Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

YEHOVAH'S Economic Plan -- The Road to Recovery!

We have a standard unit of length, the yardstick; a fixed measure of capacity, the gallon; a unit of weight, the pound; but -- the United States still lacks a standard unit for WEALTH! Until we, as a nation, return to a monetary system based on a stable unit of VALUE there can be no economic peace nor freedom from destitution and want in our land. True wealth is represented in our possessions. And a true standard -- an unvarying unit of value for measuring that wealth -- is ESSENTIAL if our people are to be prosperous, contented, happy and free.

by HOIM Staff

The well-being of a nation depends upon the operation of a just and equitable system of administration and ECONOMICS. Unless a nation is blessed with a perfect set of laws covering the equitable distribution and exchange of goods and labor among its citizens, the people will be encumbered by the evils of misadministration, while the affliction of poverty, misery and distress will be in evidence in the midst of plenty. Because of the ever present evidence of these conditions in our modern civilization, different schemes have been -- and are being -- advocated and proclaimed by our government as the solution for our social problems.

Progress and Poverty

A little over a hundred years ago Henry George wrote a book entitled Progress and Poverty in which, through the theory of a SINGLE TAX, he proposed to eliminate the conditions responsible for industrial depressions, because with the increase in wealth he noticed a corresponding increase in want. A lot can be said for his proposed plan, however it falls way short of the PERFECT God-given system of taxation that, when in operation, will attain all that Henry George advocated plus MANY OTHER BLESSINGS that would be impossible to fulfill by the institution of the single tax alone. This is due to the fact that along with a perfect system of taxation YEHOVAH God has revealed laws governing the entire scope and operation of the perfect economic system. Henry George clearly saw the evils of the present economy, and his statements regarding those evils is an indictment of the FAILURE on the part of modern civilization to remedy these conditions and remove poverty from our midst.

SOCIALISM proposes to change these conditions by state ownership and control of the means of production. It aims to secure the reconstruction of society, increase wealth and bring about a more equitable distribution of the products of labor through public collective management of all industries.

COMMUNISM is a social system in which there is community of goods. It calls for the abolition of all private property (by force of arms, if necessary) and the absolute control by the community in all matters pertaining to labor, religion and social relationships.

CAPITALISM is a system of competition that favors the concentration of capital (resources or wealth employed in or available for production) in the hands of a few.

Therefore, in these three systems of man, there is in Socialism state control and the destruction of private industry; in Communism, community of goods and the destruction of private ownership; while in Capitalism there is destructive competition with poverty in the midst of plenty.

The Failure of Capitalism

In operation the system of Capitalism has proved wanting. It has been UNABLE to bring about an equitable distribution of wealth, and bring prosperity and happiness to all men everywhere. Also, during its activity, poverty has grown in the midst of plenty. Because of this, the advocates of Socialism and Communism have pointed out the failures of the Capitalistic system and have loudly trumpeted why their particular brand of social order should be established in its place. But the continuation of Capitalism, the substitution of Socialism, or the adoption of Communism WILL NOT cure the economic woes of mankind.

The Perfect System

A perfect economic system that will bring to citizens real happiness in the labor of their hands must ELIMINATE destructive competition -- and eliminate poverty in the midst of plenty. Also, it must NOT destroy private enterprise and industry or deprive citizens of the right of ownership. There WILL be competition, but a competition in the doing of good and in the rendering of services. Under the perfect system private enterprise and industry will FLOURISH in the hands of individuals who will consider themselves stewards accountable to YEHOVAH God for the welfare and happiness of those in their employ -- and they will also SHARE all profits equitably. The security of private ownership will be established, and it will be protected with a great willingness and spirit on the part of each individual to share with others the things he possesses when necessary to do so.

Now, let's not lose sight of the IMPORTANCE of the family in the plans of YEHOVAH God because, in the perfect economic structure, the spirit of happy family life will permeate the ENTIRE community. Since there are members of the family who excel in different areas and can accomplish more than others, so too will there be members of the community who excel and are capable of accomplishing more than others. But, as in the family, each has his or her own possessions, so too, in the community, PROPERTY RIGHTS will be respected. But no member of the perfect family will withhold from a brother or sister any possession in a time of need -- nor will a real brother or sister take selfish advantage of this spirit of generosity. This is how it will be when the economic laws of YEHOVAH God are operating in a society that is operating under the plans of YEHOVAH God.

