REVERSE THE CURSE
2 Kgs. 5:27; Gal. 3:13
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: Doctor humor
1.PATIENT: “Will my measles get better next week, doctor? DOCTOR: “I don’t like to make any rash promises!”
2. DOCTOR: “How are you now, Mr. Gibson, after your heart operation?” MR. GIBSON: “Well, doctor, I’m fine, but I seem to have two heartbeats!” DOCTOR: “Oh dear, I wondered where my watch had gone!”
B. THESIS & TITLE
1. Today we’re talking about curses: what they are, can they affect us, and are curses talked about in the Bible.
2. The title of tonight’s message is “Reverse the Curse!”
I. WHAT (& WHY) IS A CURSE?
A. WHAT IS A CURSE?
1. A curse is a wish (verbal) for evil or misfortune to befall a person, often by someone who feels they have been wronged.
2. Many modern movies have a curse in them – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl; Snow White; Curse of the Mummy; Ella Enchanted, etc.
3. Some people feel like they or their family have a curse on them. There is a popular teaching about “Generational Curses.” I don’t believe that born again, Spirit-filled Christians can be under a curse because, if they’ve fully surrendered, they have a new Master, Jesus. And no one is stronger than He!
4. In some countries where there is Voodoo & witchcraft, witch-doctors are paid to cast spells on people. Most of them are trying to get evil spirits to attack someone. The good thing is, those forces can’t touch Christians; “the wicked one touches them not” 1 Jn. 5:18. We are covered with the blood. We have power over evil spirits in the Name of Jesus (Luke 10:19; 1 Jn. 4:4). Remember, the Lord Jesus gave us authority over evil spirits; Matt. 10:1 says, “Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” Never be afraid of them – they’re afraid of you if you’re in Christ!
5. A HUMOROUS STORY tells about an old man who went to see a Wizard. He asked the Wizard if he could remove a curse he’d been living with for 40 years.
The Wizard said, "Maybe...but you’ll have to tell me the *exact* words that were used to put the curse on you." The old man said, "I can do that, I remember them well. The man in robes said these words, ‘I now pronounce you man and wife.’"
B. CURSES IN THE BIBLE
1. There are a number of instances in the Bible of believers declaring a curse on a wrongdoer for a crime, and these were often sanctioned by God and came to pass: Noah on Canaan (Gen. 9:25); Jacob on Simeon & Levi (Gen. 49:7); Jotham on Abimelek (Judg. 9:57); Elisha on Gehazi (2 Kgs. 5:27); Peter on Ananias & Sapphira (Acts 5:5-10); and Paul on Elymas the Sorcerer (Acts 13:11).
2. However, don’t get the idea it’s God’s will for you to put curses on people. Jesus said, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” Mt. 5:44. Paul said, “Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not” Rom. 12:14.
3. A “curse” from God is very serious; it’s a judgment or sentence on those who’ve done wrong. The biggest curse of God is on those who violate His Law; “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law” Gal. 3:10; Deut. 27:26. This curse consumes the earth & all the people in it, because they sin (Isa. 24:6). Sickness and death are two of the most visible results.
II. CAN A CURSE BE REVERSED?
A. GEHAZI RECEIVED A CURSE
1. In 2 Kings 5:27 when Gehazi, Elisha the prophet’s servant, lied and stole the property of Naaman the ex-leper, Elisha pronounced God’s curse on Gehazi, “Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Gehazi left Elisha’s presence with his skin leprous, as white as snow!
2. But, very interestingly, three chapters & seven years later, in 2 Kings 8:4-6, we find Gehazi in the palace of the King (Joram, son of Ahab), hob-knobbing with the King. Gehazi, who is again called, “the servant of Elisha,” is recounting the story of the woman whose son Elisha healed.
3. Now this wouldn’t be possible if he still had leprosy; “Anyone with...a defiling disease must wear torn clothes, let their hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of their face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ They must live alone; they must live outside the camp” Lev. 13:45-46.
4. The word spoken over Gehazi was “Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” This was an endless curse for a bad decision.
5. Notice how God was working supernaturally through Gehazi. Just as he finished telling about the woman and her son – how Elisha told her to go to another country to avoid the famine – into the throne room walks the woman & son! And she comes to appeal for her property to be restored to her, which the King grants. The timing was supernatural. God was in it. So what’s happened to Gehazi?
B. GEHAZI’S CURSE WAS REVERSED
1. The turnaround started with a test – 2 Kings 7:3-9. Ben-Hadad king of Aram had besieged the city of Samaria for so long that the famine was severe. There were four lepers starving outside the gate of Samaria. There was no food in the city, so they decided to go to the besieging army and beg for food, but they found the camp deserted. (God had made them Arameans hear the Egyptian army coming, so they had fled.)
2. The lepers began gathering gold, silver, etc. out of the tents. Greed had taken hold. But then one of the lepers, conscience-stricken, said, “What we’re doing is not right...we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace” (2 Kgs. 7:9). And they did.
3. The Jewish holy book, The Talmud, says that the four lepers at the gate of Samaria were Gehazi and his three sons (Sotah 47a)! Gehazi got a retest of his greed and he passed the test by choosing grace over greed.
4. The curse was irreversible until a change occurred. It took Naaman the General 7 dips to get healed of his leprosy; it took Gehazi 7 years of famine before he got his healing. Mercy prevailed over judgment. (Yer. Sanh. 29b also intimates that Elisha had been too harsh with Gehazi.)*
III. THE GREATEST REVERSAL: JESUS CHRIST
A. THE TERRIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF SIN
1. [POWERPOINT of the TREE OF SIN.]
2. Before Adam and Eve sinned, they lived in a perfect world; there were no crimes, sickness, or death.
3. But when they sinned, it brought about all the problems of society that we see today:
a. Broken homes e. Addictions
b. Crime f. Hate, prejudice
c. Lust, Pride g. Slavery, abuse
d. War, violence h. Sickness
4. But the fountain of it all, what caused it all -- was SIN! If somehow we could turn back the clock to where sin would be eradicated, so also would these other evils -- including the curse of the Law.
B. CHRIST TOOK THE ‘CURSE OF THE LAW’ ON HIMSELF
1. When Moses lifted up the Serpent of Brass that brought healing to those bitten by snakes (Num. 21:9) – he lifted up an effigy of Jesus Christ, crucified. The poison coursing through the Israelites bloodstreams was a potent symbol of the sin that poisons us all. That effigy healed the poison!
2. In the O.T., God said that anyone who was impaled on a pole was under God’s curse (Deut. 21:23). When Christ was crucified, He took all of God’s curse on Himself as our representative, and paid the full penalty of death. Once dead (which we are counted, in Christ), a person is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Law (Rom. 7:6).
3. SIN ALSO HAS BEEN CANCELLED! “[God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Where there is no Sin, no Law, and no Curse, there can be no condemnation!
4. So in every way, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’” Gal. 3:13; “Having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross” Col. 2:14! Praise the Lord! We are free!
C. THE CURSE HAS NOW BEEN REVERSED!
1. Although Satan has tried to lay a curse on us, God has turned it into a blessing! It reminds me of Balaam, who tried to curse Israel, but God turned his curses into blessings (Deut. 23:5)! Who can curse what the Lord has blessed? God’s blessing, in power, surpasses all other intentions. God has predestined YOU for blessings! You are blessed in Christ!
2. We’re headed for New Jerusalem, our new home, where it’s said, “No longer will there be a curse!” (Rev. 22:3). All curses will be omitted in the blessed realm. That’s your future! Lift up your heads, for your redemption’s almost here!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Sometimes we can think that God is against us and that we’ve gotten the “short end of the stick” (ended up with the worst luck).
2. But in eternity we’ll find that it was actually GOOD LUCK that we weren’t born wealthy, or extremely pretty or handsome, or in many other ‘favorable’ positions. Why? Those people rarely find Christ (like the rich young ruler)!
3. A missionary in Africa met a boy who was missing his little toe on his left foot. He’d been born that way. The missionary felt sorry for him, as it had surely led to mocking from other children, disadvantages in sports, being ostracized from popular social groups, reduced possibilities of work, etc.
4. But when he commented on the toe, the boy said, “The lack of my fifth toe saved my life!” The missionary was intrigued; “How did it happen?”
5. “I attended a funeral in a certain town, where ancient rites are still practiced. The funeral required a human sacrifice, so they seized me to be the sacrifice. But when they saw my missing toe, they said, “A sacrifice with a blemish won’t do.” “So you see,” he said, “my missing a toe saved my life!” [Walter Knight, 3,000 Illus. for Christian Service, p. 223]
6. Sometimes what looks like curses can be blessings in disguise! What a blessing that we can “REVERSE THE CURSE” by depending on Jesus to set us free from sin, sickness, depression, addictions, broken hearts, generational curses, and anything else you need!
B. THE CALL
1. If you need deliverance from anything tonight I want you to stand up and make your way to the front. We’re going to pray and believe God to set you free from anything that binds you.
2. Jesus said, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” John 8:36. Be set free tonight! PRAYER.
* The four lepers at the gate announcing Ben-Hadad's defeat were Gehazi and his three sons (Sotah 47a). Nevertheless, Elisha is censured for having been too severe. He "thrust him away with both hands" instead of using one for that purpose and the other for drawing him toward himself (Yerushalmi, Sanh. 29b).
ADDENDUM: SOME PLACES WHERE “CURSE” WAS USED
1. Curse on Satan...Gen. 3:14
2. Curse on Adam & Eve...Gen. 3:16-19
3. Noah’s curse on Canaan...Gen. 9:25
4. God’s curse on the enemies of Abraham...Gen. 12:3
5. Isaac curses Jacob’s enemies...Gen. 27:29
6. Jacob curses anger of Simeon & Levi...Gen. 49:7
7. Curse on unfaithful wives...Num. 5:22-27
8. God turned Balaam’s curse into a blessing...Deut. 23:5
9. Curses on sin on Mt. Ebal...Deut. 27-28 (if make an idol, dishonor parents, alter property boundaries, lead blind astray, withhold justice, immoral sex, murder, if not obey all God’s laws; including #13, 15-19 below)
10. Gibeah (deceived Joshua) under a curse...Josh. 9:23
11. Meroz cursed for not helping fight...Judg. 5:23
12. Jotham (son of Gideon) cursed Abimelek...Judg. 9:57
13. God’s curse is on the house of the wicked...Prov. 3:33
14. Curse of leprosy by Elisha on Gehazi, 2 Kgs. 5:27
15. A curse consumes the earth & its people Isa. 24:6
16. Curse is on all who don’t keep God’s covenant...Jer. 11:3
17. Curse on all who trust in man...Jer. 17:5
18. A land becomes cursed & desolate by wicked people... Jer. 44:22.
19. Curse on those who do God’s work laxly...Jer. 48:11
20. A curse is on all who don’t tithe...Mal. 3:9, 2:2, 1:14
21. A curse on all who teach a false Gospel... Gal. 1:8-9
22. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us”...Gal. 3:13.
23. New Jerusalem, “No longer will there be a curse” Rev. 22:3.
[Some of Part II was gleaned from a message by Gary Bell.]
