Bless, and Curse Not: Transforming Curses into Blessings

By Gary W. Grout

“It feels like I take one step forward, two steps back.

Yet some people seem to move from one

golden opportunity to the next.”

Could these remarks be observations of the effects of modern-day curses and blessings? The Bible has much to say on the subject. Bless, and Curse Not will open your understanding to the Biblical principles of blessings and curses. In it, you will learn of the destructive power of generational curses, hereditary curses, word curses, and self-curses. You will also learn how to change, for the better, the circumstances of those you love by the power of blessings. Subjects covered include:

Curses need to be removed

The cause of a curse must be removed

Our responsibility in removing curses

The power and authority of the believer to bless

What blessings can we make?

Whom should we bless?

Identify curses operating in your life

Identify your own special familial blessings

Containing over three hundred pages of Scriptural curses and blessings arranged in tabular form by symptoms, this book allows you to pinpoint the curses hindering you and your family and the blessings to replace them. Bless, and Curse Not by Gary W. Grout is comprehensive in its coverage of the subject, clear in its presentation, and practical in its application to our lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664203242

Gary W. Grout

Gary W. Grout is a gifted teacher with 38 years of experience in high school music and mathematics classrooms. In his Bible classes he explains Biblical truth thoroughly yet simply and demystifies its interpretation and application. He has retired from public school teaching, but still enjoys singing and playing the piano. He is a widower and father of two adult sons. He resides in northern California.

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Copyright © 2020 Gary W. Grout.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or

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written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make

no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in

some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

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not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

All Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-0323-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-0324-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020916026

WestBow Press rev. date: 10/05/2020

To Cynthia Grout, Jonathan Grout, David Grout, and Gay Metz

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT THIS BOOK

PART ONE

Transforming Curses into Blessings

Bless, and curse not (Romans 12:14) is a commandment of God

Blessings and curses are spoken words that come to pass

A curse involves a commandment, and a consequence of breaking the commandment

Curses and blessings have causative power—the words cause the things to take place

The power of blessings comes from authority

The authority for blessing can come from reiterating a blessing already given by God

The authority for blessing can come from familial position

The power of blessings derives from the speaker’s—not the recipient’s—identity

The authority for blessing can come from God’s word given to a person

Blessings carry over from one generation to another

Human beings can make curses that have causative power

Conditional curses

All causative curses are conditional

Conditional and unconditional blessings

Review—what we have learned so far

The power and authority of the believer to bless

What blessings can we make?

Whom should we bless?

