Blessings and Curses
We must differentiate between what
God has promised to Israel as a nation
and what He has promised to the church.
Here's Gene to explain:
Now we've really been alluding to this all along.
Because the principles I've shared with you say:
That if we're interpreting marriage,
or interpreting the Old Testament laws,
we need to do that in the light of the New Testament.
Because in the Old Testament,
you have the story of Israel as a nation.
In the New Testament, you have the
story of the church. Which is not a nation.
The church is a body of people who
believe in Jesus Christ.
The true church are those who've been born again.
And who are following Jesus Christ.
Now why is this so important to make
that differentiation? Well first of all,
look at a summary statement in
Deuteronomy 28, verses 1 through 2:
Now if you faithfully obey the
LORD your God and are careful to
follow all His commands I am giving you today,
the LORD your God will put you far above
all the nations of the earth. ...
Now who's He talking to there?
He's talking to Israel as a nation.
And I'll put you above all the nations of the earth.
He's not talking to the church.
Because we're not a nation.
He's talking to Israel as a nation.
And then he says:
All these blessings will come and overtake you,
because you obey the LORD your God.
Now if you jump to verse 15.
Somewhat of a summary statement, on the other side:
But if you do not obey the LORD your God
by carefully following all His commands
and statutes I am giving you today,
all these curses will come and overtake you.
Now here we have promises to Israel as a nation.
The blessings--there are many of them.
Curses--there are many of them.
Which are repeated here and stated
in the book of Deuteronomy.
The interesting thing is: When you go
to the New Testament, these blessings and curses
are never repeated for the church.
It's very important, you see, to differentiate
between what God said to Israel as a nation--
what God says to us as a church.
Now the question is:
What often happens when the
blessings and curses outlined for Israel
are applied to believers living under grace
--particularly [for example] as it relates
to good health and material prosperity?
Now there's no question
that God promised Israel
good health and prosperity--
materially, when they came into
the promised land.
But he's dealing with an earthly existence.
Now it's true that when you read,
for example, in 3rd John.
When John wrote to the Elder, Gaius, he said:
[To] the Elder: To my dear friend Gaius,
whom I love in truth. Dear friend, I pray that you
may prosper in every way...
Is it wrong to pray that we might prosper? No.
...and [to] be in good health...
Nothing wrong with that.
...just as your soul prospers.
But does God promise us:
If we're obedient, we will prosper in
every way materially?
And we will always be in good health? No.
But God said to Israel: If you do,
you will prosper in every way,
and you will be in good health.
He said that Israel.
But he never says that to the church.
Now what happens when these
blessings and curses are applied to believers?
Well it leads to confusion.
Now let me simply say that there is a
Principle that comes out of 3rd John.
Which summarizes what I've just said:
Though we are to pray for one another
that our heavenly Father will meet our
physical needs, we must not use this
text to promote prosperity theology.
You see in the New Testament,
the blessings are eternal--the promised blessings.
The focus is on heaven.
And that is very clearly summarized in
Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3:
Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us
with every spiritual blessing[s] [where?]
in the heavens, in Christ.
That's dealing with our eternal salvation.
That doesn't mean that God doesn't
want to bless us.
And does bless us here on earth.
They didn't promise us the same things
He promised Israel.
Now what happens if you teach that it
does apply to the church--
as far as the promises to Israel?
What it does is: It leads to all kinds of
confusion and difficulty.
We'll talk about that in our next Principle.
And elaborate on that just a little bit.
Let me just simply say:
That this is not anti-prosperity.
It's not anti-good health.
We all would like those things.
But we're to see all of those things through
the light of the New Testament.
And God's plan for us here on earth.
And seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness.
In fact I was talking with a good friend of mine.
Just very recently on the phone.
And I said: What are you doing?
He said: Well I'm working here.
He says: I'm working on a plan on how
to make some money.
And then he went on to say: So I can give it away.
And I know that guy.
And I know that's his heart.
Because the more money he makes,
the more he gives away.
He feels that's his calling in life.
And boy is he creative.
I've never met a guy that is so creative
in making money.
Literally all over the world.
In different ventures and different approaches.
He's always on the cutting edge
in relationship to the things he's doing.
And he's making a lot of money.
But I don't know a guy personally,
who is so committed to giving money away.
That's his heart.
That's what he wants to do.
And he's the kind of guy, if we ever
have a need in our ministry.
Which we do regularly.
I can share with him that need.
And he'll do anything he possibly can
to help meet that need.
He's never offended.
He's always honored.
He wants the opportunity.
And he'll say thank you for the
opportunity to be involved in God's work.
Now that's the attitude that is
presented in the New Testament
in relationship to material blessings.
So it's not wrong to prosper materially.
But Jesus said: We're to seek first His kingdom
and His righteousness.
And then these things will be added to us as well.
It's keeping all of that in balance.