3. Blessings and Cursings

A. Abraham

In the previous lessons, we surveyed much of the OT to gain a feel for the range of connotations, contexts and trajectories associated with the Covenant concept.

One of the aspects often associated with Covenant that we discovered was the notion of blessings and cursings.

Today the main focus will be on blessing and cursing in the case of Abraham. We will tie this back to the creation narrative, and, if time allows, show a typical application in the Levitical law.

1. Gen. 12: The initial contact

Turn with me to Gen. 12.

In Gen. 12, we read of the first encounter between God and Abraham. Here, covenant is not yet explicitly mentioned: that will come in chapter 15 and 17. But there are two things to note: (1) the blessing/cursing theme is delivered; (2) the same two elements are promised that are later ratified as covenant.

Genesis 12:1 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.

Note the things that are promised here: a land, a great nation, a great name, and a blessing.

I submit that the great name is a consequence of the first two: having the land and fathering a great nation.  There are basically two things that are chiefly promised here: land and progeny.

This should ring some bells. Listen as I read Gen 1:28

Gen 1:28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

This is the first words of God to man. It is sometimes called the creation or dominion mandate. Note the two elements: (1) be fruitful and multiply; (2) fill the earth, and subdue it. Note also it is in the context of blessing.

In other words, the two things man was assigned to do at the very beginning had to do with land and progeny.

Fast forward. There is sin, murder, strife. The flood. The Tower of Babel. The division of humanity. Then we come to Gen. 12. And the same two elements are initiated with Abraham by God.

There is a subtle difference in mode. In Genesis 2, God commands. In Genesis 12, God promises. Humanity’s utter failure in the intervening time has shown that it must be the grace of God that lifts humanity up and makes it to fulfill its destiny.

Now continue reading in Gen. 12, from verse 4. Note how this passage will again summarize in progeny (seed, children) and land:

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. (and so forth…) 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.

It is worthwhile to not just breeze through these passages, but stop and feel the pain of the actors. Land and progeny were commanded in the beginning and now promised; but meanwhile, Abraham is homeless and childless. Let’s summarize the situation so far:

2. Gen. 15: Covenant with Abraham

Turn now to Gen. 15

As we read the initiation of the covenant with Abraham in Gen. 15, continue to keep the dominion mandate in mind, which was given to Adam and Eve at the beginning, and the elements of which were promised to Abraham back in Gen. 12. In other words, we have the same two themes but now in the context of covenant.

Gen 15:1-6 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great." 2 And Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what wilt Thou give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "Since Thou hast given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir." 4 Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; but one who shall come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir." 5 And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." 6 Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

So here we see with poignant clarity the matter of having a child. Now it continues with the land element:

Gen 15: 7-8 And He said to him, "I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it." 8 And he said, "O Lord GOD, how may I know that I shall possess it?"

The twin blessings in God’s first approach to Abraham directly echo the mandate of Genesis 1. This is a clue that it is worth taking careful notice of.  Let us look at each a bit more closely.

a. Progeny

In the first approach to Abraham in Gen. 15, God promises a huge progeny to Abraham. This is set in contrast to their childlessness up to that point.

Why was the promise of a progeny a great thing.

            a natural inward impulse

            the promise of the seed [Gen. 3]

            the division of humanity [the genealogies]

In respect to the last one named, consider the context in which we first learn that Sarah is barren. Turn to Gen 11.

Read from Gen 11:8 (conclusion of Babel) for a while in the genealogies.

And finally, starting with v 26:

Genesis 11:26 And Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. 27 Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot. 28 And Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30 And Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

Again and again in the story of the patriarchs, barrenness is practically the center of the story. It happens again with Isaac. It happens again in the rivalry between Rachel and Leah.

Then we need to remember that just as fecundity is promised as something to be given by God, a little bit of reflection shows that the barrenness was also of God. God was the “author” both of the barrenness and the fecundity promised.