Curse not

Curses need to be removed

Confession and repentance remove the cause of a curse

The cause of a curse must be removed

Our responsibility in removing curses

Generational curses

Wages of sin distinguished from consequences of sin

Like father, like son—one type of generational curse

Biblical examples of like father, like son

A second type of generational curse

Harmful effects of our curses on the people around us

The dreadful effect of secret sin on our family

Our personal curses license evil spirits to torment us

A second effect of curses on the people around us

Our curses mark us as easy targets for the enemy

Other types of curses: word curses and self-curses

Hereditary curses

How to detect curses

Replacing a curse of rejection with a blessing of favor—a personal example

PART TWO

How to transform a curse into a blessing

Sample prayer

Biblical examples of prayers of blessing

PART THREE

Questions frequently asked by course participants

Questionnaire: Identify curses operating in your life

Questionnaire: Identify your own special familial blessings

How to use parts 4 and 5 of this book

PART FOUR

Curses and Their Sin Causes

1. Problems with instruction or instructors

2. Problems with enjoying evil, influencing others to do evil

3. Problems with harming oneself

4. Problems with untimely death or calamities

5. Problems relating to fear and the future

6. Problems with suffering the consequences for one’s mistakes

7. Problems with health—disease, infirmity, injury

8. Problems with making poor choices in life

9. Problems with one’s words

10. Problems with perversion

11. Problems with dishonesty or secret sin

12. Problems with family relationships

13. Problems with one’s relationship to God

14. Problems with self-image

15. Problems with reputation

16. Problems with cruelty or hatred

17. Problems with bitterness

18. Problems with others profiting at one’s expense

19. Problems with finances, poverty, or want

20. Problems with lack of wisdom, knowledge, or sense

21. Problems with inappropriate behaviors

22. Problems with abuse from others

23. Problems with anger, temper, violence, or abuse

24. Problems with stubbornness

25. Problems with impudence, disrespectfulness, or shamelessness

26. Problems with rejection by others

27. Problems with pride, arrogance, or an inability to admit mistakes

28. Problems with coveting or envying

29. Problems with obstacles and difficulties in life

30. Problems with selfishness, stinginess, or greed

31. Problems with pornography, fornication, or adultery

32. Problems with mental health (depression, confusion, memory loss, etc.)

33. Problems with authority (e.g. difficulties with employer, rebelliousness)

PART FIVE

Blessings to Replace Curses

1. Problems with instruction or instructors

2. Problems with enjoying evil, influencing others to do evil

3. Problems with harming oneself

4. Problems with untimely death or calamities

5. Problems relating to fear and the future

6. Problems with suffering the consequences for one’s mistakes

7. Problems with health—disease, infirmity, injury

8. Problems with making poor choices in life

9. Problems with one’s words

10. Problems with perversion

11. Problems with dishonesty or secret sin

12. Problems with family relationships

13. Problems with one’s relationship to God

14. Problems with self-image

15. Problems with reputation

16. Problems with cruelty or hatred

17. Problems with bitterness

18. Problems with others profiting at one’s expense

19. Problems with finances, poverty, or want

20. Problems with lack of wisdom, knowledge, or sense

21. Problems with inappropriate behaviors

22. Problems with abuse from others

23. Problems with anger, temper, violence, or abuse

24. Problems with stubbornness

25. Problems with impudence, disrespectfulness, or shamelessness

26. Problems with rejection by others

27. Problems with pride, arrogance, or an inability to admit mistakes

28. Problems with coveting or envying

29. Problems with obstacles and difficulties in life

30. Problems with selfishness, stinginess, or greed

31. Problems with pornography, fornication, or adultery

32. Problems with mental health (depression, confusion, memory loss, etc.)

33. Problems with authority (e.g. difficulties with employer, rebelliousness)

ABOUT THIS BOOK

The Scripture quotations in this book are taken from the King James Version of the Bible. While some view this version as difficult to read, I prefer it for two reasons.

First, it is in the public domain and can be freely quoted without violation of copyright. Because biblical quotations illustrate a large portion of this book, obtaining permission to use each one would be a daunting job.

Second, I enjoy the King James more than all other English translations. It is certainly more challenging than the modern translations, and I must use an English dictionary to understand some of its words. When I do so, I am frequently pleased and surprised to discover that all of the meanings of the English word chosen by the translators are the same as the meanings of the original Hebrew or Greek word as defined in a lexicon. The King James Version offers me more nuggets of meaning than do the other translations.

I also recognize passages from the King James Version more readily than passages from other translations. Because of my age and background, many memory verses and recollections of sermon references to Scriptures are familiar to me in their King James wording. I like the rhythm, the resonance, the poetry, and authority of the words in the King James Version.

If you are not so enamored with it as I am, I hope you will look up the quotations in your own favorite translation to verify what the Bible really says.

One convention of translation followed in the King James Version is that italics indicate when no original Hebrew or Greek word was translated. The italicized words were inserted in this version to give clarity to the English words and syntax—and not to give emphasis, as we are used to reading italics.

Every time I refer to Scripture in this book, I immediately quote the passage. As a reader I have experienced frustration with authors giving only a scriptural reference and no quotation to justify an idea that was either new to me or one with which I wasn’t sure I agreed, and I had to stop reading the text to look up the referenced passage in the Bible. This sometimes inconvenienced me enough that I stopped reading altogether, perhaps to my loss.

Other writers have quoted just enough of a biblical passage to prove their point, including so little context that I was not sure the quotation meant what they said it meant. Again I interrupted my reading to look up the passage. Sometimes I could not read a book anywhere but at my desk with Bible and concordance close at hand.

To help you to avoid my frustrations regarding biblical references, I have given quotations with preceding and following context so that you can decide for yourself whether the quoted verses mean what I think they mean.

