He Gave Us Prophets: Dynamics Of The CovenantsSample

Types of Blessings: Joel 2:22-23

Blessings come to the people of God when they seek to be faithful to Him. Of course, God does not expect His people to be perfect, but He does expect them to seek Him sincerely, and not to rebel against Him. When the people of the covenant are faithful in this way, God richly blessed them. 

The first category of blessing is blessing in nature. Just as Moses spoke of judgment in nature, he also spoke of blessing that would come in the natural realm. Moses revealed to Israel that God offered tremendous natural blessings if they would only serve Him faithfully. This kind of motif appears in at least four ways in Deuteronomy 4, 28, 30, and Leviticus 26. First, Moses spoke of agricultural plenty. The fields would be full of crops if the people would be faithful to their Lord. Also, he speaks of livestock having fertility. The livestock would grow in great numbers if the people would serve the Lord faithfully. Health and prosperity would come to the people of God. They would enjoy general health and well-being, and in addition to this, the population would increase. The numbers of Israelites would increase so that they would fill the Land of Promise. 

Announcements of blessings in nature shouldn’t surprise us. When God first made humanity, He set us within a paradise — the Garden of Eden. But then God drove us out because of sin. When God’s covenant people are faithful to Him He promises to give them blessings, blessings in nature, so that they can experience the kinds of things God meant for the human race to have in the very beginning. Old Testament prophets spoke about the blessings of natural bounty in many ways. Consider one example. In Joel 2:22-23 we read: 

Do not be afraid, O wild animals, for the open pastures are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness.

Although the first type of covenant blessings focuses on natural bounty, a second major category appears time and again in the prophets, and this is blessing in warfare. Just as the people of the covenant suffered defeat in war when they were under God’s judgment, they experienced victory and peace when they were under the blessings of covenant. This motif appears in at least four ways in Deuteronomy 4, 28, 30, and Leviticus 26. First, Moses tells the people of God that they would defeat their enemies. But beyond this, there would be an end to warfare; hostility with the nations would cease and there would be relief from all destruction. And, of course, there would be a return of any captives who had been taken away from the Land of Promise.

Old Testament prophets often spoke of these kinds of blessings in warfare. Consider how Amos predicted a grand future of military success for the nation of Israel. In Amos 9:11-12, he said these words about the post-exilic period: 

In that day I will restore David’s fallen tent. I will repair its broken places … and build it as it used to be, so that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations that bear my name.