In these uncertain days of change, with the political, economic and religious systems of man rapidly coming to judgment -- when the message of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God and its perfect laws of social justice should be proclaimed -- most men (including our spiritual leaders) are IGNORANT of the FACT that a perfect economic system exists in the plans of YEHOVAH God and is recorded in the Bible. The keeping of the laws of this plan will GUARANTEE the elimination of all poverty, distress and want and promise the establishment of an administration that will bring to mankind all its benefits. Not even the perfect system will operate smoothly unless there is established PERFECTION in the administration of it, so YEHOVAH's law deals with this also.

Men have failed to see that after giving the Ten Commandments (Words) -- the keeping of which provides perfection in moral relationships -- YEHOVAH spelled out the fundamentals of ECONOMIC WELL-BEING. The solution of ALL our economic troubles rests on the keeping of these laws. But, unfortunately, men and nations follow a cycle of experimentation that history long ago should have taught them was nothing but a treadmill of adversity and deception instead of opening their Bibles and discovering the ANSWERS to their problems.

Medium of Exchange Necessary

Under virgin conditions and in a primitive state men practiced barter and exchanged their labor and goods for the labor and goods of others. As a nation increased its wealth, and commercial activities multiplied, a MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE became necessary so that purchasing power might be STORED for future use. The volume of that medium of exchange would CONTROL the price of goods. In order to keep a TRUE balance under the gold and currency mediums of exchange an INCREASE in labor and goods DECREASES prices while the reverse is true when there is a decrease in labor and goods. This trends towards poverty and distress for the many, while wealth has a tendency to gravitate into the hands of the few.

In a barter system, an increase of labor results in an increase of goods which could be exchanged for the increased wealth of others. As a result, through labor the industrious could increase their wealth. However, under a system that has gold or currency ALONE for its standard of value, the increase of goods (the result of increased labor) may INCREASE THE POVERTY of the laborer through a sharp decline in values because of the INABILITY of the medium of exchange TO EXPAND IN THE SAME RATIO AS THE INCREASE IN GOODS. The vicious cycle is completed by thereby making the possession of gold or currency MORE VALUABLE than the possession of property.

The Destruction of Goods

Today, in order to control prices and keep a more equitable balance between goods and prices, men decree the DESTRUCTION of goods and the CURTAILMENT of production instead of DISCARDING the present arbitrary standard of value and adopting YEHOVAH God's standard. Therefore, REAL WEALTH -- the things men can use and eat -- are destroyed to prevent inflation, which is the result of the INABILITY of the present medium of exchange to EXPAND with the increase in production. Inflation would NEVER occur under YEHOVAH's system because the medium of exchange is wholly ADEQUATE to handle the abundance that YEHOVAH God has provided by allowing men to discover the means for increasing the production of the farm and the factory.

So today, with the increase in wealth there is a corresponding INCREASE IN POVERTY with periodic recessions and depressions. And, despite the fact that we are living in a land capable of EXTREME abundance, we experience UNTOLD WEALTH on the one hand and DIRE POVERTY and distress on the other.

In our continual desire for financial prosperity -- and in order to save a system of exchange NOT BASED UPON REAL WEALTH -- true wealth is destroyed so that the present system may continue to function and the FEW may be prosperous. What a travesty -- prosperity can only be had by the destruction or curtailment of the increase that YEHOVAH God so abundantly gives us!

Increased possessions should spell PROSPERITY with capital letters and should NEVER mean adversity. The very fact that it does not do so is a CONDEMNATION of the system that fails to give the laborers a liberal share in that increase.

With food enough for all, millions are on the verge of starvation. With enough clothes for all, many are under-clad. With an abundance of fuel, thousands suffer with the cold. The reason for all this is due to the FAILURE of a system of exchange that has become wealth. That system, while valueless in itself, has TAKEN THE PLACE of true wealth because it can earn INTEREST upon itself. True wealth must be destroyed to sustain the present system of values that is wholly INADEQUATE to meet the needs of life in such abundance as YEHOVAH God is willing to give to mankind. The inflexibility of the INTEREST-BEARING gold or currency standard prevents millions from converting their labor into the necessities of life.

Under-Consumption

The cycle of poverty and depression that operates as Capitalism under our competitive system (THROTTLED by an interest-bearing medium of exchange) increases poverty in the midst of plenty, causing people to clamor for relief. Aggressive nations turn to war to ease domestic pressure and secure coveted markets for their production. However, such relief is but TEMPORARY -- and the new problems that arise bring dictators to power followed by the socialization of industry. The inevitable end of it all is the destruction of private ownership and ultimate chaos. All this occurs because of the refusal of the nations to DISCARD an interest-bearing medium of exchange that is thoroughly CONDEMNED by YEHOVAH God because under its operation the poor are always oppressed.

