When God's Hand of Blessing Was Removed

When God’s Hand of Blessing Was Removed

Bill Brinkworth

The Bible recorded that when men disobeyed or disregarded God’s commandments, their sin would cost them much. It is very clear, by the countless examples in the Word of God, that no person or country gets away with sin. Here are a few examples from the Bible of what a people did to lose God’s blessing and to be cursed by the Almighty:

God cursed Adam and Eve, all their future generations, and the earth (Gen. 3:14-19) because of Adam and Eve’s sin.
God cursed Canaan with slavery (Gen. 9:25) because of Ham’s sexual sin (Gen. 9:22).
God destroyed Sodom, Gomorrah, and two other cities (Deut. 29:23) because of their wickedness (Gen. 13:13).
God removed qualified, honorable, experienced God-approved leadership (Isaiah 3:1-3), and allowed inexperienced, youthful men (Isaiah 3:4-5) and those whose leadership would harm their country (Isa. 3:12).
God allowed foreigners to invade Israel (Judges 6:1-6) and to take away Israel’s freedoms, belongings, and peace.
God allowed Israel’s place of worship, Jerusalem, to be destroyed (Neh. 1:3) because the people did not keep God’s commandments (Neh. 1:7). God also allowed the people to be scattered away from the land He had given them because of their sin (Neh. 1:8).

God also promised, usually to His people, that He would allow them to learn from the consequences of their sin, when they violated His laws. Here are some other reasons God promised to curse people and nations, when they broke His commandments:

God promised to curse those that cursed the off-spring of Abram (Israel): Gen. 12:3.
God will curse those that curse their parents: Pro. 20:20.
God will curse those that do not obey the Lord’s commandments, including going “after other gods”: Deut. 11:28, Jer. 44:8.
God will curse the wicked: Pro. 3:33.
God will allow a people to go through wars, captivity, famines, pestilences, and be disliked by other countries because they did not obey God’s words: Jer. 29:1-19.
God would allow His people to also face wars, and famines if they insisted on going back into the world that the Lord delivered them from: Jer. 44:12.
God will curse those that do not give glory to His name: Mal. 2:2.
God cursed those that would not give Him their tithes (at least 10% of what God allowed them to earn): Mal. 3:9.

Many of the consequences of sin to an earlier people are also occurring today. Also, many of the sins that were promised God’s wrath are also occurring today. Since God never changes (Mal. 3:6, Heb. 13:8), sins He would not tolerate then certainly will not be tolerated today.

No one gets away with sin. The people of Israel did not get away with sin, and neither will we.

Many say that if we do not turn from our current wicked sins, we may suffer the curse of God. According to the biblical examples, we may already may be facing the after-effects of God’s curse to a rebellious people. His hand, that often blessed this nation, may have been removed, and we may be suffering the same “lessons” that an earlier people faced.

The curse of God is always intended to halt the violations against God. It is the intent of God that the hardships He allowed to happen will stop the sin, and that people will turn to God.

There is always hope for those that turn from their wickedness. It is usually when a people face hard times that they realize they cannot handle them without God and turn towards Him in obedience. It is possible to be blessed by God because of obedience to His commanments, rather than be cursed. Hopefully, people as individuals, and eventually as a nation, will see their wickedness and turn from it.
“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” II Chron. 7:14

“The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.” Prov. 3:33

This lesson was featured in The Bible View #419.