If Israel is to rule over the nations with Yeshua’s rod of iron, one way to bring that about is simply to put Israel on the gold standard. That simple step alone will give the currency amazing stability and strength.

 

Scripture puts a lot of weight on money. Among other things, YHWH tells us to be scrupulously honest with money, such that we have honest scales, and do no injustice in measurement of length, weight, or volume.

 

 

YHWH wants us to be perfect honesty whenever we measure out both quantities of goods, and payment. He considers this so important that He tells us whoever behaves unrighteously with money is an abomination in His sight. He feels so strongly about it that He tells us again in Deuteronomy 25:13-16.

 

 

In verse 15 (above) YHWH even tells us that if we want our days to be long then we must make sure that all of our weights and measures are perfect and just. Not only is this important for us as individuals, it is vitally important for the government.

 

Ezekiel speaks of the day when the coming prince (nasi) of Israel will establish ‘honest scales’, such that YHWH’s people no longer suffer violence, plundering and dispossession. What this requires is for him to establish a system of honest money.

 

 

Notice:

 

1.    In the days of the coming Millennial Temple,

2.    YHWH will have the nasi stop the violence, the plundering and the dispossessing His people

3.    by establishing honest measures of value (i.e., by establishing honest money).

 

If Israel will establish honest money in the future, then this implies Israel does not have honest money now. , YHWH says this lack of honest money is the reason His people are being plundered, dispossessed, and are ‘suffering violence.’  But what does that look like, in real terms?

 

Micah 6 tells us to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with YHWH our Elohim.

 

 

As we will see, Micah is talking about money. But what does money have to do with mercy, and humility? YHWH gives us a marvelous answer.

 

When a child disobeys his parents, he is corrected with a rod of discipline (e.g. Proverbs 13:24, 22:15). In the same way, YHWH disciplines His children when they disobey Him. Every smart child tries to discover what ‘made him smart’, so he can avoid ‘smarting’ again in the future. In the same way, the wise of YHWH’s people see and hear the name of YHWH’s rod, which He will send to punish those who gather “the Treasures of Wickedness”, who use the “short measure that is an abomination.”

 

 

YHWH says He will not count anyone who uses wicked scales, or who has a “bag of deceitful weights” as pure.

But we do not weigh out silver and gold on scales in the marketplace anymore, so how are we guilty of using ‘wicked scales’ and ‘deceitful weights’? We will answer this as this study progresses.

 

YHWH then says that while our rich men are full of violence, all of us have spoken lies, and all of our tongues are deceitful in our mouths. But why does He count us all as being guilty, when it is only the rich men whom He says have done violence? And why does He count it against all of us as sin?

King Omri lived some 150 years before Micah, and yet the ‘Statutes of Omri’ and the ‘works of Ahab’s house’ were still being kept in Micah’s day. YHWH said that because the people were still keeping these statutes there would be hunger and devastation in the land.

 

What are these ‘Statutes of Omri’? Scripture does not give us much detail. On the surface, Omri appears to be just some minor king who ruled the Northern Kingdom of Ephraim (Israel) for twelve years. 

 

 

Scripture says little more about Omri than that he did more evil than all those who had gone before him, and that he begat the wicked King Ahab. However, we know from history that the reason King Omri was so evil was that he created a system of laws to replace YHWH’s. If Israel can be operationally defined as a group of people who fear YHWH and strive to keep His Instructions, then Omri turned Israel into another people. In his short twelve year reign Omri led the Northern Kingdom away from Torah so thoroughly that for many years after his death the Edomites and the Assyrians continued to call the Northern Kingdom not the House of Israel/Ephraim but ‘the House of Omri.’

 

If Scripture does not say much about King Omri, it says a little more about his son Ahab. While verse 16 tells us that Omri did more evil than all those who had come before him, verse 30 tells us that his son King Ahab did even more evil than that.

 

 

The thing to note here is that while Judah’s kings were never perfect, many of them feared YHWH and sought His face in their decision-making processes. This is similar to how Yeshua says to seek YHWH first, and then the good things of the world will be given unto us.

