Joseph Prince’s Prosperity Gospel that believers are to be rich and not poor as a church mouse is a great insult to the poor – By Rev George Ong (Dated 21 Dec 2022)
Some Highlights in this Article:
1. Joseph Prince’s Prosperity Gospel doctrine that every New Covenant believer has the covenantal right to be very prosperous and wealthy as Abraham and Isaac were,
and that believers ought not to be as poor as a church mouse, because there is something wrong about being poor,
is a great insult to all poor believers and a scam that must be continually exposed.
Isn’t Joseph Prince aware that there are multitudes of poor believers, especially in the third world?
So, Joseph Prince owes all these poor believers around the world an apology for insulting them.
2. Joseph Prince needs to explain to us why did he pick Abraham (and Isaac) instead of Paul as the model, or example to showcase his Prosperity Gospel doctrine.
Isn’t Paul, who is a New Covenant saint, a more fitting choice than Abraham, who is an Old Covenant believer – as, after all, we are in the New Covenant?
Isn’t Paul Joseph Prince’s hero – as he has constantly been telling the world that Paul is his mentor that he has learned much of his grace theology from?
Isn’t it logical that the poster-boy of his Prosperity Gospel doctrine ought to be Paul, and not Abraham?
People of God
– you ought to realise by now, why Joseph Prince couldn’t pick Paul
– as Paul’s life of persecution and suffering, and poverty during certain periods of his ministry,
are a total contradiction to his Prosperity Gospel doctrine.
3. In this article, I’ve once again proven that Joseph Prince is an unrepentant serial-double talker because of his self-contradictory teachings.
4. Outline of this Article:
1). There are many poor believers in the Old Covenant and no value judgements are made against them.
2). There are many poor believers in the New Covenant and no value judgements are made against them.
a. The Poor New Covenant Church of Smyrna.
b. The Extremely Poor New Covenant Churches in Macedonia.
c. The Poor Paul.
d. The Poor Jesus.
e. The Extremely Poor New Covenant Believers in the Book of James.
f. The Poor New Covenant Believers in the Book of Acts.
Note that Joseph Prince didn’t preach again on 18 Dec 2022, last Sunday – and for five consecutive Sundays.
(This article was also sent to Rev Dr Ngoei Foong Nghian, General Secretary, National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) office, and for the attention of the Executive Committee Members.)
In a weekly Sunday sermon (pre-recorded) aired on YouTube on 11 Dec 2022, 2 Sundays ago, Joseph Prince said;
Please click here to view the one-minute video:
“They have a saying, right, that as poor as a church mouse. Why a church mouse? No, my friend, if you study the Bible, look at all these verses; Isaac sowed in the land (Gen 26:12-14). He reaped in the same year, a hundredfold. He began to prosper, continued prospering, became very prosperous. Why do you think the Holy Spirit put all these verses there?”
“And God went to detail telling us that he began prospering, continued prospering and became very prosperous.”
“So is this teaching of prosperity in the Bible – something that God is saying to us that it’s not His will for us to prosper and to be poor is to be humble. Poverty is holiness. You don’t find that in the Bible. We don’t find that in the lives of our Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.”
“So child of God, God wants you to be encouraged. God wants to prosper you.”
Joseph Prince’s teaching that every believer is supposed to be prosperous or rich and not poor, is not only blatantly false,
but a great insult to the poor.
Before I prove to you that there are both rich and poor believers under both the Old and New Covenants,
and no value judgements were made against the poor in both covenants, as Joseph Prince has done,
I want to point out 2 serious and brazen flaws in Joseph Prince’s Prosperity Gospel doctrine.
First, Joseph Prince’s chief fault is that he mainly uses the Old Covenant, and Old Covenant patriarchs, such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, etc, to prove his New Covenant Prosperity Gospel doctrine.
By doing so, Joseph Prince has shown that he is utterly inconsistent.
Prince has always been teaching that the way God relates with the Old Covenant people is different from how He relates with the New Covenant people.
Prince is at pains to stress that the Old Covenant is not binding on New Covenant believers because of the finished work of the cross.
Prince never gets tired about making the point that the finished work of Christ has, indeed, made the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.
Just as an example (and there are many), Prince teaches that the God of the Old Covenant who is angry, punishes and judges the Old Covenant people, will never get angry, punish and judge the New Covenant people.
But when it comes to the Prosperity Gospel doctrine, Joseph Prince changes his tune entirely.
In his Prosperity Gospel doctrine, Prince uses many Old Covenant passages and Old Covenant characters, to prove his New Covenant Prosperity Gospel theology.
