Purpose Interrupted
The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. Genesis 8:21 NASB
Curse – Time to put away all those Hollywood images. Time to remove the cultural voodoo, the impotent incantations, the false appeal of magical rituals and realize that the words qe lala (curse) have little if anything to do with the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. In God’s world, qe lala is about diminishing the status of something or someone so that it no longer is able to fulfill the purpose God intended. It’s not the dark arts. It’s not mojo or magic. It’s not the devil lurking in the wings. It’s God’s action – and only His action – that interrupts the purposeful design of His creation. When Adam sinned, God cursed the ground (not Adam, by the way!) so that it no longer functioned as it was intended to do. The ground was supposed to respond to Adam’s care with exuberant fruitfulness. The Garden was the precursor to the land of milk and honey. But something interrupted those plans and even though the ground continued to produce, it now resisted. It was reduced to a status less than what God planned.
Now, after the flood, God promises to never again reduce the ground even further on account of Man’s sin. Is the original interruption removed? No, but no future decline will come at God’s hand. Can Man himself disrupt the fruitfulness of the earth? Certainly, but it will not be God’s edict.
We can apply this understanding to other curses in Scripture, but, as Leonard Coppes notes, “Our word should be distinguished from ʾālâ connoting oaths in general and curses as part of that larger category, from ʾārar (which describes the state of lifelessness (absence of blessing, Deut 27:16), from ḥāram which signifies devotion to destruction or sacred use, and qābab which has to do with actually uttering the curse on something (used mainly in the Balaam narrative and Job).[1] Like most Hebrew words of spiritual import, there are many shades of meaning here. In order to know when a curse is a divine interruption and when it is not, you must read the words in Hebrew. For example, in Genesis 12:3 uses two of these words, yet in English we see no difference.
Perhaps the most significant qualification is to note that God does not curse Adam and Havvah after their sin. In fact, God restores them to the office of priest and priestess (with the words used for “skins”) even though they must now fulfill their divine design with struggle. It’s significant that Job’s wife tells him to “curse” God and die, but she uses the word of “bless.” Sarcasm in a woman who has been diminished by the touch of God.
Topical Index: curse, qe lala, Genesis 8:21
[1] Coppes, L. J. (1999). 2028 קָלַל. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (801). Chicago: Moody Press.
Hi All,
The use of the two different forms of ‘curse’ in Gen.12:3 is very important, and warns us about our attitude concerning Israel these last days.
Gen.12:3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who [קַלֶּלְ]curses you I will [ארר]curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
קַלֶּלְ = be of little account, to be lightly esteemed, bring contempt or dishonour
ארר = to curse (with full implication)
Are Israel and her problems of little account to you? Do you stand with Israel and pray for her? Do you believe Israel is the bride? Do you see dispersed Israel as a blessing to us? Where is Israel in your heart?
We pray for Am Yisrael/Yahudah that the veil over their eyes be taken away by ABBA YHWH, to behold Yahushua as the Meshiach, the Pesach Lamb Who was afflicted and persecuted for our sakes, to be our Goel/Redeemer. HalleluYAH! Amein!
Blessings and love to you, Antoinette, for your zeal for His people, and His Land.
Since we are talking about blessing Israel, I just did a study on the Eshet Chayil blessing (Proverbs 31:10-31) and decide to make a video with the findings. Take a look and please give feedback.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2rDIgzuN8d0dDN3OVp4TnlNYUk/edit?usp=sharing
Antoinette,
Excellent video!
Very well done and very informative.
Loved the additional Hebrew word meanings.
The Hebrew makes one dimensional understanding to 3-D!
Thank you.
Baruch HaShem! Praise His Name! Our ministry is going to be showing this video to some Orthodox Jews from Israel, that we study Parsha with. They are coming to visit us this weekend. I am soo nervous because I want this to bless them, and not offend in any way. Please pray that the Lord can work through this video.
Take a look and please give feedback.
Hi Antoinette,
Very beautiful job and inspiring images!
Antoinette,
Very good video. I can’t imagine your friends being offended, I don’t think they will be. Did you produce this video or your ministry and can it be shared? This is wonderful.
I actually got the idea for it when we were on a night watch for Israel. I was given the go ahead to make edit and produce it. It still needs final approval, so I was hoping for some constructive criticism from new eyes. Some times when one is so involved in the process, it’s hard to discern if the message is clearly brought forth. I tried to have the visual emphasize what the words were saying. But finding Public Domain pictures to say what needs to be said visually, is also a real undertaking.
So in answer to your question, this video will be uploaded to Youtube under Return Ministries when I get final approval, but I may tweek it a little more first.
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/364883/jewish/Getting-Past-the-Mind.htm
That is because the human mind is not the creator, but the lens of creation, where all things come into focus. Until passing through that lens, all is no more than a blur, a semi-morphous idea that could take many different meanings. It is our perception and consciousness that places bounds upon G-d’s thoughts, to solidify them as concrete things. In that process of resolution and definition, we define and bind ourselves as well
Thanks Robin, That was a really informative article.
It kind of reinforces some of the things we discovered in our Paleo Hebrew group this afternoon.
“In fact, God restores them to the office of priest and priestess (with the words used for “skins”)”
Hi Skip,
I don’t see any way of deriving the interpretation above from “skins”
But the following interpretation makes some sense to me:
“Afterwards God clothed Adam and Eve in garments soothing to the skin
As it is written, HE MADE THEM COATS OF SKIN (rug ‘or)
At first they had had coats of LIGHT (rut ‘or)
Which procured them the service of the highest of the High
For the celestial angels used to come to enjoy that light; so it is written
“For thou hast made him but little lower than the Angels
and crownest him with glory and honour” (Ps. VIII, 6)
Now after their sins they had only coats of SKIN (rug ‘or)
Good for the BODY but not for the SOUL”
“restores them to the office of priest and priestess (with the words used for “skins”)” I had thought this interesting, and looked it up, but found nothing close to that too.
Perhaps Skip left out something here. 🙂
Michael, thank you for that further explanation, that really confirms some things for me! Skip loved this lesson very much, thanks you!
Just an interesting FYI – Did you know Hugo Chavez cursed Israel “from the depth of his entrails?” Not kidding. He used the words literally in a speech in defense of Iran.