Last week, we introduced the concept of inflation found in Isaiah 1:22 that says: “Your silver has become dross, Your drink diluted with water.” (NASB). The Message adds some insight to its meaning. It reads: “Your coins are all counterfeits. Your wine is watered down.”Historically what happens in a country, and it is happening right now in America, is that a government will debase its currency. It will print paper money with nothing to back it up. It can print as much as it wants until inflation eats up the economy as it did in Germany in 1923 when the exchange rate with the dollar was one dollar for one trillion. That’s one trillion marks. Prior to World War I, Germany was a prosperous country with a currency backed by gold.

Remember it was not that long ago that our money was backed by gold and silver. It was worth something. You could actually redeem a dollar bill for gold or silver. This gave us faith that our money was valuable. Today, our money is only valuable because we choose to believe it is. It’s one of those faith things. There is nothing to back it up. You cannot redeem a dollar bill for anything except another dollar bill. Anybody checked Ft. Knox lately?

As time progresses, typically, a government prints debased (mixed with impurities) currency. For example, our basic quarters, dimes, halves, and silver dollars used to be made with 90% silver. Today, there is no silver. They are made up of copper and nickel. Somebody stole the silver.

Diluting the money supply and removing its intrinsic worth is a form of theft. It is an unjust scale and God hates an unjust scale. Proverbs 11:1 says: “A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.”

In inflationary economies, there are more dollars chasing fewer goods thus producing inflation, prices go up. Then, the merchants catch on to what is happening and they begin to dilute their products in some way. Today, if you look at the labels on many products carefully, you will see the same package that you have been buying with less in it. I recently bought a 12oz bag of walnuts for $11.99. The next time I got 8oz for $11.99.

When I was a kid, I would buy what seemed to be a foot long Butterfinger candy bar for a nickel. Today, that five-inch bar is a dollar or more. Somebody stole my candy bar!

To sum up, the Bible is very practical. It does address every area and problem in life along with godly solutions. Inflation is just one issue facing us today. The Bible addresses all the others too such as the debt, deficit, taxes, foreign policy, monetary policy, defense, and everything else. I encourage you to start looking in the Scriptures for practical solutions to your problems and challenges.

Next week, I will offer some Scriptural solutions to the inflation problem. I truly believe there is something we can do about it. And, I’ll share how God says we can keep the devil off our backs. Wouldn’t that be nice?