He relies heavily on Old Testament foundations.
Prince teaches that just as God has blessed the Old Covenant people with health and wealth, He will do the same with New Covenant people.
On the one hand, Joseph Prince says that the Old Covenant scriptures are not binding on New Covenant believers, and so our priority and focus should be the New Covenant scriptures.
Yet, on the other hand, when it suits his agenda to support his Prosperity Gospel doctrine, he selectively harks back to Old Covenant passages.
So, Joseph Prince is really getting all of us confused – are we in the Old Covenant or the New Covenant?
Joseph Prince, by using the Old Covenant principles to prove his Prosperity Gospel doctrine,
is effectively saying that we, the New Covenant believers, are still under the Old Covenant.
Do you see how blatantly inconsistent and self-contradictory Joseph Prince is?
Second, what is worse is that by using and relying on the Old Covenant foundations at proving his New Covenant Prosperity Gospel doctrine,
it directly contradicts his key Grace doctrine on the demarcation between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant:
In ‘Destined To Reign’, Page 92, Joseph Prince wrote;
“The new covenant only begins after the cross, when the Holy Spirit was given on the day of Pentecost.”
If the New Covenant only begins after the cross as Joseph Prince has clearly and categorically written,
he has, absolutely, no right to apply the wealth of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, etc,
which is under the Old Covenant, and before the cross,
to New Covenant believers.
In ‘Grace Revolution’, Page 309, Joseph Prince wrote;
“You can’t simply take something that was recorded and spoken during the dispensation of the law of the old covenant, and apply it to new covenant believers today.
Likewise, you cannot take what was recorded and spoken before the cross of Jesus and apply it to new covenant believers today.”
If that is the case, why is Joseph Prince using the wealth of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
which is under the Old Covenant, and before the cross,
and apply it to New Covenant believers?
Doesn’t Prince know that the era of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
happened “during the dispensation of the law of the old covenant”, and “before the cross of Jesus” (using Prince’s own words)?
If that is so, according to his own grace doctrine, Prince is not permitted, whatsoever, to use the wealth of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
which happened under the Old Covenant and before the cross,
“and apply it to new covenant believers today” (using Prince’s own words)?
Can you see how blatantly self-contradictory Joseph Prince is?
When there are truths under the Old Covenant, such as God, who showed His anger at His Old Covenant people, and that which speak against his grace doctrine,
Prince will immediately offer the excuse that they are under the Old Covenant,
and therefore, are inapplicable to New Covenant believers because the New Covenant God will never show His anger at them.
But when Joseph Prince finds teachings under the Old Covenant, such as the blessing of wealth on Old Covenant people on Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, etc
that could be used to support his New Covenant Prosperity Gospel doctrine,
he changes tact, and arbitrarily, makes them the exception.
How on earth could anyone ever trust this unprincipled fellow for the flippant, inconsistent and self-contradictory way he handles Bible texts?
This is blatant double-talking and brazen self-contradiction.
I have once again proven that Joseph Prince is indeed, a serial double-talker.
Joseph Prince said;
“They have a saying, right, that as poor as a church mouse. Why a church mouse? No, my friend, if you study the Bible, look at all these verses; Isaac… began to prosper, continued prospering, became very prosperous.”
By Joseph Prince’s statement in the above, and in the context of what he said that God wants to prosper believers in the video,
he is clearly implying that there is something wrong if believers are poor.
This is a great insult to all the poor believers in the world.
Isn’t Joseph Prince aware that there are multitudes of poor believers, especially in the third world?
And even in the first world, there are poor believers too.
So, Joseph Prince owes all these poor believers around the world, especially in the third world an apology for insulting them as he has strongly implied that there is something wrong about being poor.
Recently, I’ve told Joseph Prince to go and preach his gospel of grace that will make the poor believers wealthy and healthy in the third world, such as Myanmar, Laos, Bangladesh, etc, and deliver them from their poverty, but he hasn’t gone still.
The reason is obvious – he is sore afraid that the falsity of his Prosperity Gospel doctrine would be exposed as a scam – simply because Prince knows in his heart that it will never work in the third world nations.
If you have missed reading the article;
Why has Joseph Prince not gone to the poor Third World nations to preach so they can become rich? – By Rev George Ong (Dated 16 Nov 2022),
kindly, click on the link below;
1. There are many poor believers in the Old Covenant and no value judgements are made against them.
Joseph Prince, by selectively picking people like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, wants to give the impression that Old Covenant people are mostly rich.
The stark truth is there are many poor people even under the Old Covenant and they are not rich, as Joseph Prince has falsely painted.
