Poverty is bad resource
management
Introduction
This study is
about the importance of individual resource management.
Collective
resource management, as in a corporate office, is not discussed here.
Every individual
has resources sufficient for reaching the summit of success.
It is our choice
to manage the resources well and succeed or neglect and fail.
For illustrating
my argument I am using reference from history as cited in the Bible, a parable
of Jesus and the famous quote about the gazelle and the lion.
No crown is for ever
Proverbs 27. 23, 24
23 Be sure you know the condition of your flocks,
give careful attention to your herds;
24 for riches do not endure forever, and a crown
is not secure for all generations. (NIV)
Transfer of wealth
Wealth is created
during the process of transferring it from one person, social group or country to
another.
Transfer of wealth
is done by clever management of resources.
Resource is real wealth
By clever
resource management, the wealth that is transferred can be arrested and
utilized for the prosperity of the individual, social group or country.
An unwise
resource management adds speed to the transfer of wealth to another person.
Resources itself
do not offer any service.
Managing the
resources create wealth.
A hidden or
unutilized resource is not wealth.
Petroleum is a
natural resource. A country can keep it under earth without digging it. The
country may claim to reserve the natural resource for future. But the hidden or
unused petroleum is not a managed resource. It does not create wealth. Hence no
transfer is done.
The secret behind the
wealth of Tyre
Isaiah
23: 1- 10
1 The Burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of
Tarshish, For it hath been destroyed, Without house, without entrance, From the
land of Chittim it was revealed to them.
2 Be
silent, ye inhabitants of the isle, Trader of Zidon, passing the sea, they
filled thee.
3 And
in many waters is the seed of Sihor, The harvest of the brook is her increase,
And she is a mart of nations.
4 Be
ashamed, O Zidon; for the sea spake, The strength of the sea, saying: `I have
not been pained, nor have I brought forth, Nor have I nourished young men, nor
brought up virgins.'
5 As at
the report of Egypt they are pained, So at the report of Tyre.
6 Pass
over to Tarshish, howl, ye inhabitants of the isle,
7 Is
this your exulting one? From the days of old is her antiquity, Carry her do her
own feet afar off to sojourn.
8 Who
hath counselled this against Tyre, The crowning one, whose traders are princes,
Her merchants the honoured of earth?'
9 Jehovah
of Hosts hath counselled it, To pollute the excellency of all beauty, To make
light all the honoured of earth.
10 Pass through thy land as a brook, Daughter
of Tarshish, there is no more a girdle. (YLT)
Phoenicia
(1200 BC–539 BC)
An ancient
Middle East civilization.
Phoenicia was composed of independent
city-states which lay along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea stretching
through what are now Syria, Lebanon and northern Israel.
Each
city-state was a politically independent unit.
They could
come into conflict and one city might be dominated by another city-state,
although they would collaborate in leagues or alliances.
The
island city of Tyre and the city of Sidon were the most powerful states in Phoenicia
with Gebal/Byblos and Baalbek as the most important spiritual/religious
centers.
The
Phoenicians were notable merchants, traders, and colonizers of the
Mediterranean region in the 1st millennium BC.
They probably
arrived from the Persian Gulf by 3000 BC.
By the 2nd
millennium BC they had colonies in the Levant, North Africa, Anatolia, and
Cyprus.
They traded
wood, cloth, dyes, embroideries, wine, and decorative objects.
Ivory and
wood carving became their specialties.
The work of
Phoenician goldsmiths and metal smiths was well known.
The
Phoenicians were the first state-level society to make extensive use of
alphabets.
The
Phoenician alphabet is generally held to be the ancestor of almost all modern
alphabets. They spoke Phoenician, a Semitic language of the Canaanite subgroup.
Sidon
Arabic saydā
The city of Sidon (modern Sidonia, Lebanon)
was initially the most prosperous but steadily lost ground to her sister
city of Tyre.
It was a principal city of Phoenicia
from the 2nd millennium BC and a parent city of Tyre.
Zidon means a
"fishing station"; this was its beginning.
Sidon, hoping to form a prosperous trade
with Israel, attempted to cement trade and alliance through marriage.
Sidon was the birthplace of the Princess
Jezebel who was married to the King of Israel, Ahab, as chronicled in
the Biblical books of I and II Kings.
Jezebel's refusal to relinquish her religion,
dignity, and cultural identity to her husband's culture did not sit well
with many of his subjects, most notably the Hebrew prophet Elijah who
regularly denounced her.
