When is it okay to curse people in the name of the Lord?
score:7
David in Psalm 139:21-22 states:
"Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies."
It is important to remember here that God had set aside a nation for himself and at this time the enemies of David the King of Israel were also the enemies of God.
Today we have a King who is greater than David, King Jesus. His kingdom is "Not from this world". Paul also notes that:
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph 6:12)
More specifically the prophets of God, like Elisha, were His messengers and called to a purpose that men no longer have given the Word of God is complete in the Scriptures.
I believe that this means that we no longer have a calling to curse anyone but instead to fight against spiritual wickedness. We do this by wrestling in prayer and by using the Word of God to tear down the enemies strongholds.
Upvote:0
I met a person who is evil to the core and the holy ghost spoke to me and told me to curse them. (That the next time they commit an evil act against a child that they will be cursed) I cant say what the curse is. Mark 11: 13-14 Jesus curses a fig tree, Galatians 3:10-14 for living by the law and not by faith you are cursed, (Romans 13 the bible does say follow the law of your land unless it is against God's word.) 2 kings 2:24 Elisha curses Lads who mocked him and 1 kings 17:1 Elijah curses Ahab.
Upvote:2
I had to consider how to answer an atheist (on Twitter, no less) who used this passage as "proof" that if God does exist, He is a cruel and petty one. At least here I'm not limited to 140 characters! The hermeneutics of this passage have been well covered by others. During the reign of Ahab, not too long before this, Jezebel killed every prophet of the Lord she could get her hands on, and we can assume there was probably still significant persecution of the faithful minority. Bethel was home to one of the 2 golden calves that Jeroboam made to entice the people of Israel into idolatry and away from the Lord, so it is not surprising that we see Ejisha being ridiculed here by a gang of youths. My college OT professor told us that this carried the connotation of calling him an "emptyhead." Now look at 2 Kg. 1:9-15, where King Ahaziah sends soldiers to demand that Elijah come to him, and Elijah calls down fire from heaven and turns 2 bands of 50 into crispy bits. When the captain of the third band humbles himself and begs for his men's lives, God spares them. I see these passages as representing what is soon to befall Israel as a whole: those who reject God will be punished, but mercy will be given to those who humble themselves. These prophets were acting in the authority of God, proclaiming His message.
Now as to whether we have the authority to do this, look at Luke 9:51-56. A Samaritan village rejects Jesus because He was going to Jerusalem, and James and John ask Him if they should call down fire on them, as Elijah did. Jesus rebukes them and says "The Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them." So we do not have the authority to curse anyone in the name of the Lord.
Upvote:10
First off, "boys" is a very unfortunate translation here, as the original word properly means "youths" (teens/young men, not children.) And a group of over 40 youths coming out to confront a single man with angry words is a lot more than simple "jeering". Imagine the scene! His life was most likely in danger. (Remember when Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away because Ishmael was endangering young Isaac with his "teasing"? The ancient Hebrews seem to have had quite the gift for understatement in these matters!)
Also, this wasn't just any man they were harassing. This incident came right after Elisha witnessed Elijah's ascendance into heaven, when Elisha was granted an official status as the spiritual heir to Elijah. In other words, he was the new prophet of God, as Elijah had been. To harass him was to reject his authority as the emissary of God to Israel, and that is where Elisha is different from us. He was a prophet of God, and he had the authority to call upon the powers of heaven in order to protect himself, as Elijah did.
More post
- 📝 Why didn't God send Jesus during Noah's time instead of The Flood?
- 📝 Is anyone familiar with this strange logo resmbling 'nfw'?
- 📝 According to Eastern Orthodoxy, does Matthew 17:20 apply to all people?
- 📝 Is the Gloria primarily a song of repentance, contrition and forgiveness or of praise?
- 📝 What is the basis for the belief among some LDS/Mormons that children in their pre-mortal existence choose who their parents will be?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, does God actively cause suffering in Hell?
- 📝 Did the Roman Catholic Church attempt (through government/university influence) to ban publication of Protestant Literature in the early 1500s?
