Middletown transcript., 1921-04-23
I. Wealth il the Hands Of the Few
flea ~

Problems Of Poverty and Wealth.
I. Wealth in the Hands Of the Few
lisa. 5:S).
l. "Join house to house" ". 81.
2. Lay field to field" ". S).a
The avaricious greed of these men
caused them to enlarge their estates
at the expense of their neighbors. IN
districts it took the form
of land-grabbing and the eviction OF
the small proprietor, and in the COM
mercial centers the crowding out OF
the small concerns by the large cor
porations. God hates the spirit OF
avarice. He hates the greed that ls
creating the inequalities in the eco
nomic and social order today.
u. Methods Employed in the Ae-
QUESTION of Wealth (Amos 8:4-6.
1. "Swallowed up the needy" ". ~.
Swallowed up" literally means to
pant after, like beast after its prey
with eagerness to devour. Many to-
day get rich by swallowing up the
needy. This Is done by the money
vender who finds q man in straitened
circumstances, loans him money at an
excrbitant rate of interest, forecloses
the mortgage at the critical hour, tax
ing possession Of the mans property.
2. ITO make the poor Of the land
to fail" ". ~. They were grasping
after the houses and lands Of the poor,
and in order to accomplish this they
impoverished them In every way pos
sible so as to root them out of the
land. This they doubtless did by
Withholding from them their lawful
wages, an example of which we find
in James 5:4, and placing exorbitant
taxes upon them and cheating them
in the courts.
3. Begrudged the loss of holy days
". 81. They were restlessly impatient
because of the restrictions of those
days. Though outwardly conforming
to the Sabbath they were seeking all
the while to commercialize it. Many
today 60 to church for the sake OF
responsibility while impatiently wait
ing for the day to pass in order to
to pursue their business.
4. Dishonesty in business dealings
". 81. (D They made the ephah
small. Their measures were less than
the price paid for. (2) They made
the shekel great. The shekel being
the coin used to pay bills, the mer-
chants put into circulation overweight
shekels thus getting a higher price
for their grain. The purchaser was
thus cut on both sides. (3) Falsified
their balances. Even the scales by
which the gold and silver were
weighed had been tampered with, max
ing them guilty Of cheating in three
ways.
5. They bought the poor for silver
". g.. The poor were reduced to
such poverty by the above means Of
Cheating that they were obliged to sell
themselves into slavery, even for a
pair of shoes.
6 They sold the refuse of the wheat
". g.. In time of famine they even
sold to the people that part of the
wheat which was intended for the
cattle.
III. Gods Judgment Upon Them
(Amos ST; cf. lisa. SO, 10Y.
God says 81 will never forget" Not
one act of greed and oppression will
escape Gods notice.
1. Many houses shall be desolate,
They obtained their houses by wicked
means, and they should be removed
from the land, thus not being able to
enjoy them.
2. The land unproductive ". 1O)
~. A Picture Of a Rich Man and Z
Beggar (Luke 16:19-25).
l. Their lives. ~ The rich man
He had much goods. He operated in
the, highest society. (2) The beggar
He not only was poor, but helpless
He had no place in the social order
He had no one to feed him, nor any
one to care for his sores except al
the dogs licked them.
2. Their deaths. (1) The rich maj
was taken by death. He seems to hav,
had a great burial. (2) The beggar
There is nothing told as to what wa:
done with his body when he died. Per
haps the very dogs who licked hi
sores fed upon it.
3. Their destinies. (1) The ricl
man lifted up his eyes in hell. TIL,
beggar was carried by the angels int,
Abraham's bosom. (2) What deter
mined them. The future life grow
out of the present. The rich man wa
interested in the things of this life
so selfish that even when the poo
beggar was laid at his gate he CAV
him no attention. He not only lacket
the kindness Of seeking opportunit,
to do good, but refused the one on
portunity that was thrust before him
(3) Their fixedness. Their destinie
were determined by their actions Will
alive, and after death there was n
possibility Of change. The rich ma
lifted up his eyes in hell. In addition
TO the suffering Of hell he had tn
anguish of neglected opportunities
His memory was still active.