What is the meaning of the Parable of the Rich Fool?

The parable the Lord presents in verses 16-20 is surely applicable to a great number of similar cases in our day. A rich man prospered greatly, with practically everything he touched turning to wealth. But rather than asking the Lord what to do with his great possessions, he consulted with himself, and received only a selfish answer. He decided to enlarge his storage facilities so he would have more than sufficient for many years to come. For all those many years he anticipated indulging in every pleasure he desired.

"The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully." What sin is there in being a successful agriculturist or merchant? If God bless a man's labour, should he not rejoice? Truly so; but mark the moral progress of a covetous heart. "He thought within himself." He did not think in the presence of God; he did not think under the mighty influences of the eternal world. No; "he thought within himself" — within the narrow compass of his selfish heart. Such was his range; and, therefore, we need not marvel at his practical conclusion. "What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?" What! Was there no way of using his resources with a view to God's future? Alas! no. Man has a future, or thinks he has, on which he counts, and for which he makes provision; but self is the only object which figures in that future, — self whether in my own person, or that of my wife or child, which is, morally, the same thing.

But these were not the subjects of grave consideration with the rich man on that night. He thought within himself, saying, "What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?" All his barns were crammed to the roof. His storehouses were filled to bursting. He knew not where to put the incoming goods, with which God had so richly blessed him. What a strange thing, you say. Were there no poor round about to whom he might minister? Was there no Lazarus at his door? Were there no needy ones on all hands? Ah, my friends, these things did not disturb him, for the man lived only for himself; and have not you, friend, till now? The centre and pivot round which he circled was self. He was self-surrounded, self-governed, and self-indulgent, I do not doubt.

Now as he says, "What shall I do," a wonderful scheme opens up before his mind. Does it concern the poor and the needy on every hand to whom he could give the surplus? Ah, no, that is not the thought. "And he said, This will I do; I will pull down my barns, and build greater." Before his mind's eye, in the darkness of that night, as he lay there, what does he see? The old barns removed, the old granaries set aside, and the ground cleared. He has fixed upon his architect. He has got the measurements and plans before his mind's eye, and he sees pile after pile of palatial storehouses rise, and into these greater barns he already sees the goods which God was giving him, stored and packed away, for "there," he now says, "I will bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry."

The Lord therefore addresses the company on a broader ground. "He said to them, Take heed and keep yourselves from all covetousness, for [it is] not because a man is in abundance [that] his life is in his possessions." This anxiety for Christ's help to settle questions flows from the heart's desire of something that one has not here below. Maintenance of position is here judged, eagerness after earthly righteousness is exposed — "beware of covetousness." The rejection of Christ and the revelation of heavenly things led into the true path of faith, of confiding in God for whatever He gives, of trusting, not man but Him, for all difficulties, of contentedness with such things as we have. God arranges all to faith. Nor is this the whole matter. The heart has to be watched. "Keep yourselves from all covetousness, for it is not because a man is in abundance [that] his life is in his possessions."330 And this too He illustrates, as well as its awful end. There is exceeding selfishness, folly, and danger in what might seem to be earthly prudence. Hear the next words of the Lord. "He spoke a parable to them, saying, The land of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully; and he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, for I have not [a place] where I shall lay up my fruits?" Clearly this man counted that the prime good lay in the abundance of the things that he possessed. His desire was to employ what he had so as to get and keep more of present things. "All": so Edd., following ℵABD, etc., 1, 33, 69, Syrr. Old Lat. Memph. EFG, etc., and most cursives omit.

Systematic selfishness was there, not the reckoning of faith either in its self-sacrifices of suffering or in its active and generous devotedness. There was no eye upon the future outside this world. All was in the present life. It is not that the rich fool made a bad use of what he had according to human judgment, not that he was immoral, but his action did not go beyond gratifying his desire of over-growing abundance. "He said, This will I do; I will take away my granaries, and build greater; and there I will lay up all my produce and My330a good things." "Produce": so Tisch. after ℵAD and most later uncials. Other Edd. (W. H. "conflation") adopt "corn," following BLX, Sah. Memph. Aeth.

Using this man's request as a sort of text — for the Lord, in the course of His service here, uses the very interruptions that unbelief and the flesh would intrude into His gracious ministry, as opportunities for unfolding the truth, and for bringing out the light that might meet the conscience, and awaken the soul that was buried in the things of this life — He now speaks a parable to His hearers: "The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully." Observe he was a rich man. He was a prosperous man. I suppose he was a man whom we might regard as a gentleman farmer. He was a landed proprietor clearly. As the possessor of his own land, he could pull down his barns, as he proposes to do, and rebuild them. He had undisputed right over that which he was going to reconstruct. He was also a rich man. Most men like to be rich! I do not say all, for some do not care for riches. This man no doubt was well known in the neighbourhood, perhaps looked up to; well known in the market of the neighbouring town, and looked upon as a clever, sagacious, prosperous, and opulent man.