My approach may cause you to feel that you must read far more than you wish when you already agree with my idea or premise. To streamline the quotations for you, I have frequently marked in bold type for your attention the words that illustrate the idea proposed in my text. This allows you to skim what might otherwise be a long or difficult passage of Scripture.

The bold type also makes this book user-friendly for rereading or when searching for its key ideas. Words selected for bold type string together in such a way that the key idea is summarized.

Parts One and Two of this book speak to every aspect and consideration of blessings and curses. Part Three contains study material used when I present classes on curses and blessings at my church, along with questions frequently asked by the course participants. Parts Four and Five are working reference tables used to identify specific curses and the blessings to replace them.

I joined a gym two months ago and I am finally able to see some improvement in my appearance and in the way I feel. If I stop going to the gym, it probably won’t be long before my waistline grows and my energy goes back to pre-gym levels. Fitness programs require a major commitment of time and energy, and ongoing benefits require life-long persistence.

Such has not been my experience with removing curses and replacing them with blessings. The quality of my life has radically improved since I learned these important principles from the unseen Kingdom of God—work is better, home life is better, relationships are better, and my relationship with God is a breath-taking adventure. What is more, this improvement came with very little time or effort, it was noticeable in hours and days rather than weeks and months, and it has lasted without any further activity on my part. The curses that I broke have not returned and the blessings that I appropriated have not ceased—in fact they have increased over time.

I encourage you to read on, find out how God wants to change your life for the better, and let Him do it.

PART ONE

Transforming Curses into Blessings

"Bless them which persecute you:

bless, and curse not."

Romans 12:14

… howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing.

Nehemiah 13:2

BLESS, AND CURSE NOT (ROMANS 12:14) IS A COMMANDMENT OF GOD

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Bless, and curse not. This simple phrase is filled with meaning. First, it means that blessings and curses are real things with real power as far as the Word of God is concerned. Second, it means that we are to do the one thing—bless—and not to do the other thing—curse.

It may even mean that we are to undo or remove the curses, or that we are to replace curses with blessings. If we are to be obedient to God’s Word, we need to understand what He is commanding us to do.

BLESSINGS AND CURSES ARE SPOKEN WORDS THAT COME TO PASS

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Looking at the biblical notion of blessing and cursing, the first reference to blessing is found in Genesis 1 and the first reference to cursing in Genesis 3.

Genesis 1:21,22

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

The words, And God blessed them, saying, (Genesis 1:22) show us that blessing is a matter of spoken words that comes to pass. Of course, every word that God speaks comes to pass.

The text also shows us that a blessing is a good thing. The Hebrew word translated as bless can actually mean to bless or to curse—the word barak is translated by deducing its appropriate meaning from the context.

Apparently blessings and curses are spoken words that later come to pass. In the case of God’s blessing, there is a notion of cause and effect.

A few verses later the second recorded blessing of the Bible is written. It is the blessing God gave to humanity.

Genesis 1:27,28

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Here again the Hebrew word barak is used, and again a spoken word causes a good effect. Next is the earliest use of cursing.

Genesis 3:13,14

13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. 14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:"

A CURSE INVOLVES A COMMANDMENT, AND A CONSEQUENCE OF BREAKING THE COMMANDMENT

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God said that the curse on the serpent was a result of something it had done—Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed (Genesis 3:14). In the same passage we learn what was done by Adam to cause the curse that affected him.

Genesis 3:17,18

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

The curse did not come first. Adam’s sin did not come first. The command came first, then Adam sinned, breaking the command—Romans 5:13 tells us that sin is not imputed where there is no law—then the curse resulted.

The earliest use of the word curse shows us that a curse is a result of two things—a command followed by a violation of the command. In the case of the curse to the serpent, the Bible is silent as to what command God gave to the serpent before it tempted Adam and Eve. The command God gave to Adam had a curse tied to it from the beginning.

Genesis 2:17

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

The curse was the consequence described by God for breaking the command. This illustrates the nature of a curse—it begins with a spoken word with a warning, which in turn describes an unpleasant outcome of a certain behavior. To put it another way, the curse comes with a condition for its fulfillment.