Now, this point should be obvious to those that understand God’s sovereignty. But still, it might be interesting to turn to a passage where God’s initiative is brought out clearly, along with a tie back to Creation:

Think of Hannah (I Sam. 2:1-10). Hannah, recall, became the mother of the prophet Samuel, but she first had to struggle with barrenness.  Note how in her song she specifically ties both her coming joy and her past barrenness to God; and this duality is anchored by reference to creation:

Then Hannah prayed and said,

My heart exults in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Thy salvation. There is no one holy like the LORD, Indeed, there is no one besides Thee, Nor is there any rock like our God. Boast no more so very proudly, Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; For the LORD is a God of knowledge, And with Him actions are weighed.

[now observe the sequence of contrasts:]  if * then add to list

*4 "The bows of the mighty are shattered, But the feeble gird on strength. [ref 3]

*5 "Those who were full hire themselves out for bread, But those who were hungry cease to hunger. [ref 4]

**Even the barren gives birth to seven, But she who has many children languishes.  [ref 2]

*6 "The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. [ref 5]

*7 "The LORD makes poor and rich;  [ref 6]

* He brings low, He also exalts. [ref 7]

8 "He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor;

[tie to creation:]

For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, And He set the world on them.

[tie to eschatology:]

9 "He keeps the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness; For not by might shall a man prevail. 10 "Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered; Against them He will thunder in the heavens, The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; And He will give strength to His king, And will exalt the horn of His anointed."

So we see a certain pattern:

In Abraham’s case at least, the privation was itself created by God.

He creates an absence, then creates a need, then fills that need.

But it doesn’t “just happen.” The personal, the cognitive, enters in: covenant.

b. Land

(Refer back to the Gen 15 covenant with Abraham reference to land)

Exodus 6:2-8

God spoke further to Moses and said to him, "I am the LORD; 3 and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, LORD, I did not make Myself known to them. 4 "And I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned.

[note here that the bondage is problem because of not affording the chance to occupy the land in view of the mandate; i.e. not because lounging around on your estate is something God concerns himself with:]

5 "And furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage; and I have remembered My covenant. 6 "Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 'Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 'And I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the LORD.' "

Compare later, when the Lord reiterates both the possession theme and the land, the land tied back to ownership by God by virtue of (again) Creation:

Exodus 19:5 'Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;

Here the blessing is again tied to ownership of land or earth. It is referenced to God as the ultimate owner. As we saw in Hannah’s song, the ownership is by right of creation.

In all this we see a positive/negative duality; it is always tied to creation, and to covenant. This accounts fro the structure of reality in its dualities. (As an aside, this insight gives a hook for discussions with those captivated by Eastern Philosophy. The ying/yang duality of the universe is a true insight; but it lacks a person behind it that creates the dualities by the structure of his word; it is thus unable to account for itself.)

B. The giving of the law, Leviticus 26

In this passage, we have the explicit tie-in to covenant.

1. The good

We continue to fill in the table.

Leviticus 26:3 'If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out, 4 then

(1) Rains in their season: so land will yield: (cf Gen. 2)

I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. 5 'Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. You will thus eat your food to the full and live securely in your land.

(2) Peace (cf Cain and Abel, Gen. 4)

(a) with men (ref 8)

6 'I shall also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble.

(b) with beast (recall the beasts were to be placed under Adam; but as a curse, they come creeping back) (ref 9)

I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land,

(3) Conquest over enemies (ref 10)

and no sword will pass through your land. 7 'But you will chase your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword; 8 five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.

(4) Many offspring; and other fruitfulness

9 'So I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm My covenant with you. 10 'And you will eat the old supply and clear out the old because of the new.

(5) Presence of God himself (ref 11)

11 'Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. 12 'I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. 13 'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you should not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

2. The bad

14 'But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments, 15 if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant, 16 I, in turn, will do this to you:

            Sickness, bad crops, enemies conquer

I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that shall waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you shall sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies shall eat it up. 17 'And I will set My face against you so that you shall be struck down before your enemies; and those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when no one is pursuing you.

