The Lord Will Prosper You...When!

Deuteronomy 30:8-10 8 And you shall again obey the voice of the Lord and keep all his commandments that I command you today. 9 The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

"you will again obey the voice of the Lord." We need to remember that all of this comes after the coming of Israel's Messiah. With a new heart under the New Covenant, Israel would obey all the commandments of the Lord. This would result in the Lord’s blessing, which would bring greater prosperity than Israel had ever previously experienced. Here is a renewed enforcement of the indispensable fruit of salvation and another echo of the constant theme of this book.

Remember that the intention of the law is not to bring righteousness, but to show the sinfulness of man and to direct man to their need for Christ (Israel's Messiah). The only kind of righteousness the wall was never intended to bring was a practical righteousness that brought practical blessing. The kind of righteousness that brings redemption was never the capacity of the Law. It was always God's intent that the Law simply bring man to his knees and direct them to Himself.

At this point, we must note that the fact that this was not accomplished in the Old Testament is not a failing of the Law, but rather a failing of Old Testament Israel as a nation. It is certainly true that there were indeed individuals, many of them, who were redeemed throughout Israel's Old Testament history. However, as a nation , Israel turned to the Law for their redemption and did not learn the lesson from the Law that God intended.

Their obedience was short-lived, it came in spurts, and God was constantly having to send "judges" to both chasten, and call them back to that obedience. This was not a surprise to God, and should not have been a surprise to Israel! He made it clear to them from the very beginning that this was to be their experience, after all righteousness was not the purpose of the Law. After all, we know that the Scriptures say: ...the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17).

Let us remember this principle, for it applies, not only to the issue of how a man becomes a believer, accomplishing his redemption, but also to how one pleases his God in all things as a believer! This is a matter that deserves far more consideration in the long run!