— Do the Blessings of the Old Testament Apply to Me? —
Dear friend,
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 obedience to him.Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.
- Deut. 28:9-10 -
How do we read the Old Testament promises as New Testament believers? What a great questions. As we journey through the Old Testament looking at the promises of God in Bible in a Year Club this question has arisen multiple times. How do we interpret these promises, and do they apply to us?
Some church traditions are quick to take promises given to Israel and apply them today without pausing to check the literary context and intent of the passage. What is perhaps more important is looking at the entire story: Do these promises have a greater meaning, a greater fulfillment, beyond the time and place in which they were given?
When OT promises are abused, we find things like the “prosperity gospel”, claiming that if we give money, pray correctly, do the right things or believe in Jesus we can receive material blessings on earth. This is one example of taking promises out of context. By reading further, we learn the promises to Israel did not guarantee every Israelite would be wealthy. The community as a whole would be blessed through obedience to God's commands, commands predicated on a covenant. Yet the law specifically outlined how to care for the poor and needy, acknowledging that obedience did not result in mass individual wealth. Israelites were required to share the abundance of God with others. The community was blessed through this generosity.
Another example is the popular promise from Deuteronomy 28 “you will be the head and not the tail”. This promise is frequently claimed in Pentecostal environments to connote victory and overcoming. But what happens when your life falls apart, your mother dies of cancer, you lose your job or your bank account is empty? What happens when you feel like the tail instead of the head? When we apply promises without an eye to the greater reality these promises were pointing toward, we are in danger of creating a transactional faith.
John Stott said, “the fulfillment of biblical prophecy always transcends the categories in which it was originally given.” Stott means that the prophetic promises of the OT have a greater fulfillment beyond their Old Testament, Middle-Eastern context: Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven:
“The blessing package of a nation racially descended from Abraham, living in a prosperous land, has been transformed by Jesus into a church from all nations, belonging to a heavenly land with heavenly blessings. No wonder Paul declares that God “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3). Jesus is therefore also the key to the fulfilment of the blessing promise.” (Paul Barker)
The promises to Israel are vital to study and understand but we do so with an eye to their fulfillment in the promises of Jesus. Matthew 5, the famous Beatitudes, lists promises similar to what we see in the OT – but they are fulfilled with spiritual, rather than material, realities. Sometimes spiritual blessing includes material reward. But when our material status changes (not by sinful choices and their consequences, but simply as a result of living in a broken world) we need not question if the favor of God has left us. The promises of the OT point us to principles about God that are never-changing. We cling to these, and to the eternal hope of their fulfillment in Jesus.
To learn more about how to interpret the OT, grab our new Understanding the Old Testament mini-course coming next weekend! During launch week it is only $45, and will go up to $60 after that.
Shipshewana, IN: I had such a lovely time leading a women's retreat in Shipshewana this past weekend with an amazing group from Kilpatrick Church! I also loved visiting Shipshewana and experiencing all the delightful shops (including JoJo's Pretzels!).
Spanx Maternity Shorts: I swear by these. I bought them with Ivan and just pulled them back out. They make form fitted dresses seamless - no lines - and are so comfortable to wear.
Our whole family is headed to Dayton, OH this week for Teach Them Diligently homeschool conference! Twelve years ago I left my job at Liberty University, where I worked in admissions and academic counseling, to work for David and Leslie at TTD. My time there was a joy and I traveled to all their events for several years. It's amazing to be back in a new capacity, this time with our four children <3 and Josh!
I will be speaking three times and we will have booth with SO many great products! Can't wait to see you! (We will also be at Pigeon Forge and Lynchburg later this year)
