Gold was an extremely precious resource in Old Testament times. It was the symbol of wealth and was used as an 
offering to God on many occasions (Numbers 31:50). Why did it have this value? Why did Abraham amass gold as a result of his uprightness in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 13:2)? Why did the Israelites carry gold out of Egypt (Exodus 12:35)? Why was it brought as a gift by the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon (2 Chronicles 9:1)?
The answer is not what one might expect. It is not simply for its use in jewelry or its luster and beauty. It was because gold was an incredibly useful material. In the Bible we see the many ways that gold was useful. For early metalworkers, gold was a very easy metal to work with (Number 8:4). It was malleable and could be hammered into sheets or plates (Exodus 37:16). It could be beaten around carvings to protect and decorate them (Exodus 30:5). Its ductility meant it could be drawn into wires which could be used in chains (Exodus 39:17) and finer wires to add weight to cloth (Exodus 28:6), and secure many things. Gold did not rust or deteriorate. It could be recycled and reused (2 Kings 18:16). Gold was a valuable commodity because it was so useful to the craftsmen of the Old Testament world. Gold jewelry originated as a way to conveniently carry, and perhaps display, one’s wealth. Similarly gold coinage has its origins in gold’s value as a practical material and not because of its color, shine or scarcity.
Gold continues to be useful today and has many hundreds of uses in medicine, sciences, space exploration, and electronics. Every cell phone produced has about 50 cents worth of gold in it. Not much you may think, until you realize that there are over 1 billion cell phones produced each year. Gold’s use as an efficient and reliable electrical conductor ensures its continued demand in the computer industry. It is used as a lubricant in satellites and other space technology. It is increasingly being used in glassmaking processes. Most of the ways gold is used today have only been discovered in the last two or three decades. Like the craftsman of the Old Testament, we will continue to discover even more uses for gold. As the number of these uses increase, so will its value.
In the current economy we can see how important it is for our investments to have real worth. Many of our current economic woes come from the fact that we gave value to things which had no intrinsic value. The mortgage bubble was just that: a bubble of empty and worthless investment. Gold, however, just as it did in the times of the Old Testament, has true value. It is a precious material given to us by God so that we can use in many ways and, as a result, we accord it considerable value. The lesson we can learn from the Bible about investing is that when something serves a good and true purpose, we should give it value according to that worth. Gold meets that standard and has no room for the moral deviation and false values that shares and bonds can sometimes have.
This post was written by Marc Lubaszka. Marc is the founder and CEO of Aurum Advisors. has dedicated his professional career to helping people understand the complexities of the precious metal market and then aiding them in utilizing that knowledge. His website, www.goldmadeeasy.com, walks people through the gold acquisition process and enables them to enjoy the security that comes with gold ownership today.
Tags: Gold/Silver
Moses Job Interview with God
6And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.
7And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. (Exodus 4:6-7, KJV)
Now the focus of God’s demonstration turns inward – into Moses’ character. The supernatural transformation of his 
hands pointed to a future when the supernatural would flow through Moses’ hands. The leprosy shows that the works that would flow through his hand and the authority he would bear literally carry a grave responsibility. In the bible, leprosy often symbolized sin. As a disease, leprosy meant exile from the rest of society. Similarly, sin serves to separate us from God. I think God was warning Moses about the dangers of acting and working on his own. The tucking of his hand into his bosom told Moses to pay particular attention to the issues of the heart.
20My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
21Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
22For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
23Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:20-23, KJV)
Guard your heart or suffer the consequences.
God repeats the command. He tells Moses to put his diseased hand back into his bosom. He does so and his hand is restored. God is telling Moses that listening to God’s voice will result in his protection while enabling the work of your hands to succeed. Note also that had Moses not followed God’s direction, his associates may have been calling him “Lefty.” Partial obedience is total disobedience. Moses is rising to a new level with God and to Israel. The importance of relying on God cannot be overestimated.
So it is with us. Sometimes in the course of listening and obeying God, he will take us where we do not want to go. We must rely on God to bring us through. If we do so, he will restore us and will work through us to do what we could not do on our own. We must take the works of our hands, the issues of our hearts, and our reliance on God with utmost seriousness. If we do so, God will work signs and wonders through our very own hands.
Tags: Career, Exodus 4:6-7, Proverbs 4:20-23
Where no wise guidance is, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety. (Proverbs 11:14; Amp.)
It is our great pleasure to announce that WFTB’s recent post Staff Meeting With God: You Can Learn A Lot From A Snake is a part of the 202nd Carnival of Personal Finance - Lao Tzu Edition. Follow the link to get some great information on a variety of subjects. This chapter of the carnival is hosted by Fire Finance. Fire (Feel the Financial Independence & Retire Early) has done a great job with this carnival by offering a lot of good posts grouped by several topical areas.
We are honored to be included with such good company!
Tags: Carnival, Personal Finance, Proverbs 11:14
