What the Bible Says About...

What the Bible Says About God, the Natural World, and Us

The natural world was made by God.
Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.—Job 12:7-10 NIV

In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.—Psalm 95:4-5
All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.—John 1:3

The power and wisdom of God can be seen in nature.
Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God's wonders. Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of him who has perfect knowledge?—Job 37:14-16 NIV
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.—Psalm 19:1 NIV
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.—Isaiah 40:26 NIV
Since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.—Romans 1:20 NIV
O Lord, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures. Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small.
—Psalm 104:24-25 NLT

God and nature have a living relationship.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.—Psalm 19:1 NLT
The earth is full of [God's] unfailing love.—Psalm 33:5 NIV
You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.—Psalm 65:9-10, 12-13 NIV
The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.—Psalm 145:9 NIV
The beast of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.—Isaiah 43:20
You have made heaven, the earth and everything on it, the seas and all that is in them, and You preserve them all.—Nehemiah 9:6
Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.—Matthew 6:26

God expects us to take care of the natural world.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground."—Genesis 1:26 NIV
The land belongs to me. You are only foreigners and tenant farmers working for me.—Leviticus 25:23 NLT
A righteous man regards the life of his animal.—Proverbs 12:10

Lack of care for His creation displeases God.
They have made it an empty wasteland; I hear its mournful cry. The whole land is desolate, and no one even cares.—Jeremiah 12:11 NLT
Woe to you shepherds who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock.—Ezekiel 34:2-3 NIV
Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet?
—Ezekiel 34:18 NIV

If we don't take care of our planet, we will suffer the consequences.
The earth mourns and dries up, and the crops waste away and wither. Even the greatest people on earth waste away. The earth suffers for the sins of its people, for they have twisted God's instructions, violated his laws, and broken his everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse consumes the earth.—Isaiah 24:4-6 NLT
The time has come for rewarding your servants the prophets and people—and for destroying those who destroy the earth.—Revelation 11:18 NIV ¦

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 Rich Man Poor Man in the Book of Proverbs

Riches are one of the good fruits of wisdom . understanding and knowledge

Pro 3:13  Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding…

Pro 3:16  Length of days is in [wisdom’s and understanding’s] right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.

Pro 14:24  The crown of the wise is their riches: but the foolishness of fools is folly.

Pro 19:14  House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.

Pro 24:4  And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

Laziness and self-indulgence creates poverty:

Pro 6:9  How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?

Pro 6:10  Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

Pro 6:11  So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

Pro 10:4  He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

Pro 19:15  Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.

Pro 20:13  Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.

Pro 21:17  He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.

Pro 23:21  For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

Inteligent work and diligence in business bring riches.

Pro 28:19  He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough.

Pro 10:4  He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.

God’s blessings bring riches that will make you even happier.

(Pro 10:22)  The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.

Just don’t put your eyes on riches, they are vain. Keep your priorities right

(Pro 11:4)  Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.

Pro 11:28  He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.

Pro 23:5  Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

Being rich doesn’t make you proud, you can still be a humble person.

Pro 13:7  There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.

Pride to refuse instruction brings poverty

Pro 13:18  Poverty and shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured.

Whereas humility brings riches

Pro 22:4  By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.

Giving, circulating and putting your riches to use bring God’s blessings. Retaining them bring loss.

Pro 11:24  There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.

Pro 11:25  The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.

Pro 11:26  He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.

Both the rich deceitful man and the poor are wrong and the Lord has to open the eyes of both.

Pro 29:13  The poor and the deceitful man meet together: the LORD lighteneth both their eyes.

Pro 10:16  The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.

If we put our eyes in poverty or in riches we will find out that either one of them is vanity and a lie.

Pro 30:8,9  Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

In the end the Lord will give riches to those that have compassion on the needy.

Pro 28:8  He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.

Pro 28:22  He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

Finally the beautiful righteous woman of Proverbs 31, she is anything but poor, she has servants, she buys fields, she is diligent, wise and generous. A great role model.

Pro 31:10-29

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

She lays her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

She stretches out her hand to the poor; yea, she reaches forth her hands to the needy.

She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

She makes herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

Her husband is known in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.

She makes fine linen, and selects it; and delivers girdles unto the merchant.

Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

She opens her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

She looks well to the ways of her household, and eats not the bread of idleness.

Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.

Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excells them all.

In Conclusion:

It’s not poverty that makes us righteous. Having riches can even be more humbling then being poor. Voluntary poverty is a pride trip and a fertile ground for jealousy towards the rich. Being poor brings absolutely no advantage for our spiritual life.

We should not put our eyes on riches, but voluntary poverty is vanity, (Col 2:18 – Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility... vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind. Gal 3:4 – Have ye suffered so many things in vain?)

God wants us to have enough, plenty, abundance and sufficiency! The only reason any time at all that we sacrifice our sufficiency & plenty is to help others become rich, not that we might remain there forever in the squalor & dirt & disease & privation & anaemia & malnutrition of poverty! That's not our end nor purpose! That's a pride trip for the rich!--"oh, look, I'm poor now & humble & I'm unselfish!"

God is not against riches. Some people have the wrong idea. He's not against riches. He is not against wealth. He's only against riches & wealth in the hands of too few when too many don't have enough! God thinks wealth is great & will give you all you can possibly stand, if you'll give it away & share it so everybody has enough!

It's like this: it's from riches to rags first, in order to get everybody back to abundance somewhere in between! But these people who proclaim the abundant life & rich living for all, they want to go from riches to riches & skip this middle rags part! They just want to go from rich house to rich church & share their wealth with the already rich who don't even need it! God doesn't want us to be poor & deprived forever. God wants us to be rich!--but not rich in the way the world is rich, selfishly rich, where they've got millions heaped up that they're not using, that they don't need & they aren't sharing. But he will heap it on us if we'll give it out!

2Co 8:9  For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich.