Curse A curse is a prayer or pronouncement for injury, harm, or misfortune to befall someone. Noah, for instance, pronounced a curse on Canaan (Genesis 9:25). Isaac pronounced a curse on anyone who cursed Jacob (Genesis 27:29). The soothsayer Balaam was hired by Balak, king of Moab, to pronounce a curse on the Israelites (Numbers 22-24). Goliath, the Philistine giant of Gath, “cursed David by his gods” (1Samuel 17:43). In Bible times, a curse was considered to be more than a mere wish that evil would befall ones enemies; it was believed to possess the power to bring about the evil the curser spoke. In the account of the temptation and Fall, God Himself is described as cursing the serpent (Genesis 3:14-15), as well as the ground (Genesis 3:17). Although the word “curse” is not used directly of Adam and Eve, the woman is sentenced to pain in childbirth and the man is condemned to earn his living by the sweat of his face. In the New Testament, Jesus cursed the fig tree, saying, “ ‘Let no fruit grow on you ever again.’ And immediately the fig tree withered away” (Matthew 21:19; Mark 11:14). He also taught Christians how to deal with curses: “Bless those who curse you” (Luke 6:28). The apostle Paul spoke of the law as a curse because it pronounces a curse upon everyone “who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them” (Galatians 3:10). By the grace of God, however, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’)” (Galatians 3:13). John promised that the day is coming when “there shall be no more curse” (Revelation 22:3); all those whose names are written in the Lambs Book of Life will enjoy the abundant blessings of God. There are two main nouns in the New Testament for the word curse. The first is katara (κατάρα.) It refers to an imprecation or execration pronounced upon something or someone. Galatians 3:13 KJV Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. Christ was cursed when He was crucified. He said upon the cross, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which means, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Not only did He receive the curse of the law, but He was for a time under the curse of a Holy God who could not look upon the sin that had been placed upon Him. In those awful moments, Jesus was expressing His feelings of abandonment as God placed the sins of the world on Him – and because of that had to “turn away” from Jesus. As Jesus was feeling that weight of sin, He was experiencing separation from God for the only time in all of eternity. It was at this time that 2 Corinthians 5:21 occurred, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus became sin for us, so He felt the loneliness and abandonment that sin always produces, except that in His case, it was not His sin – it was ours. The second noun is katanathema (κατανάθεμα). This word is perhaps best understood as a religious ban or excommunication. One particular religious denomination in our world makes a great deal about excommunication if you violate its rules mostly about marriage, divorce and remarriage. When the Apostle John wrote about the curse being removed, he was referring to the end of our excommunication from heaven: Revelation 22:3 KJV And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 07:22:16 +0000
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