According to a well-known pastor, even though the actual use of the term ‘poor’ appears just over 200 times in the Authorized King James translation in the entire scriptures,
there are about 2,000 verses that deal with references to the “poor” and their parallel terms (including the widows, orphans, foreigners, etc).
One would also realise that among these numerous verses, there are plenty that contain God’s commands for the people to be kind and generous to the poor and the needy.
The basic idea of these verses, all point to the God who is the protector and defender of the poor and the needy.
The amount of verses that deal with the poor and the needy in the Old Testament is humongous.
What does this tell us?
This indicates there are many poor Israelites in the Old Testament.
This lie of Joseph Prince that most of the Old Covenant people are rich, is thus exposed.
Even though God does not want his people to live in poverty, He is well aware that because of sin and the selfishness of the people, this goal will not be accomplished until Christ returns.
In the meantime, God demands and commands that His more well-to-do people must do their part to alleviate the plight of the poor.
Here is the list of verses about the poor in the Old Covenant:
Proverbs 17:5a NIV
5 “Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker;
Showing contempt against God is a serious sin.
The fact that God would equate such contempt to anyone who mocks the poor shows how much God values them (Prov 17:5).
Leviticus 19:9-10 NIV
9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.”
Leviticus 23:22 NIV
22 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.’”
Leviticus 14:21 NIV
21 “If, however, they are poor and cannot afford these, they must take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for them, together with a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of oil.”
God’s loving and thoughtful consideration for the poor is heartening and cannot be missed (Lev 19:9-10; 23:22; 14:21).
Isaiah 58:10-11 GNT
10 “if you give food to the hungry and satisfy those who are in need, then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon. 11 And I will always guide you and satisfy you with good things. I will keep you strong and well. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring of water that never goes dry.”
Proverbs 22:9 NIV
9 “The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor.”
God promises to bless those who take care of the poor and feed them (Isa 58:10-11; Prov 22:9).
On the other hand, those who refuse to alleviate the plight of the poor will not go unpunished:
Proverbs 21:13 NIV
13 “Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.”
Proverbs 22:16 NIV
16 “One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and one who gives gifts to the rich – both come to poverty.”
Proverbs 22:22-23 NIV
22 “Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, 23 for the Lord will take up their case and will exact life for life.”
Proverbs 28:8 GNT
8 “If you get rich by charging interest and taking advantage of people, your wealth will go to someone who is kind to the poor.”
Amos 4:1-2 NIV
1 “Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!” 2 The Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness: “The time will surely come when you will be taken away with hooks, the last of you with fishhooks.”
1 Samuel 2:8 NIV
8 “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor.”
Joseph Prince has been telling everybody that poverty and all the poor are under God’s curse?
But this isn’t the picture in 1 Samuel 2:8, as God honours the poor and treats them as princes.
1 Samuel 18:22-23 NIV
22 Then Saul ordered his attendants: “Speak to David privately and say, ‘Look, the king likes you, and his attendants all love you; now become his son-in-law.’” 23 They repeated these words to David. But David said, “Do you think it is a small matter to become the king’s son-in-law? I’m only a poor man and little known.”
Although David did become rich when he became king, he wasn’t a rich man all the time (1 Sam 18:23).
But whether David was poor as a shepherd boy at the beginning, or rich towards the latter part of his life, he is still God’s child.
When David was poor, he could still count on God to help him (Psa 40:17).
Psalm 40:17 NIV
17 “But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay.”
Psalm 69:29 NKJV
29 “But I am poor and sorrowful; Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.”
Psalm 70:5 NIV
5 “But as for me, I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; Lord, do not delay.”
Psalm 86:1 NIV
1 “Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.”
Psalm 109:21-22 NIV
21 “But you, Sovereign Lord, help me for your name’s sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. 22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.”
God, is indeed, a defender and protector of the poor:
Isaiah 14:32 NCV
32 “What shall we tell the messengers from Philistia? Say that the Lord has made Jerusalem strong and that his poor people will go there for safety.”
Jeremiah 7:5-7 NIV
5 “If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever.”
Deuteronomy 24:10-13 NIV
10 “When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge. 11 Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. 12 If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge in your possession. 13 Return their cloak by sunset so that your neighbor may sleep in it. Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God.”
Job 30:24-25 NIV
24 “Surely no one lays a hand on a broken man when he cries for help in his distress. 25 Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?”
Job 34:28 NIV
28 “They caused the cry of the poor to come before him, so that he heard the cry of the needy.”
Psalm 34:6 NIV
6 “This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.”
