Kingdom of God and God’s Economy

Jewish tradition has a long track record of benevolence and providing opportunity for the less fortunate. The design of helping your neighbor is to provide the opportunity for them to stand on their own. In farming settings, ancient Jewish tradition stresses the importance of leaving the leftovers, the gleanings of the harvest for the poor and needy to gather up themselves once the harvest is complete. In the world’s economy, everyone is focused on taking care of themselves. It engenders squeezing everything out of an opportunity for the benefit and future of the business or individual. However, in God’s economy, the practice of gleaning illustrates looking out for your “neighbor,” others in the community less fortunate and even providing the dignity of work while fulfilling the need of food that is obtained from the “leftovers” of the gleaning. In Jewish tradition, taking care of the genuinely needy carries the promises of God’s blessing. It is written that if you assist with the needs of the poor, of the orphans and destitute widows, then will your light shine in the darkness and your darkness be as the noon day. In Jewish culture poverty is viewed as temporary, with the community bearing a responsibility of assisting with the stepping stones in getting beyond this interim state.

Another insight into hearing God accurately, especially in the process of planning, involves keeping a written record of what you discern in your “hearing” together with questions that arise from what you’ve heard. This process begins with the revelation of what you hear. A very natural tendency is to act too fast on what you hear. However, just as it is written that the naïve believe everything, but the prudent takes his time and considers the steps and the alternatives. So, when you get a revelation from God, make a record of it. More importantly, keep praying and ask the Lord questions about what you’ve heard. In other words, pray about the revelation until you get the illumination on the revelation.

This community is an excellent example of how God’s gift of community is designed to operate. God is at the center with people of prayer who have made Him their Senior Partner. This gift of community is like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, which has the potential to grow into a tree. It is like the yeast which a woman kneads into dough, producing something that grows into a whole lot more than at the start. It reflects both the standard and the supernatural operating in the fishing community we previously spoke of that were described by the psalmist. It reflects the model operated by the father of the Jews, Abraham. It is a community that is God-centered and entrepreneurial. We’ve been taking a closer look at and unveiling the dynamics incorporated in Jewish business secrets. These factors combined to overcome the adversities and bring them success. What transpired reflects the spiritual authority to overcome which was evident in the psalmist’s fishing community. These combined factors are drawn from the source and foundation of the Christian faith, which is Judaism. The steps these Eastern Bloc brethren took involved some very Jewish mind-sets. With close associations with Israel, this group of believers understood the roots to their faith. The standard for success from a Jewish perspective involves a different way of thinking. This different way of thinking will map out a sometimes unexpected path and set of priorities. It is a way of thinking engrained in the Jewish culture and an important part of our discussion of Jewish business secrets.

The Jewish cultural foundations that were set in motion by Abraham, were brilliantly anointed and written out for future generations in the books of Moses. Very few cultures have the level of a systematic record of their heritage like the Jews. At the core of their identity is that of being a prophetic people of God. These things align Jews in the way that they think and view the world around them. All this goes relates to how the spiritual and economic can progressively make community not only a safe-place, but a place that nurtures opportunity for its members. It begins and has a focus of the simple things, of the most basic family-owned enterprises that become the heart of a society that takes care of its own. Larger enterprises within this cultural setting retain the responsibility and community focus. The history of the Rothschild banking empire is one of a network of institutions, which had very simple beginnings. It has been run by a single family that supported one another and had an overriding commitment for the good and safety of the Jewish community. So, what clearly exudes from the many facets of Jewish culture is captured in the writings of Moses, that if the conditions of the House of Israel’s identity and obedience to God’s principles and instructions are met, then the Lord would make them to excel above all the other societies on the earth. That premise explains not only their many amazing historical exploits, but more recent Jewish accomplishments detailed in studies such as “The Golden Age of Jewish Achievement,” authored by Steven Pease. In a word, it is disproportionate achievement and the mark of the leadership mantle that has influenced the societies of which Jews have been a part over the millennia. At the core of these exploits are the foundations impacting the way they think. Jews view things with a different perspective than most other peoples of the world. We’ll look closer at these things, such as the creative thinking that comes from these foundations, but for now we’re setting the stage to be able to better understand God’s economy and the form of entrepreneurship that comprises our focus of Jewish business secrets.