And Again

18 'If also after these things, you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. 19 'And I will also break down your pride of power; I will also make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze. 20 'And your strength shall be spent uselessly, for your land shall not yield its produce and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit. 21 'If then, you act with hostility against Me and are unwilling to obey Me, I will increase the plague on you seven times according to your sins.

Beasts; bereavement of children

22 'And I will let loose among you the beasts of the field, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your cattle and reduce your number so that your roads lie deserted.

Again

23 'And if by these things you are not turned to Me, but act with hostility against Me, 24 then I will act with hostility against you; and I, even I, will strike you seven times for your sins. 25 'I will also bring upon you a sword which will execute vengeance for the covenant; and when you gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you, so that you shall be delivered into enemy hands. 26 'When I break your staff of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will bring back your bread in rationed amounts, so that you will eat and not be satisfied.

Again; will eat children

27 'Yet if in spite of this, you do not obey Me, but act with hostility against Me, 28 then I will act with wrathful hostility against you; and I, even I, will punish you seven times for your sins. 29 'Further, you shall eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters you shall eat.

Hostility of God

30 'I then will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and heap your remains on the remains of your idols; for My soul shall abhor you.

We will see the blessing/cursring theme again and again in Scripture, but what we have talked about today should suffice to give an orientation.

C. What are Blessings and Cursings?

We already know what they are; or do we?

Here, the question is not yet, what things are promised as blessing or curse, but rather: what does it mean to have a blessing or a curse as such?

The Key Point about Blessings and Cursings

1. They come into potential existence by word; the Word of God. This Word creates a reality imbued with this potentiality.
2. The differentiation of the two realities—the blessed one and the cursed one—is defined by Word of God, not nature
3. Likewise, the eventuation of this reality or the other, is by the direction of God, not by some kind of “natural law.”

The first point highlights the futurity of the word given. The blessing or curse does not exist yet, but it is promised. Before its delivery, it embues historical reality with its structure as a potentiality. Because this potentiality rests on the word of God, however, it is certain and therefore just as real, though not yet actual, as the “real.”

The logical structure is “either A or B,” in the sense (exclusive-or) that one and only one of the disjuncts will obtain. The logic is thus not as in “I have a baseball or a basketball,” but nor are they contradictories. They are contraries: they cannot both be true. It is something like: “For dinner, I have a steak or a piece of moldy bread.”

Here, the future tense of the pronouncement means that it is a present certainty that I will have a steak or a piece of moldy bread. The proposition, taken as a conjoint statement is a present certainty as to what will obtain in the future.

Note that it is not accurate to say that it is a present certainty that “Necessarily, I will have a steak” or “Necessarily, I will have a piece of moldy bread.” But rather, “Necessarily, I will have a steak or a piece of moldy bread.”

The second point emphasizes that the two potential realities (blessing, cursing) are themselves not something “built into nature” but rather they are spoken into being by the Word of God.

The third point is that God promises to personally bring one of these realities to pass. There is no hint that this is an insight into “how the universe works” in some kind of stoic or epicurean sense.

The Epicureans touted a moderate lifestyle so that pleasure could be maximized. This was based on a wise insight into how the world works: excessive pleasure can lead to pain. The viewpoint proferred by Scripture is in sharp contrast to this.

In other words, the blessings and cursings are not at all of the type of “natural law” maxims that might be commonly heard:

• “if you drink too much you will lose brain cells and become stupid”
• “a stitch in time saves nine”
• “nothing ventured, nothing gained”

Instead, the blessings and cursings promise a reality out of accord with what might be expected by observing “nature” or the “ways of men.” It is a reality that is independent of what science or observation would predict, but unlike the latter, it is certain, because created directly by the Word of God.

The blessings and cursings are

• specific
• go in positive/negative pairs
• The negative can be privation, or a twisting of good things
• Key in to Creation themes, esp. Gen. 1-5
• Both privation and giving are from God
• Presence and absence of God are the telos