Psalm 69:32-33 NKJV
32 “The humble shall see this and be glad; And you who seek God, your hearts shall live. 33 For the Lord hears the poor, And does not despise His prisoners.”
Psalm 132:15 NIV
15 “I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor I will satisfy with food.”
Isaiah 41:17 NIV
17 “The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the Lord will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.”
Joseph Prince gives the impression that all the poor are cursed, and it is dreadful to be poor.
He also teaches that since every believer is called to be rich, they have no reason to be poor, and they ought to come out of their state of poverty through the prayer of faith.
But as you read through the above passages, is this the picture that is painted?
Did God say all the poor are cursed?
Did God reprimand the poor for finding themselves in a state of poverty?
Did God insist that every of the poor must get out of their state of poverty through the prayer of faith?
God may have cursed those who deliberately disobeyed His commandments (including the rich who also disobeyed),
but for the vast majority of the poor,
He took great care of them by commanding the more well-to-do people to take care of their needs.
Why?
This is because God is realistic enough to accept the fact that there will be poor people in the land (Deut 15:11) on this earth, even under the Old Covenant, until His Kingdom finally comes.
This has exposed Joseph Prince’s false teaching that everyone or most people under the Old Covenant were, perhaps, as rich as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were.
Joseph Prince just selectively picks individuals, who are rich, such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
and give the false impression that, just as they are wealthy, so is every or most Old Covenant people are.
The truth is most of the ordinary people in the Old Covenant are not wealthy, and many are even poor.
Furthermore, for Joseph Prince who has selectively used several rich individuals in the Old Testament, such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
and apply that to New Covenant people – that every single New Covenant believer is to be as rich as they are,
is to grossly distort the truth.
For example, Abraham probably employed hundreds of people to man his possessions (Gen 14:14).
Are all these people as rich as Abraham was?
Not at all.
If these people were as rich as Abraham, why would they have to be employed?
If they are rich, they would be employing people just as Abraham did.
Why didn’t Joseph Prince pick the hundreds of employees of Abraham, who is the ‘average Joe’ in terms of wealth, to be examples for New Covenant people?
Why did Joseph Prince selectively pick Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as representing the norm of what the average Old Covenant people would possess,
and apply that to New Covenant people in terms of wealth
– when Abraham, Isaac and Jacob weren’t the norm?
Why did God spend so much of His efforts talking about the poor and the need to take care of them under the Old Covenant?
It must be that the poor comprise quite a big portion of the Old Covenant Israelites.
If poverty and the poor isn’t a pervasive and prevalent issue, God wouldn’t have devoted so many verses in the Old Testament talking about them.
It is undeniable that God has revealed Himself in both the Old and the New Testament as the protector of the poor against the rich.
The scriptures reveal that God, especially in the Old Testament, is one who is utterly concerned for the welfare of the poor.
He is the one who champions the cause of the poor.
I believe there is a practical and logical reason.
The rich can take care of themselves and will not be exploited and bullied.
But it is the poor and powerless who can be taken advantage of and oppressed.
The rich and powerful can protect themselves, but the poor and the powerless are vulnerable towards being exploited, especially by the rich.
The poor do not only refer to those who are economically poor.
It also refers to those who are dependent on others and those who are exploited and dominated.
Besides the economically poor, these would also include the widows, orphans, the aliens (foreigners) and even the Levites.
The Old Testament has many rules and regulations to protect these people from being exploited by the rich and the powerful.
The Bible speaks about those who are poor because of their laziness and slothfulness (Prov 6:6-11; 19:15; 20:13; 21:25; 24:30-34).
When I talk about the poor, I am not referring to this group of people as they deserved to be poor.
I am referring to those who are poor because they are economically impoverished due to calamity or exploitation.
The agenda of taking care of the poor is so important to God that He made sure it appears in many scriptures in the Old Testament.
Let me list the numerous scriptures:
Deuteronomy 15:1-11 NIV
1 “At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. 2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. 3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. 4 However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, 5 if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. 6 For the Lord your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you. 7 If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. 8 Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.”
In Deuteronomy 15:4, we can safely say that it isn’t God’s will for people to remain poor or live in poverty.
The definition of poverty is that their daily needs of food, water and shelter are not met.
God’s plan to avoid the poverty trap is that the more well-to-do must help the poor (Deut 15:7-11).
God’s solution is to ask the richer in the community to take upon the responsibility of helping the poor.
He reminded the rich that it is a sin if they fail in this responsibility of theirs (Deut 15:9).
