Two Hermeneutical Errors of the Prosperity “Gospel”

The prosperity “gospel” is perhaps the largest heresy of the church today. It is ubiquitous in, and
growing on, every continent. There has been much written about the errors of the prosperity
“gospel”, for they are legion. A whole volume could be filled with examples of how they rip
Scripture out of context, downplay the promise of suffering in the New Testament, absolutize
one Scripture at the expense of others, read physical prosperity into texts where it has no place,
elevate the gift above the giver, distort the warnings about wealth etc. However, beneath all this
there are two fundamental hermeneutical problems that I have encountered again and again in its
adherents. They are a backwards reading of redemptive history and an over-realized eschatology.

Hermeneutical problem number one: a backwards reading of redemptive history.

Prosperity “gospel” preachers often appeal to Old Testament texts which promise physical
blessings to Israel and apply them in a 1:1 fashion to the church. They like to do this particularly
with the Psalms because the Psalms often promise physical protection and prosperity for God’s
people (e.g. Psalm 35:27, 37:25). Other wisdom literature does so as well – Proverbs especially.
Yet the hermeneutical problem comes when they apply them in a 1:1 fashion to the church
because the church is not the same as Israel in some very important respects.

First, the church is not a theocratic, geopolitical state. Israel was specifically constituted as a
geopolitical nation. They were given a specific legal code and a specific land in which they were
to live. The Kingdom of Israel was a physical kingdom with physical properties. The political
and military enemies of Israel were the enemies of God. As Meredith Kline has argued, the
theocratic state of Israel was an eschatological intrusion, by which he means that Israel itself,
under the Mosaic Covenant, typified the end-time, eternal Kingdom of God. In the
consummated eternal state, the New Heavens/New Earth, the people of God will live in the final
Promised Land and all of their enemies will be completely destroyed in the eternal hell. Israel, as
a physical kingdom, foreshadowed this consummated reality. Therefore, when God promises to
protect Israel from her enemies in the Old Testament, the promise was to protect her from her
literal, physical, military enemies who wished to destroy her!

The New Testament church, not being a physical nation-state cannot apply those blessings
directly to herself in the same way that Israel could. Jesus explicitly said that His kingdom was
not of this world – otherwise His disciples would have been fighting (John 18:36). We must note
that it was not only permissible but commanded for God’s people to engage in holy warfare in
the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 7:1-5). The prosperity “gospel” also overlooks the fact that
even in the Old Testament the promises of physical prosperity were not universal and absolute –
the lament Psalms are proof of this. Psalm 44 is particularly relevant because in it the
congregation asserts its own innocence (“we have not forgotten you, and we have not been false
to your covenant” 44:18-19), yet despite that, they are facing defeat at the hands of their enemies
(44:9-16). Clearly even in the Old Testament the righteous suffered and were treated unjustly.1

1
It is interesting that Paul uses this very Psalm in Romans 8:36 to describe the situation of the church – a Psalm
where the people of God are suffering unjustly and don’t seem to be getting the covenant blessings.
Second, the Mosaic Covenant was instituted as a temporary covenant which has been brought to
an end by the coming of Christ. The book of Hebrews is clear, “In speaking of a new covenant,
he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to
vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13). Similarly, Paul’s whole argument in Galatians is that the Mosaic
Covenant has ended and therefore its requirements, specifically circumcision, no longer remain
as in force. It is contrary to the gospel to require Christians to come under the Mosaic Law.
While the issue of the Christian’s relationship to the Mosaic Law is debated, one issue is clear –
Christians are not under the Mosaic Law as a covenant. Christians are not “under law” (Romans
6:14). Christians have “died to the law through the body of Christ” (Romans 7:4). The Mosaic
Law as a covenant administration has come to an end. Part of what that means is that Christians
no longer operate under the blessings and cursings of the Mosaic covenant.

At the institution of the Mosaic Covenant there were blessings and cursings set forth as the
sanctions for obedience and disobedience respectively. This was common of Ancient Near
Eastern treaties made by a king with his subjects – these were called Suzerain-Vassal treaties.
The blessings and cursings of the Mosaic Covenant are given in Deuteronomy 28. They are
symmetrical in many ways – if Israel obeys, they are promised urban, agricultural, familial,
economic, political, and military blessings in the land of Canaan (28:1-14). Yet, if they disobey
they are promised urban, agricultural, familial, economic, political, and military cursing,
culminating in a removal from the land of Canaan (28:15-68). These things were particular to the
Mosaic economy and are not instituted in the New Covenant. When Christ instituted the New
Covenant the disciples did not repeat its curses and take them upon themselves saying “Amen”
(see Deuteronomy 27:9-26). Neither did Christ promise physical, economic, or military blessings
for His disciples in this life. Instead He promised that they would share in His sufferings (John
16:33). Without a doubt, the New Covenant brings blessings for its members, but they are not
identical with the blessings of the Mosaic Covenant; to identify them as such is to turn back the
redemptive-historical clock. Therefore, when prosperity preachers attempt to place believers
under the sanctions of the Mosaic Covenant, they are denying the radical, epoch-changing nature
of Christ’s death and resurrection.2

Hermeneutical problem number two: an over-realized eschatology.

