Managing Generational Wealth

Proverbs 13:22 (NASB95)
22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.

The scripture above says that a good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children. This goes together with the three-part purpose of men to serve as leaders, protectors, and providers for their own families. A man can take leadership and prepare his children and grandchildren by training them to manage wealth. A man can protect his family from poverty and misery by applying a program of wealth development that has the potential to be passed onto the next generations.

Isaac Prospering in a Foreign Land

Genesis 26:1–6 (NASB95)
1 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.
2 The LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you.
3 “Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.
4 “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;
5 because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.”
6 So Isaac lived in Gerar.

During a time of famine Isaac moved to the land of the Philistines and lived a place called Gerar. This is a situation where Isaac was living as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines because Isaac was Jewish and the Philistines were all pagans.

Genesis 26:12–14 (NASB95)
12 Now Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him,
13 and the man became rich, and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy;
14 for he had possessions of flocks and herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him.

While Isaac was living as a foreigner in the land of the Philistines, he planted his crops and in the same year he received an abundant harvest that was a hundred times more than the seed which he sowed. God blessed Isaac and he continued to grow richer until he become very wealthy. This means that Isaac was following the principles taught to him by his father which his father received from God. God taught Abraham about the principle of seedtime and harvest. Those who know this principle know that they are not to consume all of their seed but should always save seed for planting. This means that every harvest they will have more seed available than the previous harvest. Each year that Isaac prospered he would reinvest his wealth so he could buy more plows and buy more oxen and hire more workers. So each year Isaac was increasing his tillage to include more and more acres of farmland. Each year he would have a larger harvest and could continue to expand and plant more acres of farmland that the previous year. This is why the bible says that Isaac become rich and continued to grow richer until he became very wealthy. He was following what we call today as being “Jewish Torah Principles” and this is what causes Jews to prosper. It is not a get rich quick scheme but instead it involves saving and reinvestment continually so that there is an ever-increasing income and expansion of investments (such as farmland).

It is interesting that the bible says that the pagan Philistines envied Isaac and his great wealth because Isaac was living within the land of the Philistines and he was prospering greatly while the Philistines were not prospering in their own land! This is because these pagan people would worship idols and beg the idols to help them. But idol worship only brings a curse upon them from the jealous God! Also the Philistines were not following what we call today as being “Jewish Torah Principles” because they were not saving seed for reinvestment but would typically blow whatever income that they would receive and thus go broke because of their own poor financial management.

Some might say that saving seed is just “common sense” and they would be right because all good “common sense” can be found within the Jewish Torah (which is also called the “Old Testament” of the Christian bible). It is amazing that there are millions of people on earth who do not have knowledge of these biblical principles and therefore they remain poor and cursed because these people break every law of God found in the bible. But as more and more people live by and obey God’s laws then they will become blessed and prospered by God just as God also prospered Isaac for living according to his laws.

Whenever there is a large majority of people following biblical precedent then an entire nation can rise up to experience great prosperity. This is the case with the United States which is established upon Judeo/Christian culture and became the most prosperous nation on earth within a short history spanning only a few centuries. These biblical principles will work for any person or group of people who will apply them and who will obey the laws given to them by the God of Israel.

See the link “Order in Finances” for more details.

A key financial principle followed by the Jews (which they pass down to their children and grandchildren) is that they are not to eat their seed. This fosters a certain financial “mentality” among Jews that causes them to view their finances (not as something to spend) but rather see their finances as something to invest in order to make more income. This principle can be seed in the Torah principle that says, “Do not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” This is actually a parable of hidden truth for those who have ears to hear and eyes to see spiritual truth.

See the link “Parable of Goat and Mother’s Milk” for more details.

Passing on Generational Wealth

Genesis 18:19 (NASB95)
19 “For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”

The reason God chose Abraham was because Abraham could be trusted by God to command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice. This also includes training his children and grandchildren after him about the financial principles which God revealed to Abraham.

Genesis 8:22 (NASB95)
22 “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease.”

The scripture above speaks of the principle of seedtime and harvest. If a man wants to have apples then he must have the wisdom and foresight to plant apple trees. If he will plant apple trees then he will later receive an abundance of applies (when these fruit trees begin to produce fruit). I remember planting some apple trees on my father’s farm in about 1986 but I left the farm a few years later to begin my missionary travels without seeing any applies produced. But when my brother sold the family farm (after the passing of my parents) he said that those apple trees were producing over a thousand pounds of apples every year. So planting apple trees is a “long-term” investment and this is the type of “common-sense” that Jewish people have. They train their children and grandchildren to respect money and teach them not to blow it on foolish things. Jewish people teach their children that money is like seed and they must always save seed for investment so they will have more income in the future. They are to separate that which is used for living expenses (consumables) from that money which is saved for investment. They are never to mix the two types of money together and then just blow it all like any foolish person would do.

Again, see these principles in the “Parable of Goat and Mother’s Milk” for more details.

Generational wealth means that the wealth is lasting and can be passed on from generation to generation. The main key to generational wealth is child-training because if they do not train their children from a young age in how to manage money then the child will grow up to just blow it all and come to nothing. But if the children and grandchildren are taught to respect money and view money as a source of investment then they can continue to experience financial increase. If the parents leave inheritance to their children then they can invest that money to create a continual income rather than just blowing it all on foolish things.

See the link “Financial Topics” for more details.

We have a planned training program for boys which will teach the practical things to help them become innovators and create and build which are all important aspects of becoming a man. As part of this program we also want to impart to boys the Jewish Torah principles about financial management. The reason we do this is because all boys are born to become men. All men have been given the mandate by God to become leaders and protectors and providers for their own families. If we teach our boys about financial management then they will have received invaluable skills that are necessary for them to fulfill their future roles as leaders and protectors and providers for their own family units.

See the link “7K-Boy’s Club” for more details.