Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you. -- Deuteronomy 27: 3 (NIV)
Sometimes God stirs me far earlier in the morning than I intend and today was one of those days. I always wonder why but God soon answers. This morning I turned on one of the satellite church channels. I do not know why because I rarely watch them in an attempt to keep my blood pressure in check as nothing aggravates me more than watching people use God to further their own idolatry and carnality. It played in the background for a couple of hours while I went about the start of the day business of emails and Facebook. Then in the background I heard the reason I was to be awake.
The charlatan this morning selling Jesus had a word from the Lord he said. This word was that there were seven people within the sound of his voice that needed to sow a "recovery seed" of $273 each. That these seven people would know who they were when they heard it and needed to obey the voice of "the lord" and call his hotline and sow that seed. Then he said that God told him to let them know that "all losses will stop" and they would experience "total recovery." That God instructed him to then pray for these seven people. Hurry up and run to your phones! God is calling and He wants to supernaturally bless you"if the price is right. The price today being a measly $273. I mean that is a great deal, no? For all losses to stop and for total recovery, it seems God is giving us a discounted rate today. This nonsense is what drives so many away from Christianity. It is a scourge and blight upon the work that the church is supposed to be doing in these last days.
Let me start with the obvious. God did not tell this man anything. Maybe his PR director did. Maybe his financial consultant told him they needed the $1900 to pay off the credit card bill, I don't know. What I do know is that God did not tell him to charge His people $273 in order to have all of their losses stop and restoration to begin. I know some will say that I can't possibly know that and I cannot judge the man's heart. I am here to say that I am judging his words, not his heart and I most definitely can say that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God told him no such thing. How do I know? God told me! See how easy that was! Only I have proof:
"No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. -- Matthew 6: 24 (NLT)
God does not use money to bring blessings about. Jesus taught specifically against storing up riches here on earth. Certainly not some absurd amount such as $273:
Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on." -- Mark 12: 41-44
According to the preacher this morning, God would not want him to pray for someone like this woman. I have witnessed this scheme first hand at my old church when a visiting swindler came by to fleece the flock. He had what seemed to be a solid word until offering time. We can get so confused so easily. Anyone can intellectually present the Word of God. The Word says that we will reap what we sow. Sowing requires seed -- voila! We need to plant a seed in order to reap a harvest! The fraudster at my church said that God told him to pray for ten people who could sow $300 and within one month they would all see the miracle working power of God reverse their fortunes in life! Hallelujah! Of course he was lying too. Yet people went up anyway and gave their entire check to him.
I had well intended friends say to me that God could still bless their individual faith and of course He could. But that doesn't mean He will or that He is obligated to. God says that we are to be as harmless as doves but as wise as serpents. What is the difference between handing your check to a huckster selling God or the lottery selling you fool's gold? Because one of them says the name of Jesus? That should offend us more. One says you gotta be in it to win it but the other dares to say that God said it.
Now the scam-artist this morning also used Scripture. He used the key verse from Deuteronomy 27: 3 -- hence the request for $273. Sounds an awful lot like numerology, which is where you place excess faith in numerical patterns. The preacher then went further to say that 2 is a number of covenant, 7 is a number of completion and 3 is the number for the resurrection. That would be great I suppose if he were adding those up and asking for $12 but the number he is asking for is 273, which is a completely different number. But let us get back to the Scripture. A lot of prosperity preachers like to use Deuteronomy because it speaks a great deal about the blessings God wanted to bestow upon Israel and also is where they finally were ready to walk into their Promised Land. I get it -- that sells.
Despite the selling points however, it simply removes the entire context of Deuteronomy and why the Lord was discussing the blessings He would like to pour out. This was right after the entire 613 laws of Moses had been imparted to Israel and God is saying if you keep these laws, look at all the blessings I have for you! In fact, God is saying in the key verse that the first thing they needed to do when they crossed into their Promised Land was to write the law on tablets and preserve it with plaster. This was so much the point that God repeats it in the surrounding verses of 27: 2 and 27: 4. This was so that generations could remember what they were supposed to do to stay within the blessings of God and avoid the curses. That's right -- what these snake oil salesmen always leave out when discussing Deuteronomy are the curses pronounced if Israel does not adhere to the law. They are no small matter and there is more than twice the amount written here about the curses than the blessings. In the very next chapter there are 53 verses dedicated to the curses. Nowhere is there any mention of needing to give $273 either.
Listen, does god want to bless us? Absolutely. But blessings are not merely financial in nature. Healthy kids, a good marriage, and a solid job are blessings we take for granted until they are taken from us. Is tithing in Deuteronomy? Absolutely but tithing is an issue of obedience -- not a quid-pro-quo. We are not supposed to approach God with bribes in our hearts. If we are saved today by the redeeming grace of God then we already have received the blessing. Jesus is the blessing and there is no cover charge.
Rev. Anthony.
