I Have Made the Earth Rich

The Lord said this to the Saints as they were preparing to move to Ohio: “And for your salvation I give unto you a commandment, for I have heard your prayers, and the poor have complained before me, and the rich have I made, and all flesh is mine, and I am no respecter of persons. And I have made the earth rich, and behold it is my footstool, wherefore, again I will stand upon it” (Doctrine and Covenants 38:16-17). He was suggesting that He made the earth rich and that there were enough resources for all flesh. He hears the complaints of the poor, and the rich should understand that they are His and have a responsibility to help the poor. When He gave His law two months later, He said this more directly: “And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support that which thou hast to impart unto them, with a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken. And inasmuch as ye impart of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto me” (Doctrine and Covenants 42:30-31). The rich have a responsibility to help the poor, and as He taught a few years later, there is no shortage on the earth: “I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth, my very handiwork; and all things therein are mine. And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine. But it must needs be done in mine own way; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low. For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.” The Lord didn’t make an earth that was too small for the children He planned to send to it. No, it is full with enough food and resources for all who come here. The problem is that those with plenty do not properly share with those in need. He continued with this warning: “Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment” (Doctrine and Covenants 104:14-18). The problem of poverty on earth is a man-made one, and if we do not do our part to share our abundance with those in need, we will be judged of Him for it.

                This reminds me of something President Nelson remarked about the size of the earth. He said at a BYU-Idaho devotional, “Presently, many influential people attribute problems of our day to overpopulation. That concept of overpopulation has become broadly believed, and efforts have been made to control birthrates—with regrettable results…. Meanwhile, the Lord’s command to ‘be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it’ (see Genesis 1:28; 9:1; Moses 2:28; Abraham 4:28) has never been rescinded. Now, let me ask you a question. Is the world truly overpopulated?  Consider the facts. The latest data indicate that the world’s population is 6.8 billion people. If every one of those 6.8 billion people were allocated one quarter of an acre (for example, under that formula a family with a father and a mother with two children would be given one acre), I repeat, if a quarter of an acre were allocated to each man, woman, and child now living on the earth today, they would all fit in the country of Brazil, with 20 percent of Brazil still left unoccupied!” I confirmed those figures: Brazil has 3.288 million square miles, which is 8.4 billion quarter acres, so that if a quarter acre were given to each of the 6.8 billion people on earth, there would still be 1.6 billion quarter acres left in Brazil. Now, clearly, he was not suggesting that somehow this South American country should be divided up and distributed like this or that all of it is easily inhabitable. Rather, he was simply making the point that if we could all fit comfortably in the size of area contained in this single country (which makes up less than 2% of the total land mass of the earth), surely the earth has enough room to send more of God’s children here. Of course there are plenty of areas on earth where no one can live, and yet still the Lord has declared that there is enough room and resources (and to spare) for all of us. The problem is not with the size of God’s creations but with how we as His children are using what He has given us. Far too often we refuse to impart to those in need as we should. Despite the richness of the earth, so much is hoarded by so few. These sobering words of the Lord to this generation should inspire each of us to do more to share the resources we have been given with His children in need: “Wo unto you rich men, that will not give your substance to the poor, for your riches will canker your souls; and this shall be your lamentation in the day of visitation, and of judgment, and of indignation: The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved!” (Doctrine and Covenants 56:16)