What I mean by an “over-realized eschatology” is that the prosperity “gospel” takes blessings
promised to Christians in the New Heavens/New Earth and applies them to Christians now. They
typically put great weight on verses such as 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come,” and use them
to run roughshod over the rest of the New Testaments teaching on the already/not yet nature of
the church’s life.

Romans 8 is instructive here. If one only read Romans 8:1-16 he could get the idea that we have
the fullness of God’s blessings now. We have the Spirit of God and are sons of God! Yet, this
must be balanced by 8:18-25. In this section Paul says that all of creation is in bondage, it is
groaning as it awaits the revealing of the sons of God. Notice what Paul says in verse 23, “And

2
It should be noted that they also do this with the Abrahamic covenant. They take the physical blessings given to
Abraham and apply them in a 1:1 fashion to New Covenant believers without allowing for the distinctions and
discontinuity inherent in the biblical covenants.
not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as
we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (emphasis added). Although
in one sense we have received the Spirit and already are adopted as sons of God – in another
sense we only have the firstfruits of the Spirit and still wait for our adoption. It is particularly
important that Paul specifies the aspect of our adoption that we are waiting for: the redemption of
our bodies. In verse 24 he emphasizes that this is what we hope for, not what we presently
possess. The physical aspect of our adoption as sons of God, i.e. the resurrection of the dead, is
in the future. It is patently obvious that Christians do not have their resurrected bodies now.
Although prosperity preachers want to argue that it is God’s will for everyone to be healed – they
still age and die.

Earlier we said that one could read Romans 8:1-16 and get the idea that all God’s blessings are
for now. Yet, that is a generalization and does not do justice to the text, for in it Paul says, “the
body is dead because of sin” (8:10). Even in the highpoint of Paul’s elaboration of the
Christian’s blessing in union with Christ, he makes clear that we do not have every blessing
applied to us now. There will come a time when the body is no longer dead because of sin, but
that time is not now.

Paul lists a particular type of over-realized eschatology as “irreverent babble” which leads people
into ungodliness in 2 Timothy 2:17-18. The specific nature of this over-realized eschatology was
that it claimed, “That the resurrection has already happened.” It was serious enough to upset the
faith of some believers (2 Timothy 2:18). Similarly, the prosperity gospel teaches that it is God’s
will for believers to have perfect health and financial prosperity bound to upend the faith of
many. Those who have been deceived by it will be caught in an ever-losing battle where they
must doubt their faith constantly, because it is not producing the supposed results that it should.
Therefore, when prosperity preachers try to argue for physical health and prosperity they are
unwarrantedly attempting to force what God has promised in the life to come into this life and
thereby making shipwreck of their faith and of the faith of others (1 Timothy 1:19).

These two hermeneutical issues come together when we ask, “what stage of Israel’s history does
the New Testament identify the church with?” The answer is clear from the book of Hebrews:
the church is identified with Israel in the wilderness. In Hebrews chapter 3-4 Christ is portrayed
as the new Moses who has led His people in a new Exodus. As Moses led Israel out of bondage
in the house of Egypt, Christ has led His people out of bondage to sin. As the Israelites in the
wilderness looked forward to their entrance into the Promised Land, so the church looks forward
to its entrance into the heavenly promised land. The rest of Israel in Canaan typified the eternal
rest of the saints in the New Heavens/New Earth. The author of Hebrews exhorts the church not
to be like the generation in the wilderness who hardened their hearts and did not believe the word
of God. Instead he exhorts them to hold fast to their original faith and not fall by disobedience,
for there remains a Sabbath rest which the people of God look forward to. The situation of the
church is not that which Israel in the Promised Land, enjoying God’s blessings, typified; but it is
that of Israel in the wilderness, living by faith in the word of God looking forward to a heavenly
country and a New Jerusalem.

The prosperity “gospel” fundamentally misunderstands the Bible. At the same time it tries to turn
the redemptive-historical clock backwards by putting Christians back under the sanctions of the
Mosaic Covenant and tries to turn the redemptive-historical clock forward by claiming all the
eschatological blessings of the New Heavens/New Earth and applying them in the here and now.
Let us be clear here: these are not insignificant errors. Paul anathematized the Judaizes at Galatia
for teaching that Gentile Christians needed to be circumcised, i.e. come under the Mosaic Law.
An over-realized eschatology can have devastating impacts. It leads to unrealistic expectations
both from oneself and from others – often in the form of perfectionism. The prosperity “gospel”
is another gospel.