Sins of the Fathers and resulting curses (V) Curses, Old and New covenant

The question of whether God allows, or at times actually sends,  disasters is clear under the Old Covenant.  For example He withholds the rain  (Amos 4:7), and He sends Cyrus  calling him His servant to conquer, and take Israel into captivity (Isaiah 44:28).  On the other hand,  in the New Covenant, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself not counting their trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19).  And “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). But while Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, the earth remains cursed,  awaiting the redemption of the sons of God (Romans 8:20,21).  And  a big part of what remains, is  the law of sowing and reaping, a law that  was set into the nature of reality at the time of the  fall.



Under the Law (the 10 commandments etc.) there were blessing for obedience,  and curses for disobedience (Deuteronomy 11:26-28). The curses were punishment for disobedience  (Leviticus 28:18).  Isaiah could declare that Israel had received double for all her sins (Isaiah 40:2).  The law (lower case l) of sowing and reaping is more of  a mechanical thing, a spiritual law of cause and effect,  a new reality, initiated at the fall. Another way to describe this, is to say  that bad choices have bad fruit, good choices good fruit. Indeed, as mentioned above,  this curse remains.  And it is left in place “for our sake” (Genesis 3:17 NKJV see January 25 post).  In other words the law of sowing and reaping is not  about punishment, but rather  it is the school of hard knocks designed to teach us to learn to live in  truth and  reality.   



The law of sowing and reaping is not like the law of gravity, in that with the law of gravity  the effects are immediate. as when we step off the roof for example.  The law of sowing and reaping not so much. I mean it takes time for a fruit tree to produce fruit. So too in both positive and negative ways, the “fruit” of our choices  is not usually immediate, but rather it is only seen  over time.   But there is another aspect of the analogy, and it is if you plant one potato for example,  you don't just get one potato back, you get a crop. Similarly the consequences of our “small sins” will eventually come back thirtyfold, sixtyfold etc.  If we sow to the wind, we will eventually reap the whirlwind.  It may take time for us to come to the end of ourselves! The recovery saying comes to mind “We will not change until the pain of being stuck exceeds the pain and fear of change.”



Father, as I think about these things I am more and more realizing that You cursed the earth because You love us, and You knew that if there was no bad fruit to our bad choices, we would likely ride off into the sunset.  If we had no nerves and touched the hot stove, we likely would not remove our hand fast enough. C.S.  Lewis once said that You whisper to us in our pleasure, but shout to us in our pain.  I don’t pretend to understand it all Lord, but I choose to trust You, and I know that on that Day I will say “You have done all things well,” in Jesus Name Amen