But did God lambast the poor as Joseph Prince may have done:
“You are poor because you are under a curse. The way to get rid of your poverty is to believe that God wants you to be rich and prosperous. You must pray against the curse of poverty and start believing you can be as rich as your forefather Abraham was?”
No.
Was God displeased with the existence of poor people among the Israelites?
No.
God accepted the fact that there are poor people:
“There will always be poor people in the land…” (Deut 15:11 NIV).
God went a step further and made it a command for the rich to help the poor:
“… Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land” (Deut 15:11 NIV).
God promised those who generously help the poor will be blessed:
“Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to” (Deut 15:10 NIV).
God also warned that those who refused to help the poor would come under His curses:
“Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses” (Prov 28:27 NIV).
Joseph Prince teaches that the poor are under a curse and the rich and the prosperous are under God’s favour.
But God didn’t curse the poor, instead, He warned the rich that they could be cursed if they refuse to help the poor.
Joseph Prince owes the world an explanation why his Prosperity Gospel doctrine is so different from the way Jehovah God dealt with the poor and the rich?
Joseph Prince teaches that every New Covenant people of God has the covenantal right to be very rich as Abraham was.
But even under the Old Covenant, not every Old Covenant person was rich.
As a matter of fact, many were poor.
God didn’t say, as Joseph Prince teaches, that every people of God must be very rich as Abraham was.
God accepted the fact that there will always be poor people in the land (Deut 15:11).
He didn’t reprimand them for being poor or rebuked them for coming under a curse.
He took great care of them by commanding the rich to meet their needs, and even promised to bless the rich for taking upon this responsibility.
And God would even curse the rich for their failure to give to the poor.
So, I have once again exposed Joseph Prince to be a doctrinal trickster, trying to con people into accepting his Prosperity Gospel doctrine, which is false.
Joseph Prince’s Prosperity Gospel doctrine can’t even pass the test of the Old Testament scriptures, which he has used as the foundation for his Prosperity Gospel doctrine for New Covenant believers.
Psalm 12:5 NIV
5 “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord. “I will protect them from those who malign them.”
What an encouraging truth that God Himself will protect the poor from being plundered (Psa 12:5).
Proverbs 19:17 NIV
17 “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.”
Isn’t this such an interesting truth – that he who is kind to the poor is like lending to the Lord (Psa 19:17)?
Proverbs 14:31 NCV
31 “Whoever mistreats the poor insults their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.”
What a glorious truth that mistreating the poor is equated to insulting God and showing kindness to the poor is likened to honouring Him (Prov 14:31).
Proverbs 29:14 NIV
14 “If a king judges the poor with fairness, his throne will be established forever.”
What an astounding truth that if a king judges the poor with fairness, his reign will not come to an end (Prov 29:14).
Have your eyes been opened that how Joseph Prince sees the poor as being cursed is so different from how God sees them?
There are many passages in both the Old Testament and the New that reveal the God who pleads for the cause of the poor.
What irks Him is that the poor are being exploited and oppressed by the rich and the powerful to further their financial gains.
As the God of mercy and justice, He would not stomach such exploitation and oppression.
What makes Him angry is when those who are rich turn a blind eye to the needs of the poor and the needy.
As you ploughed through the list of scriptures, did you get the idea that the poor are cursed by God as Joseph Prince teaches, even in the Old Testament?
No.
Some who are poor may be cursed by God because they disobeyed His commandments, and others are poor due to their slothful attitude towards life, but for the majority of the poor, God has a big heart for them.
God has portrayed Himself as the protector of the poor, and one who takes care of their needs.
This is a rebuke to Joseph Prince, who teaches that all the poor are in dire straits because they are under a curse.
Joseph Prince further teaches that the curse of poverty needs to be broken by faith as every believer is called to be rich.
But is that how God relates with and treats the poor Israelites?
Of course not.
The list of scriptures on the poor may seem humongous to most of you,
but the truth is, I have only surfaced a fraction of such verses in the Bible in this article.
Please see more of such passages in Appendix 1.
2. There are many poor believers in the New Covenant and no value judgements are made against them.
a. The Poor New Covenant Church of Smyrna.
Jesus declares that the church of Smyrna is materially poor but spiritually rich:
“I know your afflictions and your poverty – yet you are rich!” (Rev 2:9 NIV).
Jesus says to the church of Smyrna:
“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown” (Rev 2:10 NIV).
Joseph Prince would say to the church of Smyrna:
“To the people in the church of Smyrna, don’t you know that being materially poor is a bad testimony to the world? The world would think that you are believing in a poor God, who doesn’t even have the power to get you out of poverty.