Ahab and Jezebel's rule was ended by a coup,
inspired by Elijah, in which the general Jehu took control of the army and
usurped the throne.
Following this, trade relations between
Sidon and Israel ceased.
Tyre
Tyre
in Hebrew is Tsur, meaning
"Rock."
Arabic sūr
Isaiah 23: 2 Be silent, ye
inhabitants of the isle, Trader of Zidon, passing the sea, they filled thee.
It was a major Phoenician port from
2000 BC through Roman times.
It
was built two thousand seven hundred and sixty years before Christ. (2760 BC)
Probably founded as a colony of Sidon.
It is frequently mentioned in the
Bible.
On
coins Tyre is called the metropolis of the Sidonians.
Tyre
was a celebrated emporium of trade.
Tyre,
an ancient wealthy city, situated upon the sea, and for many ages one of the
most celebrated cities for trade and merchandise in those parts of the world.
It was noted for its silken garments
and Tyrian purple dye.
Tyre formed an alliance with the newly
formed Kingdom of Israel which proved very lucrative and further expanded
its wealth.
By the death of Jezebel, Sidon lost all trade
with Israel.
Tyre however, continued
to flourish.
There
were two cities of this name
1.
On the continent
2.
The other lay on a rocky island about
a half a mile from the coast of the Mediterranean.
This
passage referred to in Isaiah 23: 2 is about the city on the island.
The
city on the island was about four miles in
circumference.
The formation of the Island city of Tyre
Old
Tyre resisted Nebuchadnezzar for thirteen years.
Then
the inhabitants carried, so to speak, the city to the fore mentioned island.
In
573 BC Nebuchadnezzar captured the old Tyre to find it desolate.
This
new city held out against Alexander the Great for seven months.
In
order to take it, he was obliged to fill up the channel which separated it from
the main land.
In
A.D. 1289 it was totally destroyed by the sultan of Egypt
The
island now contains only a few huts, in which about fifty or sixty wretched
families exist.
This
desolation was foretold by this prophet and by Ezekiel, one thousand nine
hundred years before it took place!
Tyre's ruins were designated a UNESCO
World Heritage site in 1984.
Tyre and Egypt
Trading
cities maintain their grandeur, not by the conquest of their neighbours, but by
commerce with them.
Egypt
had helped very much to raise her.
Sihor
was the river Nile of Egypt.
Bt
the river Nile , and the ocean into which it ran, the Egyptians traded with
Tyre
Isaiah
23: 3 And
in many waters is the seed of Sihor, The harvest of the brook is her increase,
And she is a mart of nations. (YLT)
The
harvest of that river was her revenue.
The
gains by goods exported and imported were the harvest to the trading town,
Tyre.
In
fact the trader Tyre made better revenue than the producer Egypt.
The
products of the Egyptian soil, which the men of Tyre traded in, and which were
the harvest of the river Nile, made Tyre richer than Egypt.
Isaiah
23: 3 And
in many waters is the seed of Sihor, The harvest of the brook is her increase,
And she is a mart of nations. (YLT)
Centre of Commerce
She
had become the market of the nations, the great emporium (centre of commerce) of that part of the world.
Every
known nation went there, especially at certain times of the year, when there
was a general rendezvous of merchants.
Tyre
became rich and great by trade, though she had no other ploughs going than
those that plough the waters.
She
was a joyous city, noted for mirth and jollity.
Those
that were so disposed might find there all manner of sports and diversions, all
the delights of the sons and daughters of men, balls, and plays, and operas,
and everything of that kind that a man had a fancy to.
This
made them secure and proud, and they despised the country people, who neither
knew nor relished any joys of that nature.
This
also made them very loathe to believe and consider what warnings God gave them
by his servants; they were too merry to mind them.
Isaiah 23: 7 Is
this your exulting one? From the days of old is her antiquity, Carry her do her
own feet afar off to sojourn.
Her
antiquity likewise was of ancient days.
She
was proud of that, and that helped to make her secure
They
believed that Tyre had been a city time out of mind.
Her
antiquity had been of ancient days.
Therefore
she must continue a city time without end, and her continuance must be to the
days of eternity.
A Crowning City
Isaiah 23: 8 Who hath counselled this against
Tyre, The crowning one, whose traders are princes, Her merchants the honoured
of earth?'
She
was a crowning city, that crowned herself.
Such
were the power and pomp of her magistrates that they crowned those who had
dependence on her and dealings with her.
Her
merchants were princes, and lived like princes.
