“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (1 Tim. 6:10)
I have started to question this verse, not in any way that would disrespect and dishonor the truths of the Word of God, but more in a way that this verse is specifically categorized, so to speak. The main question I have about it in a sense answers itself, but it is still worth our contemplation if we desire to find the knowledge of God as stated in Proverbs 2:5.
I place this then before you in this regard, that neither Satan nor his demonic horde need money, and so they would not love it. I am going to presume that they know where all the gold, rubies and other precious stones are today that once resided in King Solomon’s cities built to hold those earthly treasures. They may know where all of those earthly riches are, but what possible usefulness could this have for them save to tempt men with it? Again, I mean no disrespect, but would it be those treasures, that love of money, or what it can be exchanged for.
Possibly both, if you really think about it, for one will hoard money simply to have it, while another will spend it on building barns to store what he has purchased with it, as the man in Luke 12:17-19 did. In either case, unless I am seriously missing something here, this verse about the love of money is meant specifically for mankind and would then be the root of all evil only for the world of men.
I rest assured in the knowledge that the more money one has, the more secure they feel, and so much of it can not only bring with it a sense of false, or at least temporary security, but the pride that also would happen at nearly the same time. In the Old Testament, at least at a cursory glance, the accumulation of things, and therefore a form of riches, was seen as being blessed by the Lord, and in all reality not much in that area has really changed that much, we do not need prosperity theology to see this fact. But to Paul the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9) We hear the words of Mark 8:36, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” While at the same time the echo of the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, “Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.” (Luke 18:30)
It is not money remember, it is the love of it, that false sense of security it can bring, thereby separating us, by our own decision, from that grace that is sufficient.
I do not know how much time passed after Satan’s attack on Job and that wise old man saying, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21) But I have my doubts that it was instantaneously. When we lose what we have in this world we find out within ourselves just how much the world had a grip on us, just how much love of money and all those things that it can purchase controlled our lives.
It’s easier to read this in the comfort of your house than it is under a bridge with some cardboard for a blanket.
I do not believe that Satan has any love of money, it is, in my opinion, nothing more than another tool for him to use to coerce men into falling into another of his many traps. But in a sense the born-again believer should also look at it in this manner. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17) If He has blessed you with some money, no matter the amount, don’t fall in love with it, do not hoard it, do not let it become your master, and never fear losing it. The Lord has given it to you for a purpose, use it wisely, and then forget about it. When you need something, He will make sure you get it, after all “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” (Psalm 50:10)
