Does Exodus 23:25 Promise God’s Blessing if We Worship Him?

When God covenanted with Abraham that nations would come from him as recorded in Genesis, Abraham was an old man with no children. But God kept His promise and gave Abraham a son – Isaac. Abraham’s grandsons Jacob and Esau both went on to have many children.

The account of Exodus continues to follow the line of Jacob as they grow from 12 sons into a nation that had a unique relationship with the God who created the universe. After they left Egypt, God formalized their relationship with law, with blessings for when they are pursuing Him rightly, and outlining the ramifications for when they are not in one accord with Him. During this time in the wilderness at Mount Sinai, God declared,

“You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you” (Exodus 23:25).

This blessing, which was made at the same time the law was established, assured the soon-to-be nation of Israel that if they loved Him and kept His ways, He would bless them with good food, an abundance of water, and health. This covenant with the nation of Israel gives insight into the patterns of strength and weakness through the centuries, and can encourage believers today as an assurance of God’s love, though it does not apply to the church the same way.

What Does This Verse Mean?

This verse comes after God established the Ten Commandments, and begins to institute the Law for the nation of Israel. He commanded,

“When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you” (Exodus 23:23-25).

In essence, God is giving a command to the nation of Israel, and making a promise. If the Israelites worship Him, and do not fall into idolatry or the sins of the nations around them, they shall be blessed. God will protect them from famine, drought, and disease.

What Is the Context of Exodus 23?

In many cultures, the relationship between a person’s tribal and ethnic identity can be deeply tied to their religious practices. Tribes and cultures had their specific deities they worshipped. As a general pattern across time, this has held true.

After Adam and Eve sinned, God told the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). To bring about the family line from which this man (Jesus Christ) – who would bruise the head of the serpent – would come, God identified a man, Abram. Through him, God would create a family which would become a nation.

Abram became Abraham, who begat Isaac, who begat Jacob, who became Israel. Through Jacob’s 12 sons, 12 tribes developed. During a time of famine, Jacob and his sons settled in Egypt, leading to the enslavement of their descendants.

God used Moses, a man born in the tribe of Levi but raised in the Egyptian court, to lead the Hebrew people out of slavery and out of the land of Egypt. During their time of enslavement, the Hebrew people had developed a unique identity as a people, but did not have a nation. While He began to lead them to a place where they would have their own country, they stopped at Mount Sinai. Here, God formalized their nationhood by establishing the Law. These laws started out as the way to have a right relationship with Him as an individual, as a people, and how they were to practice their faith. It expanded into other laws, including how they were to handle the influence of other nations.

Over the course of the Old Testament, the nation of Israel would vacillate between obeying God’s laws and obtaining His blessings, and falling into sin, and subsequently losing that blessing. During the days of King David and King Solomon, the nation mostly did what was right in the Lord’s eyes, and the Israelites were blessed. During the days of wicked kings, like King Ahab when Elijah was the prophet, Israel suffered invasions, drought, and other tribulations. God took His hand of protection off the nation of Israel during their times of disobedience, culminating in the invasion of the Babylonians and the exile.

Why Will God Bless Those Who Worship Him?  

God blessed the nation of Israel during their times of obedience because Israel was called to be a nation that demonstrated His love, power, justice, and mercy to the world, so they may be drawn to Him. “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness” (Isaiah 42:6-7).

God made covenants with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the entire Hebrew people. When they kept their part of the covenant, they received God’s blessings and protection. When they did not, He allowed them to experience the consequences of their actions, but always restored them.

Does This Promise Apply to Christians Today?

This promise to Israel does not apply to the church today, because it was related to the Law under which the Hebrew people lived. These blessings and covenants were directly related to the nation of Israel worshipping Him, which included the Ten Commandments, the Levitical Law, honoring the Feast Days, and tithing appropriately.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus obeyed these laws. After His death, the veil in the temple was torn. God’s presence used to settle in the Holy of Holies, but with Jesus’ death, the temple system was no longer required. The Law was no longer required, and the Holy Spirit resides in every person who believes in Him.

The covenants with Israel do not apply to the church and Christians today. They were made to a nation, and the church is not called to be a nation. Instead, believers are described as strangers or sojourners. And Paul affirmed, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). Later, the writer of Hebrews said something similar, “ For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14).

In fact, Christians are guaranteed sufferings in the New Testament, not blessings. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b). Christians today have their hope and faith in the future promise of eternal life and salvation in Jesus Christ. They are free from the law, living in a more perfect faith, waiting for the day when Jesus will rule and reign forever.

The account of Israel’s history in Exodus reminds people today of God’s power, His love, and His faithfulness. It can be confusing sometimes reading some of the promises made to the nation of Israel out of context, and wonder why it seems God does not bless Christians today in the same way. There is hunger, pain, drought, illness, and many other tribulations that exist as a byproduct of the Fall and Adam and Eve’s sin. While the promise of Exodus 23:25 was made to Israel, it does serve as a reminder that God will always keep His promises.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation” (Hebrews 11:1-2).

Sources

Halley, Henry. Halley’s Bible Handbook.Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1965.

Henry, Matthew. Commentary on the Whole Bible: Genesis to Revelation. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1961.

Morrow, William. An Introduction to Biblical Law. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2017.

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Oscar Gutierrez Zozulia

Bethany Verrett is a freelance writer who uses her passion for God, reading, and writing to glorify God. She and her husband have lived all over the country serving their Lord and Savior in ministry. She has a blog on graceandgrowing.com.