The Gospel's Economic Engine: Text: Proverbs 13:22
Introduction: A Tale of Two Inheritances
We live in an age of frantic, short-term thinking. Our cultural elites are like children who have inherited a grand estate, and they are busy pulling up the floorboards to fuel a weekend bonfire. They want the warmth of the fire, the immediate thrill, but they are destroying the very house that shelters them. This is the essence of all godless economics and all godless politics. It is the folly of consuming the seed corn. They live for the moment, for the next election cycle, for the quarterly report, with no thought for the grandchildren, for the foundations, for the future.
The book of Proverbs, in stark contrast, is a book about long-term thinking. It is a book about building, planting, and establishing. It assumes a world that is going somewhere, a world governed by a God who keeps His promises across a thousand generations. This is why our eschatology, our doctrine of the last things, is not some dusty appendix to our theology. It is the engine room. What you believe about the future determines entirely how you live in the present. If you believe the world is a sinking ship from which we must evacuate souls, you will live very differently than if you believe the world is a field to be planted and harvested for the glory of God.
The modern evangelical church has been largely crippled by a pessimistic eschatology, a theology of defeat. It sees the world as belonging to the devil and has consequently abandoned vast territories of life, culture, and economics to him, hoping only to snatch a few souls from the wreckage. But the Bible presents a far more robust and optimistic vision. It teaches that the gospel is the power of God for salvation, and that this salvation is not a small, private affair. It is a world-altering, history-shaping, culture-defining reality. The Great Commission is not a rescue mission; it is a dominion mandate. Jesus did not tell us to huddle in a bunker until He returns; He told us to disciple the nations.
Proverbs 13:22 is a perfect distillation of this optimistic, kingdom-building worldview. It presents us with two economic models, two trajectories for wealth, two ultimate destinies for every dollar. One is the path of the good man, whose life and work create a compounding legacy of blessing. The other is the path of the sinner, whose wealth, however vast, is ultimately a temporary holding pattern, awaiting its transfer into the hands of God's people. This proverb is not a sentimental platitude; it is a declaration of how God's world works. It is a promise about the long-term economic triumph of the gospel.
The Text
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,
And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.
(Proverbs 13:22 LSB)
Covenant Succession and Compounding Faithfulness (v. 22a)
Let us first take up the first clause:
"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children..." (Proverbs 13:22a)
The first thing to notice is the scope of the good man's vision. He is not thinking merely of his own retirement. He is not even thinking merely of his own children. His horizon is set on his grandchildren. He is engaged in multi-generational faithfulness. This is covenantal thinking. God made His covenant with Abraham and his seed after him. The promise is to you and to your children (Acts 2:39). Our secular, individualistic age can barely think past its own lifespan, but the Bible trains us to think in centuries, to plant trees whose shade we will never sit in.
Now, what is this inheritance? Our first thought is, naturally, financial. And it certainly includes that. A good man is diligent, not lazy (Prov. 12:24). He works hard, saves wisely, and builds capital. He understands that wealth is a tool for dominion, and he desires to equip his descendants with good tools. But to think of this inheritance in merely financial terms is to miss the heart of the matter. The financial inheritance is the fruit; the spiritual inheritance is the root. Without the root, the fruit will wither and be squandered by the second generation.
The primary inheritance a good man leaves is the true faith. He teaches his children the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. He catechizes them, prays with them, disciplines them, and models for them what it means to be a man under God. He leaves them a legacy of character, integrity, a strong work ethic, and a deep knowledge of the Scriptures. This is the true wealth. A father who leaves his son a million dollars but no wisdom has left him a curse, not a blessing. That son will be like the prodigal, wasting his substance on riotous living. But a father who leaves his son the wisdom of Proverbs has given him the tools to build his own wealth, and more importantly, to build a godly life.
