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<td valign="top" >How do you say, We are wise, and <strong><em>the law of Yahweh is with us</em></strong>? But <strong><em>the false pen</em></strong> of the <em><strong>scribes has wrought falsely</strong></em>. (Jer. 8:8.)</td>
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<h1>Bible Lessons on Danger of Riches</h1>
<p><span style="font-size: large; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The Bible teaches in Deuteronomy 8:17-18:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: large; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">17 Beware lest you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth. 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">There is a seduction of riches to make you think you got it on your own without God's help. Yet, it is God "who gives you power to get wealth," and it is for the proof of HIS covenant with His people.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"></span></p>
<hr />
<p><span style="color: #993366; font-size: large;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;">First Fruits of Zion on The Allure of Materialism</span></strong></span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><span style="font-size: large; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">A great source of teaching by Messianics (<em>i.e.</em>,&nbsp;Jews who accept Yahshua / Jesus) is First Fruits of Zion. Their website is&nbsp;<a href="http://ffoz.org/"></a><a href="http://ffoz.org/">http://ffoz.org/</a></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">I get their weekly email, and I suggest you get on their email list. Their December 2013 email was on the allure of materialism.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">Here is what it says:</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"></span></p>
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<h1 id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19018" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; font-weight: normal; font-size: 58px; text-align: center; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: #805500;">The Weekly eDrash</h1>
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<p><span style="font-size: large; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1"></span></p>
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<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19090" style="padding: 0px; width: 600px;">
<tbody id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19089" style="width: 600px;">
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<td class="yiv3417826999top" valign="top" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19087" style="border-spacing: 2px; vertical-align: top;">
<p id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19086" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; line-height: 20px; font-size: 15px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: #333333; font-style: italic;">Whether it is the trappings of wealth or the pressures of socialization, we must beware of allowing ourselves to become spiritually enslaved. Success and prosperity can quickly turn into bondage.</p>
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<td class="yiv3417826999top" valign="top" id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19098" style="border-spacing: 2px; vertical-align: top;">
<p id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19097" style="padding: 10px 0px 0px; margin: 0px; line-height: 20px; font-size: 18px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; color: #805500;">This week's Torah portion:&nbsp;<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://ffoz.org/resources/edrash/shemot/" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); color: #805500; outline: none; font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Shemot</span></a></p>
<div id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19101" style="margin-left: 50px; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; color: #333333;">
<h3 id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19100" style="padding: 0px; font-size: 1.17em; margin: 1em 0px;">Readings</h3>
<ul id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19103" style="margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px; list-style-position: initial; list-style-image: initial;">
<li id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19102"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Shemot</span>&nbsp;(???? | Names)</li>
<li id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19104"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Torah</span>: Exodus 1:1-6:1</li>
<li id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19105"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Haftarah</span>: Isaiah 27:6-28:13, 29:22-23</li>
<li id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19106"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Gospel</span>: Luke 5:12-39</li>
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<p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; line-height: 34px; font-size: 28px;">The Golden Handcuffs</p>
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<blockquote style="margin: 1em; line-height: 20px;">Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. (Exodus 1:6)</blockquote>
<p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; line-height: 20px;">When Jacob first went down to Egypt, he went only to sojourn there until the famine had passed. It was supposed to be temporary. But the temporary stay turned into what looked like permanent residence. They settled, and they prospered. They might have remained in Egypt, happy and well fed. Life in Egypt was good. Perhaps it was too good.</p>
<p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; line-height: 20px;">Happy, well-fed and prosperous, the children of Israel could have easily forgotten about their great spiritual heritage. Content with the comforts and luxuries of Egypt, they might have abandoned their aspirations of inheriting Canaan. Who would want Canaan when he already had Egypt?</p>
<p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; line-height: 20px;">The children of Israel found their situation in Egypt suddenly reversed when the Egyptian government forced the Hebrews into servitude. A person becomes accustomed to privileges and luxuries and begins to think of those things as necessities. Things that, at one time, he could not afford, and therefore did not worry about, become indispensable needs as he prospers. His own wealth and success become "golden handcuffs" from which he cannot escape. While we are in the service of materialism, our spiritual health inevitably suffers. Yeshua warned us, saying, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth" (Matthew 6:24).</p>
<p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; line-height: 20px;">While in Egypt, Israel was lured by the attractions of Egyptian society. They began to assimilate into the larger culture. Assimilation poses a greater danger to the people of God than persecution. When we are persecuted, we band closely together and firm up our convictions. We remember that we are not part of the greater culture. When we are received into the culture, though, we lose those distinctions, and we begin to lose our identity. We fall sway under the powerful spell of social allure.</p>
<p style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; line-height: 20px;">The rabbis speculated that something like this was happening in Egypt. One Jewish collection of commentary on the book of Exodus suggests that the Israelites went so far as to quit circumcising their sons so that their children would fit in better with Egyptians:</p>
<blockquote id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19050" style="margin: 1em; line-height: 20px;">When Joseph died, the Children of Israel abrogated the ritual of circumcision. They said, "Let's be like the Egyptians." Because they quit circumcising themselves, the Holy One, Blessed be He, reversed the Egyptians' friendly attitude toward them. (<em>Shemot Rabbah</em>&nbsp;1:8)</blockquote>
<p id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19070" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; line-height: 20px;">Instead of settling down and trying to fit into Egyptian culture, the children of Israel ought to have been looking toward the return to Canaan. By remaining in Egypt, they made themselves (and especially their children) vulnerable to Egyptian culture. They were already entering spiritual enslavement long before their physical enslavement began.</p>
<p id="yui_3_13_0_ym1_1_1387750757147_19057" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; line-height: 20px;">Whether it is the trappings of wealth or the pressures of socialization, we must beware of allowing ourselves to become spiritually enslaved. The children of Israel may have fallen victim to both. Real, physical enslavement followed quickly.</p>
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