Instead of turning for relief to the God-given system of economics and exchange, we are trying to save the situation by a PLANNED ECONOMY. And, through the failure of distribution, we call the unconsumed balance OVER-PRODUCTION when, in fact, there is no such thing as over-production! THERE DEFINITELY IS, HOWEVER, UNDER-CONSUMPTION!

The Love of Money

So what, then, is the difficulty? The apostle Paul put his finger on the troubling SIN of the human race in its adherence to the Babylonian system of economics (that the Messiah called "Mammon," declaring that you cannot serve YEHOVAH God and Mammon) when he said -- "For the love of money is the root of all evil" (I Timothy 6:10). This incarnate love leads to WAR while the desire for gold is a LUST for power, and the move to establish a controlled economy is for the purpose of PERPETUATING the present monetary system with all its inherent evils.

Establishment of the Gold Standard

The apostle John in the book of Revelation declares that all nations have partaken of the evils of Babylon the Great in the desire of men to possess wealth, power and authority as they strive to acquire gold or its equivalent. When the king of Babylon set up the image (likeness) of gold on the plain of Dura (in the Province of Babylon) this standard was established as the medium of commercial activity. The only dissenting voices in that great economic gathering were Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego -- three young Hebrews who knew YEHOVAH's standard and would not consent to accept this Babylonian system. Notice the following --

"The rejection by these three of the demands of the King resulted in a fiery trial out of which they came forth victorious. Their experience was the forerunner of the experience of all those who throughout the ages have been unwilling to acquiesce in the demands made upon them by this system of Mammon....Business, under the present system, with its destructive competition, is war. The weak succumb under the attacks of the strong. Hundreds of millions from cradle to the grave have lived in fear of want and destitution; while millions of others have existed in abject poverty, with untold suffering and privation as the result of the failure of the system to supply in abundance the needs of life to all men everywhere" (Howard B. Rand, Study in Revelation, pps. 274-5).

The call has gone forth for YEHOVAH's people to leave the system: "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues" (Revelation 18:4).

The Foundation of TRUE Prosperity

It would be inappropriate to call upon our nation to leave the Babylonian methods of commerce if there was not another system already waiting in the wings to steer our country towards prosperity in this time of emergency. There IS such a system and it was given to YEHOVAH's people at Mount Sinai. Unfortunately Israel departed from its observance and, in the adoption of the methods of Babylon, acquired the ECONOMIC EVILS of its heathen system.

The ONLY FOUNDATION upon which TRUE prosperity can rest, with an unlimited expansion of industry and enterprise and an increase in production -- without having a corresponding increase in poverty in the midst of plenty -- is an ADEQUATE AND EQUITABLE MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE. This medium must be a PERFECT weight and measure regarding the value of goods.

Let's turn to the Bible and find what YEHOVAH God instructed His people --

"You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure, that your days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD your God is giving you" (Deuteronomy 25:15).

Today, goods in the hands of the merchant are valued at a price, but as soon as the same goods pass into the hands of the purchaser their VALUE has materially decreased. The same holds true regarding practically ALL production, regardless of the actual usable value of the goods themselves. These changing values tend to enrich the seller at the expense of the buyer. Because of these arbitrary variations in values it makes the possession of MONEY to be more desirable than the possession of goods and is a contributing factor in increasing poverty in the midst of plenty.

YEHOVAH God instructed Israel, "You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light" (Deuteronomy 25:13). In laying down this law YEHOVAH God CONDEMNS the modern system of finance. Consider for a moment all the different weights and measures in the bag of high finance. Because of our FAILURE to establish a FIXED standard of value in relation to GOLD AND SILVER -- rather than gold or currency alone -- the producer receives little for his labor. Also, the consumer must pay dearly for that which the laborer has produced. It is a convenient SLIDING SCALE that is always in favor of the FEW against the many. Why should goods be of little value when in the possession of one, and so expensive when required by another? It is clear from a study of the Israelite system of exchange that a unit of value was established that was FIXED IN ITS RELATION TO GOODS -- with SILVER part of the monetary system to increase volume with the increase in goods.

