Prosperity in Christ
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Deuteronomy 30:19-20
He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8
“Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, “Then who can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:23-26
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:6-7
In the first passage above, Moses urges the Israelites to choose life. Through Micah, God explains what good human conduct is, and it involves justice, kindness and walking with God in humility. Jesus explains we should trust God, love God, choose God over material possessions, and that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He is the life, so if we are, as Moses instructs, to choose life, we must choose Jesus.
Scripture explains that by choosing life we gain God’s blessing, but if we are not careful, we might read God’s promises too narrowly. For example, if we read the promises set forth in Deuteronomy focusing on the tangible, material, physical aspects of life, we may overlook the wholeness and fullness offered and miss the richness of life available through Him. He offers full, rich, whole, satisfying life, and that is true prosperity in Christ Jesus.
As the Israelites camp on the Jordan River preparing to enter the Promised Land, Moses gives his farewell address. He reminds them that God delivered them from slavery in Egypt, that God provided for them each day over forty years while they camped in the wilderness, that God would soon bless them with material, earthly abundance in the Promised Land, and He urges them not to forget God when their physical needs are satisfied and they have plenty (see Deuteronomy 8). And he warns, “If you do forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish” (Deuteronomy 8:19). The Israelites have been blessed by God and with that blessing comes great responsibility, and their choices have consequences. Choices lead to life or death.
Later, Moses says,
If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth; all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God…. Deuteronomy 28:1-2
Moses promises that if the Israelites obey God’s commandments, God will continue to bless their cities, their fields, their livestock, their crops and “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out” (Deuteronomy 28:6). But he immediately warns that the reverse is also true – if they fail to obey God all their efforts will be cursed (see Deuteronomy 28:15-68). So in Deuteronomy we see cause and effect based on choices people make. People who obey God’s commandments will be blessed, and their cities, fields, livestock and crops will be blessed – God’s blessing includes tangible form – and people who do not obey God will receive the opposite of His blessing – their efforts will be cursed. Deuteronomy does not limit God’s blessing or curse to physical blessing, the message encompasses spiritual matters.
This is God’s holy word. It is true, yet if we read the passages focusing on the tangible aspects of God’s promises, the words seem contrary to other portions of Scripture and our experience because we see people with tremendous earthly prosperity who openly distance themselves from God. And in Scripture we see the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar enjoy tremendous prosperity, power and privilege for most of his life, and we see holy people who had virtually no material possessions suffer tremendously – Jesus had no place to lay his head and was arrested, tortured and executed, John the Baptist spent his ministry wandering in the wilderness, was imprisoned and executed, and Paul spent his ministry traveling from place to place and was also imprisoned and executed. Other examples exist, but I think this sufficiently demonstrates the point that holiness does not necessarily lead to a life of physical or material pleasure and comfort.
It might be easy to conclude that something changed during the time separating the Old and New Testaments, that the focus shifted from human action to spiritual transformation, and from earthly material abundance to spiritual abundance, but God is God. He is the same God now as then. He is beyond time and unchanged by time, so His holy word and the message we interpret from it should be cohesive and consistent. With this in mind, let’s consider Job.
Discussing Job, God says, “There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8). He is wealthy and has great social standing. He has a large family who get along – they get together frequently and celebrate life. And Job worships God and prays for his family. He appears to be truly blessed until one day. In a single day he loses nearly everything. His children are killed, his servants are killed, some of his herd are taken and the rest are killed. In a single day he loses his children, his wealth and his means of prosperity, and shortly after that he loses his health.
As Job sits in agony, three friends visit and sit with him silently for a week. Then they begin to reveal their theology. They explain to Job that he must have done something wrong, that he must have sinned against God, otherwise the bad things would not have happened to him. And they suggest that he think really hard to figure out how he sinned against God so that he might offer sacrifices, repent and find atonement so that God will once again bless him. In their mind, health and tangible, physical, earthly prosperity are signs of God’s blessing and lack thereof are signs of God’s judgment for sin.
I have heard similar theology espoused by people today, and while God is sovereign, all things are under His control, He blesses and judges, and life and death are in His hand (see Job 12:10), tangible, physical prosperity may be a trap preventing our growth towards God and suffering is often the catalyst leading us to Him. Viewed from an eternal perspective, earthly wealth may be more of a curse than a blessing. Let’s go back to Job.
In the beginning, Job worships God and offers sacrifices to God. As the saga unfolds, Job begins to cry out to God, to genuinely seek Him, and then He actually communes with God. They have a conversation in the way two humans might speak to each other, and as their conversation concludes, Job says,
“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:2-6
After the conversation, God reprimands Job’s friends for misunderstanding and misrepresenting Him (see Job 42:7-9).
Through it all, through his loss of loved ones, loss of wealth, loss of livelihood, loss of health, loss of social standing, and through his friends’ tormenting him with poor theology, Job gains eyes to see God, he encounters God, and he is forever changed. Job says, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.” In the beginning he faithfully worshiped God, but through suffering he genuinely sought God. As he truly searched for God, he genuinely encountered God, he communed with God, he saw God, and through it all he was forever changed. He was spiritually transformed. From an eternal perspective, Job discovered true prosperity.
Jesus often warned about the trappings of earthly prosperity. Consider two examples. First, after telling the Parable of the Dishonest Manager and discussing religious leaders as “lovers of money” (see Luke 16:1-18), Jesus told a parable about a rich man who failed to show mercy to Lazarus, a homeless man living outside the rich man’s home. The rich man knew Lazarus’ name and he knew Lazarus was there, but he was indifferent to Lazarus’ needs. After they died, the rich man spent eternity suffering while Lazarus received heavenly rewards. Jesus explained that with tangible blessing comes great responsibility (see Luke 16:19-31).
Second, Jesus encountered a rich young man who asked about eternal life. Jesus instructed him to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow Jesus to gain treasure in heaven. In response the man walked away grieving the choice Jesus asked him to make. Jesus then turned to the disciples and said,
“Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, “Then who can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:23-26
Earthly, material prosperity may trap people. We may begin to cling to possessions, focus on possessions, desire possessions to the extent that we are unable to truly seek God, unable to be generous, merciful or even kind. If possessions are our focus, we may begin to believe that they are result of our effort, not God’s blessing. Material prosperity may hinder us from progressing towards God and prevent us from gaining the kingdom of heaven.
As a brief side note, but an important one, the passage also clearly presents human responsibility intersecting with God’s sovereignty and infinite power and authority.
Perhaps the blessing described in Deuteronomy should be read more broadly than discussing mere earthly, material blessing. From an eternal perspective, “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out” (Deuteronomy 28:6) encompasses much more than material wealth, it encompasses spiritual prosperity and living a life consistent with God’s holy will. In fact, a person may be spiritually blessed while living in difficult physical conditions (along with Job, think of Paul imprisoned in Rome while explaining that he is content in all situations, see Philippians 4:10-14).
May you receive God’s holy grace, His love, His whole spiritual transformation, so you may know His holy will and live in it. Amen.