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Blessings and Curses - Nailing it to the Cross
We are aware that within the Body of Christ an understanding has been released of the reality of what is commonly called `Blessings and Curses', and also that well-respected ministries are teaching on this matter. The usual Scriptural teaching concerning this matter uses as its basis the well-known `Blessings and Curses' recorded in the Book of Deuteronomy, chapters 27 and 28. We too will start from this position, but as we open up the Scriptures we shall seek to finally nail the Blessings and Curses to the Cross. The beginning of Deuteronomy reveals the people of Israel gathered together to hear Moses reminding them of all that has occurred since their forefathers were called out of Egypt: (Deut:1:1-3 in part)
" These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the desert east of the
Jordan . . . that is, in the Arabah . . . In the fourtieth year on the first
day of the eleventh month Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the
LORD had commanded him concerning them. "
As we know, the title of the Book of Deuteronomy comes from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, and it has the meaning of `second' (deutero) Book of the Law (numos). This is not to infer that it is a second distinct Law given by God to Moses, but rather it is a summing up (a repetition) of the Law given on Mount Horeb to the Hebrew people after they had been led out of Egypt. The Hebrew tradition simply calls it `Devarim' - which means `the Words', or even `Mishneh Torah', which means `Repetition of the Law'.
And so we find the nation of Israel on the very borders of the land of Canaan, the Land of Promise, covenanted by God to their father Abraham. It was only eleven days' journey from Mount Horeb, where they had originally stopped after their deliverance from Egypt. There, at Mount Horeb (or Mount Sinai), they had received the Law from God through the faithfulness of Moses. There they had built the Tabernacle and all its furnishings from the instructions they had received from God, the place where the actual Presence of God would be seen over the Ark of the Covenant. And so for two years they had stayed at Mount Horeb before setting out on their eleven-day march to Kadesh Barnea on the borders of the land of Canaan. But because of their grumbling and rebellion the whole generation of people over the age of twenty (with the exception of Joshua and Caleb) had died in the desert wanderings. Now, thirty-eight years later, the nation was back on the borders of the Land of Promise - a journey of eleven days had turned into a life-time of wandering and death for a whole generation of people!
But God's faithfulness to His people is seen in the gathering of the tribes of the nation of Israel `on this side of the Jordan'. It is here that Moses would give this new generation of Israelites a `Repetition of the Law', a summary of what had gone before, a reminder to spur them on to trust in the faithfulness of God, when under the leadership of Joshua the nation of Israel would at last enter the Land of Promise. The unconditional Covenant given by God to Abraham was about to be outworked. God had said to Abram, `Look up at the heavens and count the stars - if indeed you can count them'. Then He said to him: `So shall your offspring be' (Genesis 15:5). So now, `on this side of the Jordan'', the fulness of God's promise was about to be seen. When Abram had looked up at the stars he was without any child of promise, and he could have been forgiven for unbelief, but Scripture records: `Abram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness' (15:6). But now the children of promise were gathered and Moses was about to remind them of the faithfulness of God, when He said to Abram: (Genesis 17:8)
" The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as
an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you, and I
will be their God . . . "
So now we have the beginnings of the outworking of the Covenant which God made to Abraham - the Abrahamic Covenant. It was an unconditional Covenant which God made with the descendants of Abraham - confirmed as coming through the family line of faith, then revealed in Isaaac and on to his own son Jacob, who later became the father of the twelve tribes of Israel which God forged into a nation for His purposes.
