The Number of Investments

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The number “One hundred” is God’s position that people should be getting more from less. A physical contribution results in a spiritual harvest. It is wisdom to understand the value of one thing over another.

Choose the resources God gave you wisely such as planting a seed and getting a harvest. What do you invest in?

• Abraham was 100 years old (Genesis 21:5), and his wife Sarah was 90 (17:17), when Isaac was born. Even though Abraham had already produced a son, Ishmael (through Hagar), God considered Isaac the rightful heir to the promises made to his father.

• The patriarch Shem, one of Noah’s three sons who survived the flood, gave birth to his firstborn son when he was one hundred years old. The birth took place two years after the flood subsided when he was able to leave the ark (Genesis 11:10). (Shem was God’s investment. Through Shem came the Jewish nation and the arrival of Jesus to save men from their sins. Jesus was a physical investment by the Father which results in a harvest of believers)

• A group of Jews, at the time of Ezra, was allowed to return to Jerusalem after years in captivity. When some of the elders came into the city, they saw the temple lying in ruins. The sight motivates them to contribute gold, silver and 100 priestly garments toward the restoration of the temple and its services (Ezra 2). (The Jews invested in their relationship with God by restoring the temple.)

• King Saul, who both envied and despised David, wanted him dead. One way he attempted to accomplish this was to require, instead of a dowry, that David kill one hundred Philistines (Israel’s fiercest enemy) before he could marry his daughter. Saul’s hope, however, of having the Philistines murder him were crushed when David killed two hundred men and brought their foreskins back as proof (1Samuel 18:17 – 27)! (Saul made a bad investment)

• The parable of the unforgiving servant is one of God’s many warnings that He requires we forgive others if we want to be forgiven by Him. Jesus gave the example of a king who forgave the debt of a servant who owed him a large number of talents. The person, however, after he left the king, confronted a fellow servant who owed him only one hundred silver coins and refused to forgive his debt. The king, after he discovered what happened, punished the servant severely because, although he was forgiven much, he refused to forgive others (Matthew 18:21 – 35). (A very bad investment)

• Jesus’ parable of the sower reveals the wide variety of responses humans can have toward the gospel message. Those in which the truth takes root can produce “fruit” (e.g. love, service to others, etc., see our article on Holy Spirit gifts) in varying proportions. Believers can produce fruit that is 30, 60 or even 100 times more than what they received from God (Mark 4, Matthew 13).

• In the unjust steward parable a man, who is about to be fired, finds a way of making friends before leaving his position. He reduces the debt of one person from 100 measures of wheat to 80 and lessens the debt owed of others. Among its many lessons, the parable teaches a Christian must strive to wisely use the resources God has given him (Luke 16:10 – 13).

• The Israelites, when they left Egyptian bondage, brought with them the bones of Joseph. After entering the Promised Land, they buried them, per Joseph’s request (Genesis 50:25), near Shechem in the land his father Jacob bought for 100 pieces of silver (Joshua 24:32).

• God promised his people if they obeyed Him He would grant them military victories such that five Israelites would be able to overcome one hundred of their enemies. In cases of a more numerous opponent, God would cause one hundred children of Israel to be victorious over 10,000 (Leviticus 26:7 – 8)!

• God, during the Millennium, promises that people will not have their lives cut short due to the effects of sin. All humans will be able to live at least to the age of 100 (Isaiah 65:20).