“The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is clear,
the oracle of one who hears the words of God,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
who falls down, but with eyes uncovered:
how fair are your tents, O Jacob,
your encampments, O Israel!
Like palm groves that stretch far away,
like gardens beside a river,
like aloes that the Lord has planted,
like cedar trees beside the waters.
Water shall flow from his buckets,
and his seed shall have abundant water,
his king shall be higher than Agag,
and his kingdom shall be exalted.
God who brings him out of Egypt,
is like the horns of a wild ox for him;
he shall devour the nations that are his foes
and break their bones.
He shall strike with his arrows.
He crouched, he lay down like a lion,
and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?
Blessed is everyone who blesses you,
and cursed is everyone who curses you.” (Numbers 24:3-9)
In this verse, Balaam, who had been sent to curse Israel, blesses it instead. This blessing is for the Jewish people, and through what Christ did, the promise of this blessing is extended to everyone if we claim it. God will be like the horns of the wild ox protecting us from harm.
Most people think of curses as something a person does formally, writing down the words, and performing rituals. But curses can also be of the “evil eye” variety, someone jealous of your promotion, spouse, child, or new car. It can be someone who took offense at something you said long ago, even when you meant no offense, something you’ve completely forgotten about, but that person is still holding onto a grudge. It can be someone who dislikes you because you have different political views than them, someone who doesn’t like your race, ethnicity, place where you live or any other form of group identity. All these forms of hate operate in the spiritual world as curses.
Scripture carries the promise that when people aim curses at us, instead of us getting hurt, God will step in on our behalf if we ask. The sender of the curse is the one cursed, and God blesses us instead. Jesus gave us a commandment, to bless those who curse us. Something that God wants us to do is break the cycle of violence that the enemy works to keep going. It can be hard, really hard, but we need to let go of anger and trust that our God is the God of justice, and will deliver justice where needed. Our God loves us so much, and promises to give us great blessings if we truly try our best to love our neighbor.
At the same time, we can’t know who God protects, we can’t think, “God doesn’t protect this person or this group of people.” I believe that God’s promise to the Jewish people, delivered through Balaam, still stands and is extended to the Abrahamic religions. But it’s a trap to think it’s OK to hate certain groups of people for any reason you think exempts them from God’s love. One of God’s main commandments for us is to love our neighbors, our brothers and sisters, as ourselves. There are no exceptions to that love, including their religion. Holding onto hate in our hearts acts as a curse, and if the person whom you hate is blessed, God’s blessing for them kicks in, and it’s you who are cursed instead.
Proverbs 4:23 tells us “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Pay careful attention to what’s in your heart. It’s hard, especially during this time when we have the media and so many other groups of people trying to encourage people to hate other people based on their political affiliation, race, gender, religion, nationality, urban, rural… the list goes on. As far as I’m concerned this is a snare, an attempt of the enemy to trick us into sinning by hating our neighbor.
On the other hand, injustice in this world is real, it can be too difficult for us to honestly forgive some of the cruelty we experience. If you find this is the case, ask God for help. God knows we aren’t capable of being perfect, and God will help you to regain the love in your heart. This is why I find value in praying the imprecatory psalms. These are psalms that God gave us specifically because the injustice of this world is too much for us. These psalms hand the wrongs and anger, hurt and pain of our world over to God, and God is the one who avenges the injustice if God sees fit. We are saved from taking things into our own hands and sinning in the process. Holding on to hatred and bitterness in our hearts can operate to curse others and ourselves even if that’s not our intention.
Since we’re human we can’t be so perfect that we don’t sin. To sin is an inescapable part of human nature. To regularly confess that we are sinners and ask God for forgiveness, to daily try our best to forgive ourselves and those who’ve hurt us is so important. Confession and forgiveness is a wonderful spiritual cleansing of our souls that prevents a “yellowed waxy build-up” of old bitterness, unforgiveness and sins that often sour people’s lives as we age. God with great mercy does forgive us if we truly repent. When we are forgiven, it’s much more difficult for curses of any kind to gain a foothold on us.
Here are more promises we can hold up to God:
“Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”” (Gen. 12:1-3)
“Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow,
So a curse without cause shall not alight.” (Proverbs 26:2)
“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.” (Luke 6:22)
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” (Luke 6:37-38)