In order to REMEDY the economic conditions of today (that are baffling so many "experts") we must establish a UNIT OF VALUE and a STANDARD OF WEALTH that will stabilize prices. If we let our national wealth IN GOODS be backed by the necessary volume of money -- increasing and decreasing with supply and demand -- ALL prices will be STABILIZED. Therefore goods, whether in the hand of the producer or the consumer, would have an INHERENT FIXED VALUE. The medium of exchange would INCREASE with the INCREASE in our national wealth. A TRUE BALANCE would therefore be maintained in accordance with YEHOVAH's law. Instead of a fluctuation in prices there would be a FLUCTUATION IN THE VOLUME OF THE MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE. Increased production would mean INCREASED PURCHASING POWER in the increase in the circularization of an increased medium of exchange.

Inflation Impossible

With the establishment of YEHOVAH's system the increased abundance from the farm and factory would see a corresponding increase in the volume of money in circulation: with workmen ready and able to absorb the increased abundance through restitution of YEHOVAH's system of labor and wages. There would be NO FEAR OF INFLATION under such conditions -- nor would there be the EVIL of scarcity bringing its inevitable destitution and want. Wealth would be in the reach of anyone who was willing to expend his labor in production through enterprise and industry. Today -- with NO adequate method of balancing gold or currency against supply and demand -- the fluctuation in prices is inevitable. Prices will become stabilized when money can be made to EXPAND with the INCREASE in goods that men can produce at a profit. The production of goods will then be as profitable as the mining of gold.

Interest FORBIDDEN!

We have seen that YEHOVAH required the Israelites to have a just system of weights and measures so that they could increase their labor and multiply their goods WITHOUT a decline in value. YEHOVAH God also required that the medium of exchange should BEAR NO INTEREST so that the farmer and factory worker could exchange their labor on an EQUITABLE basis. Notice what YEHOVAH says in Deuteronomy 23:19:

"You shall NOT charge interest to your brother -- interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest" (NKJ).

The taking of interest IMPOVERISHES a people, perpetuates POVERTY and works HARDSHIP on not only individuals but also on communities and nations as well. It also CHANGES THE MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE from representing wealth to making it wealth in itself and its possession to be desired MORE than the possession of TRUE WEALTH -- the things that men can use. Also, the ENORMOUS sums involved in interest charges alone have enslaved men and nations, making them pay tribute for the right to live. We have set aside YEHOVAH's true blessings of increase for a few dollars in interest, and instead of receiving a blessing we are being CURSED in everything that we do.

In the booklet The Economic Law of the Lord, by W.J. Cameron, we find the following comments --

"The creation of credit without the multiplication of debt is a masterpiece of Divine legislation. Another strange point is that this law which absolutely prohibits interest or the increase which is called usury, comes from the same Divine power which practices increase all the time! We make dead money artificially yield a paltry three or four or five percent -- not that money yields it, the borrower does. But God's increase, did you ever count that? The Lord Christ once touched upon it; speaking of God's interest which He pays to man, Jesus said that in some instances it was thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundredfold. And this is not 30, 60, or 100 percent, but 3,000, 6,000 and 10,000 percent. And because we reject the living system of 10,000 percent increase for our dead system of 5 percent here we are!"

Is it any wonder that the prophet Ezekiel CONDEMNS the entire system of taking usury or interest? He proclaimed, "'you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me,' says the LORD God" (Ezekiel 22:12).

Taxation

But along with a just or equitable standard of value -- with a NON-INTEREST-BEARING medium of exchange issued against this standard of value -- there also must be a DEFINITE and FIXED relationship between that which a man earns and the taxes he pays. Only then can justice be done so that there will be NO CONFISCATION OF WEALTH.

Taxes, always a problem and a troublesome question today, have become increasingly burdensome. But there is a solution to even this problem because YEHOVAH God has decreed how tax levies shall be made and the method of collection -- as well as the AMOUNT each citizen shall pay. To establish YEHOVAH's system of exchange in the nation without His system of taxation would still result in some privation and want through the CONFISCATION OF PROPERTY under an UNJUST system of taxation.

The Purpose of Government

The original purpose of government was to establish justice and equity -- compelling the obstinate to conform with laws that would insure peace. However, governments cannot function without financial support. Each citizen contributes toward that support for the protection promised him. Eventually that contribution became a financial assessment and is today called a tax levy. So long as a government fulfills its promises and carries out its LEGITIMATE purpose -- protecting its citizens from aggression within and without -- a NOMINAL tax is sufficient for such purposes. But when a government becomes aggressive, or departs from the fundamental principles of administration, an ABUSE of the right to tax will follow if there are no safeguards to prevent it.

