. I love what J. Vernon McGee said in his study of the book of Revelation many years ago. This is from his radio transcripts, which were published in 1979:
I feel like saying, "Ho hum," when I hear these sincere egg-headed boys talking about how they are going to work out the poverty problem. All that has been accomplished is that it has given a good job to a lot of them, but so far it hasn't filtered down and been a blessing to the poor. It has never helped the poor to lift themselves up with any degree of pride. Why? Because the only Man who can lift up the poor is Jesus Christ. None of these egg-headed boys is able to do it. I am sorry to have to say that, but somebody needs to speak out against all of this tomfoolery our government is going through. All that this wasteful spending of money of money does is to create more bureaucracy and to sap our tax dollars. This is the sort of thing that is abroad today, but just think what it is going to be like in that future day. This which we are talking about in the Revelation is future. The only reason that I make application to today is to show that this is not unreasonable; it is going to take place.[1]
J. Vernon McGee said that some time before 1979. What would he think if he were still alive today?
Antichrist will not only rise to a level of political power and military power that have never been witnessed in human history: This future ruler will also possess unprecedented economic power. He will regulate the purchase and sale of everything:
And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
and he provides that no one will be able to buy or sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:16-17)
This is the quintessential expression of government control over business. Thank God, believers of this present dispensation will not be on earth during that time--however, there may be some very challenging economic crises prior to Daniel's seventieth week. Let's make some application to our present conditions. When it comes to economic problems and the politicians who claim to have the solutions to these problems, the Christians in the USA who participate in the election of these officials should be humble enough--and teachable enough--to check their political ideologies at the door. They should be willing to discover and apply what the Bible says about economics, and they should make their decisions at the ballot box accordingly. The Bible actually expresses quite a bit of doctrine related to economics and enterprise. The reason we have the kinds of people we presently have in government is largely because Christians in our nation are either ignorant of the principles of capitalism and free enterprise that are set forth in the Scriptures, or they willfully reject them. The Bible is full of principles to guide us in business and enterprise, and we the people have lost sight of them. One of the places in the Bible that expresses the divine viewpoint on business is found in a parable of Jesus. Parables in the Bible are brief stories which illustrate spiritual lessons. This parable is in Matthew 20:
"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
"When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard." (Matthew 20:1-2)
The landowner and the laborers entered into an agreement: a contract. As was previously mentioned, a denarius was a good day's pay for a good day's work.
"And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the market place;
and to those he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' And so they went." (Matthew 20:3-4)
The third hour would be nine in the morning our time. A contract was made with these workers as well, but the wage was not specified. The landowner said that he would compensate the laborers justly. These workers would rely on the integrity of the landowner.
"Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same thing.
"And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day long?'
"They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vinyard too.'" (Matthew 20:5-7)
The sixth and the ninth hour are the noon and 3:00 PM shifts. The final shift was hired at 5:00 PM.
"When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.'
"When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius.
"When those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius.
"When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner,
saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.'
"But he answered and said to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?
'Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.
'Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?'
"So the last shall be first, and the first last." (Matthew 20:8-16)
The response of the landowner seems rather unusual. However, in the harvest of grapes, time is of the essence. The service of the later shifts might be of increasing value to the owner of a vineyard who was trying to get the harvest in while the grapes were still good.
The purpose of the parable is to convey spiritual truths, and some of these truths are:
1) Latecomers to eternal salvation have the same privilege of grace as the "early birds."
2) All spiritual rewards for believers are related to the sovereignty of God.
3) Spiritual rewards are given on the basis of mental attitude and faithfulness to the task--not the amount of work done.
4)Work done in a legal spirit is repudiated by God.
All of the truths for the spiritual economy listed above are illustrated by the temporal events, actions, and attitudes described in the parable. But let's consider something about this parable that is often missed: In order for the spiritual principles conveyed by the parable to be true, the laws of the temporal world which illustrate the spiritual principles must themselves be valid, working principles. In other words, if the spiritual principles are true, there must be integrity in the illustration! When Jesus told a story to express spiritual truths, it would be unthinkable and unreasonable for the details about property and economics to be incompatible with the Lord's views. Bearing that in mind, let's look again at the owner's response: "Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own?" (Matthew 20:15a) There you have it: a one-sentence summary of the divine viewpoint regarding property and economics! Think about this simple response of the business owner in the Lord's parable. Ponder it. The question asked by the owner of the vineyard expresses the divine endorsement of capitalism, an economic system in which there is private or corporate ownership of capital goods by private investments, and in which prices, production, and the distribution of goods are determined by competition in a free market.
A free market means a market without economic intervention and regulation by government except to regulate against things such as fraud. Free-market capitalism is shown in the Bible to be the divinely authorized system of economics. This is evident in God's model for His covenant nation, Israel. It is also expressed in such passages Proverbs 14:23 and 22:29. In the divine viewpoint, it was the vineyard owner's right to what he wished with what was his own. The owner was not unjust. The fact of the matter is that he paid the first shift of laborers, the shift which was paid the least amount in proportion to their work time, a wage which was considered a decent wage for a day's work. But the point is that he paid them a wage that had originally been acceptable to them: a wage to which they had agreed by verbal contract. The fact that he chose to pay the same amount to those who started later was his right. Their service at a later time was, for whatever reason, more valuable to the business owner.
Let's review the second question asked by the owner of the vineyard: "Or is your eye envious because I am generous?" (Matthew 20:15b) The fact that those who were hired first grumbled revealed their mental attitude sin: envy. It is widely taught in the world today that class distinctions in society are evil, and that society should be egalitarian, with everyone enjoying equality in wealth. The Bible teaches otherwise:
Do you see a man skilled in his work?
He will stand before kings;
He will not stand before obscure men. (Proverbs 22:29)
Class envy and the notion that wealthy people are evil have incited the economic systems of socialism, where the means of production and distribution of goods are owned and controlled collectively or by the government, and communism, a system based on holding all property in common, with the actual ownership ascribed to the community or state. Socialism and communism are directly opposed to the free enterprise sanctioned by the Bible. Notice that I am not presenting the talking points of political conservatism, but the doctrine in the Bible relative to the subject of economics.
That the owner of the vineyard and its production is to direct his business as he sees fit, without interference, is considered fact by the Scriptures. Notice also that the relationship between the owner and the laborers was based on agreement between the owner and each individual. This rules out collective bargaining and labor unions as biblical solutions. To try to solve problems in free enterprise with labor unions creates larger problems, some of which adversely affect those whom the unions are supposedly designed to help: the employees. American historian Clarence B. Carson explains:
... it is largely an illusion that unions are organized primarily against employers. The conflict ordinarily is not directly between management (or capital) and labor. It is basically between unionists and other workers or would-be workers. This is not to deny that employers may be injured by strikes, boycotts, and other coercive or violent union activities. Nor is it to deny ... that unions may pose a challenge and contest with governments, or that consumers and other businesses may be inconvenienced by union activities. Rather, it is to say that the intimidations, threats, and such violence as may be used by unionists is usually aimed directly at other workers.[2]
You might be thinking, "It's just too simplistic to assume that the Bible authorizes free-market capitalism and that there are no valid alternatives!" The truth is that if you are willing to check your philosophical and political ideologies at the door and accept the revealed divine viewpoint, capitalism and free enterprise are clearly what the Scriptures prescribe for the human race. Now, it is true that there have been many abuses of capitalism. Capitalism in our nation has deteriorated to crony capitalism, where the government is in bed with big business in a corrupt partnership where political favoritism results in unfair advantage for some businesses, while other business are unfairly penalized. This keeps politicians in power and some businesses prospering because of corruption, not free enterprise.
Also problematic is a distorted concept of capitalism that is detached from the biblical principles designed to guide free enterprise. An example of this is apparent in the literature of Ayn Rand, an American novelist and philosopher who lived from 1905 to 1962. Her novel, Atlas Shrugged, published in 1957, imagined a breakdown of the United States economy because of government intervention and the redistribution of wealth. In Rand's paradigm, people are motivated either by a destructive selfishness which masquerades as altruism or an "enlightened" selfishness which is beneficial to society even though that is not its aim. Rand exerted a considerable amount of influence on the conservative movement, but her atheism and cold logic, which was basically opposed to charity and altruism, presented a model of capitalism which is really an empty shell of the system of enterprise that God designed. Rand's writings inspired a cult of college students who became known as "libertarians." However, their perception of free enterprise was detached from the divine model, which is guided by the principle of loving your neighbor as yourself.
When man functions in business without accountability to God, he falsifies the free enterprise God designed for the blessing of the human race. Free enterprise under God will succeed. However, free enterprise will fall short when it operates under secularism. Thus, business will never be perfect in the fallen world, and that's why many people look at the shortcomings of capitalism, as it is practiced, and they do not like what they see. So what is the solution? The redistribution of wealth? Minimum wage laws? Labor unions? Why try to solve problems with other problems? The best solution to all of the economic problems in our nation would for the many Christians in our populace to return to the whole real of Bible doctrine as a way of life.
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Footnotes:
1. J. Vernon McGee, Revelation Chapters 6-13 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc.), p.44.
2. Clarence B. Carson, A Basic History of the United States (Wadley: American Textbook Committee) Vol. 4, pp. 103-104..
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.http://www.lockman.org/
