Curses and Blessings in Business Part II. Curses and Blessings in Business Part I

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1 Curses and Blessings in Business Part II Originally aired April 20, 2016 on Faith Radio with Dr. Bill Meier. Learn how a lack of tithing and other common sins place Christian business owners under a curse, which lessens their ability to be as productive and successful as they could be if they were living under God s blessing. Curses and Blessings in Business Part I Originally aired March 30, 2016 on Faith Radio with Dr. Bill Meier. Learn how habitual sin can lead to bondage and how that bondage can lead to living under one or more curses. Curses degrade our success in business and life and yet many Christians choose to live with bondage and curses. Learn how to live under God s blessings rather than His curses as a Christian Business Owner.

2 Background on curses Who do curses affect? In the Scriptures, there seem to be some curses that are global and others that are more localized. All curses are the result of individual actions, but some curses are applied to everyone while others are applied only to the individual who committed the act. When Adam and Eve sinned, their actions caused both global and individual curses. The global curses: God banned all of humankind from the garden, creating separation between Himself and us. God no longer offered protection from death. The individual curses: God cursed the serpent, the woman in child-bearing and marriage, the man and his work and the ground that he would work. Other curses are only specific to the individual. For example, in Exodus 21.17, we read that a person who curses his father or mother should be put to death. Are there different kinds of curses? Yes, and each one has its own meaning. You can see in the illustration[1] that there are many words that we translate as curse, but the two that make up over fifty percent of the translations are ללק (qalal) and א ר ר (arar). Let s take a closer look at them.

3 (qalal) ללק In the context of cursing, qalal means to consider another to be light, small, contemptible and/or insignificant; to declare cursed, to belittle, to sharpen or to shake. Qalal is the opposite of encouragement and goodwill. It can also be the invoking of divine harm under certain conditions, with a focus on the content of the oath. There are a number of passages that use qalal. Most of them describe one person cursing another. Here are three examples: 1. Genesis 12.3: And I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. 2. Exodus 21.17: Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death Samuel 17.43: He said to David, Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

4 These three passages show one person cursing another diminishing them in a mean-spirited way or binding upon the other person a curse within the content of an oath. This is not godly behavior nor does it come from a heart that is close to God. As Christians in business, we are commanded to love our enemies and never to hate (cf. Matthew 5). When we diminish another person with our words or actions when we cause them to be considered light, small, contemptible or insignificant we are cursing them in the qalal sense. This has direct application to how we view our competitors and what we say about them, whether in public or private. We as Christian business owners should never make fun of our competitors or treat them with contempt or insignificance. (arar) א ר ר In the context of cursing, arar means to cover with misfortune, to bind with a curse or to put one s self or another under a curse. It is declarative in nature. All of the curses in Deuteronomy 27 and 28 use arar. Jeremiah uses arar in Jeremiah : 5 This is what the Lord says: Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. 6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land salt where no one lives. 7 But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.

5 8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Take a closer look at Jeremiah 17.5 Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. When we as Christian business owners place our faith in our own strength and find our hearts turning away from the Lord, we bring on ourselves a curse. Arar is also used twice in Malachi , where the prophet curses his own people because they are robbing God by not giving the entire tithe: 9 You are under a curse your whole nation because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. Notice that in both Jeremiah and Malachi, the curses are attached to actions but so are the corresponding blessings. Not always, but often, passages that deal with curses also deal with blessings. If we commit certain actions, we will bring upon ourselves a curse but if we commit other actions, we will bring upon ourselves a blessing. It is important to note two things in conjunction with this:

6 1. Actions always indicate heart attitude. I can t discern what you believe and value by your words, but I can certainly discern what you believe and value by your actions. 2. Blessings and curses are not formulas to success. Your heart matters in all of this. What you love who you love is evident in your actions. In Malachi, we are cursed when we don t tithe. God expects us to take care of His house first, then take care of our house. I can t tell you how many Christian business owners I ve met who don t tithe. Honestly, they ll give two or three percent while blaming government taxes and costs in the business. What it often comes down to is that they enjoy their toys more than they enjoy tithing. Having these toys is not sinful, but every dollar you spend on a boat, cabin, classic car or luxury trip is one less dollar that you can give back to the Lord. If we will take care of God s house first, He promises to send on us a blessing which is so large that we can t contain it! Trust in yourself to diminish your effectiveness One of our culture s dogma is that we need to believe in ourselves. If, by this phrase, they mean we should have a healthy, appropriate confidence in our skills and abilities, I have no argument. But many take it much farther than this, especially those who are politically conservative and believe self-reliance is a Christian virtue. They literally teach that self-belief is essential to success. They tell our young people, Believe in yourself and you can do anything! What a lie. The reality is that we cannot accomplish anything we desire if

