Faithful Blessings and Curses || Abrahamic Promises || Week 2 (FINALE)

Welcome back to our “Abrahamic Promises” series, where we look deeper at God’s three promises to Abraham in Genesis 12. Last week, we looked at Genesis 12:2 and discussed the benefits of numbers in Abram having many descendants. We also talked about how we can use the blessings of our resources, times, and skills and share them with others to benefit the glory of God. 

This week, we’ll follow up by talking about Genesis 12:3. We’ll start by discussing the difference between blessings and curses here and what it means to be blessed and be cursed that same way. We’ll close with how Abram’s faith blessed all the future families on earth through Paul’s teachings in Romans and Galatians. 

Genesis 12:3 says this: 

3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you. 

What is “bless” in this context? What is a “curse” in this context? At face value, it seems God will do good things for people who do good things for Abram and bad things for people who do bad things for Abram. Sounds fair at face value, but if God doesn’t do bad things, is this understanding accurate? Let’s do some word studies!

Bless is the Hebrew word barak (baw-rak’) which means to kneel or to bless. We see this word first used when God blesses the creation of humans and the Sabbath day. The form of barak in this context is often defined as a greeting, and more specifically a congratulations for prosperity. The next time we see barak used in this specific context is Genesis 27:29, which says this: 

29 May many nations become your servants, and may they bow down to you. May you be the master over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. All who curse you will be cursed, and all who bless you will be blessed. 

This comes from the blessing that Isaac gave Jacob after Jacob took the right of the firstborn away from Esau. We see almost the same sentence show up almost fifteen chapters later. Balaam says a similar thing when he blesses Israel in Number 24:9: 

9 Like a lion, Israel crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to arouse her? Blessed is everyone who blesses you, O Israel, and cursed is everyone who curses you. 

Again we’re seeing another blessing of prosperity. Abram receives the blessing of prosperity for his future generations. Jacob receives it from his father for his future generations. Now, Israel receives it for their future. What does prosperity mean then? This will be important to know for contextual purposes. Based on the usage of the following word in Genesis, let’s talk about tsalach (saw-lakh’) which means to rush. It means to bring the successful issue of something, either a person’s way of doing things or something. (This all hinges upon how I read the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon. With no proper training on this, forgive me if I make a mistake.) So, prosperity is to find success in how someone does something or in something altogether. Abram, Jacob, and Israel receive the blessing of finding success in people’s ways or things. What could this mean for us?

This reminds me of the idea to treat people right. To share our blessings with others in hopes that they will share their blessings in return. We often want others to succeed, so we’ll try to get them there. In return, when striving for success, we want people to help us similarly. I believe it means this when it says “Blessed is everyone who blesses you.” Yet, what about the alternative? 

“Curse” in this verse is actually to separate words. “Curse” and “those who treat you with contempt” are separate Hebrew words. So, let’s talk about them both. “Curse” is the Hebrew word arar (aw-rar’), which means to curse. This word was first used in Genesis 3 when God curses the snake and Adam. We also see this word when God talks to Cain about murdering his brother and the consequences that come with it. “…those who treat you with contempt” is the Hebrew phrase qalal (kaw-law’) which means to be slight, swift, or trifling. This phrase first shows up in Genesis 8 when Noah questioned if the floodwaters had gone down and went away. God used this phrase when he smelt the sacrificial offering from Noah, stating that he would never curse the ground again.” Another variation of this phrase is shown in Exodus 21:27, which says: 

27 And if a man knocks out the tooth of his male or female slave, he must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth. 

We don’t see anything regarding the word “curse” here, but we’re starting to develop a common theme. Don’t you see it yet? Let me show you another example in Leviticus 19:14, which says:

14 “Do not insult the deaf or cause the blind to stumble. You must fear your God; I am the Lord.” 

What’s the theme showing up? Punishment and consequence. If we look at the concept of “curse” used with the snake, Adam, and Cain, it was a consequence of something they did. If we look at the Exodus passage, it’s a consequence of the slave owner’s action. The Leviticus passage shows us that fearing God would result from mistreating the deaf or the blind. To curse someone then, is to punish or give consequence to someone for their actions. When we look at those who curse or treat us with contempt as the NLT states, we see the punishment diminishing or going away. Noah was seeing if the flood (God’s punishment for humanity’s sinful nature) would go away.

God states that he would never punish the earth like this again. What does this mean for us? God will treat those in a compensatory way with those who treat us poorly. In essence, God will give the person that treats us poor a taste of their own medicine. “Well, Marc! Why would God do that? God doesn’t do bad things.” In this circumstance, is it actually a bad thing? I could argue that it’s not. Allowing someone to understand how they’ve been mistreating you opens the door for growth in that person. Is it foolproof? No. Is it at least a wake-up call? Yes. 

I mentioned that we would talk about faith, which isn’t mentioned in this verse. Paul teaches some connecting passages about Abraham to the Romans and Galatians. Let’s talk about them. 

Let’s first talk about Galatians 3:6-9, which says: 

6 In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 

7 The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God. 

8 What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” 

9 So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith. 

The Judaizers, the authorities of Jewish Law, argued that the Gentiles (the non-Jewish citizens) had to become Jewish to become Christians. Paul is saying that the real children of Abraham, who the audience would’ve recognized as the Father of all nations, are those who have faith and do not keep the law. This is a classic argument in the New Testament. Jesus came to fulfill the law and pay the sinner’s death for us, and what we’re taught is to believe that Jesus did all this and accept him, based on our faith, as our Lord and Savior. There are arguments that we still need to follow parts of the law, especially those that Jesus taught us, but that’s for a different day. This shows the importance of faith in their community. By Paul referring to Abraham, he’s saying that Abraham was saved by faith. Because of that, all believers of every age and nation share in Abraham’s blessings. This should comfort us. Through Abraham’s faith, we can also have a relationship with God and trust in his promises through our faith, which gives an example for our future generations of how to do that. 

Paul has this to say in Romans 4:1-3: 

1 Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? 

2 If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. 

3 For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” 

By emphasizing faith, Paul isn’t saying that God’s law is unimportant. Paul is saying that it’s impossible to receive salvation simply by obeying every law. Back in Abraham’s time, there were 618 laws to follow. In Jesus’s time, there were two. Paul’s saying that our salvation isn’t based on following as many old laws as possible. Abraham believed in God’s plan, and because of Abram’s obedience, God viewed him as righteous. There’s not much more I can say here that I didn’t say before. The idea is that belief and faith that God is worth more than just doing the works through our faith is how we should do the works needed to benefit the glory of God. 

This wraps up our two-week series on the Abrahamic promises from Genesis 12. We’ll take a week to do another “Let’s Listen To” and then start our “brand-new” series called “Being Pulled Apart.” The quotes around “brand-new” are there for a reason: it’ll be partly recycled, but it’ll include new things too. I’ll explain it all in the first week of that series. Until then, stay blessed!