“For when I have brought them into the land I swore to their ancestors, flowing with milk and honey; and they have eaten their fill, grown fat and turned to other gods, serving them and despising me, and broken my covenant; then, after many calamities and troubles have come upon them, this song will testify before them as a witness, because their descendants will still be reciting it and will not have forgotten it. For I know how they think even now, even before I have brought them into the land about which I swore.” So Moshe wrote this song that same day and taught it to the people of Israel.”-Deuteronomy 31:20-22
From verse 20, the Lord predicts after Israel has entered into their land of rest, they will become so prosperous and their life will become so easy that not only will they forget the Lord their God but…
…they will actually turn around and credit other false gods for all the blessings (material and otherwise) they have received.
And by the way, the phrase “flowing with milk and honey” is actually a Hebrew idiom that refers to a prosperous life and all the creature comforts that come with it.
What happened with Israel was they became so seduced by the good life they ended up…
….praising and worshipping the false gods of the sky for the sunshine and rain they received.
They also ended up…
…bowing down and thanking the Canaanite fertility goddess Ashteroth (“Easter” in modern English) for their bountiful harvests and the many children they gave birth to.
In committing these horrific acts of idolatry, they had broken the Mosaic covenant and broken their faith with ADONAI.
There’s a huge lesson for us here…especially for those of us who live in the West or live in a rich first-world country.
It’s just a fact of life that has been proven over and over again that…
…great wealth usually leads to complacency and a weakened faith.
I can personally attest to this.
Whenever I found myself swimming in a mountain of cash I found myself going out to nice restaurants, staying in nice hotels, getting massages, going out drinking with friends, buying nice clothes and shoes, going to personal development seminars and so on…
…and during the midst of spending all of this money left and right, God was hardly on my mind at all.
That’s the problem with great prosperity.
It fools us into thinking WE ourselves are the source and cause of all our wealth and achievements.
We think it’s our clever intellect and advanced academic degrees that enabled us to get the good jobs.
We assume it’s our hard work that has enabled us to get wealthy.
In other words, we end up crediting everyone and everything except God for all of the wonderful blessings we have in our lives.
Our spiritual life ends up being relegated to a mere one hour or so of worship time at the local synagogue or church.
And that is why prosperity taken out of context can be a dangerous thing.
Honestly, the times I’ve felt closest to the Lord have been when I had literally zero dollars in my bank account.
Because during such times I had no choice.
I had to rely on God.
And He always came through (boy, did He ever come through).
AMAN and AMAN brother!!