"The Danger of Prosperity"

The Danger of Prosperity in Israel

Well, a good Monday morning. We are entering the first full week of April already, and I hope you had a good weekend, enjoyed April Fool's Day, perhaps. I hope you were also able to get to God's house yesterday on Palm Sunday and reflect upon our Savior's triumphal entry, perhaps.

And then beginning this week, looking forward to Easter Sunday and the resurrection, celebrating the resurrection. By the way, this Thursday evening at our church at 7 o 'clock, we're having a Maundy Thursday service.

This has always been a highlight the last several years at church. We kind of go through the events of the night of the Lord's betrayal. We have the Lord's Supper together, we read Scripture, we sing some hymns, have a few thoughts, brief thoughts from the Word on that evening, and all of it is just really preparing our hearts.

We really end that evening with the crucifixion, and then that prepares our hearts for Resurrection Sunday. So if you're in the area and can attend a Thursday evening at 7, I'd be glad for you to do so.

The Warning of Deuteronomy 31:20-21

Well, today in our Bible reading schedule, we're reading in Deuteronomy 31 and 32, about ending the book of Deuteronomy, and then Luke 22 and the 66th Psalm. I want to focus on the last few verses, well, it's not exactly the last few verses, but near the end of chapter 31 in Deuteronomy, the Lord shows us one of the dangers of prosperity.

That is, when everything is going well, and life is comfortable, our bank account is satisfactory, we have what we need, and then some, there's a danger in that kind of prosperity. And let's see what it is.

So in chapter 31, verse 20, the Lord says, when I have brought them into the land of milk flowing with milk and honey. All right, so what he's talking about is the end of Deuteronomy, Moses is going to pass away here pretty soon, and then Joshua is going to take over, and then we go to the book of Joshua.

And in the book of Joshua, the people of Israel cross over the Jordan River. And so they're about to enter the land. And the Lord says, when I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves, and grown fat.

All right, so that's all an expression of comfort, of prosperity, of everything going well. He says, when that happens, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and they will provoke me and break my covenant.

Prosperity, Idolatry, and Complacency

Now that does give us some insight, doesn't it? It gives us something to beware of, to be careful of. You know, in our country, we're going through some difficult times economically, and so forth, but nevertheless, we're still a very prosperous nation.

And we enjoy a measure of prosperity in the United States that's, you know, really unparalleled with most other countries in the world. And I think the danger that the Lord expressed regarding the people of Israel as they went into the land of flowing with milk and honey has been realized in our own land.

And I'm not talking about among the heathen of our land, among the pagan, the unbelievers. I'm talking about even those who profess faith in Christ, those who are believers, those who are Christians. We get into a place of comfort and ease and prosperity.

We take for granted all that we have, and then we're looking to other gods. No, certainly not gods of idols and stone, but we're looking to the gods that we think will give us satisfaction, things that we think we need for satisfaction, need for life to be full, for us to be happy.

We turn our attention away from God. One of the ways you see this is just how, oh, I would say nonchalant some Christians can be about attending church and having that a priority in their lives. You can be very lackadaisical about such things.

Well, that is an expression of a form of idolatry. We can become idolatrous of ourselves, idolatrous of our comfort, idolatrous of our things, of our wealth, and many other things we can think of. And the remedy for such a thing is indicated here.

Trouble as a Means of Turning Back to God

The Lord says, then it shall be when many evils and troubles have come upon them. Well, the remedy for a lethargy, a complacency that comes in times of prosperity, a lethargy and complacency that leads us to idolatry, the answer to that, the remedy to that is, as the Lord says, evils and troubles, calamities and troubles.

When in our lethargy and our complacency, because of our comfort, we turn away from the Lord, we need to be shaken. We need some trouble to shake us up and to turn us back to Him. And that's what the Lord says would happen to His people in the Old Testament.

He says, when that happens, then this song, and the Lord is giving Moses a song to write down, to record their history and how the Lord has delivered them and so forth, that this song will testify against them as a witness, for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants.

For I know the inclination of their behavior today, the Lord says. I know they're inclined to go this route, the route of idolatry and complacency and lethargy. I know this. So therefore, write down the words of this song, because when the evil comes and the calamities come and the troubles come, they're going to need this.

They're going to need this to turn their hearts back to me, the Lord says. Now in our application for us, the troubles and distresses the Lord brings upon us in our times of comfortable complacency, that sends us back to the Word.

They should. That's what the Lord does. He does these things to send us back to the Word, back to reflect upon His past grace, back to our dependence upon Him, so that we might turn from our gods and return to the Lord.

A Prayer to Keep Our Hearts on the Lord

I trust this serves not so much as a rebuke as it does a warning, a warning to us, not to become lethargic, not to become complacent, not to become comfortable in our prosperity, but to continually keep our eyes on the Lord, to continually worship Him and to serve Him and not be bound to the things that give us material comfort and prosperity.

So let's be aware of that tendency of the heart. Our Father, I pray that you would remind us of this frequently. When good things happen to us, prosperity things happen to us, I pray that we would not set our hearts on those things, but would just keep them in perspective and keep our hearts and our minds and attention focused on you.

And this we pray in Jesus' name and for His sake, amen. All right, well listen, have a good rest of your Monday. I hope April gets off to a great start for you. God bless.