In today's world property (both real and personal) is subject to taxation. The present method of taxing property has NO RELATIONSHIP whatsoever to the earning power of the individual who is required to meet these assessments. The unfortunate fact is that we PENALIZE men for improving their property and increasing the wealth of the nation and REWARD those who destroy values and allow their property to deteriorate. Through taxation the government FINES the thrifty and industrious and REWARDS the shiftless.

So what, then, is the remedy? Simply this: a return to the Law of YEHOVAH God and its methods of taxation. For equitable taxation to function, THREE principles must be observed:

1) Taxes must bear a definite relationship to the income of the people -- and this relationship must NEVER be disturbed.

2) In order to conform with this first principle, taxes must be levied against INCOME ONLY -- leaving all property (both real and personal) free from tax levies and therefore NOT subject to confiscation.

3) The government must LIVE WITHIN ITS INCOME as a matter of sound business policy and remove FOREVER the right to alter the tax principle.

Under such conditions government income is increased ONLY by increasing the income of its citizens.

YEHOVAH's System of Taxation

YEHOVAH's system of taxation, based upon the TITHE, complies with the above principles. The tithe is a percentage of the income of the people. While the word "tithe" means a tenth of that income, the returns are not limited to only a tenth of the income of the people. In fact, the Bible outlines three distinct tithes that, when taken over a period of years, amounts to about a fifth of a man's income or increase.

The Bible points out that under Israel's tithing system there were NO tax levies made against property -- either real or personal -- but TAXES WERE A PERCENTAGE OF A MAN'S EARNINGS OR INCREASE. When a man ceased to earn and did not have any increase he paid no taxes! As a result his possessions were FREE from confiscation and he could live and enjoy them even though his earnings had ceased. Under today's Babylonian system we tax the possessions of a man and his property is confiscated and he may end his days in the poor farm when he ceases to earn, or have any profitable increases from his possessions to meet the tax levies. This we call "civilization." But under YEHOVAH's system a man was PROTECTED in his holdings as old age approached and was FREE from fear of destitution and want.

Because of our national failure to recognize and OBEY YEHOVAH's laws of taxation we suffer with excessive levies against property and possessions. (Any levy against property itself is excessive!!) This results in oppression and economic trouble. When the day comes that the nation keeps YEHOVAH's economic laws the vexatious problem of taxation will be solved FOREVER and the government will live within its income which will be a percentage of the earnings and increase of its citizens. The people will then be able to pay all the tithes without hardship because YEHOVAH God will pour out a blessing of REAL PROSPERITY upon the nation when we keep His laws.

In these three important laws the foundation has been laid for an economic structure which will be par excellent in operation. Under these laws, if observed, a perfect monetary system, based upon the VALUE of goods, services and the increase of our national wealth with the outlawing of USURY and the institution of a system of taxation that is not confiscatory of property, will result. Nothing that the Socialists can conceive nor the Communists desire can match (or even approach) the institution of YEHOVAH's system that will out-capital Capitalism in that ALL men will become Capitalists and "sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken it." In this passage of scripture is the ASSURANCE of food and drink to replace the fear and want that is ever-present with men under our present Babylonian economy.

A Standard Unit for Wealth

In all the transactions between men -- in every field of commercial activity and international trade -- there must be a standard unit of value that is capable of measuring wealth in goods, services and possessions. Only when that unit of value is a scale that REMAINS CONSTANT can there be an equitable and just exchange of goods or services.

There is a great need in this chaotic world for such a unit of value! Our nation has long recognized, and accepted, a standard of LINEAL MEASURE that does not vary in length -- the yardstick. We also recognize a standard of WEIGHT that is constant -- the pound; as well as the measure of CAPACITY -- the gallon. Men are FORBIDDEN to lengthen or shorten the yard or to increase or diminish the pound. They may measure out more or less material, or give greater or less volume by weight, but the measure itself is CONSTANT AND DOES NOT FLUCTUATE. A yard is a yard and a pound is a pound! The lineal value of one and the specific gravity of the other NEVER changes.

Just think for a moment what would happen if, after setting the standard of length and weight, we varied these measures from time to time by legislative enactment. The resulting uncertainty would bring a lack of confidence in present, past and future holdings with such confusion that the entire economic structure of men would come apart at the seams.

It seems incredible that while we recognize the need of a standard FIXED unit of measure, weight and capacity in dealing with goods, we have totally lost sight of the fact that there is a FOURTH measure just as important and necessary as the other three in a SOUND economic structure. THIS IS A FIXED STANDARD OF VALUE. Therefore, in an economic structure that would bring justice to both the producer and the consumer, and which would establish PERFECT and EQUITABLE distribution of wealth, FOUR essential units of measure are absolutely essential: a FIXED unvarying standard of length, weight, capacity and VALUE.

