ARE THESE CURSES FOR REAL?
By Richard Burkard
If you attended the Feast of Tabernacles in 2003, were Leviticus 26 or Deuteronomy 28 read to you? The ministers didn't have to read the so-called "blessing and cursing" chapters. I heard plenty of talk about curses, far from the meeting hall.
"THE BILLY GOAT CURSE," some say, kept the Chicago Cubs from winning their first National League baseball title since 1945. (Yet that somehow ended in 2016.) "THE CURSE OF THE BAMBINO," others moaned, meant victory for the New York Yankees over Boston in the American League championship series. (A "Marlin curse" of some kind from Florida seemed to be on all other baseball teams that year.) When the league titles were settled, "expert" sportswriters and ordinary fans were quizzed about whether such curses really exist -- or whether the losing teams simply were lousy.
For a Christian, such questioning should raise a provocative point -- for the Bible has much to say about curses. Do they really exist today? Can they have an impact on the outcome of your life, as they supposedly do on baseball players? Or are they so much superstition, which we need to "get over" in considering how things go in our daily experiences?
An Old Testament Perspective
When you open your Bible, it doesn't take long for curses to come up. God declares the first two in the garden of Eden.
"Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals," the Lord tells "the serpent" for deceiving Eve (Gen. 3:14). He then curses the ground in verse 17, because of Adam's sin. Thus begins a theme presented many times in the Bible: Disobeying God can bring a curse from Him.
The curses potentially affecting Israel are listed clearly in the chapters of Leviticus and Deuteronomy mentioned above. They ranged from physical illness and bad agricultural years to defeat in combat, urban ruin -- and even vicious animal attacks. Daniel expressed this way later in prayer: "All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you." (Dan. 9:11)
The curses of the Old Covenant were considered so real that six different tribes of Israel announced them to the people upon entering the promised land -- and then the Levites mentioned several specifics in a loud voice. (Deut. 27:12-26). Yet read beyond the books of Moses, and you'll find other times when separate curses were issued for other reasons. In fact, it happened as far back as Genesis 12:3, where the Lord promised to curse those who cursed Abram (see also 27:29). Note some other examples, where humans called a curse:
* A "curse of scattering" was declared on two tribes by Jacob for angry fury - and Levi, if not Simeon, received it in the promised land. (Gen. 49:5-7)
* Joshua declared a curse on anyone who attempted to rebuild Jericho (Josh. 6:26) - and years later, God honored that curse in every detail! (I Kng. 16:34, especially in NIV)
* Not long after that, Joshua announced a wood-cutting, water-carrying curse on the Gibeonites for stating a misleading distance -- and he invoked it, personally and roughly. (Josh. 9:22-23, 27)
* Elisha "called down a curse.... in the name of the Lord" on youths from Bethel who taunted him about being bald. "Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the youths." (II Kng. 2:23-24) Coincidence?!
* But in Judges 21, the men of Israel took an oath that cursed anyone giving a wife to a member of the tribe of Benjamin - an oath the nation eventually came to regret and mourn.
The overall conclusion from these verses seems to be that God honors the curses invoked by His people -- or at least by His leaders. But what about everyone else, who were not Israelite?
"He loved to pronounce a curse -- may it come on him," David prays in Psalm 109:17 about wicked, deceitful men. (In fact, the NIV margin suggests the curse already has come.) David elsewhere urges God to consume people in wrath "for the curses and lies they utter...." (Psm. 59:12-13) The Hebrew word for "curses" here is the same one used in Deuteronomy 28:20 - although the context appears to be along the line of what we might call "four-letter words." .
