Untwisting the Bible – Part IV: Matthew 7:7

[Berean]

Untwisting the Bible – Part IV: Matthew 7:7, God Is Not a Cosmic Vending Machine

October 14, 2023

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Matthew 7:7 has often been appropriated by prosperity gospel charlatans in a way that has led to some of the most egregious distortions of biblical teaching. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you,” says the verse. In the mouths of these bible twisters, this becomes a blank check, an unhindered gateway to personal wealth, fame, and earthly pleasures. You want that new car? Just claim it in the name of Jesus. Need a promotion at work? Simply ask, and you shall receive. Want to live a life of luxury? The universe, compelled by your bold faith, must deliver. This is a serious and scandalous hijacking of Scripture for unholy purposes.



Let’s set the record straight and put this passage in its proper perspective. Matthew 7:7 isn’t your ticket to a life of ease, it’s a profound declaration about the nature of God and our relationship with Him within the larger context of the Sermon on the Mount where this verse resides. Here, Jesus is expounding on the reality of a Kingdom where righteousness, not material excess, reigns supreme.



This Sermon, teeming with moral imperatives and radical and profound ethical teachings, lays the groundwork for Christian living rooted in the character of God. Jesus talks about prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, all grounded in a humility that seeks God’s approval rather than human applause. He warns against hypocritical judgmentalism and speaks to the issues of adultery, divorce, and making oaths. Essentially, he’s exegeting the law and showing people how it was meant to be used. Each topic reveals facets of righteousness that transcend mere legalism.



When Jesus reaches the point of uttering the words of Matthew 7:7, He is telling us that the door to God’s throne is open, but what we should seek is not legalism, and certainly not material prosperity, but the Kingdom of God. It’s about having the right priorities—seeking the Kingdom of God first and His righteousness, just as Jesus says earlier in the Sermon in Matthew 6:33.


To be sure, Jesus isn’t saying we shouldn’t bring our physical or material needs before God. Rather, He’s saying those things, especially in excess, shouldn’t be the focal point of our prayers or lives. This passage isn’t a formula for gaining earthly wealth, it’s a formula for aligning our will with God’s, for embedding ourselves so deeply into God’s Kingdom agenda that His desires become ours.



The verbs in the original language are continuous in nature—keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. This is not a one-time transaction, but a lifetime of seeking God’s will, of being so in sync with God that we naturally ask for the things that matter to Him. It’s about a life of dependency, resilience, and perpetual pursuit of God’s righteousness.



Even the structure of the Sermon on the Mount hints that this verse isn’t about acquiring earthly treasures. Consider the context. Jesus starts by pronouncing blessings upon the unlikely—the poor in spirit, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. He transitions into teaching His listeners to be salt and light in the world, to live lives so rich in good deeds that people can’t help but glorify the Father. He delves into topics that cut through the veneer of religious hypocrisy, urging His followers to practice a religion of the heart, not of the hands. It would be a drastic incongruity for Jesus, after such ethereal teaching, to then slide into a “name it and claim it” theology of material gain.



Those who warp Matthew 7:7 to peddle a theology of material prosperity are not just mistaken, they are false teachers participating in a betrayal of the gospel message for personal gain. The invitation to “ask, seek, and knock” isn’t an invitation to treat God like a cosmic vending machine. It’s a call to enter into an intimate, enduring relationship with the Creator, one where our deepest desires are progressively shaped by the relentless pursuit of His Kingdom and righteousness. It’s a call to live lives of such magnetic holiness that the world takes note—not because we’re prosperous in material terms, but because we’re rich in the things of God. Anything less would be a grave disservice to the depth and grandeur of Christ’s teachings.

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