The founders of the United States recognized this need when, in writing the Constitution, they stated that Congress shall have the power to "coin money [not print it!], regulate the value thereof and of foreign coin" and also to "fix the standard of weights and measures." The standard of weights and measures has been fixed. But every single effort made to get Congress to assume its constitutional authority over the measure of VALUE or money has met with such strong opposition that the question itself is rarely (if ever) brought into open session and publicly debated!

WHY?

What is VALUE?

It is a RATIO between demand and supply.

The Money Manipulators

Unfortunately, this situation continues to exist because powerful interests gain a financial advantage in a standard of value that fluctuates AND IS MADE TO FLUCTUATE -- thereby enabling them to MANIPULATE the monetary and economic systems of the world for financial gain. The tremendous resources and power acquired by the financiers as a result of this situation have always been pitted against all constructive moves for a SOUND money system that would be a true and CONSTANT measure of value. If we fail to dislodge these money manipulators by passing into law a sound money system with a stabilized unit of value -- which will remain as CONSTANT as the measure of length and the specific gravity in weight -- we will have LOST the economic battle, and destitution, want and war will continue to be the lot of the people and nations of this world. But we must know the way out of our present economic mess before steps can be taken against the subtle and evil scheming of those who are even now planning to use the present uncertainty to strengthen their strangle hold over the financial structure of the world.

The U.S. Congress must move to carry out the constitutional requirements to coin money and regulate its value. To coin money is to stamp a piece of metal as to weight and fineness. To regulate its VALUE is to operate on either the demand for, of the supply of, the metal the coin is stamped in. To change (or remove) the GOLD CONTENT of the dollar is to recoin -- NOT to regulate. Once Congress coins money and regulates its value it will have a marked impact on world finance. It has been the FAILURE on the part of Congress to do so in the past that has been responsible for DEPRESSIONS and many of our economic problems -- causing sorrow and suffering for millions of our citizens. Our nation MUST move to institute a standard of VALUE comparable with the standard of weights and measures if we are to acquire economic security for our people.

What Shall We Use for Money?

One of the questions often asked regarding the coming new world order is, what shall we use for money? This question is a result of fear engendered by the coming collapse of our present economic system as we know it, and a change in the use of GOLD as it has operated in the past in our financial structure.

Now people often speak of CURRENCY as an interchangeable term with money, but they are NOT the same. Money is METAL -- such as gold and silver and copper -- coined or stamped and issued as money that serves as a medium of exchange, a measure of VALUE and a storage of wealth. Currency, on the other hand, includes token coins, government NOTES and bank NOTES. To put it another way, MONEY HAS VALUE IN ITSELF, being a unit of wealth that automatically measures other value in terms of its own intrinsic value. CURRENCY IS TOKENS FOR MONEY and promises to pay money, representing bank or government obligations to pay in money the face value of paper or notes that by law have been made legal tender. Currency can be a medium of exchange but NOT a measure of value or a reserve of value.

It is absolutely impossible to have a SOUND CURRENCY SYSTEM until there is a STABLE measure of value -- in other words, a sound MONEY unit! For centuries gold and silver were used as money. We read in the Bible that by weight these metals were the unit of value in ancient transactions. For example, Abraham gave, in weight, four hundred shekels of silver for the cave of Machpelah. He was rich in flocks and in herds and also IN SILVER AND GOLD. Then Isaac, and later Jacob, were listed as possessing such wealth; and we are told that King David paid fifty shekels of silver for a threshing floor -- and later six hundred shekels of gold for the entire field in which the threshing floor was located.

We can see that BOTH silver and gold were used as a medium of exchange in Israel, having an inherent value by weight and thereby representing the value of goods, services and property in all business transactions.

Nebuchadnezzar's Economic Conference

While sound money was used and accepted as the basis of the system of currency in the Biblical world (with silver and gold functioning as units of value in local and world trade), Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, sought to change the monetary system of the world when he gathered the financial representatives of all nations at Babylon in the first great economic conference of which we have any record. There he ordered GOLD ALONE to be the standard of value, demonetizing silver, and pronounced the death sentence for anyone who would refuse to abide by his ruling -- see Daniel 3:1-6. Having succeeded in cornering the world's gold supply through world conquest, he then proposed to retain world control by instituting gold -- not only as the standard but as the ONLY metal to serve as money. Thus he who could control gold would CONTROL, THROUGH GOLD, world economics, the price of goods and the market value of property and land. This Babylonian system, brought into being by Nebuchadnezzar, continued down until recent times.