 

 

In contrast, the kings of the north rarely asked YHWH what to do during their decision-making processes. Rather, in classic Tree-of-the-Knowledge form, they did what they intellectually thought was best, and then they asked YHWH to bless what ‘they’ had decided. In this the parallel between “the works of Ahab’s house” and America’s political leadership is almost exact.

 

Ahab did not seek first the Kingdom of Elohim and His righteousness, trusting that everything would then be added to him. Rather, Ahab sought financial security by forging strategic alliances with other nations. His marriage to Jezebel, daughter of the Tsidonian (Phoenician) king was likely made out of a desire to cement a strategic and financial alliance with the Tsidonians, whom he perhaps felt he would give them access to the huge maritime markets of the Tsidonian Empire.

 

In walking by sight, rather than by faith, the kings of the Northern Kingdom gave no credit to YHWH’s power. Although Ahab may have thought that his marriage into the Tsidonian Empire would increase his country’s economic and military security, it did not stop him from being attacked by King Ben-hadad of Syria (Aram). Because the Syrian army so greatly outnumbered Ahab’s, Ahab’s defeat seemed certain; and yet even for all of his disobedience YHWH took mercy on Ahab and delivered him, just so that he would ‘know YHWH’, and develop a trusting one-on-one relationship.

 

 

However, even though YHWH gave King Ben-Hadad into Ahab’s hand, Ahab did not destroy Ben-Hadad, and so therefore King Ben-Hadad attacked him again the following year. YHWH delivered Ahab yet again, but again He implied that Ahab needed to completely destroy the Syrian army, in that the Syrian army was to be ‘delivered into his hand.’

 

 

Because YHWH took mercy on King Ahab, Ahab’s forces routed the Syrian army and King Ben-Hadad fled for his life. However, when Ben-Hadad offered Ahab access to the thriving marketplaces of Damascus, Ahab made an alliance with him.

 

 

The World would count sparing our enemies’ lives as a ‘nice’ thing to do, and they would approve. The only problem is that YHWH had already said that He wanted the Syrian army destroyed. Ahab was motivated not just by negligence but also by greed, as he was swayed by the prospect of accessing the marketplaces of Damascus. Yet notice that this is not seeking first the Kingdom of Elohim, trusting that all of these things would be added by Elohim: rather, this was seeking first the material blessings of the kingdom. In this, King Ahab had the cart before the horse.

 

Scripture does not tell us these things for no reason. If King Ahab were alive today, he would be like unto the United States President, a leader in the World Bank, the United Nations or any of the other organizations that ignore YHWH’s Instructions for short-term gains in commerce. Much like Ahab they promote tolerance towards other religions for the sake of trade. This kind of thing is not innocuous. When Ahab sanctioned Baal worship for the sake of his Tsidonian wife Jezebel, it eventually ushered in the wholesale slaughter and persecution of YHWH’s prophets.

 

 

Ahab’s financial successes typify the “Treasures of Wickedness” that Micah 6:10 warns us about. These Treasures of Wickedness are any benefits that come not from seeking first the Kingdom of Elohim (and His righteousness), but from seeking first the material blessings that we want YHWH to add to us.

 

 

At the time of this writing (in 2010 CE), America is still seeking YHWH’s blessings without first seeking His face; and YHWH’s rod of discipline is fast approaching. Therefore let us have eyes to see and ears to hear, so we can avoid the same kinds of problems after we are brought back to His land.

 

What we need to understand in the here-and-now is that from a scriptural point of view there are four basic types of money, in descending order of desirability.

 

1.    Commodity money (lawful)

2.    Proxy (commodity-backed) money (lawful/best),

3.    Fiat money (unlawful), and

4.    Debt money (unlawful).

 

A ‘commodity’ is anything that has intrinsic desirability and worth on the open market. Historically, commodity money is silver, gold, and also copper. In Tanach (Old Testament) times, payment was made by measuring out specific weights of the desired ‘specie metals.’

 

 

What we need to know is that that the use of specie metals as money honors Elohim’s judgments. Because our forefathers disobeyed Elohim, YHWH ordained we would have to toil in order to obtain our food and our livelihood, ‘by the sweat of our face.’