Now we reach a point in his career when he is doing uncommonly well as regards his temporal affairs. He had had a beautiful and propitious seed-time. It had passed over, and had been succeeded by a good growing time. Now harvest time had come, and the earth had yielded her increase in a marvellous manner. There had been no biting east winds in the spring, and no late frosts to spoil his crops. Refreshing showers had fallen as they were needed. The sun had ripened his corn, and the earth had been most prolific, so that as he thinks of the state of his crops, he does not know what to do with the goods with which God has surrounded him.

The grand object in God's future is Christ; and true wisdom will lead us to fix our eye on Him and make Him our undivided object for time and eternity, now and then. But this, in the judgement of a worldly man, is nonsense. Yes, heaven's wisdom is nonsense in the judgement of earth. Hearken to the wisdom of earth, and the wisdom of those who are under the influence of earthly maxims and habits. "And he said, This will I do; I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods." Thus we have what he "thought," what he "said," and what he "did;" and there is a melancholy consistency between his thoughts, his words, and his acts. "There," in my self-built storehouse, "will I bestow all." Miserable treasure-house to contain the "all" of an immortal soul! God was not an item in the catalogue. God was neither his treasury nor his treasure. This is plain; and it is always thus with a mere man of the world. "And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." Thus we see that a worldly man's provision is only "for many years." Make the best of it, it cannot go beyond that narrow limit. It cannot, even in his own thought about it, reach into that boundless eternity, which stretches beyond this contracted span of time. And this provision he offers to his never-dying soul, as the basis of its "ease and merriment." Miserable fatuity! Senseless calculation!

The rich fool was filled with covetousness, since he regarded all his goods as guaranteeing the fulfilment of his programme — "take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." This is precisely the programme of the average man of the world today — plenty of leisure, plenty to eat and drink, plenty of fun and amusement.

This conduct stands in marked contrast with what the Lord afterwards brings into prominence in Luke 16, where is seen the sacrifice of the present for the future, and that such only are received into everlasting habitations. It is not the means of deliverance from hell, but the character of all who go to heaven. So far they resemble the steward in the parable, whom the lord commended, not for his injustice but for his wisdom. He sacrificed present interests, his master's goods, in order to secure the future. The rich proprietor here, on the contrary, is ever casting down his barns and building greater, in order the better to secure all his fruits and increase his goods. His sole and entire thought was for this present life which, he assumed, would go on unchangeably. The steward looked out for the reverse that was at hand, and acted accordingly. May we feel ourselves stewards in what men would call our own, and act with no less prudence! It was not so with him who said to himself, "Soul, thou hast much good things laid up for many years; repose thyself; eat, drink, be merry." There was both self-satisfaction in what he possessed, and withal the desire for a long enjoyment of present ease. It was the practical Sadduceeism of unbelief.331 "But God said unto him, Fool, this night thy soul shall be required332 of thee; and whose shall be what thou hast prepared?"

Say, prosperous, hard-headed business man does the term “fool” apply to you? The Bible speaks of a certain rich farmer. His hard work and his care, combined with God’s bountiful hand in providence, had brought him a handsome competency. His barns were bursting with his goods. He will build larger. He will house his riches safely. He will say to his soul, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” Such were his communings within himself. All men spoke well of him.

But there is a resurrection, and a life after death, and those who are really wise will rather seek to be rich toward God than rich in material things that perish, and that are very readily lost. The rich man of Luke 12 thought he had many years to live, and for these he had abundant provision, but he had not reckoned with God, nor imagined that his days on earth were numbered. With self as the centre of his thoughts, and self-gratification his main object in life, this rich man was a “fool,” for he had not considered what the end of his life would bring, and how soon his life might terminate. He “thought within himself,” and resolved what he would do with his rich harvests, but God was not in all his meditations, and he answered the description of Psalm 14:1, “The fool has said in his heart, There is no God.”

But suddenly, shockingly, his elaborate plans were interrupted the same night. God spoke and called the poor man (no longer rich) a fool, for that night his soul would be required. The unwelcome intrusion of death, for which he was not prepared, would divest him immediately of all his possessions. Whose then would they be? To whom would he be willing to relinquish them? Solemn question for a selfish man! Greed defeats its own ends, for in striving to gain we lose what we strive for. The man had concentrated on treasure for himself, with no conscience toward God, no concern for treasure in heaven. But one who leaves God out of his plans is a fool indeed. The grace of God had no attraction for him, and without this grace he was left destitute for all eternity!

