1. Achan was guilty of the love of money
Before the Israeli army took Jericho, Joshua told them, “17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted …….19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury (Joshua 7:17-19).”After the Lord had made the walls of Jericho collapse, the Israeli army rushed in and took it, killing every life in it except Rahab and her family. Then the army went around collecting all the silver, the gold, and the articles of bronze and iron from the city. Each person brought what he found. They gathered everything together and gave them to the priests to be put into the treasury of the Lord’s house. Then they burned the whole city and everything in it.
However, Achan, from the tribe of Judah, wanted to play smart. He refused to turn in the precious items he took from Jericho. According to his confession, he found a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, and he desired to have them and he took them for himself. Meanwhile, he knew he was not supposed to take anything for himself. Because of what he did, God punished Israel and made them lose against Ai in their first encounter. When his sin was discovered, Achan himself, his family, and his possessions were stoned to death and burnt in the Valley of Achor. Achan’s greed for money was responsible for his ungodly action. Bible Reference Joshua 7:1-26
2. The sons of Samuel, Joel and Abiah, loved money
Samuel – a good boy who grew up to be a great prophet before the Lord. Prophet Samuel is counted among the judges who ruled Israel and his life was a worthy example for all to emulate. However, his sons, Joel and Abiah, were nothing like him. When Samuel was old, he appointed his two sons to be judges over Israel in Beer-sheba. But his sons proved to be lovers of money, for they forsook the good ways of their father, and were corrupt, and took bribes, and did not decide cases honestly. These are obvious signs of the love of money; hence, Joel and Abiah were lovers of money. (1 Samuel 8:1-3).
3. Zacchaeus was guilty of the love of money
When Jesus was passing through the city of Jericho, He got to a place where there was a sycamore tree, and upon looking up, saw a certain man called Zacchaeus in the tree. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector and a rich man. Jesus said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today (Luke 19:5).”So he came down fast and welcomed Jesus into his house with joy. In his house, Zacchaeus stood up and said to Jesus, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold (Luke 19:8).” This confession of Zacchaeus briefs us on his story and justifies why others called him a sinner. Zacchaeus, like Judas Iscariot, was guilty of the love of money. According to his confession, he had employed shady means to make money, despite being a chief tax collected and, most likely, well paid. (Luke 19:1-10)
4. Judas Iscariot loved money
The Bible shares the story of someone who exhibited ‘the love of money’ in his life. Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, is one historical figure who became a victim of the love of money and played out the same so perfectly. Judas Iscariot, at the time he was appointed to become one of the disciples of Jesus, did not have such a malicious intention to betray Jesus for money; it was far from him to do that. However, the bad news is Judas Iscariot, like any other human being, had a weakness. His weakness was greed – greed for money. Consequently, he became a lover of money. In those days people used to contribute money to Jesus’ ministry. The contributions were put in a money box, which was entrusted to the keep of Judas Iscariot. Being a lover of money, Iscariot began to steal money from the money box entrusted to his keep (John 12:4-6).
Of course, being greedy for money, Iscariot was not content with whatever money, be it big or small, that he was taking from the money box; he certainly wanted more. But how would he get more? Influenced by Satan, he went a step further to betray Jesus, his Master, to earn more money, thirty silver pieces (Matthew 26:15). The sin of greed for money in his life made Judas Iscariot guilty of these other sins; he was:
- A thief; he stole from the money box.
- A traitor; he gave up Jesus for money.
- A murderer; he betrayed Jesus to His death.
Judas Iscariot is guilty of all these sins because he was given to the love of money. These sins of Judas Iscariot rendered him apostate: Iscariot, after the betrayal, never had the chance to meet Jesus again to ask for forgiveness, neither did he muster the courage to go back to join the disciples. More so, the devil who had been manipulating him did not give him the chance to repent; rather, he induced him to commit suicide.
5. Governor Felix was guilty of the love of money
Paul was arrested by the Jews in Jerusalem and they had wanted to put him to death. But the Roman soldiers came to his rescue and took him from the Jews. The Jews still planned to kill Paul by all means. The chief captain of the Romans in Jerusalem sent him away under protection to Caesarea for his safety and committed him into the custody of a Roman governor called Felix. After five days, Paul was made to stand trials before Governor Felix in the presence of his complainants who were the Jewish religious leaders.
After the hearing, Governor Felix did not find any wrongdoing that Paul had done which was punishable by death or imprisonment. Governor Felix ought to have let Paul go since he has done no wrong, but he did not. Felix was a corrupt governor; he had wanted Paul to bribe him so that he would free him from prison. The Bible testifies saying, “26 At the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him.”
Since Paul refused to pay him any money and also to do the Jews a favor, he denied Paul fair judgment and Paul remained in prison into the regime of a new governor called Porcius Festus who succeeded Felix. Reference Acts 24:1-27