This is the principle of covenant succession. We are to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, fully expecting them to embrace the faith of their parents. We are not to treat our own homes as mission fields, and our children as little pagans who we hope might get saved one day. We are to treat them as covenant members, holy to the Lord, and train them up in the way they should go. When this is done faithfully, the result is a compounding spiritual and cultural capital. The second generation builds on the foundation of the first, and the third on the second. This is how Christian culture is built. It is not built by mass evangelism crusades, but by faithful fathers and mothers, generation after generation, leaving a true and lasting inheritance.
The Great Reversal: God's Long-Term Economic Plan (v. 22b)
The second clause of this proverb is one of the most potent statements of optimistic eschatology in all of Scripture.
"And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous." (Proverbs 13:22b)
This is a staggering promise. It tells us that the vast accumulations of wealth in the hands of the ungodly are not ultimately theirs. They are merely stewards, temporary caretakers. God, in His providence, has a different long-term plan for that capital. It is a savings account, being held in reserve for the just. This principle is repeated throughout Scripture. Job says of the wicked man, "Though he heaps up silver like dust... he may prepare it, but the just will wear it, and the innocent will divide the silver" (Job 27:16-17).
How does this happen? This is not a call for revolutionary plunder or a Christianized form of socialism. This is not about seizing the assets of the wicked. This is a statement about how God governs history. The transfer happens through the steady, patient application of God's law and gospel over time. Consider the principles laid out in this very book of Proverbs. The righteous man is diligent, honest, prudent, and generous. The wicked man is lazy, foolish, profligate, and oppressive. In the long run, whose economic model is sustainable? Whose business practices lead to flourishing? Whose character builds trust and social capital?
The sinner's wealth is built on sand. It is acquired through injustice, fraud, or sheer, godless vanity. And because it is detached from the law of God, it contains the seeds of its own destruction. The lazy man's field grows thorns. The fool and his money are soon parted. The oppressive regime eventually collapses under its own corruption. The culture of death eventually runs out of people. God's world has a grain to it, and the sinner is constantly working against that grain. It is exhausting and, ultimately, futile.
Meanwhile, the righteous, by living according to God's design, are building. Their diligence creates value. Their honesty builds trust. Their generosity fosters community. Their covenant faithfulness raises up diligent and honest children who continue the work. As the gospel advances in a culture, it produces these very virtues. It turns drunkards into sober workers. It makes thieves honest. It creates men and women who are trustworthy, creative, and future-oriented. This is the economic engine of the gospel. And as this engine runs over centuries, the steady result is that wealth flows away from those who defy God's economic laws and toward those who obey them. The sinner's leaky bucket can't compete with the righteous man's well-tended vineyard. This is the great reversal, the slow, sure, historical triumph of the kingdom of God in the economic sphere.
Conclusion: Building for a Thousand Generations
So what does this mean for us, here and now? It means we must reject the short-sighted, defeatist mentality of our age. We are not called to manage a retreat; we are called to build a civilization. This proverb calls us to a radical, long-term vision.
First, for you fathers, you must take seriously your duty to leave an inheritance for your children's children. This begins with the faithful teaching of the Word of God in your home. Your primary legacy is not your 401k; it is a vibrant, robust, lived-out Christian faith. Teach your children the catechism. Teach them to work hard. Teach them to be faithful. And yes, work diligently and save wisely so that you can provide them with material tools to continue the work of dominion.
Second, we must have an unconquerable optimism about the future of the gospel. We must believe that Christ is reigning now, and that His kingdom is advancing and will not fail. This proverb is a promise that the future belongs to the righteous. The wealth of the nations, currently held by sinners, will one day be brought as tribute to King Jesus (Isa. 60:11). This happens as we are faithful in our callings, as we build godly businesses, as we create beautiful art, as we raise faithful children. Every act of obedience, every dollar earned honestly and stewarded wisely, is a small part of this great, historical wealth transfer.
The sinner is building his house on the sand, and the tide of God's kingdom is rising. The righteous man is building his house on the rock of Jesus Christ. He is building for the long haul. He is building for his grandchildren. He is building with the confident knowledge that the assets of the wicked are simply being stored up for him. Let us therefore be builders. Let us be men and women of vision, of diligence, and of unconquerable faith, knowing that our labor in the Lord is not in vain.