Systems Built on Broken Foundations: What is Wrong with our Current Economic System

Everything in the world operates through systems. Whether economic, political, religious, or social, these systems function according to their design. At the foundational level, there are two competing designs: God's design and a corrupted design. In God's design, money is used as a tool to build economies that serve people, bringing blessing and freedom for all. In contrast, a corrupted design uses people to build economies that serve money. While God created all systems to produce blessing and freedom for those who choose to live in accordance with Biblical principles, the fruit of the systems we see today are clearly an inversion of God's original design. Rooted in corruption, the world's systems produce enslavement, a result evident when we look at the world's economic systems today.

When we take a step back and examine the modern global economy, the results of living under a corrupted design are undeniable. With 85% of the world’s wealth concentrated in less than 9% of the world’s population, over $324T in global debt, and a global debt per capita of $39,500 compared to a GDP per capita of $14,200, we are clearly living in an inversion of God’s design. As a result, today’s economic system is fundamentally misaligned from biblical principles and produces enslavement rather than flourishing.

Understanding the Babylonian System

The Bible provides a framework for understanding the corrupt systems we see today through Babylon. In the Old Testament, the Babylonian empire under King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and took the Israelites into exile for seventy years. However, Scripture uses Babylon as more than just a historical reference. Instead, Babylon is used as a metaphor to convey the political, economic, and religious systems that stand in opposition to God.

When we look at today’s economic systems, many of their roots can traced back to ancient Babylon. Babylon was a pagan society where the temples were the center of daily and civic life. As a result, these temples had significant influence over the systems at the time. Not only were they places of worship, but they functioned as centers of commerce. They managed wealth, issued credit, and facilitated trade, all under the guise of pagan worship. Essentially, these temples became the world’s first banks. Rooted in opposition to God’s design, these temples laid the framework for the systems we see today.

Over time, the practices that began in ancient Babylon have evolved. Today, we see a global banking system that controls monetary policy, global debt, and the economies of the world. Local and regional banks are governed by central banks, which are themselves governed by a single bank. Most economic value ends up controlled by governments, banks, and large corporations instead of the individuals who create it. People can permanently lose homes, land, savings, equity, and retirement accounts through debt, foreclosure, inflation, and economic instability. Under the policies of this system, the world has become enslaved to debt.

Symptoms of a Broken Design

            One of the clearest indicators that our economic system is misaligned is the role that debt now plays in everyday life. Debt is no longer a temporary tool used in times of need but has become a permanent condition. Individuals, families, and entire nations are bound by financial obligations that often grow faster than they can be repaid. With global debt surpassing $324 trillion, it is clear that our society is deeply dependent and enslaved to it.

            In God’s design, debt was never meant to enslave. In ancient Israel, God commanded that the poor are not to be charged interest as well as the periodic release of debts every seven years, ensuring that no one would remain trapped in debt indefinitely (Exodus 22:25–27; Leviticus 25:35–38; Deuteronomy 15:1–11). Furthermore, the Year of Jubilee in the fiftieth year brought a complete economic reset where debts were forgiven, land was returned to its original families, and those who had fallen into servitude were set free. These systems ensured that no one could be trapped in permanent poverty or lose their means to create economic value forever. Under God’s design, economic life was structured around restoration, dignity, and freedom rather than accumulation and control.

            Additionally, these periodic resets were deeply connected to the rhythm of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was established from creation as a weekly rhythm of rest, reminding people that their provision ultimately comes from God (Genesis 1; Exodus 20:8–11). This also extended to the land itself, which was to rest every seventh year, reinforcing the idea that productivity was not the ultimate goal (Leviticus 25:1–7). Today, such periods of rest feel countercultural, as constant accumulation and relentless productivity dominate an economy built around money and wealth. By deviating from God’s design, we place ourselves under a corrupted framework, allowing our faith, hope, and trust in money to replace dependence on God as the true source of provision.

The Root Problem

While the symptoms are economic, the root problem is spiritual. Humanity has shifted its trust from God to money, a result evident since Babylon. What was intended to be a tool for exchange and provision has become an object of idolatry. Jesus addresses this directly when He says, “You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24). The issue is not the possession of money or mammon, but the weight we have given it in our lives. With money placed on a pedestal in today’s economy, it has become a false god. Today, we see people being used to build economies that serve money. In other words, people are placing their trust in money and material wealth as their source of security, identity, and provision.

