Proverbs 3:33

November 15, 2023

“The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the just.”

This passage of Scripture was written by King Solomon, one of the wisest kings to ever live. He is disclosing to us the importance of living an upright and just life in the eyes of the Lords. It will make the difference between you bringing forth curses or bringing forth blessings.

There are many places in the Word of God that explain curses and blessings and in order for us to properly understand them I want to highlight chapter 28 out of the book of Deuteronomy where the Lord gives a list of blessings and curses. I am going to show a direct contrast and highlight the curses vs. the opposite blessing.

Deuteronomy 28:15 reveals “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:”

List of some of the curses:

Deuteronomy 28:16-19

“Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.

“Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

“Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

“Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.”

Deuteronomy 28:25

“The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them; and you shall become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth.”

This is just a few of the entire list of curses that can fall on the house of wicked people that refuse to follow the commandments of the Lord. The whole list of curses described in Deuteronomy is found in Deuteronomy 28:16-68. There are many more references of curses found scattered throughout the Holy Bible but I am primarily focusing on Deuteronomy 28. It is definitely important to make sure that you have a clear understanding of the Lord’s Biblical law as it will keep you from defying it.

God’s curse is not something that we should take lightly especially if you are claiming to be a believer of Jesus Christ. Make no mistake about it, whether you understand the Lord’s rules and stipulations or not, you are not exempt from the repercussions you will receive for disobeying them.

A lot of people fail to view the Word of God as the Lord’s Biblical principles that He has set in place for His children to follow. Jesus makes it clear to us in Matthew 5:17 when He states, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” So in other words the Lord is telling us that He didn’t come so that He could do away with the rules and regulations found in the Word of God but He came to fulfill it.

He lived His entire life blameless and sinless without breaking one law that was established at that time. When He died on the cross at Calvary as the perfect sacrifice His death broke the power of the curse but not the presence of it. That is very good news for those that are born again believers of Jesus Christ. We have the ability to break the power of any curse off of our lives because of the shed blood of Christ. The Holy Spirit is your guide and will help you get set free when you lean on Him for direction.

Now I am going to show the direct opposite of the list of curses and reveal the blessings. Deuteronomy 28:1-2 details, “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:”

List of some of the blessings:

Deuteronomy 28:3-7

“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

“Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

“Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

“Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

“The Lord 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.”

Here we can see the direct correlation between God’s curse and God’s blessing. It is so vital that you take the time out to get into the Word of God: study it, digest it, and apply it to your daily life. We cannot forget the fact that God puts His Word even above His own Name, Psalm 138:2. That should give us a clear indication of how significant and absolute His Word truly is.

So how does one prevent the curse of God from coming into their life and permit the Blessing of God? It is laid out simply here in Deuteronomy: when you obey the voice of the Lord, you can anticipate His blessings; and when you do not obey the voice of the Lord, you can anticipate the Lord’s curse.

Now that we have more of an understanding of what a curse vs. a blessing is let’s take a look at the primary verse of Scripture out of the book of Proverbs. The words “of the wicked” is the Hebrew word “rāšāʿ” which means: wicked, criminal, one guilty of crime. The words “of the just” is the Hebrew word “ṣadîq” which means: just, righteous in conduct and character.

So piecing these words together from the passage of Scripture we can conclude that Solomon is letting us know that the house of the evil-doer and their wicked ways can expect the curse of the Lord. The house of a righteous man living and abiding by the Word of God can expect his or her house to be blessed. Solomon’s sound wisdom could not get any plainer than that!

You want to be the one that strives to keep your household blessed. That is going to mean that you are willing to be obedient to God’s will for your life found in His Word. You have to take the time out to get into your Bible and study it, understand it, and apply it to your life. Develop a prayer life and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance, He will guide you into all truth, John 16:13.

Also, don’t forget to check out my other blogs:

Who is the Prophet Isaiah

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Fight Back

Breaking Spiritual Strongholds-Feed Your Spirit