 

 

Because YHWH judged that men should work, work is both noble, and good. Further, because we have to toil ‘by the sweat of our face’ in order to obtain precious metals, these metals honor the labor that Elohim gave man to do; and therefore they honor Elohim as well.

 

Because gold and silver are limited in supply, and because they are useful and universally desirable, they have what is known as ‘inherent value.’ So long as the gold and sliver is of a known purity and the weights and scales used to measure them are accurate, specie metals form what is called ‘lawful money.’ That is, YHWH considers these specie metals to be ‘honest.’

 

The American Founding Fathers were aware of the inherent desirability of gold and silver, and that YHWH honored it as lawful money, and this is one reason why the U.S. Constitution grants the federal government the right (and by implication, the responsibility) to coin metal money, and to regulate the value thereof. (The word “coin” here refers specifically to specie metals.)

 

 

The reason specie metal coins are lawful is that they are a pure form of barter. In essence, one exchanges a known amount of metal for whatever other goods or services one wants to purchase, just as in Avraham’s day. However, with such regulated coinage the scales are not necessary, as the purity and quantity is established at the mint. 

 

Specie metal coins are honest, but inconvenient. They are heavy and bulky, and especially difficult to use in electronic commerce. The best thing is for the kingship to issue ‘proxy money’, which is backed one-to-one by a known quantity of gold and silver. This proxy money is extremely useful, and greatly simplifies commerce; but in order to be lawful it must be backed one-to-one by gold or silver, and the holder must be able to exchange it for gold or silver at any time. When both of these things are true then such proxy currencies are literally “as good as gold”; and this is the very best kind of money a society can have. However, if it is not backed by gold or silver then such proxies are not lawful; but they are an abomination called ‘fiat’ money.

 

 

In the Latin Vulgate, the phrase ‘Let there be light’ is ‘fiat lux.’ The word ‘fiat’ means ‘let there be’; and so fiat money literally means, ‘Let there be money.’ 

 

Just as YHWH called the world into being when nothing existed before it, governments also sometimes ‘call money into being’, even when it is backed by nothing, and represents no hard physical commodity for which men are willing to labor. Such money is not honest, and therefore it does not honor YHWH.  Therefore YHWH does not honor it; and that makes it unlawful.

 

Throughout history, various governments have tried to establish fiat money systems, but they always fail. Not just theory, but also hard experience prove that when money is not backed one-to-one by a hard commodity such as silver or gold, problems invariably arise, for which there are no solutions. This is why the French statesman Voltaire said that ‘paper’ money always returns to its intrinsic (inherent) value, which is zero.

 

 

It is a colossal disaster for a nation’s currency system to lose all of its value. People lose everything, and they even starve.  Democracies seem to be especially prone to this kind of thing; but how does it happen?

 

At least in theory, voters in a democracy are supposed to be noble-minded citizens who educate themselves, so as to elect the best qualified candidates. In turn, the candidates are supposed win the election by proposing the most sensible platform, which benefits all parties concerned. However, all theory aside, Scripture tells us that man’s nature is not truly admirable, but evil.

 

 

In reality, secular electorates typically vote not for the best interests of all, but for their own selfish interests. This same principle of secular self-seeking also holds true for the candidates, who usually win their elections (or re-elections) by promising to give the people more than they take from them in taxes. However, YHWH does not honor schemes to ‘get something for nothing,’ even if the candidates pretend to believe in Him. To whom more is given, more is required; and as with King Ahab, when leaders and their citizens disregard YHWH’s instructions, there is always a price to pay.

 

There is nothing hidden that shall not come to the light. All governments face budgetary pressures, but how they resolve these budgetary pressures reveals their true character. When government must back its currency one-to-one by silver or gold, then it must bring in at least as much money as it spends each year; and therefore it must balance its budget. However, when the people place no limits on how much money government can print, then rather than raise taxes it just becomes easier to print more money (on debt).

