Norman Edwards: Silver

A Silver Nugget

The latest (Sept-Oct 2008) edition of Norman Edwards’ Servant’s News just arrived. Like Fred Coutler’s CBCG, Norman Edward’s publication seems to be supportive of certain conspiracy theories (like “the financial elite…better known as the Anglo-Dutch Financial Oligarchy”) and thus often goes off message a bit too much. (Norman Edwards was once a member of the old Worldwide Church of God, then went to GCG, and then went off on his own.)

Here are some of Norman Edwards’ comments from his lead article which he titled Biblical Economy!:

In these days of electronic cash and billion-dollar bailouts, does the Bible have anything to say about what we should use for money?
Yes! In one word!
Silver.
In the Hebrew language, there is only one word that means both “silver” and “money”: keceph (Strong’s # 3701). This word is translated “silver” about 2/3 of the time and “money” about “1/3” of the time in most English Bibles.
Similarly, in the New Testament, the Greek word arguron (Strong’s #694) is nearly always used for “money” and its close brother arguros (Strong’s #696) is nearly always used for “silver”—though there is some interchange between the two. The New Testament also contains words for specific coins that were made of brass, silver or gold…

Silver and Gold Coins Would Work for Us
Today a pound of silver is worth about $140. One or two pounds would be sufficient for the average family shopping trip. But for those bigger jobs, silver’s big brother, gold, is always available.
Gold is included as an important resource when man was created (Gen 2:11)…
What are gold and silver’s advantages?
• They do not wear out.
• They are not destroyed by fire or water.
• They cannot be tracked by serial numbers or RFID chips.
• They cannot be counterfeited.
• They are not subject to manipulation and inflation by bankers and governments.

Just Weights and Measures
The last point is important—extremely important. The whole reason that our nation, and ultimately the world, is in such financial trouble is because paper currency can be manipulated and inflated—and virtually always is…
Every day, our financial news media will carry some story about what the Federal Reserve, the World Bank or some other major financial institution is doing to affect the money supply or to “prop up” some sagging currency. In most cases, it means that they are making accounting entries to “create” additional money for some specific currency. Governments also borrow big chunks of money (like $700 billion at a time) to finance their latest project.
Nothing new of value is created in these money operations—there is just more paper (or electronic) money in circulation. So the net effect is that the ratio of the total money in a nation divided by its total real value gets bigger. But that also means that the real value behind each dollar gets smaller. This is why inflation is referred to as a “hidden tax”. As banks and governments create more money from nowhere, the value of paper and electronic dollars that people have shrinks. As an example, if a man receives a dollar for working on a certain day, he could buy a loaf of bread with it; but if he saves that dollar for a year and then decides to buy a loaf of bread, he finds that it now costs $1.10—not because the bread requires more work or materials to produce—but because the value of his dollar has shrunk. Sure, the man could have put his money in a bank and received interest—and might have $1.03 at the end of a year. But he would still be $.07 short to buy the loaf of bread—and he might have nothing at all if his bank failed…
Christians must not become so desirous of earning and spending this unjust Federal Reserve “money” that they lose sight of its flaws. We should teach our children that this valueless “money” is not biblical and that we are sorry that they have to grow up in a nation that uses this kind of currency…

Debt-Based Economies Fail
But is a debt-based economy good? Is that what the Bible teaches? When the Eternal gave this list of blessing for obedience to Him in Deuteronomy 28, He said:

The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none (Deut 28:12).

The Federal Reserve is not part of our government, but a private corporation that works in a very complex system through its member banks to loan money to the US government. It has never had an independent audit. The Federal Reserve Act was passed in December of 1913 when many congressmen were not even there. It was many years before it had the massive effect on the economy that it has today. Now, in conjunction with its member banks, it prints all of our currency, sets interest rates, and creates money from nothing to loan at interest. One can learn all about how that happened in a book entitled The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve, by G. Edward Griffin.
But the Federal Reserve is only half the problem. The other half is the governments, businesses and people who want to borrow from it. (Edwards N. Biblical Economy! Servants’ News. Sept-Oct 2008)

Suffice it to say that for many reasons (such as lack of sufficient intrinsic value of silver and gold, their actual practical usages, insufficient supplies for the entire world population as gold would need to be valued at something more than USD100,000 per ounce to cover much of the world economy, transportation and other difficulties, etc.) According to Monex.com, there is only about 300 million ounces of above ground refined silver, only ounce for every 20 people on the planet–Norman Edwards’ solution would not actually work (the average person would not be able to take one to two pounds of silver to the store to purchase groceries, if the average person owned less than 1/20th of an ounce). Nor would it stop world governments with coming up with new ways to track their citizens.

Perhaps I should mention that while the Bible shows that silver and gold will have value into the time of the Great Tribulation (cf. Daniel 11:31;39-43; Matthew 24:15-21), it specifically teaches that they will not save the rich (or anyone else) from the end-time problems:

Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days (James 5:3)

They will throw their silver into the streets, And their gold will be like refuse; Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them In the day of the wrath of the LORD (Ezekiel 7:19).

But Norman Edwards is correct that the world economic situation is precarious and that paper currency can be manipulated and inflated. And to take it a step further, all of the inflation of the money supply, essentially funded by debt that will not be paid back, will partially lead to the destruction of the United States at the appointed time of the end (cf. Habakkuk 2:3,7).

Yet, the solution for the world is NOT silver and/or gold (though both gold and silver will maintain value for about 3 years after the US dollar becomes totally worthless and can thus be of some benefit), but the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of His kingdom.

Carnal “solutions” in this age simply will not go to the ROOT of the problem. The ROOT is NOT the Federal Reserve, international bankers, corporations, plans for a “one-world order”, etc.

The ROOT is SIN that is the result of humankind cutting itself off from God and following the ways of Satan.

And while the solution would be repentance now, since that is unlikely, the ultimate solution is the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of His kingdom on the earth. That is the good news.

However, since financial markets are one of the many things we should watch (cf. Luke 21:34-36), paying some attention to them (Financial news & quotes), can give some indication as how quickly the USA and its Anglo-allies will fall and the European Beast power will arise as we are not to be caught unexpectedly (Luke 21:34).

Jesus is coming soon. Perhaps as early as the second half of the next decade. Jesus, and not silver (nor gold), is the solution.

Several articles of possibly related interest may include:

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God was the Emphasis of Jesus and the Early Church Did you know that? Do you even know what the gospel of the kingdom is all about? True religion should be based upon the true gospel.
Are You Saved? Do You Love Jesus? What is a True Christian? What is the Gospel? Evangelist Richard Ames answers those important questions.
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, British, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? What is ahead for Europe?
Did The Early Church Teach Millenarianism? Was the millennium (sometimes called chiliasm) taught by early Christians? Who condemned it. Will Jesus literally reign for 1000 years on the earth? Is this time near?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? When does the six thousand years of human rule end?
Can the Great Tribulation Begin in 2009, 2010, or 2011? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord?