Have you ever considered your prosperity as a confirmation of God’s blessing or thought negative circumstances were pointing to God’s discipline? (If things were going well, then you must be in good standing with God. If things were going badly, then you needed to look at your spiritual walk and find out what you were doing wrong.)
I know I have done this. But today’s reading reveals there is a delicate line we must walk. With respect to God’s interaction with man, His covenants are sometimes unconditional and other times conditional. For example, the coming of Christ, the incarnation, was an unconditional promise of God. Salvation, once received by grace through faith, is also an unconditional promise. But the “if…then” statements are not so. “You will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him… if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul” (Deut 4:29). “Honor your father and mother… that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you…” (Deut 5:16). These both imply if you do one part, then the blessings will follow.
However, Scripture is clear that prosperity can be a result of either a conditional or unconditional covenant. Moses declares to the Israelites that they are about to inherit the Promise land, a land of great prosperity. And why were they about to gain possession? It had nothing to do with them! They didn’t deserve it in the least! “Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people” (Deut. 9:6). “It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is for because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” (9:5).
Here, the people are reminded God is executing judgment and simultaneously fulfilling an unconditional promise to their forefathers. They had nothing to do with the prosperity they were about to enjoy, and He warns them, when it is all said and done, not to become proud and boast in themselves for their position and fortunes.
But on the other hand, we do find other moments in Scripture where God blesses individuals (example: Phinehas, Numbers 25:6-13) or the nation (Deut 7:12-16) because of their actions and devotion. These are certainly conditional responses to obedience. Yet, even still we find situations which seem to defy this, i.e. Job.
The sometimes-difficult thing for us to do, especially today, is to realize which setting we are in. If you are in a time of prosperity right now, do not be so quick to believe that all is well between you and the Father. People in positions of prosperity are there either under His blessings, or there only by His grace. For sure, wealth is not an indicator of favor. Just look to those with money and fame; there are few with much Jesus at all.
We must consider our lives to know which description best fits us. But the problem for many is that they don’t know Scripture well enough to decipher the difference. The “Prosperity Gospel” has taken its toll on America. We have too long considered our prosperity as the affirming, condoning response of the Father, which is surely erroneous.
The Jews have for so long thought they were in a right standing with God simply because of their chosen race. But God reminds them they were not chosen for their worth, rather the opposite was true (Deut 7:6-8). It is human tendency to believe we deserve prosperity, as if it is something owed us. But one thing to keep in mind, we have and never will deserve anything from God other than wrath. Our best “fifteen minutes” of righteousness are as filthy rags to God (Isaiah 64:6).
Thank God for whatever situation you are in and then search Scripture and your heart to see what God may be teaching you about your relationship with Him today.
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