Her
traffickers, whatever country they go to, were the honourable of the earth, who
were respected by all.
How
slightly so ever some now speak of tradesmen.
It
seems formerly, and among the wisest nations, there were merchants, and
traders, and men of business, that were the honourable of the earth.
Egypt
An unending source of sustenance, it
provided a crucial role in the development of Egyptian civilization.
Silt deposits from the Nile made the
surrounding land fertile because the river overflowed its banks annually.
Wheat was a crucial crop in the
famine-plagued Middle East.
This trading system secured Egypt's
diplomatic relationships with other countries, and contributed to economic
stability.
Far-reaching
trade has been carried on along the Nile since ancient times.
River Nile
The River
Nile is the longest in the world, stretching for 4,187 miles.
The Nile
flows from south to north
It is formed
by three major tributaries: the White Nile, the Blue Nile and the Atbara.
The White Nile rises in the Great Lakes region of
central Africa.
The Atbara River, roughly halfway to the sea, which
originates in Ethiopia north of Lake Tana,.
The Blue Nile, however, is the source of most of the
water and silt.
The Blue Nile
has its source in the highlands of the African country of Ethiopia, by Lake Tana.
Ninety
percent of the water and ninety-six percent of the transported sediment carried
by the Nile originates in Ethiopia, with fifty-nine percent of the water from
the Blue Nile.
The erosion
and transportation of silt only occurs during the Ethiopian rainy season in the
summer
Ethiopia
By African
standards, Ethiopia is a potentially wealthy country
It has
fertile soil and good rainfall over large regions.
Farmers
produce a variety of grains, including wheat, corn, and millet.
Coffee also
grows well on southern slopes.
Herders can
raise cattle, sheep, and goats in nearly all parts of the country.
Additionally,
Ethiopia possesses several valuable minerals, including gold and platinum.
Ethiopia's
resources have enabled the country to maintain contacts with the outside world
for centuries.
Since ancient
times, Ethiopian traders exchanged gold, ivory, musk, and wild animal skins for
salt and luxury goods, such as silk and velvet.
Despite its
many riches, Ethiopia never became a great trading nation.
Most
Ethiopians despised traders, preferring instead to emulate the country's
warriors and priests.
After
establishing a foothold in the country, Greek, Armenian, and Arab traders
became the economic intermediaries between Ethiopia and the outside world.
Arabs also
settled in the interior and eventually dominated all commercial activity except
petty trade.
Three Countries and One
Resource
We have three
countries and one potential resource for their wealth.
Ethiopia
Egypt
Tyre
River Nile – the one
resource
The water and
silt mainly belong to Ethiopians, but they were not the wealthiest nation of
the region.
Egypt was
wealthier than Ethiopia.
Tyre was wealthier
than these two.
Egypt became
wealthy by managing the resource transferred to them from Ethiopia.
Tyre further managed
the resources they got from Egypt and Ethiopia and became the richest nation.
Tyre did not do
anything but trade on Egypt that came by the river Nile and the sea.
Though Ethiopia
is the source of the resource, they despised tradesmen and failed to manage the
resource.
Tyre managed what
came by them to the best benefit of them.
Parable of talents
Matthew 25.14 - 30
The master was
going to a far country
Before he went he
summoned his own slaves and handed over his property to them.
To one he gave
five talents.
To the second he
gave two.
To the third he
gave one.
Talents were
entrusted to each one according to his own ability.
And he went on a
journey immediately.
The one who had
received the five talents went out and traded with them and gained five more.
The second who
had the two gained two more, in the same way.
But the one who
had received one went away and dug up the ground and hid his master’s money.
After a
long time, the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
The first slave
who had received five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying,
‘Master, you handed over to me five talents. See, I have gained five more
talents!’
His master said
to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few
things; I will put you in charge over many things. Enter into the joy of your
master!’
The second slave
who had two talents also came up and said, ‘Master, you handed over to me two
talents. See, I have gained two talents more!’
His master said
to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few
things; I will put you in charge over many things. Enter into the joy of your
master!’
The third slave
who had received the one talent came up also and said, ‘Master, because I knew
you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering from
where you did not scatter seed. And because I was afraid, I went away
and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours!’
But his master
answered and said to him, ‘Evil and lazy slave! You knew that I reap where I
did not sow and gather from where I did not scatter seed. Then you ought to
have deposited my money with the bankers, and when I returned I would have
gotten back what was mine with interest! Therefore take the talent from him and
give it to the one who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will
be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who does not have,
even what he has will be taken away from him. And throw the worthless slave
into the outer darkness—in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth!’