In Genesis 3:17 when God described the consequences following the sin of Adam and Eve, God did not say, "Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed, as He said to the serpent (Genesis3:14). Instead, He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife…cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; (Genesis 3:17). Does this mean that the consequence described in the original curse, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," (Genesis 2:17) did not come to pass?

Certainly not. Adam and Eve did, indeed, die—although hundreds of years later. Since the timing of their deaths does not seem to fit the timing described in God’s curse, we might infer that the death process began in that day when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, and continued until they breathed their last breath. The curse of death came to pass. The curse on the ground also came to pass—as the weeds in my lawn continually attest.

CURSES AND BLESSINGS HAVE CAUSATIVE POWER—THE WORDS CAUSE THE THINGS TO TAKE PLACE

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In these earliest recorded curses and blessings, it is clear that the spoken word causes the blessings and curses to take place. God is the one who made these blessings and curses. Of course His word causes things to take place, He is God.

Is there any causative power in a blessing or curse made by a human being?

Genesis 14:18,19

18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

Did this blessing come to pass? Certainly! Did Melchizedek’s blessing cause it to any degree? This is implicitly assumed in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews 7:6,7

6 But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises. 7 And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.

THE POWER OF BLESSINGS COMES FROM AUTHORITY

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This passage also suggests that one needs power or authority in order to bless—the less is blessed of the better. (Hebrews 7:7). Another early example of a human blessing is that of Isaac blessing his son, Jacob.

Genesis 27:29

29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

THE AUTHORITY FOR BLESSING CAN COME FROM REITERATING A BLESSING ALREADY GIVEN BY GOD

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There are several interesting things about this blessing. Part of it is a repetition of an earlier blessing that God gave Abraham.

Genesis 12:2,3

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Isaac apparently had the authority to reiterate God’s earlier blessing. In Genesis 12:3, God said, And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and Isaac restated it to Jacob (Genesis 27:29), cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee It is hard to tell whether Isaac’s blessing had causative power because God had already made the same blessing.

THE AUTHORITY FOR BLESSING CAN COME FROM FAMILIAL POSITION

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Only part of this blessing, however, was a repetition. Isaac spoke a new and original blessing when he said, Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: (Genesis 27:29). This blessing was fulfilled. What a remarkable thing! A human father had the power to speak original blessings over his son, and the blessings had causative power. The power for this blessing seems to have derived from Isaac’s position as Jacob’s father.

THE POWER OF BLESSINGS DERIVES FROM THE SPEAKER’S—NOT THE RECIPIENT’S—IDENTITY

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What is even more remarkable is that Isaac intended this blessing for his other son, Esau. Jacob and Rebekah fooled Isaac into thinking that he was blessing Esau. Jacob thereby stole Esau’s birthright blessing as the firstborn son. Yet Esau had actually sold his birthright to Jacob before any of this took place. The book of Hebrews explains.

Hebrews 12:16,17

16 Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

The power of Isaac’s blessing was in no way dependent upon the intended recipient. Isaac intended the blessing for Esau but spoke the blessing to Jacob, and the blessing attached to Jacob.

Genesis 27:33

33 And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.

The power was in the spoken blessing itself and not in the intention of the blessing. Joseph showed that he understood this when Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Manasseh was the firstborn and thereby entitled to the firstborn blessing from Jacob’s right hand, but Jacob put his right hand on Ephraim and the firstborn blessing went to Ephraim.

Genesis 48:14,17,18,19

14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn. 17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head. 18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. 19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

THE AUTHORITY FOR BLESSING CAN COME FROM GOD’S WORD GIVEN TO A PERSON

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Both Isaac and Jacob expressed their certainty in the inevitability of their blessings coming to pass. Isaac said, yea, and he shall be blessed, (Genesis 27:33) and Jacob said, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he (Genesis 48:19).

How did these men know with such certainty that their blessings would come to pass? Perhaps they had information directly from God—both men heard directly from God before they made their blessings.

God appeared to Isaac and spoke a blessing to Isaac.

Genesis 26:24

24 And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.

Sometime after Isaac had mistakenly blessed Jacob, he called Jacob to him and deliberately blessed him. God had spoken a blessing to Abraham—to multiply his seed. God repeated that blessing to Abraham’s son, Isaac. And Isaac repeated that blessing to his son, Jacob.

