The Attributes of God
by Arthur W. Pink
The Cursings of God
It is solemn to learn that these blessings and cursings
proceed from the same mouth. Yet a little reflection will convince the
reader that such must be the case. God is light as well as love, holy as
well as gracious, righteous as well as merciful. Therefore He expresses His
abhorrence of and visits His judgments upon the wicked, as truly as He
blesses and manifests His approval on those who are pleasing in His sight.
An eternal heaven and an eternal hell are the inevitable and ultimate pair
of opposites. This awesome duality is displayed in the natural world. On one
hand our senses are charmed by the golden sunsets, the flowering gardens,
the gentle showers and the fertile fields. On the other hand, we are shocked
and terrified by the fearful tornado, the devouring blights, the devastating
flood, and the destructive earthquake. "Behold therefore the goodness
and severity of God" (Romans 11:22). From Mt. Ebal were announced the
divine curses (Deut. 27), and from Matthew Gerizim the divine blessings
(Deut. 28). The one could not be without the other. Thus too it will be in
the last day, or while Christ will say unto His brethren, "Come you blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world," yet to those who despised and rejected Him shall He say "Depart
from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire'" (Matthew 25:34, 41).
"Cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you
eat of it all the days of your life" (Gen. 3:17). That was one of the
consequences which attended Adam's apostasy from God, a part of the divine
vengeance which fell upon him. Because the first man stood as the covenant
head and legal representative of his race, the judgment which came upon him
is shared by all his descendants. Adam was the vice-regent of God in this
scene. He was given dominion over all things mundane, and when he fell, the
effects of his awful sin were evident on every hand. His fair inheritance
was blasted. The very ground on which he trod was cursed, so that henceforth
it brought forth "thorns and thistles," compelling him to toil for his daily
bread in the sweat of his face. Every time we cultivate a plot of land, the
numerous weeds it produces hinder our efforts and supply very real proof of
the divine sentence pronounced in Genesis 3 and evince that we belong to a
fallen race.
"Thus says the Lord; Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the
Lord" (Jer. 17:5). A thorough acquaintance with ourselves ought to render
the warning of this solemn passage unnecessary, yet sad experience proves
otherwise. Have we not sufficient knowledge of ourselves—our changeableness
and utter unreliability—to discover that "he who trusts in his own heart is
a fool" (Proverbs 28:26)? Then why should we suppose that any of our fellows
are more stable and dependable? The best of Adam's race, when left to
themselves, are spectacles of fickleness and frailty. "Lowborn men are but a
breath, the highborn are but a lie; if weighed on a balance, they are
nothing; together they are only a breath" (Psalm 62:9). To seek either the
patronage or protection of man is an affront to the Most High, for it puts
that confidence in the creature to which the Creator alone is entitled. The
folly of such wickedness is emphasized in," leaning upon that which is frail
and helpless (2 Chron. 32:8; Matthew 26:41; Romans 8:3). The Christian needs
to turn this awful malediction into prayer for deliverance from the
temptation to look to man for help or relief! Indirectly, yet powerfully,
this verse proves that Christ is far more than man; for if it calls down a
divine curse for one to put his trust in man for any temporal advantage, how
much more so if he trusts in a mere creature for eternal salvation!
"If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart
to honor my name," says the Lord Almighty, "I will send a curse upon you,
and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because
you have not set your heart to honor me" (Mal. 2:2). The Lord is very tender
of His honor and will not share His glory with another (Isaiah 48:11), and
those who do not take that fact to heart are certain to call down divine
wrath upon themselves. Those words (Mal. 2:2) were addressed in the first
instance to the priests of Israel. The prophet had reproved them for their
sins. Now he declared that if they would not seriously attend to his
warnings, and glorify God by repentance and reformation of conduct, then He
would blight their temporal mercies. It is a signal favor for man to be
called to minister publicly in the name of the Lord. But infidelity entails
the most dreadful consequences. Often they are given up to blindness of
mind, hardness of heart, seared consciences. The principle of this
malediction has a much wider bearing and applies both to those who hear the
Gospel, and a nation blessed with its light.
"But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be
accursed" (Gal. 1:8). God is very jealous of His Gospel, and this verse
should also convince His servants and people of the solemn responsibility
resting upon them to preserve it in its purity. The Gospel of God makes
known the only true way of salvation, and therefore any corrupting of it is
not only dishonoring to its Author, but also most dangerous and disastrous
to the souls of men. The apostle was censuring those who were repeating an
impossible mixture of Law and Gospel, insisting that circumcision and
compliance with the ceremonial rites of Judaism were as necessary as faith
in Christ for justification. His was not the language of intemperate zeal,
for he repeats the same in the next verse, but a holy fidelity, which
expressed his detestation of an error which not only insulted the Savior but
also would prove fatal to those who embraced it. The single foundation of a
sinner's hope is the merits of Christ, His finished work of redemption.
Those who would add to the same by any doings of their own are headed for
eternal destruction. Therefore any who teach men to do so are cursed of God
and should be abhorred by His people.
"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the
curse: for it is written, Cursed is everyone who continues not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them" (Gal. 3:10). The first
part of this verse means: all who count on being saved by their own
performances, or rely upon their own obedience for acceptance by God, are
under the curse of His Law and exposed to His wrath. Justification by
keeping the Law is an utter impossibility for any fallen creature. Why so?
Because God's Law requires flawless and perpetual conformity, sinless
perfection in thought and word and deed, and because it makes no provision
for failure to comply with its holy and righteous terms. It is not
sufficient to hear about or know the requirements of God's Law. They must be
met. Thus it is obvious that a Law which already condemns, cannot justify;
that any who hope to merit God's favor by their faulty attempts to obey it
are badly deceived. "To expect to be warmed by the keen northern blast, or
to have our thirst quenched by a draught of liquid fire, were not more, were
not so, incongruous" (J. Brown). This statement (Gal. 3:10) was made by the
apostle to show that every man is under divine condemnation until he flees
to Christ for refuge.
"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being
made a curse for us" (Gal. 3:13). Here is the glorious Gospel summed up in a
brief sentence. The curse has been borne for all those who believe—visited
upon the Savior. A way has been opened where guilty sinners may not only
escape from the curse of the Law, but actually be received into the favor of
God. Amazing grace! Matchless mercy! All who put their trust in Christ are
delivered from the Law's sentence of doom so that they shall never fall
under it. We are righteously delivered, because as the Surety of His people
Christ was born under the Law, stood in their law place, had all their sins
imputed to Him, and made Himself answerable for them. The Law, so finding
Him, charged Him with the same, cursed Him, and demanded satisfaction.
Accordingly He was dealt with by the supreme Judge, for "God spared not His
own Son," but called upon the sword of justice to smite the shepherd (Zech.
13:7). By His own consent the Lord Jesus was "made a curse" by God Himself.
Because He paid the ransom price all believers are "redeemed"—delivered from
God's wrath and inducted into His blessing.
"But that which bears thorns and briers is rejected, and
is near unto cursing; whose end is to be burned" (Heb. 6:8). This is in
sharp contrast with the previous verse. The good-ground hearer "brings
forth"—the Greek signifying a production of what is normal and in due
season. The graceless professor "bears thorns"—the Greek word connoting an
unnatural and monstrous production. There, "herbs fit for them by whom it is
dressed"; here, worthless "thorns and briers." The one "receives blessing
from God", the other is "near unto cursing"—about to be visited with divine
judgment.