Proverbs 26:2 states: “Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight.” The blessings and the curses that are recorded in YHVH’s Torah form an integral part of His statutes, ordinances, and laws that govern humanity. They are as active as nature’s forces and are operative, whether we are aware of them or not. This is why iniquity and sin have their boundaries and the fruit they produce cause transgressors-turned-victims to suffer the consequences of the curses. YHVH gave us the Torah for our instructions, so that we could live within His boundaries of righteousness. The blessings and the curses are one of His ways of teaching us to live righteously. How? Here is an illustration: When I was in Special Education we used what was called “behavior modification” methods to help our students learn that they simply could not do what was right in their own eyes. In the classroom, just as in the family and in society at large, there are standards of acceptable behavior. So we helped our students learn and change through positive (blessings) and negative (punishments) feedback. Paul the apostle put it simply, saying that one would reap what ones sows (ref Galatians 6:7-8), which is another means of explaining the laws of cause and effect.
One of the ways YHVH used to chasten His nations of Israel and Judah was to raise up a king, or kings (national leaders), who very often originated from the East. I know that nowadays it is not ‘in vogue’ (or politically correct) to point out to Israel and Judah that unless they repent and turn away from their gods of humanism and all their beastly/fleshly behavior, the consequence may come again from the East. But nevertheless, one cannot help but wonder if this is why we are hearing the sound of saber rattling from the leader of Iran. Yet YHVH is merciful, and many times the results of our behavior are slow to appear; that is, if we can read the signs.
Hence it is YHVH, the sovereign over all nations, who is involved in the assembling of the kings of the East (Islam) who are gathering in order to execute His purposes. Many of us have been pointing to the fact that Israel’s leaders, along with those of the other nations, have been dividing up our land in order to hand portions of it to the Islamic entity for the sake of peace. However, is this the real reason why our Elohim is giving our land over to such an enemy? Could it be that our unrighteous and rebellious hearts are the reason that He has raised up this kind of leadership in our nations and is stirring up the nations surrounding Israel? But at the same time YHVH has also promised that if we would repent and turn back to Him to walk in His righteousness, He “will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways” (Deuteronomy 28:7). But if (YHVH forbid) we are found deserving of the curse, then just the opposite will happen (ref. Deut. 28:25).
Leviticus 18 records a long list of sexual sins and also mentions the sin of sacrificing children to Molech. At the moment our nations are steeped in these abominations, having no fear of the consequences. YHVH’s people, on the other hand, are cautioned very severely regarding these kinds of activities: “You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you” (Leviticus 18: 26-28 emphasis added).
Many scriptures relating to the restoration of YHVH’s kingdom to the whole house of Israel are coming to pass in our generation, but there is one thing that can stop or slow up these prophetic fulfillments, and that is if His redeemed remnant will not respond to His will: “For this is the will of Elohim, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know Elohim; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because YHVH is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For Elohim did not call us to uncleanness, but to holiness” (1 Thessalonians. 4: 3-7).
We are all familiar with the story of Balaam and Balak. Balak, the king of Moab, summoned Balaam the prophet to curse Israel, but because YHVH would not allow it the ‘prophet’ did not succeed in his mission. YHVH had no reason to curse Jacob, so the prophet told his would-be dispatcher that he could only command a blessing upon that nation. “Behold, I have received a command to bless; YHVH has blessed, and I cannot reverse it” (Numbers 23:20). Balaam then informed Balak of the reason why he was unable to do his bidding: "He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. YHVH, his Elohim is with him, and the shout of a King is among them… For there is no sorcery against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel; It now must be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'Oh, what Elohim has done’” (Numbers 23:21-23). But was that the end of the story? While the nation remained in Moab for a while, Balak and his princes found out the reason that Israel’s Elohim was blessing them, and so they devised a way that would actually bring a curse upon Jacob. “So they vex YHVH’s nation with their wiles, wherewith they beguiled Israel in the matter of Peor, and Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian” (Numbers 25:18). The enemy opened the door to temptation and Israel was drawn into sexual perversion and the worship of the god of Moab (Baal of Peor) and thus walked into YHVH’s consequences. This resulted in a plague that broke out in their midst and killed twenty-four thousand (see v.9).
In this way Moab’s solution to the ‘blessing problem’ was to get the nation to rebel by committing sexual sins, and since YHVH could not go back on His word the resultant curse was soon made apparent. Defeating YHVH’s people, therefore, was made possible by enticing them to rebel against the Torah of their Elohim. In fact, the only defeat that the covenant people will ever suffer will be the result of their own actions, and that is disobedience to the commandments, laws, and ordinances of the Elohim of Torah. Messiah’s coming to establish the new covenant, which includes the writing of the Torah on the hearts of the recipients, does not mean that it gets inscribed there automatically or willy-nilly. If we continue to disobey the leading of the Spirit of Holiness and walk in rebellion to His righteousness in Messiah Yeshua, there will be consequences! Yeshua, along with the apostles, has not strayed away from the fundamental teachings of Torah. We will reap what we sow. If we sow to the flesh (power of sin) we will reap its consequences, but if we sow to the Spirit we will reap the benefits. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Messiah Yeshua, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit… For to be carnally minded is death [the curse], but to be spiritually minded is life and peace [the blessing]... For if you live according to the flesh you will die [the curse]; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live [the blessing]” (Romans 8:1; 6; 13). “Do not be deceived, Elohim is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption [the curse], but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life [the blessing]” (Galatians 6:7-8).