- 📝 Where in the Bible does Jesus refute that He is just a prophet?
- 📝 How does Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theology relate to salvation by faith alone?
- 📝 What is the most credited date for the birth (or calling) of Abraham?
- 📝 How do dispensationalists understand the "antichrists" and "last hour" in 1 John 2:18?
- 📝 What did the Trent lack with regard to Immaculate Conception that Ineffabilis Deus did not?
- 📝 What do "Templar" and "Soldiers of Christ" mean?
- 📝 LDS Free Agency viewpoint
- 📝 Do Messianic Jews practice the jubliee?
- 📝 How can an atheist or Jew Baptize?
- 📝 What is the history behind Angelus prayer?
- 📝 How do proponents of the dual nature of man address Hebrews 4:12, "dividing soul and spirit"?
- 📝 What do you tithe from? Why tithe income?
- 📝 Did the lockdown of 2020 help Christianity grow in numbers, reform or renewal?
- 📝 Why did John the Baptist question the identity of Jesus?
- 📝 Question for those who hold to the immortality of the soul
- 📝 What was the organizing principle of Melanchthon's Loci Communes?
- 📝 Purgatory for those who are saved outside the Church?
- 📝 Which prophecies have definitely been fulfilled?
- 📝 Why did God tell Moses to make a bronze serpent on a stick?
- 📝 acts 16 Earthquake
- 📝 What is a "human act" in Catholic moral theology?
- 📝 Are the arguments made by Popes in "social encyclicals" religious in nature?
- 📝 What do people fear in Jude 1:23?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 When is it okay to curse people in the name of the Lord?
- 📝 Where can I find out more about other people rising from the dead, when Jesus died on the Cross?
- 📝 When Jesus gave Peter his name (rock) what is the significance that he then said upon a ‘different’ kind of rock he would build his church?
- 📝 When did the teaching that salvation can still be obtained by people after their physical death first appear in Christianity?
- 📝 When was the name "Easter" first used for the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the belief that people do not go to heaven or hell immediately when they die?
- 📝 When did lay people first get a vote in the general conferences of the United Methodist Church?
- 📝 How could David enter the congregation of the Lord when he was descended from Ruth the Moabitess?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for all people meeting God when they die?
- 📝 When the Pope says "We commend to the Lord the souls..." what does it mean exactly? It it a symbolic gesture, a prayer, something else?
- 📝 How were people baptized in the name of Jesus without the Holy Spirit in Acts 8?
- 📝 Does the Bible say when the day of the Lord (as described in 2 Peter 3:10) will occur, and does it go into more detail about this particular event?
- 📝 Why did Jesus raise people from the dead, when they would have been in heaven?
- 📝 When was the name of Sinai first applied to the Sinai peninsular?
- 📝 Why does the bible say that David kept all the commands of the Lord when he so clearly didn't?
- 📝 Do Mormons agree with the Apostle Paul when he said at Acts 16:31 to the Philippian Jailer, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved."
- 📝 What prophesies are people alluding to when they say "look at the Middle East"?
- 📝 Why are there people in Protestant countries with the last name "Pope"?
- 📝 Why are Christians sure that prayers to Jesus are answered when "Jesus" wasn't the name he used?
- 📝 When the Bible talks about wine does it mean alcoholic wine?
- 📝 Praying to people outside the Trinity
- 📝 When did the prohibition of marriage for priests in the Catholic church originate?
- 📝 As a protestant, may I participate in the Eucharist (Communion) when visiting a Catholic church?
- 📝 When does the Pope speak ex cathedra?
- 📝 Why did people live so long before the Flood?
- 📝 How could Jesus be born during the reign of Herod, and when Quirinius was governor of Syria, if those periods were not contemporary?
- 📝 When did "tithing" come to mean "giving 10% of your gross income to the Church"?
- 📝 Are any Greek or Roman gods mentioned by name in the Bible?
- 📝 In Theistic Evolution, when did the alleged evolutionary animal/ape/man become accountable for his sins?
- 📝 In Theistic Evolution when do the genealogies in Genesis become real?