The study
Faithful slaves
enjoyed freedom under good masters to an extent.
Good and
benignant masters permitted their slaves to do trade and make profit.
A portion of the
profit goes to the slave and the rest to the master.
Such slaves
enjoyed more freedom than others.
Hence
faithfulness pays even in slavery.
Such narration of
slavery is found in George S Clason’s book, “The Richest Man in Babylon”
All the three
slaves in the parable were faithful to give back it to the master when he
returned.
The last one got
only one talent.
Even one talent
is not a despicable stock for a slave to begin with.
A talent was
equal to 15 years’ wages
What was the
master’s intention?
Surely, he wanted
his slaves to trade with it in one way or other in order to multiply it.
The slaves too
will be benefited from the profit they make.
A definition for wealth
From the
intention of the master we may form a definition for wealth.
Wealth is a value
that multiplies in the presence and even in the absence of its master.
All others are
liabilities.
Liabilities are
things whose value decreases in the absence and even in his presence.
House, car etc.
are liabilities.
Investment in
land is wealth.
Why traded with it?
The intention is
to multiply the property
Trading is a
diligent and dedicated hard job.
“A tradesman is
one who, having made his trade his choice and taken pains to learn it, lays out
all he has for the advancement of it, makes all other affairs bent to it and
lives upon the gain of it.” – Matthew Henry’s commentary
Trading is a good
example for clever resource management
What a trader
trades in remains with the trader only for a short time
He only buys and
sells.
During the
process of buying and selling, he manages the resource he has (what he has
bought) in such a way to make a profit.
A trader does not
manufacture anything
He does not
produce
He owns nothing
He is only a
middleman
He positions
himself at a strategic point where the manufacturer / producer / owner and the
customer meet each other through him and exchange products and their value.
The products of
others are the resources of a tradesman to make profit.
A tradesman in an
unnecessary necessity.
A
successful trader is a good example for clever resource management
Accounts settled
The first two, it
is said that, they traded with the money and doubled it.
They made a
hundred percentage profit out of it.
But the one who
received one talent hesitated to trade.
He said that he
was afraid of losing it.
He did not
misspent it.
He did not
misemploy it.
He did not
squander it away.
He kept the money
safe.
The intention of
hiding it under the earth was not to cheat the master, but to keep it safe from
robbers.
When the master
came back, he returned the money safe.
But the master
called him “evil and lazy”.
What little he
had was taken away from him.
He was left poor
and imprisoned.
His one talent
was given to the first one who doubled his ten talents.
The master sums
up the whole incident with the moral:
“For to everyone
who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the
one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
Proverbs 10. 4. A
slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent enriches.
Proverbs 27. 23,
24.
23Be sure you know the
condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds;
24for riches do not
endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations. (NIV)
The Three Ts
We have three resources to succeed in our
life.
Every one has these three Ts.
They are:
·
Time
·
Talents
(Health)
·
Treasure
Gazelle
and Lion
“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up, it
knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in
Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle,
or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle-when
the sun comes up, you'd better be running.”
Gazelles are
medium-sized antelopes found in Africa and in Asia as far east as Mongolia.
There are
some 19 different species of gazelles.
Gazelles are
rather small antelopes, most standing 2–3.5 ft (61–107 cm) high at
the shoulder, and are generally fawn-colored.
These grazing
antelopes live in herds, which can consist of as few as ten or as many as
several hundred animals.
During the
plentiful rainy season, thousands of animals can be seen gathering in large
groups.
Gazelles
typically frequent wide-open spaces and plains, where they browse on grasses,
shoots, and leaves.
Open plains
make them visible to predators like cheetahs or wild dogs, but gazelles are
fleet of foot.
Gazelles are
known as swift animals.
Some are able
to run at bursts as high as 60 mph (97 km/h), or run at a sustained
speed of 30 mph (48 km/h).
Gazelle and Lion - Prayer
A Gazelle prays to God to save it from the chasing lion.
A hungry lion prays to God for the Gazelle it chases for food, otherwise
it will die.
Whose prayer will God answer?
God will
answer none of them.
God has
already given each of them the power to sustain them.
It is up to
them to use the power or die.
God has given
each of us enough resources to lead a successful life.
We are free
to make a choice, either to manage them well and succeed or fail.
Let us manage
our resources well and succeed.
Professor
Jacob Abraham
For positive
thoughts, log on to: www.professorjacobabraham.com
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