Promises for the World to Come

"Same song, same verse, a little bit louder and a little bit worse!"

Some people believe there is a formula for obtaining blessings from God. In Torah observant circles, this thinking means keeping God's commandments as the key to wealth and living a long, healthy life.

Deuteronomy 28:11 "And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you."

Deuteronomy 28 is about blessings and curses as Israel was about to go into the Promise Land. Obeying the Lord's voice and keeping his commandments would result in a whole list of blessings, and disregarding them, Israel would fall under the curse. This seems pretty straightforward.

Do we ignore the persecuted Christians we can read about in Fox's Book of Martyrs or the current persecution explained by The Voice of the Martyrs? They are martyrs because they choose to follow Christ. They might not observe Torah, but I think Paul would agree that their faith saves these people. Does not following Torah make them only eligible for the curses?

Do we disregard the book of Job, where it is noted that some of the wicked do live in prosperity and have offspring? Do we ignore what happened to the one man who followed Torah perfectly and died for our sins a terrible death? Do we ignore what happened to the disciples and the first church? We must not.

It doesn't make sense.

Jesus told his followers in Matthew 19:23-24, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person 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 a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Why would God bless loyal followers with something that makes it difficult to enter into the kingdom of God? It doesn't make sense. A wealthy person should be wondering what God is trying to teach through blessing with wealth. There must be a hard lesson.

Furthermore, in John 16:2, "They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God." Jesus explains that there will be hardship, but the Holy Spirit will help the believer through it.

God is concerned with the end game.

Deuteronomy 28 is part of a pattern God used to reveal his intentions and what would please Him. No one can live up to perfection; as a result, we all deserve the curses. Our circumstances do not matter. When Israel was in the Promise Land, they received blessings when they followed God, but these lessons all point us to Christ and His redemptive plan. Job points out that wicked people prosper too, but the end game is our hope in following Jesus Christ. There will be blessings for believing and following God when we reach the Promised Land.