The Prince Shall Not Take the Inheritance of the People!

Our Founding Fathers understood the importance of property rights far better than we do today. They knew that an individual could not be "free" without the right to own property.  A free individual has a right to own what he has earned and/or inherited. All personal property, as well as land and money, must be at the disposal of a free man to use as he chooses or he is not free. A free man can accumulate wealth during his lifetime, or waste it, or give it to charity. And he can leave it to whomever he chooses when he dies.

Our Founding Fathers understood and fought for this Biblical truth based on God's eternal Word. Unfortunately, envious, greedy, covetous men who have rejected God's Word as a standard for living have tried to bury this truth through the years. 

We have now reached a point, as a society, where the ungodly are comfortable publicly calling "evil good and good evil" so that "truth has fallen in the streets." A leftist will encourage taking property from the rightful owners and giving it to others and call this "evil" behavior "good." Then he will harass the rightful owners of property for expecting to dispose of it as they please and call this "good" behavior "evil." 

I saw this tactic on a news show recently. They were discussing Obama's "class warfare" call for the rich to pay their "fair" share of taxes. Of course, no one really knows what a "fair" share is because the amount isn't the point. The point is: A socialist government owns everything! And, as we are heading toward socialism, the rich should surrender ever increasing portions of their wealth so that Obama and his administration will have more funds to redistribute as they see fit. This socialist agenda is leftist justified covetousness! It is evil and God does not approve! 

On the show I was watching, the conservative repeatedly asked the liberal, "How much do you want me to pay in taxes?" Finally, the liberal replied, "Oh, I guess 40 something percent."  She paused and then added, "And your children should have to work!"  I couldn't believe my ears.

This is "in your face" covetousness. What audacity! This is clearly an intent to abrogate our unalienable, God given right to the ownership of property which can be left to our children. Make no mistake, when we cannot leave our land, our possessions, and our money to our children; we are not free!

The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If “Thou shalt not covet,” and “Thou shalt not steal,” were not commandments of heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society before it can be civilized or made free.  (John Adams)

 

 

 

So, what does the Bible say about inheritance of property?

1.   Inheritance is good: A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children... Pro 13:22

    

2.   Government officials can distribute their own property but cannot take property from their subjects.

 "Thus says the Lord God:  If the prince makes a gift to any of his sons as his inheritance, it shall belong to his sons. It is their property by inheritance. 

  The prince shall not take any of the inheritance of the people, thrusting them out of their property.

 He (the prince) shall give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that none of my people shall be scattered from his property."     Ezekiel 46:16-18 excerpts

3.  A citizen can rightly refuse to surrender his property to a government official. 

 "But Naboth said to (King) Ahab, the Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers." 1 Kings 21:3

In this case, King Ahab wanted Naboth's vineyard but could not "legally" take it from him. Naboth did what was right. He refused to give to the King property which was intended to be left to his family. So, Queen Jezebel hired false witnesses to accuse Naboth of blasphemy, had him killed, and took the land. The King and the Queen both sinned against Naboth by taking his property. (They later died under God's judgement.)

God, in the Old Testament, clearly states that property inheritance is righteous in His eyes! It is good and not evil! 

What about Jesus and His view of property inheritance recorded in the New Testament? 

1. Property inheritance is a family matter. 
Someone in the crowd said to (Jesus),"Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." But he (Jesus) said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?"

This is an interesting exchange. A man wants Jesus to intervene in a family inheritance dispute, but instead of asking Jesus to hear the details of the dispute and make a righteous decision, the man tells Jesus how he wants Him to settle the dispute. The person demands half of the inheritance.  

Whether the demand was fair or not, it was covetous, and Jesus refused to get involved. He would not encourage taking an inheritance away from a rightful heir, and He knew the brother making the demands had needs that couldn't be met by mere possessions. 

2. Covetousness Is Forbidden:   And he (Jesus) said to them (the crowd), "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:13-15

Please notice that Jesus did not warn the crowd against receiving an inheritance. He turned to the crowd and warned them to avoid falling into the trap of the materialist outlook on life which caused the man to covet his brother's inheritance. Jesus would never side with the Occupy Wall Street crowd.
 

Coming from a Biblically based perspective, I was surprised and shocked by the leftist's covetous comments on the news program. But I suppose I shouldn't be. If I had a godless perspective I might see the world as they see it. If there was no God I might want to lean on the government too, and I'm glad that's not the case.

There is a God! Everything we have comes from God! He owns "the cattle on a thousand hills" and He blesses our lives from His abundance as He sees fit. It is, therefore, unwise to look to one's neighbor or to the government to provide what only God can rightfully supply. While covetousness leads to a curse, trusting in God brings His blessings. But, alas, the left doesn't see it that way.

President Obama and his fellow travelers are trying to convince Americans that government can replace God. They want us to believe that the government can, and should, meet our needs. Yes, they tell us we have a right to expect unearned benefits from the government. And, they even think they know what those benefits should include (and are willing to force them on us). This is a dangerous deception!

Think about it: God blesses us from His unlimited resources and expects no repayment. The government, on the other hand, promises some Americans a portion of the resources it takes from their neighbors while it loads the country with debt. Consider, if the government confiscated all the wealth of the 1% in the USA today, they couldn't even repay a third of the 16+ trillion dollars they've already spent in our name, much less continue to support all of those currently on the dole.

The government did not create us and cannot sustain us. Not just because it lacks the wealth required but because our needs are not simply material; they are spiritual! The "ghost" in our machine needs far more sustenance than can be grown in, or gathered from a secular, collective garden. We need more than food, clothes and housing. We need love, grace, mercy, fellowship, forgiveness, healing, restoration and ultimately eternal salvation. Our true needs can only be met in relationship with our heavenly Father. Only He knows and can meet our deepest needs.

And, our deepest needs do not include free contraception! This Obama policy is not about women. It is about population control. By insisting on free drugs to block conception or to kill the newly conceived life of American babies this administration is  hoping to more rapidly change the ideological complexion of this nation. When Americans quit replacing themselves and enough emigrants arrive we can kiss our freedoms goodbye. That free pill comes with an exorbitant hidden price tag.

And, the upfront price appears to be an assault on the freedom of religion. It is a no brainer that churches cannot currently be legally forced to provide drugs which violate their teachings about life! That would hinder the "free exercise" of religion as guaranteed in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

And, since Obama knows his policy is unconstitutional, making an issue of forcing it anyway must be a deliberate assault on the constitution and freedom of religion. What else can it be? He swore to "uphold and defend the constitution" but he is not doing so. I hope American voters will take this seriously.

And now, back on topic, the only financial hope for our country and the world is to stop thinking life consists of an abundance of possessions and to turn back to God. He is all we need! He will supply all our needs as we refuse to covet our neighbor's property and put our trust in Him.

Our true right of inheritance is eternal. It is provided by Jesus to all who put their trust in Him alone for salvation. If you sense Him knocking at your heart's door, please open the door and ask Him in.

"Now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified."  Acts 20:32 

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