With silver demonetized and gold the ONLY real money (or coin of the realm) there came into being a monetary system that could be manipulated. Silver -- which had served naturally to act as a BALANCE for gold -- had been removed from this function. Gold AND silver, without government restraint, react like coal and oil or other competing commodities in that they STABILIZE each other. But in the case of gold and silver, stabilization was all the more important because they measured other values. The control of gold gave control over prices, and control over prices gave POWER over the possessions of others. This system has brought economic CHAOS upon the earth and to all countries and peoples.

Problems of a Rigid Gold Standard

By setting up gold ALONE as money there was brought into being a rigid, inflexible monetary system and so, in accord with the law of supply and demand, instead of an INCREASE in money or monetary wealth with the INCREASE in goods, and instead of a DECREASE in money or monetary wealth with the DECREASE in goods, prices FLUCTUATED because of a rigid gold standard, regardless of the actual value of goods. This price fluctuation is the result of the FAILURE of money -- not currency -- to expand in supply with the increase in goods or demand for money and to diminish with a decrease in goods, services and possessions. Because of this fact, those in control of gold were also able to manipulate the price level and bring on periods of depression. As a result they continually dominate the purchasing power of money and the price level -- regardless of the actual value of the thing purchased.

So what is the remedy? The U.S. Congress must act and assume its constitutional authority to coin money and regulate its value. To regulate the value in respect to a measuring unit is to STABILIZE it! If the coin is gold, Congress must generate legislation to keep the world VALUE of gold, as a commodity, STABLE. Once that value has been stabilized, then we will have a unit of value that must NOT be tampered with nor changed any more than it would be right to change the standard of weights and measures, such as the length of the yard and the weight of the pound.

How Shall Goods Have a Constant Value?

With this said, how shall we enable money to EXPAND and CONTRACT so that it will fulfill the Biblical requirement that goods shall have a value in a unit of measure that is CONSTANT? If this can be accomplished, then the actual value in goods, services and possessions can be measured in a unit that will record a true and accurate relationship between all wealth -- whether rendered in service or represented by goods and possessions. It will also record changes in value of each constituent of that wealth. Anciently, with gold functioning TOGETHER with silver and maintaining a BALANCE in the value of both, governments had the required amount of money in circulation at all times for the transaction of business.

Can this be accomplished again and sufficient money placed in circulation to meet ALL requirements of a changing demand for money without dislocating its value in terms of property?

When it is recognized that gold and silver were separated from each other and thereby prevented from operating TOGETHER in the monetary structure by Nebuchadnezzar for the purpose of control, the continuation of that separation serves only ONE purpose -- continuation of that control! The realization that we acquired our present financial system through the LUST for control accounts for the fact that control still exists and remains the major road-block in the way of remedying the situation. Before true and lasting prosperity can be ours, we must RETURN to the ORIGINAL method by which gold and silver functioned together. From the knowledge of its original operation we have a clue to resolving our present money problems by stabilizing the price level. Prices of individual commodities will fluctuate so that YEHOVAH's method of fixing the supply to the demand can be carried out with a yardstick that will show how much the change is and that the change is in the COMMODITY itself and NOT in the yardstick.

If the proper use is established for Gold and silver so that the supply of money can be adjusted to the demand for money, we have the SOLUTION to the age-old problem of price stabilization, and we will be in possession of a medium of exchange that can expand and contract in accordance with requirements.

What Congress Must Do

Now WHAT must be done to secure the blessings of a measure or unit of value that can thereby operate as the basis of our money system? First the U.S. Congress, under the mandate of the Constitution and YEHOVAH's economic laws, must set a standard of value EQUIVALENT to the existing standards of weight and measure. Now GOLD is an ideal metal for this purpose, but it should not be abused as it has been in the past. It cannot be exposed to manipulation as it has been, but rather used as a unit of value through legislating a PERMANENT GOLD CONTENT for the dollar AFTER stabilizing the value of gold as a world commodity. When this has been accomplished, that standard MUST REMAIN CONSTANT and neither Congress nor anyone else should have further authority or power to tamper with it or change it -- just as they are kept from tampering with the yard and the gallon or from changing the pound. We would then have FOUR STANDARD MEASURES, all of which are absolutely essential in the carrying on of trade and commerce in our economic structure -- a measure of LENGTH, a measure of WEIGHT, a measure of CAPACITY and a measure of VALUE. Leave any ONE of these out -- or make any one of them uncertain or subject to variation -- and we will be faced with IMMEDIATE economic problems that cannot be solved.