Ephraim
One of the ways YHVH used to chasten His nations of Israel and Judah was to raise up a king, or kings (national leaders), who very often originated from the East. I know that nowadays it is not ‘in vogue’ (or politically correct) to point out to Israel and Judah that unless they repent and turn away from their gods of humanism and all their beastly/fleshly behavior, the consequence may come again from the East. But nevertheless, one cannot help but wonder if this is why we are hearing the sound of saber rattling from the leader of Iran. Yet YHVH is merciful, and many times the results of our behavior are slow to appear; that is, if we can read the signs.
Hence it is YHVH, the sovereign over all nations, who is involved in the assembling of the kings of the East (Islam) who are gathering in order to execute His purposes. Many of us have been pointing to the fact that Israel’s leaders, along with those of the other nations, have been dividing up our land in order to hand portions of it to the Islamic entity for the sake of peace. However, is this the real reason why our Elohim is giving our land over to such an enemy? Could it be that our unrighteous and rebellious hearts are the reason that He has raised up this kind of leadership in our nations and is stirring up the nations surrounding Israel? But at the same time YHVH has also promised that if we would repent and turn back to Him to walk in His righteousness, He “will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways” (Deuteronomy 28:7). But if (YHVH forbid) we are found deserving of the curse, then just the opposite will happen (ref. Deut. 28:25).
Leviticus 18 records a long list of sexual sins and also mentions the sin of sacrificing children to Molech. At the moment our nations are steeped in these abominations, having no fear of the consequences. YHVH’s people, on the other hand, are cautioned very severely regarding these kinds of activities: “You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you” (Leviticus 18: 26-28 emphasis added).
Many scriptures relating to the restoration of YHVH’s kingdom to the whole house of Israel are coming to pass in our generation, but there is one thing that can stop or slow up these prophetic fulfillments, and that is if His redeemed remnant will not respond to His will: “For this is the will of Elohim, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know Elohim; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because YHVH is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For Elohim did not call us to uncleanness, but to holiness” (1 Thessalonians. 4: 3-7).
We are all familiar with the story of Balaam and Balak. Balak, the king of Moab, summoned Balaam the prophet to curse Israel, but because YHVH would not allow it the ‘prophet’ did not succeed in his mission. YHVH had no reason to curse Jacob, so the prophet told his would-be dispatcher that he could only command a blessing upon that nation. “Behold, I have received a command to bless; YHVH has blessed, and I cannot reverse it” (Numbers 23:20). Balaam then informed Balak of the reason why he was unable to do his bidding: "He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel. YHVH, his Elohim is with him, and the shout of a King is among them… For there is no sorcery against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel; It now must be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'Oh, what Elohim has done’” (Numbers 23:21-23). But was that the end of the story? While the nation remained in Moab for a while, Balak and his princes found out the reason that Israel’s Elohim was blessing them, and so they devised a way that would actually bring a curse upon Jacob. “So they vex YHVH’s nation with their wiles, wherewith they beguiled Israel in the matter of Peor, and Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian” (Numbers 25:18). The enemy opened the door to temptation and Israel was drawn into sexual perversion and the worship of the god of Moab (Baal of Peor) and thus walked into YHVH’s consequences. This resulted in a plague that broke out in their midst and killed twenty-four thousand (see v.9).
In this way Moab’s solution to the ‘blessing problem’ was to get the nation to rebel by committing sexual sins, and since YHVH could not go back on His word the resultant curse was soon made apparent. Defeating YHVH’s people, therefore, was made possible by enticing them to rebel against the Torah of their Elohim. In fact, the only defeat that the covenant people will ever suffer will be the result of their own actions, and that is disobedience to the commandments, laws, and ordinances of the Elohim of Torah. Messiah’s coming to establish the new covenant, which includes the writing of the Torah on the hearts of the recipients, does not mean that it gets inscribed there automatically or willy-nilly. If we continue to disobey the leading of the Spirit of Holiness and walk in rebellion to His righteousness in Messiah Yeshua, there will be consequences! Yeshua, along with the apostles, has not strayed away from the fundamental teachings of Torah. We will reap what we sow. If we sow to the flesh (power of sin) we will reap its consequences, but if we sow to the Spirit we will reap the benefits. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Messiah Yeshua, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit… For to be carnally minded is death [the curse], but to be spiritually minded is life and peace [the blessing]... For if you live according to the flesh you will die [the curse]; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live [the blessing]” (Romans 8:1; 6; 13). “Do not be deceived, Elohim is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption [the curse], but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life [the blessing]” (Galatians 6:7-8).
Ephraim
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