You must believe that God’s purpose is to prosper you. You have forgotten that you are the children of the King of kings and Lord of lords, and no wonder you are living in poverty like poor paupers.
It’s just too bad that Jesus must have forgotten to teach you the ‘prosperity principles’ of success. If only Jesus had taught you how to pray in faith, you could have experienced victory, blessing and prosperity, and avoided all that suffering, persecution, imprisonment and even martyrdom!
What a shame that Jesus has missed teaching you such glorious principles of success, conquest and prosperity.
Come on, you ought not to suffer from poverty. Christ became poor so as to make you materially rich. You have obviously forgotten about what Christ came to do in His finished work of the cross. How can the children of the King be wallowing in poverty? This is really a shame.
So, start to declare with your mouth in faith that you are very rich as Abraham was. I’ve learned about praying in faith from my mentor, Kenneth Hagin, and it’s bound to work.”
Did Jesus say all that rubbish to the church of Smyrna?
No.
Jesus did not rebuke them for their lack of faith, as Joseph Prince may do to Christians who aren’t prosperous.
The church of Smyrna was facing financial hardship, perhaps because of the persecution they had been enduring.
Although they were suffering poverty, Jesus encouraged them that they were spiritually rich, being destined to inherit the victor’s crown (Rev 2:10).
Joseph Prince needs to tell us that if every New Covenant church is supposed to be rich,
why is the church of Smyrna (Rev 2:8-11) in a state of poverty?
And did Jesus reprimand the church of Smyrna for being poor?
Did Jesus rebuke them for not praying with enough faith; to pray themselves out of the curse of poverty?
Joseph Prince may have done that, but never once did Jesus reprimand them for their poverty.
Conversely, Jesus affirmed the church of Smyrna:
“I know your afflictions and your poverty – yet you are rich!” (Rev 2:9a NIV).
Jesus was well aware that they are living in a state of poverty,
yet, Jesus never told them they had to get out of their poverty because they are cursed.
Jesus is not as concerned whether they are materially rich or poor,
but He is utterly concerned whether they are spiritually rich.
Listen, people
– for those who are still blindly supporting Joseph Prince or trying to protect him, tell me,
– why is the teaching on wealth and poverty so different between Joseph Prince and that of the Lord Jesus?
Joseph Prince teaches that no Christian or church should ever be in a state of poverty, and he may even reprimand those who are poor for having no faith to pray themselves out of their poverty.
But Jesus didn’t even rebuke the church of Smyrna for finding themselves in a state of poverty, but He praises them for being spiritually rich.
Why? – Because the Prosperity Gospel doctrine of Joseph Prince was never in the mind of Jesus.
Can you now see that Joseph Prince is not preaching the real Jesus;
he is preaching his version of Jesus – the counterfeit Jesus!
b. The Extremely Poor New Covenant Churches in Macedonia.
Paul alluded to the excellent example of the generosity of the extremely poor Macedonian churches to spur the Corinthians to give to the poorer Jerusalem believers:
2 Corinthians 8:1-5 NIV
1 “And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.
If Christ has come to make every New Covenant believer materially rich, why was there the need for Paul to collect an offering from the Corinthians to the poor Jerusalem Christians?
Why were there also poor Christians such as the Macedonian church in the first place?
If Paul were Joseph Prince, he would have rebuked the Macedonian Christians:
“Hey, Macedonians, you ought to be as rich as Abraham was. What happened? Obviously, you do not have enough faith. That’s why you are still living in poverty.
Besides, being poor, how can you give to others? You must be rich so that you can give to others. The poor cannot help the poor. You need to get out of poverty as you are a poor testimony of the Christian faith. You are a poor example to the churches as every church ought to be rich. When people see you suffering from poverty, who would want to be a Christian?
Don’t ever try to impress people that poverty is spirituality. Don’t ever be influenced by the saying: ‘As poor as a church mouse.’ Start to speak out in faith, and your poverty will be transformed into prosperity.”
But did Paul ever rebuke the Macedonian churches for their poverty?
No.
Did Paul assure them that their poverty is only temporary, and soon they will become very rich as Abraham was?
No.
Paul was indeed moved because these extremely poor Macedonian Christians gave beyond what they were able.
He used the Macedonian church as a model for the Corinthian church to follow as Paul was motivating them to give to the poor Jerusalem believers (1 Cor 16:1-3).
But at no time did Paul promise the Macedonian churches that they, being extremely poor, would suddenly become materially rich, just because they had given to the Jerusalem church.
