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July 22, 2010
Deuteronomy 28:1-14 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: 3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. 4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock– the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. 5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. 7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. 8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. 9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. 11 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity– in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground– in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you. 12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
Luke 11:1-4 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” 2 He said to them, “When you pray, say: “‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. ‘”
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Books: Deuteronomy, Luke 1 Comment »
One Response to “July 22, 2010”
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July 22nd, 2008 at 6:57 am
The Deuteronomy passage is a favorite of the prosperity gospel teachers, because it seems to clearly teach that if you follow God, He will bless you with prosperity and success in everything you do. Only problem is that this is a promise for the Israelites under the Old Covenant, which was done away with when Christ died on the cross, taking on Himself the curse sanctions that should have been brought against Israel. In his death, he inaugurated the New Covenant, and material prosperity is not one of the blessings in that.
This passage is yet another reminder that it can be tempting to pick and choose parts of the Old Testament that we like instead of reading it in its historical context so that we can understand what applies to us today. As we will see with the curses that are to come on those who disobey God, it is much more attractive to preach on passages like these and give people hope that only good things will happen if they just follow God. But all it takes is one look at the life of Jesus to know that obeying God perfectly does not necessarily lead to material prosperity. Jesus was not rich, but he certainly had a greater prosperity.