Deuteronomy 28:11
And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
The Lord promises to make His obedient people abundant in possessions, in children and family increase, in livestock, and in crops from the ground in the land He swore to their fathers to give them. This plenty belongs to the plainly stated blessings of chapters 26-28 for those who diligently obey His commandments and live as His distinctive people, so that prosperity depends on obedience to His law. It is a conditional covenant agreement, and to expect the blessing while violating the conditions on which alone it can be bestowed is presumption, for prosperity follows obedience and adversity with loss of favor follows transgression. Health and welfare are joined with obedience, for to those who listen to Him and do right He gives sheltering protection in health and holiness, and temporal and spiritual prosperity depend on obedience to His law. What obedience would have brought to the Hebrews it brings to individuals and nations now, for when His people make Him supreme He makes them plenteous and gives success to their work, while Israel's failure to submit kept the promise from being fulfilled though faithful examples like Joseph, Daniel, Moses, and Elisha prove its results.
Abundant Blessing Conditionally Promised
The Lord pledged to make His people abundant in possessions and goods, in the increase of the family through children, in the growth of livestock, and in the yield of crops from the ground, in the land He had sworn to their fathers to give them. That fruitfulness of body, of cattle, and of field was promised as blessing conditioned on diligently obeying His commandments. Obedience would bring prosperity in the promised land, while disobedience would bring curses and loss of His favor.
This abundance belongs to the blessings of obedience stated plainly in chapters 26-28, especially 28:1-13, read by Moses to Israel. God's law holds positive promises for those who diligently obey His commandments, keep His statutes, live as His distinctive people, and fulfill His purpose and true plan of life. Israel's prosperity depended on obedience to God's law. Faithful living brings the promised results.
The promise is a covenant agreement resting on conditions. It was the law alone that gave the ark its sacredness, and its presence would bring prosperity only as that law was obeyed. If Israel would obey the divine law and thus fulfill the conditions of the covenant, He would verify His promises to them. To expect blessing while violating the conditions upon which alone it could be bestowed is presumption.
Prosperity and adversity come according to obedience or transgression of His law. The promised abundance in goods, families, livestock, and crops stands contrasted with threatened curses. Continued disobedience brings heavier effects of the curse upon people, animals, trees, and vegetation.
Standing with Exodus 15:26 as a message of encouragement and covenant of mercy, the verse joins health and welfare to obedience. To those who listen to Him and do what is right, the Lord who heals will put none of the diseases of Egypt upon them. He keeps under sheltering protection in health and holiness all who do His will. Temporal and spiritual prosperity depend on obedience to God's law, with health itself given as a reward of obedience.
Israel's Failure and Witness
The promise to make Israel plenteous in goods, in children, in cattle, and in crops in the land sworn to their fathers was given upon condition of obedience and could be altered when His people disobeyed. This is seen in that the adults of the army that left Egypt were refused entrance into the promised land because they did not wholly follow Him.
God is faithful to His promises and is not chargeable for Israel's misfortunes and delay in possessing Canaan. Israel broke its solemn pledge and transgressed His holy requirements through distrust, unbelief, pride, and disobedience, and His wrath was kindled against them again and again. If as a nation they had submitted to His authority and been governed by His judgments, and as individuals had walked in His ordinances free from the sins of the Canaanite nations driven out because of wickedness, not one good thing promised would have failed. They would long ago have been settled in Canaan as a prosperous, holy, happy people displaying His mighty power and His character of purity, goodness, and benevolence before all nations, but their perversity made it impossible for God to manifest His power to protect them and dishonored Him and detracted from His glory in the sight of surrounding nations. God is not a stern relentless judge but a loving compassionate Father, more grieved than they by the delay, who pardons sin when there is true sorrow and heart-felt repentance, yet cannot sanction sin or protect iniquity.
As a nation Israel failed to fulfill God's purpose and true plan of life and so failed to receive these blessings of plenteous goods in children, livestock, and crops in the promised land. Yet Joseph, Daniel, Moses, Elisha, and others prove by noble example that faithful living brings the promised results. Their prosperity was to display God's glory and make them a marvel among the nations. Obedience would also have preserved them from the diseases that afflicted other nations and blessed them with vigor of intellect.
Temporal and spiritual prosperity depend on obedience to God's law, and the blessing of abundance in family, livestock, and crops in the promised land is for those who diligently heed the law and teach it in their families. When people degrade God's law He withdraws blessing from orchards and vineyards. He extends mercy and stays judgment because of the righteous who love and fear Him.
Present Application and Obligation
What obedience would have brought to the Hebrews it brings to individuals and nations now for their present and future good, for obedience to the law remains the condition of fulfillment. The abundance in children and family increase, in livestock, and in crops in the land promised to Israel stands as the plainly stated blessing for fulfilling God's purpose and living by His true plan of life. The nation failed to fulfill that purpose and so failed to receive these blessings, yet Joseph, Daniel, Moses, Elisha and others prove by noble example that faithful living brings the promised results. Like faithfulness today will produce like results for God's chosen generation, royal priesthood, holy nation and peculiar people.
The directions express the principles of the law of the kingdom of God made specific so that minds are not left in ignorance and uncertainty. They lay a never-ceasing obligation on all whom God has blessed with life and health and advantages in temporal and spiritual things to respond with gifts, offerings and tithe. The message has not grown weak because of age, for God's claims are just as binding now and just as fresh in importance as His gifts are fresh and continual.
The blessing was proportionate to benevolence and obedience. Honoring God with substance and first fruits brought plenty in families, livestock and crops in the land. Withholding what was due to God brought loss and want.
When His people make Him supreme, God makes them plenteous and gives success to their work. That success depends on His blessing rather than on the ideas and views of men who oppose the requirements of God's law. The blessing is visible prosperity in the work that causes other people to give consideration to the truths taught and compels many to recognize those God-given methods as superior to those commonly used in the schools of the world.