Joseph Prince needs to note that the churches in Macedonia, being New Covenant churches, were not just poor but extremely poor (2 Cor 8:2).
So what happened to Joseph Prince’s Prosperity Gospel doctrine that every New Covenant church and Christian have the covenantal right to be very rich as Abraham was?
c. The Poor Paul.
Here Paul describes himself and his associates as being “poor” and “having nothing.”
2 Corinthians 6:10 NIV
10 “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”
Although Paul was materially poor, he was “making many rich.”
Obviously, Paul, being materially poor, was not making others materially rich, but spiritually rich.
If Joseph Prince said that every New Covenant believer is to be very rich as Abraham was,
why was Paul, a New Covenant believer himself, not the recipient of it, when he said:
“To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless” (1 Cor 4:11)?
Joseph Prince needs to explain to us why he did he pick Abraham instead of Paul as the model, or example to showcase his Prosperity Gospel doctrine.
Isn’t Paul, who is a New Covenant saint, a more fitting choice than Abraham, who is an Old Covenant believer – as, after all, we are in the New Covenant?
Isn’t Paul Joseph Prince’s hero – as he has constantly been telling the world that Paul is his mentor that he has learned much of his grace theology from?
Isn’t it logical that the poster-boy of Prince’s Prosperity Gospel doctrine ought to be Paul, and not Abraham?
People of God
– you ought to realise by now, why Joseph Prince couldn’t pick Paul
– as Paul’s life of persecution and suffering, and poverty during certain periods of his ministry,
are a total contradiction to his Prosperity Gospel doctrine.
d. The Poor Jesus.
Many aren’t aware that Mary and Joseph, the earthly parents of Jesus, were poor people:
Luke 2:24 NIV
24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”
Leviticus 12:8 NIV
8 But if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”
Due to the small offering: 2 doves and 2 young pigeons, instead of a lamb, made by Jesus’ earthly parents for his birth in Luke 2:24, this suggests they were rather poor at that early point of Jesus’ life.
This is because in Leviticus 12:8 – for those who couldn’t afford to offer a lamb, they could bring 2 doves and 2 young pigeons, instead.
Jesus Himself said;
Luke 9:58 NIV
“Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
Although Jesus became a carpenter to earn his keeps at a later stage of His life, it would still be more measured to say that Jesus was more on the poor side, and to say that He was rich or very rich, would be an overstatement.
e. The Extremely Poor New Covenant Believers in the Book of James.
James castigated the church for showing favouritism to the rich (Jas 2:1-9) and rebuked the rich for oppressing the poor (Jas 5:1-6).
James reprimanded the church for dishonouring the poor; and if you know the Old Testament scriptures, to dishonour or insult the poor is a very serious issue with God, as God sees Himself as a protector of the poor.
James was ‘sarcastically’ telling the church that the (materially) poor they discriminated against
are actually the (spiritually) rich, who are the real believers who will inherit God’s kingdom:
James 2:5-6 NIV
5 “Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor.”
James is making the point that we should not show favouritism to the rich, which is unfair to the poor.
By doing that, they are insulting the poor and so dishonouring them.
Every believer, whether we are rich or poor, should be treated fairly, regardless of their socioeconomic status.
Furthermore, James in James 2:14-17, highlighted that there are many poor and destitute Christians in the first century, that are in need of aid from the Christian community:
James 2:14-17 NIV
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
James seems to portray these believers as extremely poor that they are even
“without clothes and daily food.” (Jas 2:15)
Did James rebuke these New Covenant believers for being extremely poor in both passages in James 2:1-9 and 2:14-17 as Joseph Prince may have done?
Did James reprimand these New Covenant believers for not being very wealthy as Abraham was that Joseph Prince teaches in his Prosperity Gospel?
Of course not.
On the contrary, James warned the church not to show favouritism to the rich vis-a-vis the poor, and the rich have the God-given responsibility to help the poor in their daily needs of food and clothing.
f. The Poor New Covenant Believers in the Book of Acts.
All the key Apostles, Peter, James and John, and Paul, followed the example of the Lord Jesus and gave a high priority to ministering to the poor (Gal 2:9-10).
When Paul met Peter, James and John, they endorsed Paul’s ministry, and all of them shared the same eagerness to minister to the poor:
Galatians 2:9-10 NIV
“James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.”
Paul shared that ministering to the poor was something he was “eager to do all along” (Gal 2:10 NIV).
It was also something that Peter, James and John place a high priority on as Paul said:
“All they (Peter, James and John) asked was that we (Paul and Barnabas) should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along” (Gal 2:9-10 NIV).
