God s Promises of
Prosperity
We have
factual evidence of God’s prosperity throughout the Scriptures, from the very
beginning.
Adam was
placed in the Garden of Eden where “the gold of that land is good: there is
bdellium and the onyx stone” (Genesis 2:12). God provided him a place filled
with precious stones and abundance. We can only imagine what that choice real
estate would be worth in today’s market. Adam hardly lived in poverty!
Noah “found
grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8), and was used to build a vast
vessel to save his family and two of “every living thing of all flesh” (verse
19). It was constructed from gopher wood to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide,
and 30 cubits high. That’s at least 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high!
The world had to wait until AD 1884, when the Italian liner Eturia was built,
before the ark’s size was exceeded by any sailing vessel. Constructing an ark
that size could cost an estimated $25-70 million today. Plus, Noah filled the
ark with provisions for all who entered. That’s prosperity by any measure!
God promised
Abraham, “I will make of thee a great nation,
and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing”
(Genesis 12:2). How can you bless the world unless you are blessed?
Abraham certainly was, to the point that he became “very wealthy in livestock
and in silver and gold” (Genesis 13:2). And can you imagine how much it cost to
feed, clothe, and house his 400 workers?
We are even told
that when Abraham’s nephew was taken captive, “he armed his trained servants,
born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan”
(Genesis 14:14). That is a big, prosperous house to have that many trained
warriors ready and waiting for battle.
Abraham’s
son Isaac grew up knowing great prosperity, and he continued to build on that
legacy, to the point that the Lord blessed and increased Isaac even during
famine (Genesis 26:1-4). We are told:
Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same
year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed great, and
went forward, and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of
flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the
Philistines envied him. (Genesis 26:12-14)
Both of
Isaac’s sons, Jacob and Esau, knew great prosperity! Even when Jacob’s
father-in-law, Laban, sought to deceive and cheat him, Jacob’s wealth
increased, in the thousands of livestock animals and possessions, to the point
that when he returned to the land of Canaan and reunited with Esau, they both
had to keep their flocks and followers separate because “their
riches were more than that they might dwell together; and the land wherein they
were strangers could not bear them because of their cattle” (Genesis 36:7).
Jacob’s
family was so wealthy that when they went to buy food from Egypt, they had
enough money to sustain them through the famine that gripped the entire region.
And Jacob’s
son Joseph, though sold into slavery, eventually became so prosperous in Egypt
he was second in standing only to Pharaoh. Joseph was so wealthy that he was
able to send his father and family a caravan of goods, even offering an entire
region of Egypt, the land of Goshen, for all of Jacob’s family to dwell in.
Prosperity
for God’s people is seen throughout the Bible!
David had
incredible riches and honor. His son Solomon surpassed all the kings of the
earth in riches and wisdom (2 Chronicles 9:22). Jehoshaphat had riches and
honor in abundance (2 Chronicles 17:5). Hezekiah had exceeding riches,
treasuries, and storehouses (2 Chronicles 32:26-28).
Prosperity
is God’s gift, and it can happen today as it happened then. We know that “God
is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34).
We also know
that God desires that His children live in supernatural abundance: “Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is He
that giveth thee Power to get wealth, that He may establish His Covenant which
He sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 8:18).
Divine
prosperity is God’s will for every believer!
All we must do to receive God’s blessings and
abundance is to obey Him: “Keep therefore
the Words of this Covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do”
(Deuteronomy 29:9).
The Lord
wants to deliver His people from all bondage and all debt, and only as His
people seek and obey Him will liberty from bondage come our way: “I Love them that love Me; and those that seek Me
early shall find Me. Riches and honor are with Me; yea, durable riches and
righteousness.… That I may cause those that love Me to inherit substance; and I
will fill their treasures” (Proverbs 8:17-18, 21).
God’s Word
is clear that He takes pleasure in our prosperity! He rejoices when we prosper:
“Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favor My Righteous cause: yea, let
them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the
prosperity of His servant” (Psalm 35:27).