“Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted… And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand” (Isaiah 52:13; 53:10).
It has been said that one sure way to start a heated discussion among Christians is to bring up “The Prosperity Gospel.”
Back in 2015, Dr. Ken Ferguson and I were in South Africa preparing to train local pastors over three days at an AG conference. Before the first session, the organizer asked us if we could reduce our material by one-third! They had invited a third guest teacher. We naturally complied and scrambled to downsize our outlines and PowerPoints.
I was interested to observe the title slide from the other speaker, who was an African pastor: THE GALILEE SCHOOL OF MILLIONAIRES
I did catch a helpful thing he said, “Don’t spend money you don’t have, to buy things you don’t need, to impress people you don’t like!” However, I confess I was battling jet lag and struggled to stay awake for the whole presentation.
Later, I had a chance to chat with that other guest speaker during a break. I asked him if he had ever worked with Muslim Background Believers (MBBs). He said that he hadn’t. I explained that many MBBs go through a type of “Reverse Prosperity”—in gaining Jesus Christ, they lose everything else. This might include family, friends, job, physical safety, or even life itself. He found that interesting and said he would try to be aware of that.
The Prosperity of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant
The Holy Spirit gave Isaiah a remarkable glimpse of the coming Messiah. The apex of Isaiah’s prophecy can be found late in chapter 52 and the whole of chapter 53. In those 15 verses, Isaiah seems to have been transported in time to the events of Calvary—so clear was His picture of Christ’s suffering.
In my devotional reading, I came to this passage once again. I was somewhat surprised that the Suffering Servant passage is nearly bookended by two mentions of prosperity:
“Behold, My servant will prosper” (52:13). The word Hebrew word here for “prosper” can be translated prosper or act wisely.
Then, we read in Isaiah 53 another usage of prosper, with a different Hebrew term, clearly indicating the sense of prosperity:
But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. (Is. 53:10)
It is hard to see the prosperity in that passage! Isaiah goes on to describe how the Servant is crushed and put to grief:
He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. (53:3)
Usually, we do not equate prosperity with being rejected, despised, and sorrowful. Yet, this was just the beginning of the description of Christ’s sufferings.
A New Perspective on Prosperity
Sometimes Scripture challenges us to realign our thinking. Isaiah has described this Suffering Servant as one who is prospering. I have a hard time putting suffering and prosperity in the same thought. Yet, the Holy Spirit inspired Isaiah to write those very words.
Christians have often described the sense of Christ’s closeness even in the midst of suffering. Perhaps that is the best kind of prosperity of all. MBBs today may leave behind bitterness by embracing the love and forgiveness of God’s Suffering Servant.
For all believers, including MBBs, there is “the prosperity of His presence.” The beauty of this kind of prosperity is that it cannot be taken away. Riches and possessions may vanish, but the Lord Jesus promises to never leave us or forsake us. May you share in this prosperity!
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