Week 2 Genesis
If I was a bible-reading business man and wanted to write a book called Bible Principles for Wealth Acquisition and Management I wouldn’t include Abraham.
It’s odd because Abraham was obviously a very wealthy guy. Before he left his home in Ur he had personal wealth. Later he’s described as being: very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. He had his own army of 318 men to protect him. He refused a bounty offered by the king of Sodom – he didn’t need it. His Hittite neighbours called him: a mighty prince.
The fourteen chapters of Abraham’s life tell me that he was rich. But not how he got rich. The only explanations I found were thing like: the Lord had blessed him in every way. Which is a whole lot different than practical things like working hard, investing, saving, controlling debt, budgeting, avoiding luxury purchases, etc.
When it comes to info on building and preserving wealth Abraham is a dry well.
But…while I was discovering that Genesis 12-25 had no real information on wealth building those chapters talked almost non-stop about Abraham’s family. Family issues are in every chapter: Lot, night visions and promises of a son, Hagar, Ishmael, Lot’s girls, Isaac, the Abraham-Isaac sacrifice, a wife for Isaac, Sarah’s death, Abraham’s remarriage. In fact I’d be tempted to say that the whole point of 12-25 is to show the progress of the Abraham family (which is maybe a slight exaggeration).
Note: quotes and references from Genesis 13:2, 14:14, 22-24, 23:6, 24:1 & 35 (NIV)