KFLCC Kingdom Economics

F INANCIAL S ECURITY IN THE L AST D AYS

the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you. J AMES 5:1-6 (NKJV) In this prophetic warning James is rebuking rich men who have stored up vast amounts of wealth (treasure) for the last days, and at the same time have abused the employees working for them. These businessmen kept back the wages of their workers, which was forbidden under God’s law. No doubt this was the very law being broken: You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out against you to the LORD, and it be sin to you. - D EUT . 24:14-15 (NKJV) The cries of abused and unpaid workers enter into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth (James 5:4). This is not the Lord of Sabbath, as the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week and refers to the day of rest (Exod. 16:23). This word Sabaoth is found twice, in Romans 9:29 and in James 5:4. The word in James is of Hebrew origin and means the armies of a host of military persons. It is actually a reference to God Himself who stands up and does battle for His people and, in James 5, for the poor and unpaid workers! In the 1611 English translation of the Old Testament, the Hebrew root of this word is translated as the “Lord of hosts” (Ps. 46:11; 48:8; 59:5; 69:6). James also said these rich men had condemned the righteous and murdered the just (James 5:6). God was preparing to rise up as a warrior and judge these arrogant men, whose wealth would not save them in the day of God’s judgment and vengeance. From a prophetic perspective and a future world view, there is coming a time during the future great tribulation when all of man's financial investments will be useless, as survival through food and water will be the primary goal. However, how will things actually be prior to the gathering together of the saints in heaven —that is, prior to the catching away of true believers, referred to by the apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17? The answer might surprise you!

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