 

However, when government prints more money than it has silver or gold to back it, it sets a devastating train of events into motion. Instantly, each dollar represents a smaller slice of all federal assets, and so the number of dollars it takes to purchase any given commodity goes up. The result is inflation; and while inflation is almost accepted as ‘unavoidable’ in modern-day America, it does not exist outside of fiat money cultures. What inflation is, then, is a curse for disobeying YHWH’s Torah with regards to honest money.

 

Another one of YHWH’s judgments is that when one steals something from an innocent neighbor, one must then give back many times more than one initially took.

 

 

Now if a man is punished fourfold for stealing from an innocent neighbor, how much more shall YHWH punish us for stealing from our children? And how much will our children have to suffer, due to generational sin?

 

When a nation tries to avoid paying for its government at the time services are rendered, it always pays dearly in the end. Inflation brings hidden taxes on savings, because whatever money one places in savings does not hold its value (but it deteriorates). This gives the people a real disincentive to save; and this disincentive causes even more problems, because all commercial economies require savings in order to function.

 

For example, new businesses often need capital in order to start up. However, if no one has any money saved, then new businesses cannot borrow the startup capital they need; and so they cannot start. The result is a much weaker economy that is unable to take advantage of the best new technologies and ideas.

 

However, the real time-bomb effect is set when the people start to accept the idea that they do not need to pay for their government as they go. When the voters begin subconsciously to expect their representatives ‘just to print more money’, then the people involuntarily begin to accept the idea of funding government on credit now, and leaving the debt for their children to pay later. However, this is the exact opposite of the scriptural principle, which is not to leave a debt for our children to pay, but an inheritance for them to keep.

 

 

If we spend more than we bring in, we develop what is called a ‘budget deficit.’  Somehow we must borrow the difference, and that difference is now our ‘debt’, which we have to pay interest on.  If next month we don't have enough revenue to cover our spending then we have yet another deficit, and so we must borrow even more money; and yet we still have to pay the interest on our loan from before.  If each month we have a new deficit, we keep on borrowing, and our debt continues to grow.  Soon the interest on our loan becomes so great that it takes all the money we have just to pay the interest, and we don't have any money for anything else. This situation is called ‘bankruptcy’, and it is the logical consequence of using fiat money.

 

 

If fiat money is bad enough to bring down the republic, the United States has adopted something far worse. The United States has adopted what is called ‘debt money.’ The Devil hides in these details twice over.

 

With fiat money, the government creates money that is backed by no real assets. In effect, the government says, “Let there be cash”; and then the government prints cash; and the government says, “It is good.”

 

However, with debt money, the government does a thing that makes no sense. Instead of printing its own fiat money, the government approaches a private group of bankers and says, “Please loan us cash at interest.” Then these bankers create fiat money. They say “Let there be cash”; and there is cash. Then these private bankers loan this cash to the Federal Government at a rate of interest called the ‘Prime Rate.’

 

As delusional as the idea of embracing debt money sounds, early in the 1900’s, U.S. representatives met in private with the major banking families of Europe and America in order to found a private banking cartel that was to establish a debt-money system for the United States, and then loan this newly created debt money to the United States Government, at the ‘Prime Rate’ of interest. The United States Federal Reserve was born.

 

 

The Federal Reserve Board was established in 1913. At the time of this writing (in 2010 CE), Americans have been charged perhaps four percent (4%) interest per year just for using Federal Reserve dollars instead of issuing their own currency; and this has been going on for the past ninety seven (97) years. While there are many more factors to take into account, if we simplify the equation, we should be able to see that if one starts with (V) value of a dollar in 1913, devaluated at 4% interest per year for some 97 years, then the final value (FV) of the dollar in 2010 is just over two percent of its original worth in 1913; or just under two cents left.

 

FV = V x [(1 – 4%) ^(97-1)]

= 1 x [(.96) ⁹⁶] = .01986

= less than two cents on the original 1913 dollar.

 

Since inflation does not exist apart from fiat money, the Federal Reserve Board has transferred perhaps 98% of the American people’s wealth to the private banking families over the past 97 years. Could this be the reason why the banking class keeps on getting richer, while everyone else keeps on getting poorer?

