Who are truly "rich"? Who are really "poor"? How are the scriptural views of richness and poorness different from those of our society? Why are material views of richness deceiving?

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

The name of the first is Pison: that is it which cornpasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.

And the name of the third river is Riddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

- Genesis 2:10-15

And He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully;

And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?

And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.

And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Luke 12:16-21

Was this man rich materially or spiritually? Was he truly "rich"? Why was he a "poor" fool?

Covenant Of Works

After creating him with soul and body, God placed man in Paradise - in the Garden of Eden. Paradise was not an abstract truth or imagined scene, as some claim. The Garden of Eden was an actual, historical place on earth. The Bible describes its location and names the rivers which watered it. The trees, animals, and people mentioned were actual, living realities. The first chapters of Genesis are not allegorical, but historical - not iir~gined stories in which the characters portray deeper meanings, but true accounts of history.