In 1 Timothy 6:10, Paul warns that the love of money is the root of all evil, highlighting how dangerous this idolatry can run. When money becomes an idol in society, these corrupted systems flourish. The economic patterns and disparities we see today are symptoms of this reality, demonstrating that we live under a modern Babylonian system. Faith, hope, and trust in money—believing it will bring security and fulfillment—have placed people and nations in structures where profit is prioritized above human well-being, and systems are designed to grow wealth at any cost. Ultimately, the vast economic inequalities around us reflect not merely policy or circumstance, but the condition of the human heart.

Conclusion

Throughout Scripture, there is a pattern of warning against idolatry. When we place our faith, hope, and trust in money rather than in God, we submit ourselves to a system that originated in Babylon and stands in opposition to His design. Therefore, we must reject the false gods of Babylon and return to God's plan for our provision. True freedom and flourishing come not from accumulation, but from returning to God's design: trusting Him for provision, observing His rhythms of rest, and building systems that serve people rather than wealth. Only by returning to His design can we move from systems that produce bondage to a way of life that leads to true freedom and blessing.

Biblical Resources:

Year of Jubilee, Land, and Structural Resets:

• Leviticus 25: Sabbath year for the land; Year of Jubilee; land as God’s, Israelites as tenants; land returns to clan; Israelite debt‑slaves freed; price of land tied to years until Jubilee. 

• Numbers 27:1–11; 36:1–9: Inheritance rules (daughters of Zelophehad) designed to keep land within tribes and clans, preventing permanent alienation. 

• Ezekiel 45:7–9; 46:16–18: Princes warned not to evict people from their property; inheritance laws for the prince’s sons vs servants.

  
  

Sabbath:

• Exodus 20:8–11; Deuteronomy 5:12–15: Fourth commandment; weekly Sabbath for everyone in the household, including servants and foreigners

• Exodus 23:10–12: Six years sowing, seventh letting the land rest so the poor and wild animals may eat what grows. 

• Leviticus 25:1–7: Sabbath year for the land; no sowing or pruning; God promises sufficiency. 

• Hebrews 4:1–11: Sabbath rest as eschatological reality; shapes understanding of rest from striving, though not given as civil code. 

• Mark 2:23–28; Matthew 12:1–8: Jesus declares the Son of Man Lord of the Sabbath; Sabbath made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 

  
  

Debt, Interest, Release

• Exodus 22:25–27: If you lend to the poor among God’s people, do not charge interest or take cloak as lasting pledge. 

• Leviticus 25:35–38: When a brother becomes poor, support him; do not take interest or profit, but fear God. 

• Deuteronomy 15:1–11: Sabbatical year debt release for Israelite debtors; generosity emphasized even though debts will be released. 

• Deuteronomy 23:19–20: No interest on loans to a brother; allowed toward foreigners in some interpretations. 

• Nehemiah 5:1–13: Nehemiah rebukes nobles for exacting interest and enslaving brothers; they restore fields and remit claims. 

• Matthew 6:9–15; 18:21–35: “Forgive us our debts,” and parable of the unforgiving servant linking monetary and moral debts, insisting on parallel forgiveness. 

• Luke 7:36–50: Debt forgiveness as metaphor for forgiveness of sins. 

• Luke 16:1–13: Shrewd manager remits debts; the story commends using mammon in light of coming judgment and different economic order. 

  
  

Wealth, greed, and generosity

• Deuteronomy 8:10–18: Warning not to say “my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth”; God gives power to get wealth. 

• Psalm 72; 82: Ideal king defends the cause of the poor and crushes the oppressor; God rebukes rulers who show partiality to the wicked. 

• Proverbs 11:24–26; 14:31; 19:17; 22:9; 28:27: Generosity brings blessing; whoever oppresses the poor insults their Maker; lending to the Lord by giving to the poor. 

• Isaiah 3:14–15; 5:8; Micah 2:1–2: Woe to those who join house to house and field to field, and those who seize fields and houses from others. 

• Matthew 6:19–24; Luke 12:13–21: Store treasure in heaven; parable of rich fool building bigger barns and losing his life. 

• Luke 16:19–31: Rich man and Lazarus; failure to relieve visible poverty brings post‑mortem judgment. 

• Matthew 19:16–26; Mark 10:17–31; Luke 18:18–30: Rich young ruler; difficulty for the rich to enter the kingdom. 

• 1 Timothy 6:6–10, 17–19: Love of money as root of all kinds of evil; instructions to the rich to be generous and rich in good works.