MEASURE UPON MEASURE – CURSED – THE RESTORATION OF GOD - Part 6
We continue the third consequence of sin which is CURSE, for sin produced cursing in the earth – the ground, and on creation. Last time we had covered the ruined serenity of Eden, then the results of sin (the curse this time) and we had begun The Saviour’s Road. This is how the Lord identified with the curse, taking it upon Himself. We will continue that and then look at what the Lord Jesus restored!
THE SAVIOUR’S ROAD
The record written of Achan has some interesting parallels to the Genesis account in chapter 3. Immediately prior to the entry of the Jewish army under Joshua into the town of Jericho, strict instructions were given to the people through Joshua, and among those instructions, it was impressed upon them that nothing within the town was to be taken, except the gold, silver and bronze for the Lord alone. Joshua 6:18 reads, {{“But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, lest you covet them and take some of the things under the ban, so you would make the camp of Israel ACCURSED and bring trouble on it.”}} I want to select the clause, “so you would make the camp of Israel accursed,” that is, to bring a curse upon the nation.
While in the town, Achan set his eyes upon certain forbidden objects in the same way that Eve did with the fruit of the forbidden tree. He touched them and then plucked them for himself exactly in the same manner that Eve did. Achan, when caught out, confessed in this vein: {{Joshua 7:20-21 “And this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil, a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it.”
Because of what Achan did, a curse came upon the camp and in the next conflict at Ai, the army was defeated. His sin produced a curse, just as Adam and Eve’s did. So that the curse could be removed from the nation, Achan died for his own sin. So that the curse of sin could be removed permanently, Christ died, not only for the curse, but for our sin that caused that curse.
Before the entry into Canaan, the Lord clearly defined the two ways for the people, setting before them blessing and cursing, where Mount Ebal represented the curse and Mount Gerizim, the blessing. They were told that turning aside from the Lord’s commands and adopting idolatry would result in the curse.
Willingly the people accepted the way of the curse and faced rejection by their God, and death and expulsion. Willingly, Christ in His identification, accepted the way of the curse and faced rejection by His Father, and death. But how vastly different, though, the outcomes were! For the Jews, the promised result was expulsion. For Jesus, the outcome was resurrection and glorification; and for us it is a righteous acceptance by God and His subsequent blessings. The Saviour’s Road was a humiliating one.
WHAT CHRIST RESTORED - BLESSING
This then brings us to the restoration brought about by the Saviour through being made a curse for us, for out of cursing comes restoration and blessing. The curse upon the earth will one day be reversed. Christ’s redemption has already laid the groundwork for the earth’s restoration but while the race of men here now blatantly shakes its fist in the face of God, the culmination of the blessings in this physical world will not be realised until the appointed time. Several of the prophets speak of the wonderful prosperity in the earth during Christ’s future reign (Amos 9:13), and the change in climate (Zechariah), and the changed character of animal behaviour (Isaiah).
The earth will return to its former glory during the Messianic age, but that will be only a shadow when compared with the glory that will shine and the beautiful holiness and innocence when the dawning of the New Heavens and the New Earth has arrived. This whole facet of Restoration will be studied in greater detail in a later section so it won’t be probed any more here.
There is a special significance for Israel too, in the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. Today the Jews are in rejection, having gone the way of Mount Ebal, thereby bringing the curse of God on them. There is coming a day when the nation will repent so the effects of the curse will be removed. Then the overflowing blessings detailed by the prophets will be theirs. Presently, that will suffice for I want to examine Israel’s restoration later also.
Having glimpsed briefly at restoration as it relates to the earth and to Israel, we pass on. More immediate and realistic for us is the regeneration His death has brought to us. We were under the curse of sin. Christ has removed that and has restored blessings in its place.
(a). The first of these, is ACCEPTANCE, for cursing speaks of departure and rejection, so with the curse removed, the way to acceptance has become an open highway. We have been accepted in the Beloved and irrespective of our background, our education, our age, or our depth of sin, we have been brought nigh by the blood of Christ and He has accepted us fully.
{{Romans 15:7 “Wherefore, accept one another, just AS CHRIST ALSO ACCEPTED US to the glory of God.”}} That is a precious thought, that God can love even me when all that is within me cries “unworthy”, but because He became a curse for me, He has forever removed the sad results of the curse and replaced them with such an overwhelming acceptance that we can even be titled as, “the children of the living God”.
Acceptance cements the confidence that sin destroyed. Acceptance engenders confidence and for this reason we can approach God on the grounds of acceptance through the blood of Christ. It is God’s grace that provides the path for the sinner and His grace that accepts us. It is for this reason that Hebrews can say with God’s authority:- {{Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore draw near WITH CONFIDENCE to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.”}}
(b). The second is a follow on from acceptance, for having established us in the Son by a blood relationship, there is then a range of SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS bestowed on us. We are not always aware of these blessings (indeed it is most likely that we will be ignorant of some of them this side of heaven. Paul intimates a similar line when he speaks of not knowing the things God has prepared for those who love Him.). Our sin nature is something we are well aware of. We all have one even though we belong to the Lord, but we won’t lose that until the completion of our redemption, that is, until we are in His presence. Then the fullness of all His prepared blessings will be known for all eternity. We will not know the reality of all those blessings here and now, but it is nevertheless a privilege to sample spiritual blessings from God’s inexhaustible garden.
