Glory
June 12th, 2008, 11:12 AM
Israel may have departed Egypt, but they still had a lot of bull¯ in them. The Egyptians worshipped an idol called Apis, a gold cow that represented the god of food. Since Israel was wandering in the wilderness, lacking the melons, fish, onions and cucumbers of Egypt, they built their gold cow by melting their gold earrings. The people yelled, Here is the God that brought us out of Egypt¯ (Exodus 32:8).
The Almighty didn't, take a liking to being compared to a gold cow. Moses came off the mountain, ground their cow into gold cow powder and made the Hebrews drink their idol.
Another brass bull¯ sits outside of a major institution in New York City. The building is the New York Stock Exchange.
While the Stock Exchange is used to boost investment in U.S. companies and people make an honest living knowing how to invest in the markets, recently, it has come to light just how much greed can be linked to such a system of exchange and investment.
For example, the price of oil continues to climb and the profits from the rising cost are into the billions. Many observers say that Hedge Fund investors who are pouring funds into oil because of the weak dollar are one reason why the oil costs are gushing higher.
As an example, ABC news reported on April 18, 2008, that hedge fund manager, John Paulson brought in an astonishing $3 billion last year.¯ This was more than $1.4 million an hour, assuming a 40 hour work week. The report continued that the average American worker made $17.86 an hour in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It would take 80,756 average Americans to make the same amount that this one Wall Street manager made. His profit was made by winning bets tied to the mortgage crisis.
The 100 top hedge fund traders brought in a combined $30.4 billion. Much of the money is made when big time investors place a bet¯ on weather a stock will rise in price or drop in price.
Since the big bosses have inside information,¯ which is suppose to be illegal to use in investing, they can usually know when a stock is falling or rising.
The only thing that can prevent their success is a sudden earthquake (like in China) or a Tsunami (as in Indonesia) that totally disrupts business as usual.
Guess who is really paying the price to make these fellows rich yes, you guessed it, the millions of little men and women¯ trying to make some quick money on the markets rise.
There are many good Christians and godly people who invest in corporations and make an honest living through their investments. However, the unrestrained greed of so many top men will one day be seen by God himself. How much do they give to the poor and needy? How many churches, orphanages, and hospitals are they building in poor countries? How many helpless children have they helped with medicine and how many water wells have they dug? Or, is it all made for bigger homes, cars, islands in the sea, jewelry and extravagant clothes and yachts?
These men love to see the bull run wild¯ as their investments go up. But remember; when Israel worshipped at the gold calf, God came down and slew 3,000 of them, and made them eat their idol. Be careful, oh you rich men who abuse widows and care not for the poor and needy.
James warned:
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered;
and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.
Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.¯
- James 5: 1-5
When a person gets rich at the misery of others, their cries come up before God. Be aware that God blesses you to be a blessing to others. When you forget that, the bull will become a bear and bears have been known to cause great trouble.
Perry Stone
The Almighty didn't, take a liking to being compared to a gold cow. Moses came off the mountain, ground their cow into gold cow powder and made the Hebrews drink their idol.
Another brass bull¯ sits outside of a major institution in New York City. The building is the New York Stock Exchange.
While the Stock Exchange is used to boost investment in U.S. companies and people make an honest living knowing how to invest in the markets, recently, it has come to light just how much greed can be linked to such a system of exchange and investment.
For example, the price of oil continues to climb and the profits from the rising cost are into the billions. Many observers say that Hedge Fund investors who are pouring funds into oil because of the weak dollar are one reason why the oil costs are gushing higher.
As an example, ABC news reported on April 18, 2008, that hedge fund manager, John Paulson brought in an astonishing $3 billion last year.¯ This was more than $1.4 million an hour, assuming a 40 hour work week. The report continued that the average American worker made $17.86 an hour in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It would take 80,756 average Americans to make the same amount that this one Wall Street manager made. His profit was made by winning bets tied to the mortgage crisis.
The 100 top hedge fund traders brought in a combined $30.4 billion. Much of the money is made when big time investors place a bet¯ on weather a stock will rise in price or drop in price.
Since the big bosses have inside information,¯ which is suppose to be illegal to use in investing, they can usually know when a stock is falling or rising.
The only thing that can prevent their success is a sudden earthquake (like in China) or a Tsunami (as in Indonesia) that totally disrupts business as usual.
Guess who is really paying the price to make these fellows rich yes, you guessed it, the millions of little men and women¯ trying to make some quick money on the markets rise.
There are many good Christians and godly people who invest in corporations and make an honest living through their investments. However, the unrestrained greed of so many top men will one day be seen by God himself. How much do they give to the poor and needy? How many churches, orphanages, and hospitals are they building in poor countries? How many helpless children have they helped with medicine and how many water wells have they dug? Or, is it all made for bigger homes, cars, islands in the sea, jewelry and extravagant clothes and yachts?
These men love to see the bull run wild¯ as their investments go up. But remember; when Israel worshipped at the gold calf, God came down and slew 3,000 of them, and made them eat their idol. Be careful, oh you rich men who abuse widows and care not for the poor and needy.
James warned:
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered;
and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.
Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.¯
- James 5: 1-5
When a person gets rich at the misery of others, their cries come up before God. Be aware that God blesses you to be a blessing to others. When you forget that, the bull will become a bear and bears have been known to cause great trouble.
Perry Stone