Our Beds of Ivory

One of the most common complaints of the Lord against His people is that they will not take care of the poor.  In the scriptures it seems to be a sign of spiritual degeneration when the covenant people do not help the poor in needy.  The book of Amos is one place in particular where we see this.  The prophet condemned the northern kingdom for their mistreatment of those in need.  He spoke to them this way: “Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them” (Amos 5:11).  I’m not sure exactly what “treading upon the poor” means, but it is likely a metaphor for refusing to help them even when they had the means and opportunity.  The rich people “turn aside the poor in the gate” (Amos 5:12).  They are “at ease in Zion” and “lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches” but “are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph” (Amos 6:1, 4, 6).  While others suffered around them, they relaxed and did not seek their welfare. 

The Lord continued with this condemnation of the rich who did not help the poor: “I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces” (Amos 6:8).  The Lord’s lament and condemnation continued, “O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail….  I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation” (Amos 8:4, 10).  The overall message to these rich Israelites seems to be that since they would not care for the poor, they would lose everything that they had.  They were ultimately carried off and destroyed by the Assyrians.

                We see a similar fate for those who clung to riches in the Book of Mormon.  The prophet Samuel the Lamanite told the wicked Nephites this: “The anger of the Lord is already kindled against you; behold, he hath cursed the land because of your iniquity.  And behold, the time cometh that he curseth your riches, that they become slippery, that ye cannot hold them” (Helaman 13:30-31).  They who were wicked—and most certainly this wickedness included retaining their wealth from the poor—would ultimately not be able to hang on to their money.   Mormon wrote of at least one time this was fulfilled in his day.  The land was covered with the Gadianton robbers “insomuch that the inhabitants thereof began to hide up their treasures in the earth; and they became slippery, because the Lord had cursed the land, that they could not hold them, nor retain them again” (Mormon 1:18).  Those who were wicked could not hide their riches and hang on to them. 

                For us I think the message is simple: if we want riches, the best way to retain them is to give them away by taking care of those in need.  We must take care to not get comfortable in our own metaphorical beds of ivory.  Perhaps we can apply this gospel principle to the pursuit of riches: “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it” (Luke 17:33).  The only way that the Lord approves us seeking riches that I know of is by doing what Jacob taught us: “Ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted” (Jacob 2:19).  We have a lot of choices about how we use our resources, and I hope that I will use them in such a way that I don’t get this welcome in the next world: “Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise [the poor] evil things: but now [they are] comforted, and thou art tormented” (Luke 16:25).