Many centuries ago a wise man observed (Eccl. 2:11), "I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun." This could well express the vexations of mankind today struggling with the apparent intricacies of human economics.
New economic theories have always arisen with every important social change. Indeed, the study of economics has been radically altered by the rise of industrialism, by the machine age, and so on. However, in all this time the panacea of economic ills and the solving of the apparent lack of supply have not been found through the application of material laws.
What economic law based on matter, for example, could explain or duplicate Elijah's use of spiritual law when he multiplied the meal and oil for the mother and her son at Zarephath? Jesus' demonstration of spiritual law when he turned water into wine, as well as when he fed the multitudes, indicated an understanding of perfect supply and demand. In fact, Jesus' entire ministry was an explication of spiritual law in opposition to so-called material laws.