However the Book of Deuteronomy (the Words) is no mere vain repetition of words that can be found in earlier Books, for throughout the five Books of Torah we see a development of God's purpose. First, God called a man out of Chaldea, an individual who `believed God, and it was credited as righteousness'. From him the patriarchial line was established, leading to the twelve tribes of Israel being taken into Egypt, but in the fulness of time they were brought out of slavery and forged into a nation. They were given God's Law (His Constitution for His people) to set them apart in order that He might display His Glory and Righteousness to the surrounding nations. Now, here in Deuteronomy, we find again a further development pf God's relationship with those people who had sprung from the loins of Jacob. To see this we shall look briefly at the framework of the Book of Deuteronomy and then we shall be able to understand more fully the words of Deuteronomy 10:12-13:
" And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you, but to fear
the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD
your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the
LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good. "
It has been noted that the framework of the Book of Deuteronomy is based on the form of a treaty which was in common use between a victorious king and his subjugated people in the days of Moses. The purpose of the treaty used in this way was to secure the total and continuing allegience of a people, who were grouped together under the headship of a vassal king, to a more powerful or superior king - this king having at his disposal all the power and authority to maintain that treaty. The wording of the treaty was often flambuoyant and colourful because it attempted to portray a superior authority which had the power to ensure obedience, although preferring a respectful obedience through a reverent fear and awe. The treaty would commonly take the form of an introductory preamble, bringing in the name and authority of a superior king who was expecting unconditional obedience. Then would come the setting out of how the two parties to the treaty came into contact, and the record would include the developing relationship which had brought them to the point of making a treaty, this being read out to the vassal king and his people. There would be a lot of conditions that both parties would be expected to keep in order to receive and maintain the benficial provisions contained within the treaty. And as these treaties were made between pagan nations there would follow a list of their gods and deities who would be invoked to witness the treaty being set out before them. There would then follow a listing of the blessings that would flow to the vassal king and his people if the terms and conditions were met, but of equal importance there would be a list of curses, or (in more understanable terms) the calamities that would come upon the vassal king and his subjects if they did not fulfill the terms of the treaty. The vassal king would therefore be ever watchful, knowing that the superior king had all the power and authority to enforce the terms of the treaty.
If we look at the Covenants of God contained in the Books of the Law with this understanding, we shall find most of those treaty conditions set out - but this time the superior King is God Himself, the other parties being such people as Abraham. In Deuteronomy we can therefore see the framework of a classical treaty which was historically used amongst the nations surrounding the area of Biblical history. However, in this amazing Book of Deuteronomy we find one other ingredient - that of God's love for His vassal people! God chose His people, He did not subjugate them by war . . . He forged them into a nation . . . He then allowed the generation of unbelief to die in the Wilderness . . . but now He led them to the very borders of His Land of Promise, asking only for their love:
" Love the LORD your God and keep His requirements, His decrees,
His laws and His commands always. " Deuteronomy 11:1
But this additional ingredient of love and respectful obedience in the Book of Deuteronomy reveals this to be more than a treaty between a vassal king and a superior King. It reveals a deep abiding love of a God who is entering into a conditional contract or Covenant, which is based on mutual love between the two parties - this was to be seen as a Marriage Contract or Covenant, a Marriage Contract which was in use in the countries of that area at that historical time. As such it shows the relationship that God was establishing with His chosen people, the nation of Israel.
These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel `on this side of the Jordan', and this is the Covenant the people of Israel entered into with their God: (Deuteronomy 26:17-19 and 27:9)
" You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in His ways, that you will keep His decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey Him. And the LORD has declared this day that you are His people, His treasured possession as He promised, and that you are to keep all His commands. He has declared that He will set you in praise, fame and honour high above all the nations He has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as He promised . . . . . Then Moses and the priests, who are Levites, said to all the people, `Be silent, O Israel, and listen! You have now become the people of the LORD your God'.
This is the message of the Book of Deuteronomy - a love relationship coming from a marriage relationship between God and the nation of Israel. You will find this continually appearing throughout the remaining Books of the Bible, and it will explain much of the distress and heartache that overcame the nation of Israel. The remaining Books speak continually of adultery and fornication . . of lusting after other gods and nations . . of the heart-cry of a God who has entered into a Marriage contract of love with a people He chose, a God who longs for a willing response from a nation which so willingly entered into that Covenant at Kadesh Barnea. This, then, is the Scriptural background which is used as a basis for the teaching on the Blessings and Curses in the Church, and we therefore need to set this knowledge into its correct setting. First, we see that Moses was speaking to the nation of Israel and to a second generation of Israelites with whom God was about to enter into a Covenant as they entered the land of Canaan. The second point to consider is this: It was a conditional Covenant relationship! In simple terms, it was an `I will if you will' Covenant, and as we have already said, it forms the basis of a Marriage Contract between God and the nation of Israel. Chapters 27 and 28 are very clear about this, and verse 12 of chapter 27 states:
