Wealth is neutral to our salvation. It is neither evil nor good of itself, but it is a great factor in many lives. Paul wrote to Timothy (1 Tim. 6:10) that ..love of money is a root of all the evils.. so it is not the money itself that is evil, but loving money can certainly cause evil. Greed is the enemy. Many who are wealthy have put their faith in wealth and not in the LORD*. Many have acquired or retained inherited wealth because money was their god. You do not need to have money to love money, so there are many poor who have money as their god.

The Kingdom of God here on earth benefits from the wealth of those who are not greedy and who give generously to God’s work, but not everyone is to be wealthy. We should all be prosperous enough to have respectable housing and the other necessities of life, but we should not expect more than that simply because we are believers. Y’shua said You must continually see and guard yourselves from all covetousness, because someone’s life is not abundant from his possessions. (Lk. 12:15) Paul wrote to the Philippians (4:11) that he had ..learned to be content with what things I have.

The story of the Rich Ruler in Lk. 18:18-23 tells about a young man whose possessions were more important to him than the Kingdom of God. Y’shua saw that quality in him so He told the man to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor, and then follow Him. We all have to view our possessions, no matter how small or how great, as less important than the Kingdom of God.

Wedding. The wedding in Y’shua’s day began with an agreement between the bride and groom, like engagement today. At the time of this agreement a formal document, called a Ketubah, was signed. The Ketubah included a price to be paid for the bride. At that time the couple was considered to be married, even though the marriage was not consummated. The groom then prepared a place, usually on family property, for the couple and when his father approved of the apartment or house, the son would come for his bride and the wedding ceremony would take place. Neither bride nor groom knew when the father would say it was good enough, so they both needed to be ready as the finishing was about done. Then the groom would go for the bride, often at night, and she would have to be ready.

The guests too would be notified at the last minute. The party began with the ceremony, and then the party lasted a whole week. Immediately after the ceremony, the bride and groom retired to the place he had prepared, and the friend of the groom, the best man, stood by the door. When the marriage had been consummated, the groom would shout in his joy and the friend of the groom would relay the good news to the guests. (Jn. 3:29)

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