Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee

Genesis 12:1-3
Now YHWH had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 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.

Genesis 27:28-29
Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: 29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

Numbers 24:3-9
And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: 4 He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: 5 How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! 6 As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which YHWH hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. 7 He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. 8 God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. 9 He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.

Today many a Christian will use the scriptures listed above as a golden rule mainly to support the Jewish Israeli state in the Middle East. They will cite these scriptures to explain why they send money and lobby political support for the modern State of Israel and the Jewish people as “the nation of Israel.” They will often support Israel to the point that the State of Israel and the Israeli government almost as if they can do no wrong. Christians rarely criticize Israel for its actions in the world today, instead repeat the Words of God’s blessing.

The question that must be asked is, have the scriptures been overly used by and misconstrued by most Christians who use them to justify their support of the Jewish state in the Middle East?

A close examination of the scriptures reveals that YHWH God has made the blessing on three distinct occasions in the Bible, the first of which is on Abram, whose name was later changed by YHWH to Abraham.

YHWH specifically blessed Abraham.

Genesis 22:15-18
And the angel of YHWH called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith YHWH, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

The blessing in Genesis 12 pertains to Abram whom YHWH said “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.”

In Abraham, and from his loins, shall be a blessing to all the world. We can see this promised by YHWH in Genesis 22:18 “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed…”

This blessing upon all the world would take place through Abraham’s seed and in particular God’s promise extends narrowly to one Seed, that of his Anointed, or his Christ, whom will arise out of the descendants of Abraham, out of a people not yet born named “Israel.”

The blessing applies, therefore, not only to Abraham, but to his seed and in particular, the Christ who will arise out Abraham’s seed.

Now it must be stated that Abram was a Hebrew, and likely of Syrian descent out of the land of UR of the Chaldees, located in Mesopotamia, born out the lineage of Shem, one of Noah’s three sons.

Genesis 11:10-32
These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: 11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. 12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah: 13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. 14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber: 15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. 16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg: 17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. 18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: 19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. 20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: 21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. 22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: 23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. 24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: 25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. 26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27 ¶ Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. 29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

Genesis 14:13
And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.

Genesis 24:2-4
And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: 3 And I will make thee swear by YHWH, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: 4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

Genesis 25:20
And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.

Contrary to popular belief among Christians today, it may surprise the reader to learn that the Bible in no way mentions, nor illustrates at any time, that Abram, or Abraham, was Jewish, or a Jew.

The Jews will not arrive on the biblical scene for a few more generations.

This brings us in our study to the second object of the blessing by God, Jacob.

Now Abraham had a chosen son God promised to him named Isaac, and Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau.

The blessing by Isaac was to originally have been given to Esau, but Jacob disguised himself as his brother Esau, and because Isaac was old in age and faint of eyesight, he did not know he was actually blessing Jacob. Here is the second time in the Bible that the scripture regarding the cursing and blessing is stated.

Genesis 27:28
Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: 29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.

The scripture above applies to Jacob.

Now Jacob was born of his Syrian father, Isaac, the son of Abraham. That makes Jacob a Hebrew, born of the line of Shem. Again, the Bible does not state he is Jewish, or a Jew; that will come later with the birth of Jacob’s sons.

Now Jacob has his name changed by YHWH God to a new name.

Genesis 32:28
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

Jacob was named by God the name of Israel.

Before Jacob received his new name, Jacob had two wives and two maid servants whom would give Jacob eleven sons. They were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Dan, Naphtali, and Joseph. When God changes Jacob's name to Israel, Jacob had another son, his 12th son, Benjamin. These twelve sons make up, in time to come, twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

At this point in time, only one tribe could possibly be considered in the modern sense "Jewish," although the Holy Bible never states this, and that is the tribe which the people of Judah come from, and tribe Christ will come out of one day. Hence, Christ will be born Jewish.

The “Jews” actually will not come for yet roughly a thousand years later, when the tribe of Judah will join with the Israelite tribe of Benjamin, in the time of Solomons’ son, to form “the house of Judah” or who are also known biblically, henceforth, as “the Jews.”

