Answers 15 – Is There More Than One Type Of Curse In The Bible – Pt 1 – David Hibbert.
Introduction
In this series called “Answers”, my goal is to help you, by sharing with you short, Biblical answers to questions that people have been asking me. Today’s question: Is There More Than One Type Of Curse In The Bible?
Most people, when they hear the word “curse”, they think of only one type of curse, but I believe that there are at leave five different types of curses mentioned in the Bible.
- The Curse Of The Law.
The first type of curse, the Bible describes as “the curse of the law”.
Galatians 3:13, NIV – (13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us …
The curse of the law, is the sentence of death that is placed on each one of us, for breaking one or more of God’s holy requirements.
Thankfully, Jesus dealt with the curse of the law by dying in our place, so that, if we embrace his payment for our sins, we do not have to experience eternal death and separation from God. Instead, we can all live for eternity.
- Spiritual Consequence Curses.
The second type of curse found in the Bible, I call “Spiritual Consequence Curses”.
You see, when God established all of the laws of the universe, He established consequences for breaking every type of law. There is the consequence of blessings, for those who obey God’s laws, and there is the consequence of curses, for those who disobey God’s law.
The natural consequence of trying to break the law of gravity, could be falling to your death. The natural consequence of eating very unhealthy food, could be many health problems.
The spiritual consequence of dishonouring your parents, could be a shorter lifespan and lack of blessing, according to Deuteronomy 5:16. The spiritual consequence of unforgiveness, is not being forgiven by God, according to Matthew 6:15.
The Bible actually uses the word curse to describe some of these consequences, in Deuteronomy 27 and 28. Here are some examples of this type of curse:
Deuteronomy 27:15-18, NIV – (15) Cursed is the man who carves an image or casts an idol — a thing detestable to the LORD, the work of the craftsman’s hands — and sets it up in secret. … (16) Cursed is the man who dishonors his father or his mother. … (17) Cursed is the man who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone. … (18) Cursed is the man who leads the blind astray on the road. …
And the list goes on and on, of this type of curse. These are not curses from God – these are just the spiritual consequences of breaking one of God’s laws.
Now, even if you give your life to Christ, and have been redeemed from the curse of the law, IF you do these things, you WILL suffer these curses or spiritual consequences. A Christian who sets up an idol WILL suffer the curse or spiritual consequences of doing so. A Christian who dishonors his parents WILL suffer the curses or spiritual consequences of doing so.
This type of curse is not covered by Jesus’ death on the cross. The only way to be free from this type of curse, is to STOP doing these things, and live in obedience to God and His word. However, since Jesus did die on the cross for us, we have His power available to us, to stop doing these things.
- Word Curses.
The third type of curse found in the Bible, I call “Word Curses”. This is when a person uses their spiritual authority to declare a curse over another person. And that word curse becomes like a demonic assignment, that WILL be fulfilled, unless it is renounced and cancelled. Here are some examples:
Numbers 22:6, 12, NIV – (6) Now come and put a curse on these people, because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.” … (12) But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them. You must not put a curse on those people, because they are blessed.”
Balaam was a prophet, and so had a high degree of spiritual authority. Balak, the King of Moab, tried to hire Balaam to put a curse on the Israelites, so that he could defeat them. God ordered Balaam not to use his spiritual authority to curse God’s people.
For God to order Balaam not to put a curse on the Israelites, shows that God knew that Balaam did have spiritual authority to curse people.
Joshua 6:26, NIV – (26) At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: “Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: “At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates.”
Joshua declared a curse on the man who would try to rebuild the city of Jericho, and that curse would come in the form of the man’s oldest and youngest sons dying.
And because Joshua never renounced and cancelled that curse, that is exactly what happened, almost 500 years later, during the time of Ahab. You can read about it in 1 Kings 16:34.
Romans 12:14, NIV – (14) Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
This verse seems to suggest that every person has a degree of spiritual authority, and it is so important that we do not use our spiritual authority to curse others.
Now, how do we deal with this type of curse – a word curse? There are only two ways.
First, the one speaking this curse must repent of their curse, and cancel it.
The second way is to make sure that we have no spiritual openings in our life, due to willful disobedience.
Proverbs 26:2, NIV – (2) Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.
John 14:30, AMP – (30) [Jesus said] … the ruler of the world (Satan) is coming. And he has no claim on Me [no power over Me nor anything that he can use against Me].
Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience, and so there was no opening in His life that Satan could use to influence Him.
A curse cannot come to rest unless it is deserved, meaning that we have an area in our lives where we are living in willful disobedience, and through that opening, a curse can come to rest.
So unless the person that spoke the word curse is willing to renounce and cancel the word curse, the only way to deal with word curses, is to make sure that we are doing our best to live in obedience to God, so that no word curse can fall on us.
In the next “Answers”, we will look at two more types of curses.
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