When Will the Wealth of the Wicked be Transferred

There are many prophetic sounds streaming across the body of Christ in this hour of uncertainty. One of those sounds for the past several years has been the transfer of the wealth from the wicked to the righteous. Yet, I hear one say, “this is the year,” another says, “we are getting ready for this transfer,” while someone else will say, “it has already begun or happened.” Which one is right? Even though we see glimpses of the possibility, I believe it has not happened to the magnitude that God wants to release.

Every revival has produced a reordering or prioritizing of finances. On the day of Pentecost we see a tremendous outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We know that 3, 000 were added to the church. In Acts 2: 44-45 it states, “that all who believed were together, they sold possessions and goods, and gave to all men, as they had need.” In chapter 4: 32 – 37 we get another perspective of the church reordering their finances. Verse 32 says, “They were of one heart and soul and their possessions were not their own…” Resulting in “great power and great grace upon them. (v. 33) Seems there is a connection between the tangible (possessions) and the intangible (power & grace) Could this have been a pattern set forth in the book of Acts? Did they learn something through these acts of obedience? Doesn’t it seem ironic that very little is mentioned in the book of Acts about fund raising? How did they live? How did the work advance to the whole world?

Watchman Nee states in his book, “Normal Christian Church Life”, ‘No information what soever is given as to how the needs of the work, or the personal needs of the workers, were supplied…What men consider of supreme importance, the apostles regarded of least consequences…The love and the faithfulness of God were realities to them, and that being so, no question arose in their minds concerning the supply of their TEMPORAL needs.’

The scripture is filled with references of the wicked wealth being transferred to the righteous. Proverbs 13: 22 (Amp) ‘…and the wealth of the sinner (finds its way eventually) into the hands of the righteous, for whom it was laid up.’ In fact part of the rules for war found in Deut. 20 was after they defeated a city, they were to smite every male, but were to take the women, children, and animals. Verse 14 then states, “… and ALL the spoil (wealth) in it, you shall take for yourselves; and you shall use the spoil of your enemies which the Lord your God has given you.” Job 27: 13 – 17 talks about a wicked man and the oppressors before God. They are very prosperous in their endeavors, ‘they gather silver like dust, and buy all the latest clothing.’ Verse 17 (Amp) states, ‘He (the wicked) may prepare it, but the just will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver.’ Do you see the hand of God on our behalf? Every oppressive financial institution, wicked money person, terrorist, evil government, etc. is now preparing the resources for you and I to take the gospel of the Kingdom to this world. In an instant, resources can come into the believers coffers. Are you ready?

In order for this transfer to take place a process of change must happen in the body of Christ. If we gain anything without growing into it, we will NOT keep it. An example is in the children of Israel. They had been in slavery for hundreds of years resulting in bondage. Ralph Waldo Emerson states, “A man in debt is so far a slave.” Debt is the condition of being in bondage to another person. It is to be obligated to pay back what is owed, allowing another person to have a claim against you. The children of Israel were in debt or bondage to a system that produced slavery. God knows that any civilization that has relied on debt will eventually be destroyed from within. This is the reason He put limitations on debt. (i.e. Every 7 years debts were forgiven in Israel)

