And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
The Holy Bible: King James Version, Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009), Ge 12:3.
The spectre of anti Israel, anti Jew rhetoric is widely abroad, even infiltrating the Church as well. The fact is how we see, how we cultivate in our hearts determines the judgment of God toward us. Here God makes a promise to us, if we recognise how esteemed is Abraham by God, and how we esteem him, will determine where we are in terms of God’s judgment.
To bless Abraham is interesting,
בָּרַךְ bârak, baw-rak’; a prim. root; to kneel; by impl. to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit); also (by euphem.) to curse (God or the king, as treason):— × abundantly, × altogether, × at all, blaspheme, bless, congratulate, curse, × greatly, × indeed, kneel (down), praise, salute, × still, thank.
James Strong, The New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996).
Here we “esteem” Abraham by placing him higher than ourselves, recognising that he is highly esteemed by God. He is endeared by us as being the forerunner, placing his importance in paving the way for us to walk by faith. He is part of the foundations of faith. The father of all those who have faith.
However, the curse is also interesting:
779. אָרַר ˒ârar, aw-rar’; a prim. root; to execrate:— × bitterly curse.
James Strong, The New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996).
7043. קָלַל qâlal, kaw-lal’; a prim. root; to be (caus. make) light, lit. (swift, small, sharp, etc.) or fig. (easy, trifling, vile, etc.):— abate, make bright, bring into contempt, (ac-) curse, despise, (be) ease (-y, -ier), (be a, make, make somewhat, move, seem a, set) light (-en, -er, -ly, -ly afflict, -ly esteem, thing), × slight [-ly], be swift (-er), (be, be more, make, re-) vile, whet.
James Strong, The New Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew and Greek Words (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996).
The cursing is what is abroad today, to make contempt the person of Abraham and his descendents, to despise, and to consider vile.
The marches, the rhetoric is all these things, and God will curse such who embrace this concerning Abraham and his descendents in the faith.
There are cursings in this life and the next. God will resist such in this life, and in the next are condemned to eternal fire, if there is no repentance.
Until 1993 I was not so open about this, I had an unexplained dislike to Israel and its culture, considered that for our faith them to be rejected. It took a trip to Portugal for God for 2 whole weeks to reveal His heart concerning Israel. I have not been the same, embraced those who God calls the apple of His eye.
The accusations toward modern day Israel, and the wars is all demonic. We are not saying that Zionist aspirations have all been right. But there are signs of God’s blessings upon the nation. Consider in the early part of the 20th century, the land was so unhospitable, noone wanted to live there. When the nation was refounded in 1948 the prophecy of Isaiah 35 came to pass, wastelands became fruitful plains. The technological advances, the freedoms, and the sense that God guards that nation, only makes us also esteem that nation, not for its deeds, but for what God says. The many wars that Israel has won, the only truly democratic state in all the middle east, is testimony to God’s purposes.
The judgment is defined by how we see Israel and what we guard in our hearts toward that nation, knowing God’s purposes for her. Let us be in agreement with God.
Maranatha!
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