Luk 12:16-20 | KingComments | STEP | The Lord considers this such an important subject that He wants to give clear teaching about it through a parable. The danger of greed is clearly portrayed here. He presents a person who is already very rich. And that wealth is increasing all the time. His land always was very productive. By the way, to a real Jew, this is a proof of God’s favor because of his faithfulness to God’s law. For it says that God connects His blessing to faithfulness to His law ( ). Because of the unfaithfulness of God’s people, however, God no longer acts on the basis of the law with His people. Then it may happen that the faithful person suffers and that the unfaithful person receives blessing. That was the struggle of Asaf who also noticed that ( ). Asaf also got to know the solution of this problem. He learned this solution by entering into God’s sanctuary and from there looking at the end of the wicked ( ). The Lord Jesus also refers to this end in this parable. There is extraordinary selfishness and folly in what people call wise policy and insight. This is because they take themselves as the source of wisdom. The rich man reasoned to himself , he does not consult with God. Everything revolves around himself and his own thoughts. This resonates throughout his deliberations. It is always ‘I’ll do this’ and ‘I’ll do that’. This kind of deliberation fits well with people who only live for this life. He wants to gather everything for himself, but he neglects to think of God’s riches. This is his foolishness. Because he speaks only of “I”, he also speaks of “my barns … my grain and my goods”. Everything is “my”. He will do it all. This complete blindness to the awareness of being a dependent human being is called by James “boast in your arrogance“ ( ). The rich fool is full of greed. He believes that all his goods will enable him to complete his program, a program of taking ease, eating, drinking and being merry. This is what the man of the world in general is looking for: richly ease, richly food and drink and richly joys and delights. He has no eye for the future outside this world. The life of this world is everything to him. It is not the case that the rich fool makes improper use of what he possesses according to human standards. He does not live immorally, but all his actions go no further than satisfying his desire for ever greater abundance. The rich owner repeatedly breaks down his barns and builds larger ones, with the intention of securing all his fruits and expanding his possessions. His thoughts are exclusively and only focused on the present life which, he believes, will always continue like this. Unfortunately, many Christians are the same. They build houses and collect supplies of money as if they will live here for a thousand years. Then suddenly a voice sounds to him in the middle of the night. What was he busy with then? He spent the last night of his life thinking up great plans for a future he would never see. He resembles Belshazzar who also spent the last night of his life with great parties ( ). So many people resemble him for whom life is one big party, while the day or the night comes that this life is suddenly cut off. God addresses him according to what he is, “fool”, and pronounces His judgment. He has not taken God into account and he has certainly not taken into account that God could quash all his calculations. And what does the judgment consist of? God does not take away his wealth. He could have done that, but He does not. The fool first spoke of his possessions, and second of his soul. God speaks first of the soul of the fool and then of his possessions. God demands his soul, for in His “hand is the soul of every living thing“ ( ; ). The fool did not think of the fear mentioned in . God takes away his soul and asks the question: “And [now] who will own what you have prepared?” No answer to that question is given. That answer we must give because that question that comes to us as well. The fool had degraded his soul to nothing but slavery of the body, instead of controlling the body, so that the body would be the servant of the soul and God the Master of both. To gather treasures for ourselves is the forced labor of one’s own self and of the unbelief that forms reserves. It is living in the dream of being able to enjoy it for a long time to come, a dream that is broken off by the Lord suddenly.

‏ Luke 12:16-20

Parable of the Rich Fool

The Lord considers this such an important subject that He wants to give clear teaching about it through a parable. The danger of greed is clearly portrayed here. He presents a person who is already very rich. And that wealth is increasing all the time. His land always was very productive.

By the way, to a real Jew, this is a proof of God’s favor because of his faithfulness to God’s law. For it says that God connects His blessing to faithfulness to His law (Deu 28:1-6). Because of the unfaithfulness of God’s people, however, God no longer acts on the basis of the law with His people. Then it may happen that the faithful person suffers and that the unfaithful person receives blessing. That was the struggle of Asaf who also noticed that (Psa 73:2-12). Asaf also got to know the solution of this problem. He learned this solution by entering into God’s sanctuary and from there looking at the end of the wicked (Psa 73:16-20). The Lord Jesus also refers to this end in this parable.

There is extraordinary selfishness and folly in what people call wise policy and insight. This is because they take themselves as the source of wisdom. The rich man reasoned to himself, he does not consult with God. Everything revolves around himself and his own thoughts. This resonates throughout his deliberations. It is always ‘I’ll do this’ and ‘I’ll do that’. This kind of deliberation fits well with people who only live for this life. He wants to gather everything for himself, but he neglects to think of God’s riches. This is his foolishness.

Because he speaks only of “I”, he also speaks of “my barns … my grain and my goods”. Everything is “my”. He will do it all. This complete blindness to the awareness of being a dependent human being is called by James “boast in your arrogance“ (Jam 4:13-16). The rich fool is full of greed. He believes that all his goods will enable him to complete his program, a program of taking ease, eating, drinking and being merry. This is what the man of the world in general is looking for: richly ease, richly food and drink and richly joys and delights. He has no eye for the future outside this world. The life of this world is everything to him.

It is not the case that the rich fool makes improper use of what he possesses according to human standards. He does not live immorally, but all his actions go no further than satisfying his desire for ever greater abundance. The rich owner repeatedly breaks down his barns and builds larger ones, with the intention of securing all his fruits and expanding his possessions. His thoughts are exclusively and only focused on the present life which, he believes, will always continue like this. Unfortunately, many Christians are the same. They build houses and collect supplies of money as if they will live here for a thousand years.

Then suddenly a voice sounds to him in the middle of the night. What was he busy with then? He spent the last night of his life thinking up great plans for a future he would never see. He resembles Belshazzar who also spent the last night of his life with great parties (Dan 5:1-4 ; 30).

So many people resemble him for whom life is one big party, while the day or the night comes that this life is suddenly cut off. God addresses him according to what he is, “fool”, and pronounces His judgment. He has not taken God into account and he has certainly not taken into account that God could quash all his calculations.

And what does the judgment consist of? God does not take away his wealth. He could have done that, but He does not. The fool first spoke of his possessions, and second of his soul. God speaks first of the soul of the fool and then of his possessions. God demands his soul, for in His “hand is the soul of every living thing“ (Job 12:9-10; Dan 5:23b). The fool did not think of the fear mentioned in Lk 12:5.

God takes away his soul and asks the question: “And [now] who will own what you have prepared?” No answer to that question is given. That answer we must give because that question that comes to us as well. The fool had degraded his soul to nothing but slavery of the body, instead of controlling the body, so that the body would be the servant of the soul and God the Master of both.

To gather treasures for ourselves is the forced labor of one’s own self and of the unbelief that forms reserves. It is living in the dream of being able to enjoy it for a long time to come, a dream that is broken off by the Lord suddenly.