Now with the GOLD content of the dollar as the STANDARD OF VALUE, when the demand for money increases SILVER should be used as a STABILIZER in a scientific manner proposed to the Congress in a bill to which no tenable objection has ever been raised by any expert. Its VALUE would be measured by GOLD -- the standard of value set by Congress -- and a sufficient quantity of silver would be monetized and placed in circulation to meet the sudden demands made upon gold when nations are on the gold standard. This would NOT be bi-metalism because the value of silver would NOT be set but would be measured wholly by the UNIT OF VALUE OF GOLD and monetized in accordance with that value -- which would be the MARKET VALUE of silver. There would be ONE unit or standard of value only -- GOLD -- and the use of silver in terms of the gold dollar would regulate the purchasing power of gold. Money would therefore ALWAYS have an intrinsic but STABLE value and thus through the proper action of Congress, the price level would be stabilized.

The Commodity Index

So when there came an increased demand for gold as reflected in a slightly rising COMMODITY INDEX silver would be purchased in the needed amount, monetized at MARKET VALUE and placed in circulation as part of our monetary system. It would thus act as though there had been an increase in the volume of gold. This method -- which could be REVERSED if prices declined -- would expand the monetary system to meet any and every demand made upon it by increased prosperity and production or artificial demand while, at the same time, the prices for goods, services and property would be STABILIZED. This expansion or contraction of the monetary system would keep the BALANCE against changing demands made upon gold, and men could work and build, labor and trade, knowing that their labors would be REWARDED in money of a SOUND and intrinsic worth without fear of a depreciation in its purchasing value.

How vastly different it is today! Under the present system -- without a DEFINITE standard of the measure of value, and no means to adequately expand our money to increased demands -- there is NO balance wheel and we have violent oscillations in prices not only in goods but in labor as well. On the other hand, with a DEFINITE UNIT OF VALUE, the volume of money in gold can be regulated through increasing or diminishing gold equivalents in silver in accordance with changing demand.

Certificates of Deposit and Paper Money

With a stabilized unit of value, certificates of deposit for gold coin and for silver bullion at market value could be issued against the gold and silver in the treasury. All other PAPER MONEY should be reorganized in accordance with economic NOT political dictates. Today, tremendous unearned profits are made in the issuance and manipulation of the present printed PAPER MONEY now in circulation! It is easier than manipulating gold money that was none-the-less done through silver as history repeatedly tells us.

Because there is a lack of a fixed standard of value today -- protected from manipulation -- the value of money can be increased and thus property values reduced. This DESTROYS collateral values and credits that in turn causes the forced sales of property of all kinds and, as a result, property itself loses more value. The reverse is also true. Through the same type of manipulation money can be cut in value with a resultant increase in property prices, so that those who are able to scheme and manipulate can first depress prices and later increase them at a tremendous profit. Such is the situation today because Congress has failed in, or has been prevented from, establishing a standard of value in terms of property (not paper) in accordance with Constitutional requirements.

The Opposition of the Manipulators

It should come as no surprise that the institution of SOUND money and a return to a BALANCED monetary system -- with the money supply expanding and contracting in accord with demand -- will meet with violent opposition. All those who have approached the solution can certainly bear witness to this. Powerful interests, that have made the present system yield them billions of dollars in surreptitious profits, are not going to let the people, or their Congress, change that system without a fight. They are opposed to sound money and an adequate credit system where good character and enterprise will enable men to secure credit and carry on successful business transactions free from fear of confiscation and destruction of their possessions by periodic depressions engineered by financial parasites.

But until we, as a nation, return to a monetary system based on a STABLE UNIT OF VALUE -- allowing the supply to expand and contract in accordance with the demand to keep the value constant -- there can be NO economic peace nor freedom from destitution and want in our land. Those who are responsible for the present situation and its continuance are ENEMIES of YEHOVAH God and our nation -- and perhaps even greater enemies than bin Laden, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Kim Jong-il!

TRUE WEALTH is represented in our possessions. And a TRUE STANDARD -- an unvarying unit of value for measuring that wealth -- is ESSENTIAL if our people are to be prosperous, contented, happy and free.

 

Hope of Israel Ministries -- Preparing the Way for the Return of YEHOVAH God and His Messiah!

Hope of Israel Ministries
P.O. Box 853
Azusa, CA 91702, USA
www.hope-of-israel.org

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