Genesis 28:1-4

And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. 2 Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother. 3 And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; 4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.

God had appeared to Jacob in a dream and blessed him before Jacob pronounced his blessings on his grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and on his twelve sons.

Genesis 28:12-15

12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; 14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

Both Isaac and Jacob had encounters with God, and knew they had heard from God. Although some of the specific content of the blessings—made with such certainty by Isaac and Jacob to their offspring—is not recorded in the accounts of the visitations by the Lord, it is plausible that these men heard from God at some point regarding the details of the blessings that they made.

If God had told them what blessings to pronounce, they would have done so with great certainty. And in fact, they did pronounce the reiterated blessings of Abraham with great certainty.

BLESSINGS CARRY OVER FROM ONE GENERATION TO ANOTHER

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The certainty with which Isaac and Jacob reiterated the blessings of Abraham may have come from their understanding of a principle described in the Bible long after their deaths: blessings continue on to one’s children. Moses explains that while curses last for three or four generations, blessings extend to a thousand generations.

Psalm 37:25,26

25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. 26 He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.

Proverbs 20:7

7 The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.

Exodus 20:5,6

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Deuteronomy 5:9,10

9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, 10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

Deuteronomy 7:9

9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

1 Chronicles 16:15,16

15 Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; 16 Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac;

Psalm 105:7-12

7 He is the LORD our God: his judgments are in all the earth.

8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. 9 Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac; 10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: 11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: 12 When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it.

Another possible explanation for the certainty and confidence with which Isaac and Jacob pronounced blessings is that maybe the people of long ago—God’s people of long ago—understood some truths about blessings that we do not understand today. Maybe they knew that a spoken blessing made by a father to his offspring had irrevocable power

Wouldn’t you like to confidently speak blessings of irrevocable power to your family and loved ones? That is the purpose of this book. God has commanded all of us to bless, and curse not. (Romans 12:14).

HUMAN BEINGS CAN MAKE CURSES THAT HAVE CAUSATIVE POWER

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Just as there are biblical examples of people speaking blessings that came about, there are also examples of people speaking curses that came about. When Ham saw the nakedness of Noah, his father, Noah pronounced a curse on Ham’s son.

Genesis 9:24,25

24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

Balak, the king of Moab, understood that certain people had the authority to make blessings and curses. He hired Balaam to curse the nation of Israel so that Israel would not be able to conquer his people.

Numbers 22:2-7

2 And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. 4 And Moab said unto the elders of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. 5 He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me: 6 Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. 7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.

Balak said that he knew that Balaam’s blessings and curses came to pass—"for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed." (Numbers 22:6). Apparently the authority to make causative blessings or curses does not require imminent authority from God. Balaam was no righteous prophet of God. The passage indicates that he was a heathen diviner. The book of 2 Peter tells us that Balaam was bent on cursing Israel for pay.

2 Peter 2:14-16

14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: 15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.

God intervened in the case of Balaam and turned his attempted curses into blessings.

Nehemiah 13:2

2 Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and with water, but hired Balaam against them, that he should curse them: howbeit our God turned the curse into a blessing.

Joshua was another man who spoke a curse that came to pass. After the fall of Jericho he spoke this curse.

Joshua 6:26

26 And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.

The book of 1 Kings records the fulfillment of this curse.

1 Kings 16:34

34 In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun.

CONDITIONAL CURSES

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All curses and some blessings come with a condition that must be met in order for the blessing or curse to be fulfilled. Consider the earliest curse from Genesis 2:17: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. The curse, thou shalt surely die, came with a stated condition, for in the day that thou eatest thereof (Genesis 2:17).

Curses made by the Lord are of this type. Consider the curse made by the Lord upon Cain.

Genesis 4:6,7,10-12

6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

God spoke a conditional blessing and curse to Cain. "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door." (Genesis 4:7). Later, Cain killed his brother, Abel.

Genesis 4:8-12

8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 9 And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; 12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

God said to him, What hast thou done?…And now thou art cursed from the earth, (Genesis 4:10-11). The curse did not come to pass until the condition had been met.