God delivers the children of Israel out of their bondage, but they still lived like they were still in bondage to that Egyptian system. They were not ready for the transfer. When they left Egypt they had most if not all of the silver and gold. (Psalms 105:37; Exodus 3: 21; Genesis 15:14) This prophetic fulfillment brought devastation to Egypt in which it has not recovered till this day. Now what were the children of Israel going to do with all this wealth? As slaves, they had been deprived for 400 years and only knew the system of bondage. Therefore, God takes them to the only place where they could not lose their gain. TO THE WILDERNESS. In the wilderness they were learning the ways of God. Isaiah 48:17 (Amp) states, “…I am the Lord your God, WHO TEACHES YOU TO PROFIT…” This wilderness was a time for processing change from the world system to a Kingdom system. They would learn things like putting God first in all their resources… Ex. 25: 8 Like most today, when it comes to application we refer back to a system of comfort. When this happens we suffer tremendous loss. Notice, as Moses was up in the mountain receiving the laws to govern the nation, the children of Israel take matters into their own hands. The people fearing that their leader and God were gone, asked Aaron to ‘make us a god…’ Aaron accommodates their request and fashions a Molten Calf for the people to worship. (Ex. 32: 1-6) Where did they get the resources to fashion this calf? It was their bounty from Egypt! God’s intention for those resources was for the building of His Tabernacle, instead the children of Israel had surrendered their resources to the devil first. Moses comes down the mountain and sees the calf. He takes it, grinds it to powder, throws it into the water and makes the people drink. (Ex. 32: 19-20) Then the Levites go through the camp and slay 3,000 men who refused to submit to Moses. (Ex. 32: 27-28) This act of judgment revealed how much bondage was still controlling the children of Israel.

Today’s church must learn this same lesson in our preparation for transfer. We must realize like the children of Israel when we surrender our resources to the devil, that resource is gone and cannot be retrieved. Secondly, when we do this, people die needlessly without the knowledge of God.

The church must mature beyond our bondages in order to redemptively handle the transfer that has been prophesied. In order for the church to reach this point of maturation it must confront the mammon mindset in our midst.

Mammon is described in Luke 16: 13 (Amp) as: ‘riches, or anything in which you trust and on which you rely.’ Dr. Peter Waggoner calls it a spirit of mammon or the god of riches. Even though there is no indication that mammon is deified, it does carry with it a power. Luke 16: 9 describes it as, ‘mammon of unrighteousness’. Unrighteousness is defined as injustice, unrighteousness of heart and life, or a deed violating law and justice, or the act of unrighteousness. This mammon can be abusive and excusive in our midst, causing a great deal of damage. If the wealth is going to be transferred to Kingdom people, we must confront the mammon of unrighteousness. Sadly, due to the pressure of many local churches to produce numbers and income, much of mammon’s team will go unaddressed or confronted. When the church refuses to confront this area it is revealing its trust and reliance upon the mammon of unrighteousness.

There are three areas that the church will have to confront in order to see this transfer of wealth. They are:

(1) Simony – this is taken from Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8: 14 -24. In this passage Simon wants to purchase the power to lay hands on people that they may receive the Holy Spirit. Simon did not really desire the Holy Spirit himself, just the ability to impart this gift to others. Believing that it would give him greater spiritual authority among the people. He wanted the recognition of being like one of the apostles. He wanted to gain honor for himself rather than do good for needy people. From this passage ‘SIMONY’ has emerged. Simony simply means: purchasing for money of spiritual offices; trying to buy position and power in the church, or the trafficking in sacred things. The New Webster Encyclopedia Dictionary defines Simony as: ‘the buying and selling of ecclesiastic preferment; the presentation of anyone to an ecclesiastical benefit for money or reward.’ This includes the selling of prophesies, blessings, favors, forgiveness of sins, confessions, healings, salvations, etc.

Even though it is not confronted today, it is happening all over. From the selling of holy water from the Jordan River, $1,000; $500; $250; $100 prophesies, and more manipulative methods to take the resources from the people in the name of God. We watch on Christian television during times of praise-a-thons, preacher after preacher declaring what God has said about supporting this ministry. Knowing that one appearance on Christian television to sell their book, CD’s, etc can make them an instant millionaire. What about the mission projects? How about those who want to be in the ministry, not waiting for leadership recognition but decide to strike out on their own? The list goes on and on.

Peter gives Simon a response that needs to be heard in many of our church ministries today. He said in Acts 8: 20 – 22, “…Thy money perish with thee…(Phillips Translation: “to hell with you and your money) … v. 22 “REPENT therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee…”

In order for this transfer to come the church must repent of our unethical, manipulative, and unscriptural ways of receiving and giving resources.

