In The News: Currency Crises and Gold

The Euro, which was strong at one time has become increasingly weaker.  This is in turn continues to send tremors through Europe and the rest of the world.  As debt mounts in the world with very few nations willing to tighten the belt strap, there is no reason to suspect anything positive out of the Euro and many other fiat currencies in the long term. How should we think about this Biblically? Why have precious metals been on the rise, and why were they important in the Biblical world?

Fiat currencies, which are those currencies not bound to a commodity (especially that of precious metals), tend to inflate quickly over time.  The government can print money at will in order to increase its purchasing and borrowing power, not to mention redistribute wealth.  However, that devalues the currency and can make it worthless. 

Currencies that have survived any amount of time are those bound to a precious metal or other strong commodity standard of some sort, though precious metals are the best long term because of their ability to withstand environmental elements like rust, rot, rats, mold, etc.  For this reason, even those that have remained while going fiat, only go fiat for a short time and then return back to a precious metal standard. 

For this reason, the patriarchs and the great kings of times past and present stored great volumes of precious metals.  They hold their value long term because they have the intrinsic ability to outlive just about everything on earth.  The primary concern is basically thieves, which is a concern with all commodities like food storage for that matter. However, food can spoil but precious metals hang around.

Precious metals may not increase wealth over time, but they do maintain it, which is something of great value when wealth is passed down from one generation to the next.  It doesn't have to keep up with inflation because it rides parallel with it for the most part.  That's not to say that its value doesn't fluctuate, but it does remain over decades, centuries and millennia. 

Therefore, because having an asset like gold and silver is not condemned Biblically and is even considered the norm for maintaining wealth (not necessarily massive amounts but just any wealth), we should not condemn others as foolish for having it nor should we consider ourselves fools for possessing it. That doesn't mean we sell the farm and put everything in it because it does fluctuate. Rather, a diversified mentality is best.  Even Solomon, who had an enormous amount of wealth in precious metals, also had vineyards, swords, shields, land, and, most of all, Divine Wisdom from the LORD. 

Ultimately, any security in the world is illusory, which is why our hope must be in Christ not in the treasures of this life.  We are to be good stewards of any material treasure, yet such is not our everlasting hope. That only comes in Christ.