Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Blessing and Cursing

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Like a lion, Israel crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to arouse her?  Blessed is everyone who blesses you, O Israel, and cursed is everyone who curses you.”  King Balak flew into a rage against Balaam.  He angrily clapped his hands and shouted, “I called you to curse my enemies!  Instead, you have blessed them three times.  Now get out of here!  Go back home!  I promised to reward you richly, but the Lord has kept you from your reward.”  Numbers 24:9-11

Balak, the king of Moab, who was a sworn enemy of Israel, hired the prophet Balaam to work some magic prior to the battle that was coming.  Balaam liked getting paid for his dirty work, but when he opened his mouth, there came no curses against Balak’s enemy, Israel; instead, out came judgment against Moab, infuriating the king, who then refused to pay the prophet.
For some inexplicable reason (other than evil) ever since God blessed Abraham with the promise that his heritage would be a kingdom of God’s people forever, nations have been trying to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.  It didn’t work for Pharaoh, who seemed to have all the power, but got clobbered by the slave nation he tried to punish.  It didn’t work for the Philistines, or the city of Jericho trying to stand against God’s people.  Adolph Hitler thought he was exterminating Jews; he didn’t realize he was bringing down his house of cards on his head.  In the end he cowered and committed suicide in his bunker.  Time after time, often at great odds, Israel has survived and been the emblem of God’s promises kept.
God loves Israel with an everlasting love; Scripture calls her the apple of His eye.  Cursing Israel is something no thinking person who believes in God would ever want to do.  You might as well shake your fist towards Heaven and try to threaten the Almighty.  That’s never a fair fight and doesn’t end pretty! 
However, cursing the nation of Israel is only a microcosm of what plays out on a worldwide scale in humanity’s collective rebelliousness against Israel’s God.  Just as in Noah’s day when the entire earth had forsaken God, living in anger, chaos, selfishness, and utter disregard for the God who had created them, our culture presumes we have the answer for any problem which faces us.  We get along quite comfortably without God, thank you.  Technology is our new Balaam, prophesying prosperity, ease, and entertainment to soothe the empty places in our souls.
Someday the paid Apple or Android prophet will open the app of our choice, but instead of entertaining us, what will come forth is God’s judgment reality of conviction; no one will like it or believe it, but denial never stopped truth from being truth.  Thinking to heap blessing to our own lives by cursing God’s commandments, we will reap a whirlwind of judgment.
For You Today
Even in a day of swift judgment, those who honor God by accepting truth, believing truth, and living in truth can (and will) be saved.  Blessing, not cursing Israel or Israel’s Lord, God, Jehovah, is a matter of living in truth with His Son, Jesus, and being led by His Spirit.
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com  
             Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©

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