" When you have crossed the Jordan these tribes shall stand on Mount
Gerizim to bless the people . . . . and these tribes shall stand on Mount
Ebal to pronounce curses. "
Chapter 28 continues: (verses 1:2:15)
" If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all His commands
that I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the
nations of the earth . . . All these blessings will come to you and accompany
you if you obey the LORD your God . . . . However, if you do not obey the
LORD your God and do not carefully follow all His commands and decrees I
am giving you, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. "
Without any doubt these `blessings' were part of a conditional Covenant, the breaking of which would result in the `curses' overtaking this second generation. These were given to the nation of Israel in the form of a formal Marriage Contract and are part of Torah - the written Law given by God to Moses, who spoke to the nation which was assembled to the east of the River Jordan! If we move on in the Book of Deuteronomy we come to a well-known verse concerning `choosing life or death': (Deuteronomy 30:19)
" This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set
before you life and death, blesisngs and curses. Now chose life so that you
and your children may live. "
Again this verse needs to be set within the whole context of the Mosaic Law, which was a conditional Covenant - one that required a response, and a continual positive outworking of that response to ensure continual blessings for the nation of Israel. We also see Moses himself (who is often portrayed as a foreshadowing or type of the Law) would not be allowed to enter the Land of Promise. The land must be entered by faith and under the leadership of another man! The verses from Deuteronomy 30 could well be called `a Statement of Intent', which demanded a willing rsponse. The nation was then led into God's promise by another man, a man of faith, whose name had to be changed from Hosea to Joshua - this name having the same root meaning as that of `Jesus', which is `God's salvation'! Clearly the need of a response and an act of faith are being revealed here to those who would cross over the River Jordan into God's promises. Moses, as a type of the Law, had indeed `been put in charge to lead them (us) to Christ' (Galatians 3:24).
This leads us straight to the New Covenant relationship which is recorded in Jeremiah 31:31 and Ezekiel 36. With this background we can now place the New Covenant, spoken of through Jeremiah, into its correct contextual setting. As before, this Covenant is made with `the house of Israel and with the house of Judah' and is clearly revealed to be a New Covenant - a new marriage relationship entered into with the nation of Israel. And as we read through the appropriate Scriptures we will see that it is a totally unconditional Covennat which has been made: (Jeremiah 31:33b)
" I will put My Law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be
their God, and they will be My people. "
Ezekiel speaks of a new spirit within a heart of flesh, revealing that it is totally the work of God within the hearts of His beloved `Wife' - the nation of Israel! It is into the Olive Tree, that is Israel (who have been promised this New Covenant), that we, the believers in Jesus, have been grafted. The wild olive branches, together with the natural branches, both grafted into the Olive Tree, draw strength from the sap of the Root (the Abrahamic Covenant), and it is this which the Apostle Paul clearly reveals in his Letter to the Romans! Returning to Deuteronomy we are now ready to cross over the Jordan under the new leader, Joshua - and here we come to a difficulty, for we still find the old conditional Covenant being confirmed within the Land of Promise under a man of faith, Joshua, whose very name means `God's salvation': (Joshua 1:6-7)
" Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the
land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous.
Be careful to obey all the Law My servant Moses gave you. Do not turn
from it to the right or to the left that you may be successful wherever you go. "
Furthermore, the Book of Joshua reveals that the old Conditional Covenant was confirmed in front of Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal in the Land of Promise: (Joshua 8:32-33)
" There in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua copied on stones the Law of Moses, which he had written. All Israel, aliens and citizens alike, with their elders, officials amd judges, were standing on both sides of the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, facing those who carried it - the priests, who were Levites. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel. "
Clearly we have a problem here: The conditional Law had been taken by Joshua (God's salvation) into the Land of Promise and had been confirmed in the Land of Promise - the conditional Covenant had touched the foreshadowing of the New Covenant (seen in Joshua and the Land of Promise). We therefore have to ask the question: Can we apply this message of Blessings and Curses to the Church of the Redeemed? - and clearly, from the types, the foreshadowings which have been recorded here, we see that it does indeed carry over into the `Church Age'! The conditional Covenant has touched the unconditional Covenant (as we have seen in the Scriptures recorded here). Now we need to see how it applies to the `Church of the First-born', the disciples of Jesus today. Paul's Letter to the Romans clearly reveals in chapters 9 to 11 that the disciples of Jesus are grafted into the Olive Tree, which is Israel: (Romans 11:17-18)
" If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive
olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the
nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If
you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. "