7 we just believe in ourselves enough. We just can t. And more to the point, when we trust in ourselves rather than in the Lord for success, we bring upon ourselves a curse that will give us diminishing results for our efforts. Now, you might say, What about people who clearly were very successful and yet trusted entirely in themselves? Most CEOs don t trust in God. Most professional athletes don t trust in God. Most successful politicians have little trust in God. How can they be under a curse and yet achieve such huge successes? That s a great question. The answer is simple: the success you see in them is still diminished their success could have been much greater had they trusted in the Lord. Under God s direction and control, their successes might have been entirely different and certainly would have been significant in the Kingdom of God. The fact that Bill Gates built Microsoft and has employed hundreds of thousands of people doesn t impress God. I don t know what God would have Bill do, but I do know that it would be in line with advancing God s agenda on this earth. You see, success in God s eyes is about faithfulness to His call on your life and loving him with all your heart, strength and mind. The generation of wealth is of little consequence in the Kingdom of God unless such generation is what God has called you to do. But even then, it s not the generation of the wealth that is important, it s your faithfulness to God in doing what He called you to do. We American Evangelicals have such a western view of the world wherein financial success is considered the pinnacle of success. But in God s kingdom, it is different. Moreover, the Scriptures make it abundantly clear that it is more important to pursue and gain wisdom, understanding, discretion, knowledge, insight and righteousness (Proverbs 2). Those things are far more important to pursue and gain than

8 financial success. Can I get rid of all the curses that are on me? No. When you put yourself under a curse, you are adding to the other curses God placed on creation after Adam and Eve sinned. It s not as if those curses are abated or replaced they persist as well. I believe even our blessings are diminished by the general curse under which all of creation groans. The chart below is a summary of Biblical curses all of which we brought onto ourselves, either as individuals or because we are part of humankind. Do any of them surprise you? Action Who Curse Reference Cursed more intensely than all the other Original sin Serpent animals; Genesis 3.14 crawl on his belly all the days of his life Emnity between his seed and the woman s seed; Original sin Satan his head Genesis 3.15 would be bruised by the woman s seed

9 Significant increase in pain in childbearing; she will desire a Original sin Woman close Genesis 3.16 relationship with her husband but he will rule harshly over her Work will require far more effort Original sin Man to produce a minimal sustenance; Genesis death will come to all mankind When we curse another person God will curse us Genesis 12.3 Anger, Dispersed and murder, wrath and animal Simeon and Levi scattered from their Genesis 49.7 abuse family Making an idol to worship Dishonor your father or mother Not stated Deut Not stated Deut

10 Stealing land from your neighbor Misleading vulnerable people Distorting justice for vulnerable people Not stated Deut Not stated Deut Not stated Deut Familial Incest Not stated Deut & Bestiality Not stated Deut Take advantage of others without their knowledge Participating in bribery Disobedience to God Trusting in yourself Not stated Deut Not stated Deut Not stated Deut Not stated Jeremiah 17.5 Not stewarding well that which God has Not stated Jeremiah given to you Not delivering justice when it is your Not stated Jeremiah duty to do so

11 Not fulfilling your vows Not honoring the Name of the Lord Not giving God the full tithe Not stated Malachi 1.14 Not stated Malachi 2.14 Not stated Malachi 3.9 Rely on the works of the law Not stated Galatians 3.10 When you The curse curse someone Yourself comes back on Psalm else you If we do not honor God s name Not stated Malachi 2.2 Preaching a different Gospel Not stated Galatians 1.18 [1] This graphic was produced using the Logos Bible Software. To learn more about Logos, please visit