When God pronounced his first blessing upon Abram he also pronounced a conditional curse on others. Anyone who cursed Abram would be cursed by God.

Genesis 12:3

3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

God explained the conditions of another curse very clearly in the book of Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 11:26-28

26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

In this passage the condition of the curse was disobedience to God’s command. The blessing had a condition as well: obedience to the commandments of God. It is important to understand that the curse does not come if its condition is not met. The book of Proverbs explains.

ALL CAUSATIVE CURSES ARE CONDITIONAL

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Proverbs 26:2

2 As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.

This passage stipulates the necessity of a condition for a curse to come about. That is to say, all causative curses are conditional: no condition, no curse.

An example of the workings of this is given in Numbers. If a husband was struck with jealousy and the suspicion that his wife had committed adultery, the Lord explained to Moses a test for the priests to use to determine whether the wife had committed adultery. The test involved a conditional curse.

Numbers 5:18-22,27,28

18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse: 19 And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: 20 But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband: 21 Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; 22 And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen. 27 And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people. 28 And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.

Sometimes the condition of the curse is not obvious, because it is not stated at the time of and as a part of the curse. Consider again the curse that Noah made upon Canaan.

Genesis 9:20-25

20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. 24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

In the case of this curse, Noah gave no command with a warning as to the consequences for breaking the command. The condition for the curse was what his younger son had done unto him. (Genesis 9:24). Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father. (Genesis 9:22). Was it unfair of Noah to curse Ham’s son for breaking a law that had not yet been given? According to Romans 5:13, sin is not imputed where there is no law. Moses gave the law regarding uncovering the nakedness of one’s parent hundreds of years after this all took place. That law is recorded in Leviticus.

Leviticus 18:6,7

6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD. 7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

We may deduce that the law was already known. Noah knew that what Ham had done was wrong. That is why Noah made the curse. Ham’s brothers, Shem and Japheth knew that it was wrong for sons to see their father’s nakedness. That is why they covered Noah, walking backwards so as not to see their father’s nakedness.

If Noah and two of his sons knew that it was wrong to see the nakedness of one’s father, then Ham knew or should have known that as well. The condition for the curse to come about was a law already known to Noah and his family. Neither God nor Noah was unfair.

Was it unfair of Noah to curse Ham’s son for a sin that Ham committed? No, God explains later in the Bible that the sins of the fathers are visited on the children. This is a principle of generational curses.

Exodus 20:5

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

CONDITIONAL AND UNCONDITIONAL BLESSINGS

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When God set before Israel the blessing and the curse at Mounts Gerizim and Ebal, He made conditions for both. The condition for the blessing was obedience to the commandments of God.

Deuteronomy 11:26,27

26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day;

When God blessed Abram the first time, there was an implied condition to the blessing. That condition was that Abram leave his country and go to a land that God would show him.

Genesis 12:1-4

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

While all curses have conditions—The curse causeless shall not come, according to Proverbs 26:2—not all blessings are conditional. Consider again the earliest blessings that God pronounced during the Creation. There was no condition to the blessing, be fruitful, and multiply, made either to the fish and the fowl or to man (Genesis 1:21,22,27,28). When God blessed Abram the second time, that blessing carried no apparent condition.

Genesis 12:7

7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

REVIEW—WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED SO FAR

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Blessings and curses can be made by God and by human beings. Blessings and curses are spoken words that have the power to cause things to happen.

Curses have conditions that must be met before they come to pass. Blessings may be conditional or unconditional.

Curses and blessings can be made by the godly or by the ungodly. Someone who has authority can speak a blessing with causative power, as is the case of a parent to a child.

One can speak a blessing with causative power by repeating a blessing already made by God. And one who has a word from God can speak a blessing with causative power.

THE POWER AND AUTHORITY OF THE BELIEVER TO BLESS

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To obey God’s command to bless, and curse not (Romans 12:14), we need authority and a word from God. We have both—the Scripture just quoted, bless, and curse not (Romans 12:14), gives us all the authority we need as believers to bless others, because it is a command of God. Other verses command us to bless, as well.

Psalm 109:28

28 Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice.

Matthew 5:43-45

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Luke 6:27,28

27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, 28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

1 Corinthians 4:11,12

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