Note the Bible never states or labels the other 11 tribes of Israel as being Jewish, or of the Jews; they are, however, “Hebrews” and Shemites (or Semites) and identified in the Bible only as “Israelites.”

Jacob was given this blessing, and as we will see, the last object of YHWH’s blessing will be on the children of Israel.

In the final scripture we see the blessing by the prophet Balaam, on the children of Israel in Numbers 24.

Numbers 24:3-9
And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: 4 He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: 5 How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! 6 As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which YHWH hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. 7 He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. 8 God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. 9 He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee.

The blessing applies to the children of Israel.

Note the prophetic language used in describing Israel as a lion, the very animal and imagery later used of the lion of the tribe of Judah, out which Christ will come.

Micah 5:8
And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.

Revelation 5:5
And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

The blessing applies to all of Israel, but as I have shown, it also has a narrower application directly to the Anointed of YHWH, the Christ, the Son of God, who one day will be born and live on the earth in the flesh of man, and live under the law, and under the tribal inheritance of the Israelite tribe of Judah, Jesus, will be the perfect faithful Israel, obedient to his Father YHWH, his Father’s law, obedient in perfection, living a sinless Israelite life before God, obedient to the death on the cross.

Therefore, the blessing and cursing applies not merely to the children of Israel, but more directly to Jesus the Christ, who embodies the perfect example of obedient faithful Israel.

The history of Israel and the Israelite people shows that Israel was certainly cursed by its enemies and attacked by its enemies, and not always did God show favor to Israel, or ill favor to Israel’s enemies, though in the larger picture YHWH promises that Israel will be saved and its enemies destroyed or suffer a lesser fate. Israel is truly blessed in the long run by God.

Ezekiel 39:25-29
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; 26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. 27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; 28 Then shall they know that I am YHWH their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. 29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

But the blessing upon Israel is dependent upon God’s overall plan; that plan involved his Son, Jesus, the “Seed” out of Abraham, who God promised that “in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”

Therefore, the blessing and cursing prophecies all apply to Jesus, the Son of God, and the Christ.

If the blessing and cursing apply to Christ, then they also apply to the saints of God in Christ Jesus.

Look at this prophetic promise.

Isaiah 54:17
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of YHWH, and their righteousness is of me, saith YHWH.

Many Christians like to cite this verse as they think it applies to themselves, but again YHWH was speaking about his Anointed, the coming Christ. This scripture comes in a series of scriptures which no doubt concern Israel, but also followed the description of the suffering Christ in Isaiah 53.

The blessing concerns chiefly Jesus the Christ. This makes perfect sense, for anyone who curses God will be cursed, and those who bless God will be blessed.

Jesus said as much, in other words, when he spoke of his Father.

John 5:19-24
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. 22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Clearly, he who honors God and his Son is blessed to receive everlasting life through faith, and he who curses Jesus also curses his Father and will be cursed, or condemned.

Jesus said this another way.

Matthew 11:6
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

Luke 7:23
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

Another example of this blessing and cursing, Jesus spoke of those who confesses Jesus and those who deny him.

Luke 12:8-10
Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: 9 But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. 10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.

Just as there are blessing for those who confess Jesus, there are cursings for those who oppose the Son of God.

Luke 22:21-22
¶ But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. 22 And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed!

Luke 19:27
But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

So, we can see that God’s prophecy of blessings upon those who bless Abraham Isaac and Jacob and those who curse, apply chiefly to the Seed, the anointed of YHWH, the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus, and then to the saints, or the children of God, born out of Jesus the Christ.

Using such a prophecy to support the fleshly Jewish people, who today largely deny Jesus as the Messiah, and support of the physical Jewish state of Israel, wrongfully diminishes the glory that rightfully belongs only to God’s Son, for Jesus the Messiah of Israel, and Lion of the tribe of Judah, is worthy of all blessings, praise, honor, and glory.

It’s my sincere prayer that you now have learned something new about the true meaning behind these blessings and cursings prophecies.

If you do not know Jesus, then I invite you to learn something about who Jesus was and is.

Do you know Jesus?

Jesus died for your sins

If you know Jesus, then ask yourself, are you covered by the blood of the Lamb?