Blessings and Curses

Deuteronomy is a reference to the "second law," a recap, if you will, of the law given to Moses earlier. Chapter 27 is a bit repetitious. It tells all the ways you can be cursed. Yes, cursed. You can be cursed for carving an image for worship (Deut 27:15), dishonoring parents (Deut 27:16), moving a landmark (Deut 27:17), misleading a blind man (Deut 27:18) ... on and on. In fact, the summary verse is, "Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them" (Deut 27:26). So ... any violation at all. And what does it mean to be cursed? Oh, it is not good. It's not like a voodoo curse or a bad word curse. Oh, no. Read through Deut 28:16-68 and see what Scripture says it means. It is, essentially, the loss of everything and a lowering to the most menial. It occurs at the hand of God and it is, in essence, the loss of any support from God. In Scripture, "blessed" means to have God's face turned toward you (Num 6:24-26). The "curse," then, is the opposite.

There are those who will tell you that sin just ain't that bad. They do so from a deceived heart ("Did God really say ...?"), an inflated ego, and a sense of superiority ... to what Scripture says about sin. The Bible indicates that sin puts us in the "cursed" category. And it is not a place you want to be. In Jeremiah God says (not just Jeremiah), "Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant" (Jer 11:3). And we ... don't. Not that covenant. Not any covenant with God. Sin is not a small thing. Sin makes us the enemy of God (Rom 5:10; Rom 8:7). No small thing.

This is why it is so stunning to read what Paul says about it in his letter to the Galatians. He points to Deuteronomy 27:26 -- "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them" (Gal 3:10), and follows that with "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us" (Gal 3:13). Christ redeemed us. That word means "to buy out of the market." It was used in the slave trade where someone buys the slave off the market and they're no longer for sale. He bought us out of our slavery to sin. How? He became a curse for us. In this, then, we see two things. Christ paid the price, and sin is no small thing. It is, then, astounding that "The righteous shall live by faith" (Gal 3:11) apart from the law. By faith we find ourselves under God's blessings, not by not doing too many "bad things."