CATTLE ON A THOUSAND HILLS , HIS, MINE, OURS???

I was having a conversation with someone a few months ago, and i casually mentioned that i no longer listened to Prosperity gospel. This went into a long debate that went on for hours.

He was like Wyatt Earp, firing off scripture after scripture to support his case of God promising us wealth and riches. One of them was "the cattle on a thousand hills are his" does that sound like a poor God? ...gooble gooble gooble gooble....ok, he didn't go like that, but you catch my drift.

Naturally , the logic followed How can a rich God , that owns the whole world not want his children to be rich. Another quote brought up was from apostle Paul,

"my God shall supply all your needs ,according to his riches in glory".Philippians 4:19

His interpretation was, "Paul was rich , thus the reason he prayed YOUR need for the people , and not his own needs.

Needless to say as i went back to read that verse, from the beginning to the end, THAT assumption of riches is totally out of context.

Paul was thanking them, for the previous times they had sacrificially financially catered for him,in his last visit, and at that point in time we did not need it, but placed a blessing on them, for their willingness and generosity.

If i remember right, Paul made and mended tents to finance himself, so he won't have to ask or take a "love offering"(nothing against that) from the people he ministered to.

Read the entire passage for yourself and see.

However , the cattle on a thousand hills stuck with me. Taken from Psalm 50:10 , it is extremely popular with the prosperity gospel movement and i decided to take a look at it for what it fully meant, and the context in which it was said.

Does God own the cattle on the hills and the whole world. YES,

Is our God rich? Of course he is, but i doubt if riches to God, means sitting in his money room, counting gold and diamonds gleefully, as his Angel Gabriel reads his balance sheet out loud for the umpteenth time.

This verse is quoted in isolation to justify and promote the desire to be rich, wealthy and seize the promises that a rich God has provided.

So let's see what it says

v 10 For all the animals of the forest are mine and i own the cattle on a thousand hills

v11 Every bird of the mountain and all the animals of the field belong to me

v12 If i were hungry i would not mention it to you, for all the world is mine and everything in it

v13 I do not need the bulls you sacrifice, i do not need the blood of goats

Here's a key verse

v14 What i want instead is your true thanks to God; I want you to fulfill your vows to to the most high.

v15 Trust me in your times of trouble and i will rescue you and you will give me glory

ZOOMING out of the isolation of verse 10 , an often misinterpreted passage , reading the whole passage , we would realize that God is not saying ,

"the cattle on a thousand hills are mine , so you get them in the will my child, take it , it's yours". 

This passage is a chastisement to those that carry out religious ceremony, those playing church so to speak. They cross all the T's and dot all the i's , but it' s all routine. Done out of some sort of obligation rather than love and desire. He was speaking them that did acts and went ,

"Hey, check out, look at my God badge, you better recognize y'all", but lived lives of hypocrisy;lives contrasting to the God they claimed. He was speaking to

HYPOCRITES; v16-17 But God says to the wicked "Recite my laws no longer and don't pretend that you obey me.For you refuse my discipline and treat my laws like trash.

ACCOMPLICES TO THE WICKED; v 18 When you see a thief you help him, and you spend your time with adulterers

LIARS ; v19 Your mouth is full of wickedness and your tongues are full of lies

SLANDERERS :v 20 You sit around and slander a brother, your own mothers son

Verses 21 -22 Go on to explain God's verdict towards all this , a sound WARNING

When you did all this ,I remained silent, and you thought i didn't care. But now i will rebuke you, listing all my charges against you. Repent all you ignore me, or i will tear you apart and no one will help you.

This passage is FAR from the endorsement or promise of financial prosperity as it is often used in isolation. It is a warning to those paying God lip service.


Kinda makes you wonder who many other passages we shout and claim, but have taken out of context.

Lest i do what they do, the passage ends on a hopeful note

v23 But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.If you keep to my path i will reveal to you the salvation of God.<

Please read Psalm 50 in it's entirety, to see the introduction God is given ,lest we read in isolation.

SELAH

EPILOGUE

This is not to say that we should not and can not believe the Lord for financial prosperity. This is not to say we should not believe him to provide more than enough, or excess.
This is not to say we should lean back and live in mediocrity. We should be the best at whatever we do, and when we are rewarded financially we thank him.

So if you have a million dollar idea. Plan to become a CEO of a Fortune 500, or have a plan to become a millionaire or billionaire. THAT'S COOL.

We just have to keep in mind the passage Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and that will be our compass that keeps us in his light. We should be careful about the person we become in the pursuit of our goals, and how that pursuit affects our beliefs, values, morals, ethics ,associations and integrity.

The whole point of the assessment of this passage, is that , we should acknowledge the CONTEXT, in which a popular( or any) passage was said. Like the Bereans that went back to the scriptures after being taught by Paul and the others; we should read a whole passage to find the relevance of a specific verse, and not just parrot someone( pastor or anyone else) that may have gone off tangent, and is just promoting his/her book or ministry.

ANY THOUGHTS ON THIS PASSAGE ON EITHER SIDE OF THE DEBATE ?? PLEASE SHARE

THANKS