About 500 years later, after the Israelites were delivered out of Egypt led by Moses, God brought them into the wilderness at Mount Sinai. There He gave them the Law through Moses and He laid out peculiar terms about how He will prosper and curse them on condition of their obedience to the Law He gave to them that day. Blessings were promised to them if they chose to obey his ordinances, while curses also were pronounced to them if they chose to disobey. (Deuteronomy 28) This served as a framework of Law for the ruling of His own people. Yet it was a heavy yoke (burden) upon them. They suffered great strife trying to fulfill the law, yet they never could.
Is the law so difficult to fulfill? Yes, if you try to apply it in the flesh. And no, if you choose to follow it in your heart. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14) God never chooses to only curse his people. He always wants to bless His own and prosper them in every way so long as their heart is right and those blessings would not lead them to disaster. And this is the picture in the very beginning in His dealing with man.
When Adam and Eve were created by God, they were also given a wonderful way to prosper. It is God’s will that they should prosper in every way. He gave the best of all he created, the Garden of Eden. He gave them dominion over everything that was created and told them to rule over them and thus enjoy all the fruit of a blessed life.
He told them to get married and multiply and fill all the earth. Nothing was held back from them, except the fruits from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the partaking of which would not be good for them. “You will surely die”, he warned them.
We all know what happened after that. Adam and Eve disregarded this simple and single commandment and incurred judgment unto themselves and all their descendants. Through one man, sin entered into the world, and brought death. Then all creation was enslaved by death and sin, waiting eagerly to be freed from them, yet without success or hope till Christ Jesus, the second Adam was revealed. Now, through His sacrifice and atonement, He more than suffered on our behalf, thus conquering and removing the vestiges of sin and death from us if we choose to follow Him. He also reconstituted every privilege and right given to Adam back to us as children of God in His Kingdom through the Holy Spirit which we’ll get into tomorrow.
Can you see that it is God’s desire to make his followers prosperous? Do you believe that for your own life?
Photo credit: Kez Robert