Proverbs 22:2 states, “The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.” Both the rich and the poor are necessary in any society. If all were rich, then people would likely starve to death because rich people do not ordinarily plant, cultivate, harvest, and cook their food. They depend upon the poor to do such things. If all were poor, then people would live with the most meager of necessities because poor people do not create jobs and hire others to work for them. They must look to the rich for jobs to provide their needs.

The U.S. Government has spent trillions of dollars in its War on Poverty since 1965, yet poverty still exists in this country. New programs will be proposed to eliminate poverty, and after trillions more are spent on these programs, greater poverty than before will still exist. Men will never to able to abolish poverty; the best they can do is to diminish wealth. Jesus Himself said, “For the poor always ye have with you. . .” (John 12:8). When government seeks to redistribute the wealth of its citizens, it can only impoverish the rich, not enrich the poor. If all the wealth of the rich were placed in the hands of the poor early in the morning, most of it would be back in the hands of the rich by evening. The reason is, “Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase. ” (Prov. 13:11). What one has not earned has little value to him.

Government has specific duties assigned to it by God Himself and by the compacts men make with the governments they form. When any government goes beyond the limited authority it rightly has, it sins not only against God but its citizens as well. No government has the right to take from the rich and give to the poor. Such action is nothing less than thievery under the guise of law.