The prosperity of keeping God's Commands
God provides gains in your life when you follow his commands. The commands of religion ignore the scriptures but embrace the world, which is opposite to God's desires.
Too often, many people superficially credit God with the things they receive in the world. Why would God engage or reward wickedness? I can imagine God looks at the credit given to him as a slap in the face when the gift he is credited for goes directly against his values. Morality, Cleanliness and Equity are at the heart of his principles; therefore, why would God give you a garment which flaunts your sexuality? Why would he give you a car that was unfairly gained or gained by the exploitation of others? Why would he destroy your body in an expensive restaurant serving unclean foods which defile your body? Or why would he grant you a handsome spouse who lives for the world and drags you along with them?
It is written that wisdom comes from God, and the prosperity of his people—those who do his will—depends on God. In the following passage, Moses clarifies that the decrees and laws of God must be followed, and they will show wisdom and understanding to the other nations by elevating the followers through God being near to them.
5. See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. 6. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” 7. What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? 8. And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? 9. Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
The laws contain wisdom designed to prosper the people and nations that follow them. The laws glorify God; any nation following these commands will undoubtedly rise and be trumpeted worldwide.
However, even though the laws are mighty in themselves, Hosea, alongside Deuteronomy, shows that God acts on our behalf when we follow him in thoughts and deeds, not just words.
In the following passage, the “mother” is “Israel”—the ten Northern tribes after the split of twelve tribes in Israel. The Southern tribes are Judah & Benjamin, leaving the other ten where Joseph is his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh as the Northern, with the Levites spread across all twelve tribes.
God laments because Israel has turned away from his decrees and laws and followed after the other nations. Israel chose to follow the ways of these nations, doing their practices and celebrations, having their values and abandoning God. Examples of these in the world today would be LGBTQ+, sexualised outfits, avarice, fraud & cheating, immorality, hedonism, money above everything, etc.
2. “Rebuke your mother, rebuke her,
for she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband.
Let her remove the adulterous look from her face
and the unfaithfulness from between her breasts.
3. Otherwise I will strip her naked
and make her as bare as on the day she was born;
I will make her like a desert,
turn her into a parched land,
and slay her with thirst.
4. I will not show my love to her children,
because they are the children of adultery.
5. Their mother has been unfaithful
and has conceived them in disgrace.
She said, ‘I will go after my lovers,
who give me my food and my water,
my wool and my linen, my olive oil and my drink.’
6. Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes;
I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way.
7. She will chase after her lovers but not catch them;
she will look for them but not find them.
Then she will say,
‘I will go back to my husband as at first,
for then I was better off than now.’
8. She has not acknowledged that I was the one
who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil,
who lavished on her the silver and gold—
which they used for Baal.
The prosperity of those who follow God comes from His direct intervention in the world on their behalf. God reminded Israel harshly that the other nations they traded with were not the ones that benefitted them. Nations, such as the Assyrians, helped themselves, but God benefitted Israel. Many nations around the world are lost in the doctrines of others who sexualise, monetise and overall control the minds of the people to follow their evil ways to their detriment.
The West is a huge propagandist. Its system of capitalism, which impoverished everyone for the benefit of a few rich, has been bought and readily consumed around the world, causing people to forget their morality and that cooperation with each other can bring more prosperity and well-being for all rather than individualism and avarice.
9. “Therefore I will take away my grain when it ripens,
and my new wine when it is ready.
I will take back my wool and my linen,
intended to cover her naked body.
10. So now I will expose her lewdness
before the eyes of her lovers;
no one will take her out of my hands.
11. I will stop all her celebrations:
her yearly festivals, her New Moons,
her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals.
12. I will ruin her vines and her fig trees,
which she said were her pay from her lovers;
I will make them a thicket,
and wild animals will devour them.
13. I will punish her for the days
she burned incense to the Baals;
she decked herself with rings and jewelry,
and went after her lovers,
but me she forgot,”
declares the Lord.
God is the one who prospers you, but not for feigning praise or attributing wicked ways to the credit of God. But when you follow his ways, God prospers you in many ways, including your mind, body, and entire well-being, including your community circle. His ways are not found in religion, neither Christianity nor Islam, but his ways are found in doing his will.
Will you join me today in walking with God?