It is commonly agreed that these verses refer to the ingrafting of the believers in Jesus into the promises of God given to the nation of Israel, which are rooted in the unconditional Covenant promise given to Abraham (the Abrahamic Covenant). Because of this the disciples of Jesus are also grafted into the New Covenant (spoken of in Jeremiah and Ezekiel) where we now enjoy all the spiritual blessings of that unconditional Covenant as we wait with certain hope for the complete physical, emotional and spiritual fulfillment of that New Covenant which was given to `the house of Israel and the house of Judah'. But we need to confirm this further through Scripture, and moving back into an earlier chapter of Paul's Letter to the Romans we read: (Romans 6:3-4)
" Or don't you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were
baptised into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism
into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the
glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. "
Paul's Letter to the Galatians also confirms this: (Galatians 2:20)
" I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
and gave Himself for me. "
These Scriptures - and in particular the passage from Romans - are not referring to water baptism. They are speaking of the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit, who baptises believers into their inheritance in Christ Jesus who has become their Salvation! In Him the new believer is carried into the `promised land' and, as recorded in Ephesians 1:13:
" You also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the Gospel
of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the
promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the
redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of His Glory. "
Earlier on Paul writes: (Ephesians 1:3)
" Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed
us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. "
With these Scriptures in mind we can know with certainty that we are in the Land of Promise, in our Salvation Who is Christ Jesus, and enjoy now every spiritual blessing (through entering into the New Covenant as wild olive shoots) in the promise given to the nation of Israel. This New Covenant is an unconditional Covenant of God - there are no conditions attached to it whatsoever! It is `by grace through faith that we are saved' and not by any work of man. In Christ Jesus we who have believed in Him are in our inheritance now, and we enjoy all the spiritual blessings of the New Covenant as we wait `until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of His Glory'!
We would now turn our thoughts to the `Curses' - and once again Paul dealt with this problem in his Letter to the Galatians. They were being persuaded by a Judaic/Christian sect into believing that God's grace in Jesus needed to be combined with the Mosaic Law: (3:13)
" Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us,
for it is written: `Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree'. "
Again Paul, writing this time to the Corinthian Church, reveals that Jesus has become our righteousness by taking the curse of sin upon Himself: (2 Corinthians 5:21)
" God made Him who had no sin to be a sin offering for us, so that in Him
we might become the righteousness of God. "
By taking the burden of sin upon Himself Jesus removed the curse of the conditional Law, and through His redemptive work God placed us into the blessings of God in Christ Jesus: (1 Corinthians 12:13)
" For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one Body - whether Jews or
Greeks, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. "
Returning to Paul's Letter to the Galatians we read: (Galatians 3:14)
" He redeemed us in order that the blessings given to Abraham might come
to the Gentiles, through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive
the promise of the Spirit. "
Paul then reveals that through that redemption: (Galatians 3:29)
" If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to the promise. "
In Christ Jesus there are no curses emanating from the Law that can affect the believers in Jesus. We are heirs to the promise . . we are Abraham's seed in Christ Jesus! This is the result of being brought into the unconditional New Covenant of God - spoken of by the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel - which has been fulfilled, completed and satisfied in Christ Jesus. There is no place in Him for the continuous searching for the well-hidden roots of family curses! But there is every reason in Him to give thanks to God for the spiritual blessings that are now ours because we are in the Land of Promise in Christ Jesus! In the Body of Christ there is an unhealthy desire to look for what is no longer there. If we believe the Word of God we know we have been placed into a new life . . and His Name is Jesus! We are a new creation . . our lives are now hidden with Christ in God! `Blessings all mine, and ten thousand besides' says the old hymn!
With that understanding we can now move deeper into our inheritance. We do not need to continually look for curses, but we do need to accept the gentle work of the Holy Spirit as He cuts off the `dead branches' of our flesh life that constantly war against the Spirit. It is no longer `gratifying the desires of the sinful nature', but allowing the fruit of the Spirit to grow: (Galatians 5:22-26)
" For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no
law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with
its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step
with the Spirit. "
The true deliverance that will set us free is the heart-knowledge of whom we are in Christ Jesus, for He has become our Salvation! We are free from the curse of the Law and alive to the spiritual blessings that are found in Him.
We finish with the triumphant words of Paul to the Romans: (Romans 8:12-17)
" Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation - but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God! For you did not receive a spirit that makes you again a slave to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, `Abba, Father'. The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now, if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may share in His Glory. "
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You may E-mail us at: derek@northernstyletrust.com or Telephone (01493) 444494 (UK)
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