He never considered this. God was not in all his thoughts. He had reduced his soul to the merest slavery of the body, instead of keeping under the body, that it might be the servant of the soul, and God the master of both. But no: God was in none of his thoughts; yet God said to him, "Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; and whose shall be what thou hast prepared?" He had looked onward for an uninterrupted prosperity in the world. "This night!" Little did he think it. "This night thy soul shall be required of thee . . . Thus is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich333 toward God." Riches before God cannot be without what men short-sightedly count impoverishment of self, using what we have, not for ourselves, but for others. Only such are rich toward God, be their means great or small. If their means are small, they are nevertheless large enough to let them think of others in love and provide for wants greater than their own: if their means are great, their responsibilities are so much the greater. But in every case the gathering up is not for self, but for the service of grace; and this can only be by bringing God into the matter. Such only are rich toward God. Laying up treasure for oneself is the hard labour of self, and the unbelief that reserves for a long dream of enjoyment which the Lord suddenly interrupts.

The heavenly calling the Lord was setting forth, but the man had not understood that. He was thinking about his rights here, and of possessions in this world, things nothing wrong in themselves; for God had given to Israel an inheritance on earth. But there was something more important. So the Lord, in answering him, disclaimed the office of a judge or a divider in such matters, and uttered the parable of a rich man who was a fool. For, intent on amassing wealth and substance here, this one forgot God, to find out, when too late, his folly and his mistake. He was a fool. God says so. He was laying up treasures on earth, which he could not keep, and was not rich toward God. Suddenly his life was required of him, and the wealthy man of earth entered the other world to be poor for eternity. Real wealth, the being rich toward God — of that he was destitute. A fool indeed! How that parable acted on the man whose petition called it forth is left unnoticed. How it can act on us is an important question, for each concerned.

But that night God spake to him. “Thou fool! this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” Go he must, leave his hard-earned wealth just when about to enjoy, it! Yes! No lease could he take of his life. His laugh of good-tempered, sleek satisfaction was but the laugh of a downright fool. He forgot God, and great was his eternal loss.

The rich farmer in the parable, only caring for his barns, only thinking of “The World’s Stores, Limited,” was addressed by God, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” (Luke 12:20). Other people would enjoy them; but what of the farmer?

203 "Therefore take heed, and beware of covetousness, which is idolatry." For, be it ever remembered, that while riches are a snare to the rich man, to be jealous of a rich man, because of his riches, is as bad or worse in the poor man; for it just shews that he would also have them if he could. It is not a question about riches. The Lord wants to get souls into heaven, and riches will not take them there; that can only be by being rich towards God. The whole question is about Christ; for if Christ has His place in our hearts, the things of this world cease to be temptations to us. The man that is rich towards God has no desire for other riches. But the man that layeth up treasure for himself is not rich towards God; because self is at the bottom. All this has to do with the world.

Commenting on this man, the Lord said, “So is he that lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21). From this word we can readily understand that the only riches that are of real worth are those “toward God.” Those who are rich in material things, and are not rich toward God, have received in this life the only consolation they will ever have (Luke 6:24); but those who are poor in this life, but are rich toward God, will have their consolation and portion in the life to come (Luke 16:19-31).

"So is he that lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God" (ver. 21). Now there, you have the cure, I believe, for covetousness. That is, being "rich toward God." The apostle Paul amplifies this subject in writing to his son Timothy. "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness" (1 Tim. 6:11). These verses show our danger, while the cure is given in the same chapter. "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all. things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life" (1 Tim. 6:17-19). But You say, What is the harm of riches? Suppose it kept you out of heaven? Well, I did not think of that. Very probably, few men do, but there is great danger, or our Lord would not have said, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:23). It is not the money that there is harm in, but it is the "love of money" that is "the root of all evil."

I think if it had been us, we would have said, We will give the Lord one, and keep the other to ourselves. If I had come to my last two shillings, and I gave the Lord one, and kept the other one for myself, I fear that I should think I had done very well. Ah, beloved, look at this, she cast in both. She was indeed rich toward God. It is not the question of the amount, because the Lord never measures by what I have given, but by what I have left after I have given. I think she is an illustration of one rich toward God. On the other hand, you might have nothing to give, and yet be rich toward God. You cling to Him, you live for Him, and in relation to Him. That is really what it is. God rules and governs the soul absolutely. Anyway, this is the only cure for covetousness, of which our Lord and Master bids us beware.

The saints will be rich in circumstances by-and-by, as now they are rich in God Himself. The kingdom will be established, "the world to come" will shine in its glories, and the saints shall be there. And the saints ought now to be rich towards God, as they are rich in Him, laying out their energies and their advantages, their talents, whatever such be, in His service — as Luke 12:21 speaks.