What passage in the whole of God’s word could describe the blessings which are ours to meditate upon and be thankful for? No passage could match that which the Holy Spirit has given in Ephesians 1:3-14. The cup is full and overflowing. Take the trouble to make a list of the blessings from that passage which are yours to enjoy. They have all resulted from the removal of the curse because He has restored what He did not take away. The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to pour out the truth of blessing after blessing and I suppose Paul could not contain himself as blessing after blessing was revealed. That was indeed measure upon measure. Also we can’t help but notice some of the language used - “freely bestowed”, “riches of His grace”, “lavished upon us”, and “kind intention of His will”.
There are two verses I want to quote from that chapter, namely 3 and 4. {{“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has BLESSED US WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING in the heavenly places in Christ, Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.”}} Ephesians 1:3-4
Can we ever exhaust verse 3, “... every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” How can our finite minds ever absorb the richness of this verse? Indeed Mount Gerizim is ablaze in golden, resplendent glory!
Verse 4 informs us that we are now holy and blameless before Him. No, not in a future day, but now. Yes, now at this very present time God views us as holy and blameless. What a tremendous spiritual blessing, to be viewed by God as having the Christ nature. There can be no glimmer of a curse here, for when He sees us, He sees His Son, for the Son’s righteousness and holiness have been appropriated to us. We no longer need to go around trying to establish our own righteousness, for we have our Lord’s. That is wonderful grace and mercy.
And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Saviour’s blood?
Died He for me who caused His pain?
For me to Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That You, my God, should die for me?
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He left His Father’s throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race;
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.
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No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness Divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown through Christ my own.
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With no condemnation to dread and clothed in His righteousness, we have been established in the heavenly places from where our blessings proceed. Such heavenly blessings exceed anything Adam could ever possibly have known. By the grace of God He has lifted us and established us in a rich place, far beyond that of Adam’s experience. He restored that which He did not take away but He did it in greater measure. The riches of His grace have poured out blessing upon blessing. What a wonderful Saviour! Can we ever thank Him enough?
Alas, and did my Saviour bleed, And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head, For sinners such as I?
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Was it for crimes that I have done, He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity, grace unknown, And love beyond degree!
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Well might the sun in darkness hide, And shut his glories in,
When Christ the mighty Maker died, For man the creature’s sin.
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But drops of grief can ne’er repay The debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away, ‘Tis all that I can do. (Isaac Watts)
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ADDITIONAL CURSES FROM GOD
The curse that resulted from initial sin and which has passed to everyone on this earth, we inherited through Adam, but that was not the end of the curses from God. Some more came in later on, but all have their origin in the original sin of Adam, the first man. For a little while we will consider a few of these.
[1]. CURSE AND BE CURSED IN RETURN
About 2000 years after the creation of man we have Abraham introduced into the Genesis record and he and David are the two outstanding names in Israel's history, and indeed, for the world. God initiated covenants with Abraham, and they have never been rescinded. God does not do that. Here is the one I want to emphasise – God sent him out and God would undertake for him –
{{Genesis 12:1-3 “Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father’s house to the land which I will show you, and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great, and so you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you AND THE ONE WHO CURSES YOU I WILL CURSE. In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed,”}}. The “one” here can be individual, or nation, or organisation such as the United Nations that has embarked on an anti-Semitic hatred for a few years now.
God is very clear. He who curses Israel or the Jew will fall under the curse of God. This is not “maybe” but fact. God will never tolerate the one who despises a descendant of Abraham. I was pleased to see in an interview a half hour ago with a Tucker Carson, Senator Ted Cruz said as a Christian, he believes in (and he quoted Genesis 12:3), even though he did not know where it was in the bible.
[2]. CURSED BE THOSE WHO ALTER THE FIXED MORALITY OF GOD
The next one does not mention the word curse but rather “woe”, but it comes under the curse of God against specific wickedness. In this case it is applied to those who alter God’s morality and therefore corrupt the whole world. Our society has embraced all manner of wickedness and calls it good. The good as found in those who hold to God’s standards, is despised, legislated against and condemned. There are so many examples but for time I will not pursue them here. Isaiah wrote about his matter -
{{Isaiah 5:20-22 “WOE TO THOSE WHO CALL EVIL GOOD, AND GOOD EVIL, WHO SUBSTITUTE DARKNESS FOR LIGHT AND LIGHT FOR DARKNESS, WHO SUBSTITUTE BITTER FOR SWEET, AND SWEET FOR BITTER! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant men in mixing strong drink;”}}
[3]. CURSED MORE THAN ANY OTHER CREATURE
{{Genesis 3:14 The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field. On your belly shall you go and dust shall you eat all the days of your life.”}}
We touched on the serpent in the previous Part but I want to add. There was something exquisite and fascinating about the creation of snakes. We only have mentioned in scripture, the serpent in the Garden, but I think the glory of the created snake applied to all of them. After it became the vehicle for Satan’s use against Adam and Eve in particular, it was cursed more than any other creature. It is a despicable creature, wicked and cunning. I suppose after the Second Coming when all nature is released from its bondage then the snakes are removed from their curse. We read of them in the Millennium in this verse – {{Isaiah 11:8-9 “The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”}}
Let us not dwell on cursing, but on the joy of salvation, on our Saviour who has made all things new for us. His blessings are supreme. We love Him because He first loved us.
