seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Deuteronomy 7:12 If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors. 13 He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and olive oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. 14 You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young. 15 The Lord will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you. 16 You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God gives over to you. Do not look on them with pity and do not serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
This is from the easy English site.
If the Israelites obeyed God, they would enjoy his blessings on them and on their country. They must kill all the nations that were living in their country. Perhaps the Israelites would not do that. Instead, perhaps they would serve the false gods in those nations. If they did that, then they would have problems.
I found this at a site called theologyatwork.org.
This is not to be confused with the so-called “Prosperity Gospel,” which incorrectly claims that God inevitably brings wealth and health to individuals who gain his favor. It does mean that if God’s people lived according to his covenant, the world would be a better place for everyone.
IMHO the people writing these commentaries don't do these verses justice. By keeping themselves separated from the others living in the area, they are reducing the risk of contracting whatever diseases the people were carrying. Come to think of it.... the current inhabitants of the Promised Land are sexually promiscuous. They use sex in their worship services. I heard, to state this gently, that the US Government educates the soldiers on the dangers of contracting sexually transmitted diseases before they go "in country". Maybe that education is biblical! Maybe these verses are less about the prosperity the Israelites would experience and more about avoiding the pitfalls.
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