 

 

Many commentators point out that although secular social models such as socialism and communism have attractive features, they are inherently hostile to Judeo-Christian beliefs and principles. This is because what secular social models do, in essence, is to offer a counterfeit system by which citizens can depend on the state for all of their needs, without having to depend upon (or obey) YHWH. In essence, they serve as an attractive deception. Commentators also point out that such secular statists usually try to achieve their goals by declaring a state of emergency and then pass the necessary legislation. Scripture calls this ‘devising evil by law.’

 

 

The Federal Reserve Act was passed two days before Christmas as an ‘emergency measure’, supposedly necessary to avert an impending ‘national emergency’.

 

 

Whether these actions stem from conscious evil intent, or whether they stem merely from Ephraim’s spirit of rebellion against YHWH’s Instructions, this same sort of ‘national emergency’ was declared in 1933, when U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt illegalized private circulation of gold coin, and all gold proxies.

 

 

We might also note that the Economic Stimulus Act of 2009 was similarly touted as an ‘emergency measure’, supposedly designed to avert a ‘national catastrophe’; yet this ‘social spending’ bill will more than quadruple the national debt, greatly exacerbating the problem.

 

Ironically, one of the most eloquent arguments against illegalization of gold currency in favor of debt money was made by former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan in the early days of his career, before he turned and joined the Federal Reserve Board.

 

 

The ‘debt money’ the socialists and the banking elites have devised by law is precisely the “Short Measure that is an Abomination” decried by the prophet Malachi. It is an unjust weight and an unjust measure that steals from the innocent, and gives to those full of violence.

 

 

Can we hear the rod now? The debt money foisted off on us by the bankers has gutted the once strong dollar, and has given the United States debt obligations of over $65,500,000,000,000.00 dollars, more than the gross domestic product of the world.   It has bled the poor, and has made us all stricken and sick; and all to benefit of a banking class that got rich by charging interest YHWH’s Torah says is unlawful to start with.

 

 

Our dollar has lost some 98% of its value over the last century. Because our fathers have not sought YHWH’s face, nor been meticulous with money, debt money is the curse that has come upon us.

 

 

Verse 13 tells us that when we obey Torah, we will lend to many nations, and shall not borrow. Yet because we have disobeyed Torah, now we are borrowing not only from the Bilderbergers and the Federal Reserve, but also from the enemies of the faith, such as secular socialist China. What does it bode for the future of America’s national security that we are quadrupling our national debt? The debtor is the servant to the lender.

 

 

At the time of this writing, America’s leadership is still working to establish a socialist government in America. They will undoubtedly succeed, for it is not YHWH’s will that His people continue to live out in the Dispersion. Rather, explained in The Post-Millennial Return, YHWH wants life in the Dispersion to continue to deteriorate, so that His people will be eager to return back to the Land of Israel when He finally opens the door.

 

 

While a severe ‘tightening up’ process is about to come upon our nation, the politicians and the privateering bankers who brought us debt money will eventually also suffer. In the end, those who have dealt selfishly with YHWH’s people will pay, for YHWH is an Elohim of justice. YHWH will punish all those who have instituted “the short measure that is an abomination,” as well as those who have built beautiful houses for themselves by using their neighbor’s monetary currencies “without wages, without giving (them) anything.”

 

 

As those who act selfishly will learn, YHWH is not slack concerning His promises, as some count slackness.

 

While most Americans are still in denial about the coming economic judgment, Elohim will not be mocked. Because we have strayed from the righteous money He told us to keep, this country’s outstanding debts are more than our nation can ever possibly pay. And by quadrupling our national debt over the next ten years, we are rushing towards national insolvency.

 

What happens when the world’s largest economy goes into default? And when it defaults, who has enough money to step in and help us to pick up the pieces? Won’t he want control over us in return?

 

The good news is that despite all of our harlotry, and all of our wickedness, YHWH still loves us with an everlasting love. If we will only turn back to Him, He will turn back to us, and take us back in.

 

 

YHWH is ever merciful, and forgiving. When He finally brings us back to His Land, let us be sure to keep all of His Instructions, and establish His gold standard as our standard. And let us make sure that the statutes of Omri are no longer kept, and the evil works of Ahab’s house are no longer done in His land.