Job's Friends: Dangers of the ‘Health and Wealth’ or ‘Prosperity’ Gospel

I’m writing this article on the topic of the fast-spreading pseudo-theology going around these days known as “Health and Wealth” or “Prosperity” Gospel. The idea behind it being that if you are doing well spiritually then you will be doing well financially and in your health -  and if you aren't doing well financially or health wise then it is because of a lack of faith on your part or even hidden sin.

Nothing could be further from what the Bible teaches and I hope this article will help us began to understand this very obvious truth. For the purposes of this project we will focus primarily on the “health” part of this lie but will also take a quick look at what the Bible says about the “wealth” part at the very end.

I recognize that some illnesses or even deaths could be the result of sin in a person’s life – but much discernment, wisdom and compassion is needed before jumping to such a conclusion. And though this might be one answer, it is only one of many possible reasons and is usually the rarest.

My motives for writing this at this time are 1) because it is unbiblical ( actually anti-Biblical) and 2) because lives and families are, to varying degrees,  literally being destroyed by this lie ( I know of some personally).

I would say that the first point where this kind of thinking goes radically wrong is by not properly differentiating the Old Testament (OT) from the New Testament (NT).  It is true that both are the Word of God, but it is also true that we are dealing with a new covenant between God and man differing than we were in the OT. It has been rightly said the New Testament was written TO us and the Old Testament was written FOR us. One must interpret the OT through the lens of the NT.   

It is apparent that wealth and health were often a sign of success and good standing with God in the OT but the NT is radically different in this respect.  As Francis Bacon noted:

“Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New.”  Sir Francis Bacon

There is a lot of Biblical theology summed up in that short quote.

In addition to this, even if we looked at the OT as an example we would need only to read the book of Job to realize how contrary this Health and Wealth / Prosperity gospel is to Scripture.  Job suffered much . He lost his family (except for his wife who told him to curse God), his wealth and his health but not because he was sinning – it was in fact the opposite. It was because he was so righteous.   The book opens:

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.

When Satan suggested to God that Job was only righteous because God gave him all this wonderful stuff God basically said –go ahead and test him.  So you see this was a testing of Job’s faith because he was righteous. Not a punishment for sin but a testing of faith due to already existing faith and  righteousness.

Job 1:22 In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.

If this wasn’t enough to convince a person of the reality of righteous suffering then enter Job’s three friends who were sorely scolded by God at the end of the book. Why? Because they had told Job that he had lost everything because of sin in his life. As it was, Job did learn many lessons through this experience and became closer to God – but no thanks to his friends.

Job 42:7 And so it was, after the LORD had spoken these words to Job, that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.

Before leaving the OT, there is a very poignant and relevant passage in Exodus we should look at where the Lord asks Moses to represent his people before Pharoah.

Exd 4:10 Then Moses said to the LORD, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I [am] slow of speech and slow of tongue."
Exd 4:11 So the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?

The mute, the deaf, the seeing and the blind –God declares that He has made them. They are not a curse but a blessing – a way for God’s strength to be made perfect in our weakness.

But now lets take a look at the New Testament that was written “to” us directly.

First of all let’s look at the New Testament verse that proponents of this false gospel often use to support their propaganda  - III John 2

3Jo 1:2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

The ironic thing is that this verse can be used to argue the exact opposite of the HWPG. John is here talking to a very godly man named Gaius ( we know he is godly  by the context of the book). So when he wishes that Gaius may prosper in his health just as much as he does in in soul – it would be an  example of being spiritually well yet physically ill.

And there are so many examples of suffering within the will of God in the NT.

We begin with Jesus who, of course is the ultimate example. When Jesus and His disciples encountered a grown man born blind this is what played out:

Jhn 9:1 Now as [Jesus] passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth

Jhn 9:2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

Jhn 9:3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.

 Jhn 9:4 "I  must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work

Jhn 9:5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

Jhn 9:6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.
Jhn 9:7 And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.

In other words, this man spent his entire life blind because one day, when the time was right and it was the will of God, he would be healed by Jesus – and God would be glorified and the man would find even more than just physical sight!

Other examples in the NT of devout believers suffering physically were Trophimus ( a follower of Paul) and Timothy (Paul’s foremost disciple and leader of a local church). From the context it is obvious ( especially with regards to Timothy) that they were righteous, faithful Christians who were simply suffering   - perhaps for the glory of God, perhaps as opposition from the enemy who knew how effective they were, perhaps just because “the rain falls on the just and the unjust”  , or perhaps even to learn lessons they would never learn otherwise – but not because of sin or a lack of faith!

1Ti 5:23 (Timothy, ) No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your frequent infirmities.

2Ti 4:20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, but Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick.

Then, no less than Paul the apostle, who healed many people wrote this passage in regards to his own suffering:

2Cr 12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.

2Cr 12:8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me

2Cr 12:9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me

2Cr 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

My Grace is sufficient for you - Ahh, how sweet this sounds to the desperate heart.

  “For My strength is made perfect in weakness” - this echoes God’s declaration to Moses that we read earlier.

No one is saying that miracles and healing cannot happen today – but we must use the Scriptures to discern what is of God and what is God’s will.

Can you imagine promising people that if they become Christians everything will become perfect in their lives? What happens when this lie is undone and they walk away from God?

Can you imagine looking at a young couple who just lost their baby to a miscarriage and telling them its because they weren’t good enough?

Beholding the joy a downs syndrome child brings to their family and calling it a curse?

Hearing the news that a Christian brother has been diagnosed with cancer and, instead of comforting, offering only accusations?

Or encountering a devout Christian who is suffering from a mental illness or epilepsy, and because of your ignorance, telling them they are demon possessed?

To a confused, suffering Christian trying to make sense of it all - these types of reactions  could push them further away from God and bring God’s wrath upon you (as it did with job’s friends). Where there is sin, God knows -  it is primarily our job to hold them, comfort them and be Jesus to them. God will work the rest out.

2Cr 1:3 Blessed [be] the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort

2Cr 1:4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God

2Cr 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.

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To briefly touch on the “Wealth” aspect:

 There is certainly nothing wrong with being rich – many wealthy Christians are used by the Lord in great ways. However it is when the wealth (just as with the health) becomes an idol – something that replaces God, something you lust after – that it is sin.

It is often misquoted that money is the root of all evil – the Bible actually says that it is the LOVE of money that is the root.

1Ti 6:9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 1Ti 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Jesus also said the following:

Mat 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (money).

Luk 18:25 "For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Finally from the book of James:

Jam 1:9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation,
Jam 1:10 but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away.
Jam 1:11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.