From Jesus Forward
As we move toward the New Testament, we dare not overlook the words of Deuteronomy 21:23: "....anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse." Paul applies these words to Jesus Christ with this amazing sentence: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us...." (Gal. 3:13)
This is quite a statement - and quite a change, for look at what Paul writes three verses before: "Those who depend on the Jewish laws to save them are under God's curse...." (Gal. 3:10, Living Bible) Verses 11 and 12 in more standard translations make clear Paul is talking about counting on obeying God's Law to be justified before God and saved. That justification and salvation is a matter of faith - faith in Jesus, "so that by faith we might receive the promises of the Spirit." (3:14)
One recently-published Bible dictionary explains Paul's mention of curses this way: "....Christ, in 'becoming a curse for us' has overturned this aspect of the law, which thus allows for God's blessing to be bestowed upon both Jews and Gentiles alike." (Eerdman's Dictionary of the Bible, 2000, p. 302)
Some people might look at these verses and conclude the Law has become a curse in the New Testament era, and does not apply to believers today. But other writings of Paul reject that idea. "Is the law sin? Certainly not!"(Rom. 7:7) "For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous." (2:13) Yet Romans also contains these seemingly contradictory words: "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law.... we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law." (3:20, 28)
These passages and this issue have caused major friction and schism in the Churches of God over the last ten years. Another article on this web site digs into that debate in detail. For instance, some might see justification outside the Law in Romans 3 and sanctification inside it in parts of Romans 2. One commentary puts it this way: "Paul does not overthrow the claims of the law.... rather he rejects its place as an instrument of salvation, and insists that it is by faith, i.e. of trustful acceptance of the proffered mercy of God in Christ and obedience to His word, that salvation is achieved." (New Bible Commentary: Revised, 1970 ed., p. 1022)
In any case, we like this explanation of Galatians 3 from The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia:"The violator of the law is under a curse. His doom has been pronounced. Escape is impossible. But on the cross Jesus Christ endured the curse.... and the curse that has overtaken its victim is a spent force." (1939 ed., vol. II, p. 767)
Can curses be doubled?
Mention "curses" to longtime Church of God members, and a different part of Paul's writings may come to mind first. "Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." (Gal. 1:8, KJV) The warning is repeated in verse 9, which led Herbert Armstrong to call it a "double curse" - but he never explained in his telecasts what a double curse was, or how it was different from a single one.
The NIV translates accursed as "eternally condemned." Can someone realistically face this twice? A better explanation seems to come by examining the Greek root word -- anathema. According to Strong's Concordance, this means a "religious ban" or "excommunication" - a meaning which may have developed only in the early Church years. In other words, preachers of different gospels should be kicked out of the church - and Paul's repetition seems to be merely for emphasizing the point.
Yet what did Jesus teach about this subject? "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you...." (Mt. 5:44/Lk. 6:27-28, KJV) And Paul gives the same sort of statement elsewhere: "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." (Rom. 12:14) The word "curse" here can mean "to doom" - so given what we learned about Galatians 1, Paul really does not contradict himself in his writings.
Today's believers are to leave declarations of doom and eternal curses to their Lord. Jesus noted in the parable of sheep and goats He will order some "cursed" people into the lake of fire (Mt. 25:41). The surrounding verses indicate this group is cursed for not doing good works for "the least" of the brethren. (See also II Pet. 2:10-20, especially v. 14.)
What will happen after this final curse of judgment is carried out? With a new heaven and a new earth in place, "no longer will there be any curse." (Rev. 22:3) There certainly won't be a curse of doom, for the resurrected saints of God will have eternal life and will serve God the Father and Jesus the Lamb. "They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.... and they will reign for ever and ever." (v. 4-5)
What You Can Do
No God-fearing person wants to face a curse from Him. So how can you avoid what's described in Matthew 25? Thankfully, the Bible offers several practical steps you can take to steer clear from that judgment -- and some of these steps may challenge and surprise you:
* Honor the name of God in your heart. (Mal. 2:1-2)
* Avoid false gods. (Deuteronomy 13, especially verse 17; 27:15)
* Do not be "lax in doing the Lord's work." (Jer. 48:10; Jhn. 9:4)
* Give tithes and offerings to God, instead of robbing Him. (Mal. 3:8-9)
* Don't curse your parents. (Ex. 21:7; Mt. 15:4)
* Stop sinning in general - because even in the coming Kingdom of God, "the sinner who reaches [age] a hundred will be considered accursed." (Isa. 65:20, NIV margin)
* Help those with low incomes, instead of ignoring them. (Prv. 28:27; James 2:14-17)
* Don't trust in humans for strength - especially not yourself. (Jer. 17:5; Deut. 29:19-21)
* Don't be afraid to use your weapons for shedding blood. (Jer. 48:10 -- though some would say Jesus nullified this in Lk. 22:49-51)
Conclusion
To borrow from Fox News Channel, our God is truly a fair and balanced God - for He sets before all of us "life and death, blessings and curses." But God leaves no doubt about which side He wants us to take. "Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.... For the Lord is your life...." (Deut. 30:19-20)
If you choose to walk in the way of God, some cynics might utter curses toward you (Psm. 109:28). In the world of sports, a proclaimed curse might even stick. But the Bible promises, "He blesses the home of the righteous" - while the house of the wicked faces a curse from God. (Prv. 3:33) May you walk in blessing and not cursing, toward our Lord and the people around you.
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