Promise in the Prophets 3: Eat the Good

  1. 3. Eat the Good

Isaiah 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.

This is a conditional promise: if you are willing and obedient, then you will eat the good of the land. The promise is based on the Law: keep the Law, obey the Ten Commandments, do what the Lord says, be a good boy, and faithfully submit to your part of the covenant. If you do then the blessings of the covenant will come about in your life. Disobey, then the curses of the covenant come into play. This is the embedded nature of God’s Law, the Covenant based on Moses’ revelation. “I will be your God and you will be My people.” You do your part and I promise to keep my part. There are clear good and bad consequences resulting from good or bad behavior.

The Moral Law of God revealed in the human conscience and revealed clearly in the Word of the Covenant is rigid, black and white, and blessings and curses are directly related to the degree of obedience and disobedience. This promise for obedience includes eating the good of the land. Historically, this applies to prosperity enjoyed in the Promised Land, the land flowing with milk and honey. Material and physical and temporal blessing and abundance is promised to the whole nation, the people of God living as a whole in general compliance with the Covenant stipulations. God’s people in the Old Testament lived out the story of sin and idolatry, and ultimately they did not eat the good of the land; eventually, they were taken out of the land.

But the promise is expanded to include all people on earth, and it includes spiritual and eternal blessings as well. The specific promise of the covenant, which Israel broke, is no longer in effect since Jesus came to earth; but the general principle of this promise still applies to all people of all time. “Obey, and live well; disobey, and live poorly.” This is living with hope, or not; it is living eternally, or not. “Eating the good of the land” means for NT believers: “Enjoy the spiritual benefits of the kingdom of God.” In other words: believe in Jesus and enjoy the blessings of forgiveness, life, and salvation.

We can claim this promise by repentance and faith. Jesus was willing and obedient for us, in our place. His obedient life is given to us by grace. Thus the condition of the promise is fulfilled; therefore, the promise is fulfilled. It is true: “Because of Jesus we enjoy the good things of the kingdom of God.”