Some people develop the notion that by being really good and obeying the Torah they will somehow merit God's blessing. Just as the law cannot cancel out mortality and give eternal life, it cannot automatically generate blessings. The law presents God's vision of a good and just society. As such all sorts of benefits flow to a people who walk in it. Obeying the law is enlightened self interest. Blessing, on the other hand, comes from a relationship with God. It is He who is able to save, to grant mercy and to bless. All of these are prerogatives of the Sovereign.