(2) Gibeonite Syndrome. Joshua chapter nine tells the story of the Gibeonites, a group of people in Canaan marked by God to be destroyed by Israel. Through deception (pretending to be poor when they were not) obtained a covenant with Israel. Notice the characteristics of their deception in verses 3-6.

“They worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors…”

o They were clever (craftily)

o Misrepresented themselves (pretended)

o Gave false evidence of their deception (old sacks, old wineskins, old and patched sandals,

dry & moldy bread)

o Lied (came from a far off country)

o Religious (because of the name of the Lord your God, for we have heard of His fame) v.14-15

The Gibeonite Syndrome is representative of the HOARDING that goes on in the name of the Lord. Dr. Waggoner calls this “Parsimony”. This is a description for some one who is a “MISER”. Pretending to have nothing when there accounts are full. The above characteristics describe the MISERS in the church. Proverbs 13: 7, (NASB) ‘There is one who pretends to be rich, but has nothing; another pretends to be poor, but has great wealth.”

Many projects, personnel, and visions are waiting for resources to be released in order to be completed. The miser sounds the trumpet about the need that is so great but does next to nothing to advance these endeavors. The miser is controlled by fear. Fear of letting go. Fear of not having enough. Fear of being ruined or destroyed.

The miser will end up just like these Gibeonites. They were protected by God because of the covenant with Joshua, but never enjoyed the blessing of being in relationship with God. The Gibeonites were in covenant with Israel, but not Israel’s God. They had to serve in menial tasks to the nation of Israel. Yes they lived but never came to the full benefits of having covenant with God.

Misers are the same. They only serve their things, their junk, and waste many resources. They constantly struggle with a relationship with God and feel they are constantly fighting upstream.

The Gibeonite Syndrome is strong in our churches today. Fear of loss, fear of failure, fear of people, and fear of lack control the minds. In order for the transfer to come this miser mentality must be defeated.

(3)Gehazi - Gehazi was Elisha’s servant who tried to profit financially from his master’s anointing. (II Kings 5: 20-27) Moved by covetousness he runs after Naaman, the Syrian general to get some of the bounty that Elisha had refused. Seeming to speak for Elisha, he asks the general for ‘a talent of silver and two changes of clothes.’ Upon receipt of the garment and silver he takes the gifts and hides them in the ‘hill’. Returning to Elisha he is confronted and denies having run after the general. Seeing through his hypocrisy, Elisha smites him with the ‘Leprosy of Naaman.’

Gehazi is a picture of the covetousness that we find in our churches. Covetousness desires something we are not supposed to have. Covetousness will lead us to idolatry. It will look to riches and possessions in themselves as the answer to everything. If we only had more money, or if we had this equipment, then we could do what God wants us to do is a classic example.

Proverbs 1: 9 (KJV) ‘So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof…’

(NLT) “Such is the fate of all who are greedy for gain. It ends up robbing them of life…”

Proverbs 15: 27 (KJV) ‘He that is greedy of gain troubles his own house; but he that hates gifts shall live.’

(NASB) ‘He who profits illicitly troubles his own house, but he who hates bribes will live…’

Gehazi’s love for money and things cost him tremendously. Not only robbed him of life, but also brought trouble to his own soul. God is looking for integrity in every area. Yes, it does take resources to operate a ministry. Remember, Money follows ministry, Ministry should NEVER follow Money. Elisha did not accept Naaman’s gift because God’s miracles are not for sale. Matthew 10: 8 says, “Freely you have received, freely give.” The Greek is clearer: “Without price you have received, without price give.”

The Gehazi mindset must be broken in our modern church. This mindset must be freed from congregations who receive the miraculous workings of God. They not only receive but give to the man of God. At the same time God’s servants must not become Gehazites, only performing when the contract is big enough.

I see these are just three areas that today’s church must confront in order to be prepared for the wealth transfer. Will it happen? YES, emphatically, YES! The prophets have declared it. Signs are pointing to it. Now the church must prepare for it.

ARE YOU READY?