Peter, James, John and Paul, consider ministering to the material needs of the poor an essential part of their ministry.
Paul raised a good sum of money for poor Christians (Acts 11:27-30; 24:17; Rom 15:25-28; 1 Cor 16:1-4; 2 Cor 8-9; Gal 2:10). He collected from the richer churches to help the poorer churches:
Acts 24:17 NIV
17 “After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings.”
Romans 15:25-27 NIV
25 “Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. 27 They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.”
The early church never fails to provide for the needs of poor widows (Acts 6:1; 1 Tim 5:3-10).
Did the church in the Book of Acts reprimand these New Covenant believers, who are poor, as Joseph Prince may do, for not getting out of God’s curse because they were poor?
Did the church in Acts rebuke these New Covenant believers for not being as wealthy as Abraham was?
They didn’t do anything of that sort, but in love, they contributed their wealth to alleviate the plight of the poor and the needy
– in the same way as Father God had expected the Old Covenant people to do to their poorer brethren.
Joseph Prince needs to explain that if every New Covenant Christian and church ought to be as very rich as Abraham was,
why were there poor and needy believers that needed to be helped by the more well-to-do brethren in the book of Acts?
The early church didn’t, as Joseph Prince would do, to foolishly insist that every believer ought to be very rich as Abraham was.
But the early church accepted the fact that there will be poor believers, and they went out of their way to help them.
In summary, Joseph Prince’s Prosperity Gospel doctrine that every New Covenant believer has the covenantal right to be very rich as Abraham was,
and that believers ought not to be as poor as a church mouse, because there is something wrong about being poor,
is a great insult to all poor believers and
a scam that must be continually exposed.
Whether we are rich or poor, we are all God’s children that Jesus came to die and redeemed us from our sins.
Poor believers mustn’t envy the rich and the very rich, while the very rich, such as Joseph Prince, should never slight the poor, by insulting them that they are as poor as a church mouse.
Hence, since Joseph Prince has insulted all the poor believers around the world, he owes them an apology.
Rev George Ong
Appendix 1
More passages about God’s great concern for the welfare of the poor under the Old Covenant, and how He defended the cause
of the poor and needy:
Psalm 112:5,9 NIV
5 Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.” 9 “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor.”
Exodus 23:6 NIV
6 “Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.”
Proverbs 29:7 NIV
7 “The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.”
Exodus 23:10-11 NIV
10 “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, 11 but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.”
Leviticus 19:15 NIV
15 “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.”
Deuteronomy 24:14-22 NIV
14 “Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. 15 Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin. 16 Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin. 17 Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this. 19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.”
Psalm 9:18 NIV
18 “But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.”
Psalm 35:10 NIV
10 My whole being will exclaim, “Who is like you, Lord? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them.”
Psalm 41:1 GNT
1 “Happy are those who are concerned for the poor; the Lord will help them when they are in trouble.”
Psalm 72:1-2, 4, 12-13 NLT
1 “Give your love of justice to the king, O God, and righteousness to the king’s son. 2 Help him judge your people in the right way; let the poor always be treated fairly.” 4 “Help him to defend the poor, to rescue the children of the needy, and to crush their oppressors.” 12 “He will rescue the poor when they cry to him; he will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them. 13 He feels pity for the weak and the needy, and he will rescue them.
Psalm 132:15 NIV
15 “I will bless her with abundant provisions; her poor I will satisfy with food.”
Psalm 140:12 NIV
12 “I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.”
Proverbs 31:9,20 NIV
9 “Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” 20 “She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.”
Isaiah 11:4 GNT
4 “he will judge the poor fairly and defend the rights of the helpless. At his command the people will be punished, and evil persons will die.”
Isaiah 25:4 NIV
4 “You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall.”
Jeremiah 5:27-29 NIV
27 Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful 28 and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not seek justice. They do not promote the case of the fatherless; they do not defend the just cause of the poor. 29 Should I not punish them for this?” declares the Lord. “Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?”
Jeremiah 22:16 NIV
16 “He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well…”
Amos 2:6-7 GNT
6 The Lord says, “The people of Israel have sinned again and again, and for this I will certainly punish them. They sell into slavery honest people who cannot pay their debts, the poor who cannot repay even the price of a pair of sandals. 7 They trample down the weak and helpless and push the poor out of the way. A man and his father have intercourse with the same slave woman, and so profane my holy name.
Isaiah 3:15 NLT
15 “How dare you crush my people, grinding the faces of the poor into the dust?” demands the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”
Zechariah 7:10 NIV
10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’”
Isaiah 58:6-7 NIV
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”