Material Reward It was a common Old Testament belief that righteous people would always prosper materially. They interpreted contemporary wisdom (as in the book of Proverbs) as a universal rule. Some hold this view today. One problem with this theology is that it can induce false guilt and accusations when prosperity does not come (and spiritual complacency when it does come). Job’s suffering provides an example. His friends accepted this traditional theological view. They said that Job’s troubles stood as evidence against him (19:5). They claimed that his suffering was punishment for his sin (4:7-9) and believed that Job’s penalty was probably less than he deserved (11:6). However, God’s analysis of Job’s life proved this idea to be false (42:7-8). God testified to his special relationship with Job and restored Job’s good reputation as his servant. Material well-being is not necessarily in opposition to spiritual blessing. Once we equate blessings with material gain, however, “the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things” tend to crowd out our attention to spiritual blessings (Mark 4:19; see also Luke 6:25). We can easily shift to greed, c...