REMOVING THE EFFECTS OF WORDS SPOKEN AGAINST US
“Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will
never hurt me.” When my brother, sister, and I would fight as kids, we’d retort
using that phrase. But looking back, I think you’d have to be
superhuman not to have spiteful words affect you. Many of us as adults are
still affected by the things spoken against us. We can reverse and
eliminate that baggage.
In many Pagan religions, when they got together to put a
curse on someone, they believed that spirits went out with the curse to make
sure they got the results. Curses were powerful in the old days but are still
very much in effect today.
The story of King Balak and the Israelites in Numbers 22
gives us a prototype of what curses do and the antidote. The principles still
apply today, over 3000 years later.
The Israelites were on their way to the blessing, the peace,
and the good life God promised them. They met with two renowned kings and asked
to pass through their domain. The kings said no and came against the
Israelites. Everyone figured the Israelites would get wiped out because
these kings were very well-equipped and strong, but instead, the two
kings were defeated. The defeat of the mighty kings shook the world around
them. When King Balak heard about the fallen kings, he feared for his land and
kingdom because the Israelites were coming there next.
“Balak saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites and was
sore afraid of the people because they were many: [He] said ‘Now shall this
company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of
the field’” (Num. 22:2-4).
Balak and the people back then believed in the power of the
words spoken by prophets and soothsayers. They believed in the spiritual powers
backing the words these people said. There was a very famous soothsayer named
Balaam. He was not an Israelite. He lived over 400 miles north of where the
Israelites were now traveling and Balak’s kingdom. Balaam could be
compared to a current day psychic, who may have some truth but also bad
stuff. In Balaam’s case, God wouldn’t let him say anything against Israel.
King Balak sent his messengers up to get Balaam and bring
him down to where he was. Balak was willing to send his men over 400 miles one
way and pay Balaam a large amount of money for the curse because he knew
it worked. Balak sent the following message to Balaam: “Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for
they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite
them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot [know] that he whom
thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed” (Num.22:6).
We can see from this verse many things about
curses. First, curses are directed not toward weak people but against
“mighty” ones. Next, we see that the purpose of the curse is to “smite”
them. The word “smite” in Hebrew is powerful and has many synonyms, including:
“to strike home, strike deep, to wound or kill. It means to “beat, to
overpower, overcome, crush, stop, ruin, plunder, suppress, lay waste, attack
and destroy.” This word “smite” also refers to being smitten like a plant is
smitten when it begins to wither.
King Balak believed that just the words of Balaam in a
curse (with the attached devil spirits to go with it) would “drive them [the
Israelites] out of the land.” The word “drive” in Hebrew implies violence,
power, anger, and hatred. It means to expel or cast out like mire is
cast up by the sea. It carries with it the idea of shame and disgrace. It is a
sentence of banishment.
Even today, when negative words and phrases have been
spoken against us by people who believe in what they are saying, the same
motivation and intent are behind it.
The Lord says we are His people. We are mighty in His
sight. If you ever feel like you are on the right path with the Lord and you
are being beaten at every turn or stopped or any of the other definitions of
what it means to be smitten, then it just may be that someone uttered words to
stop you.
Yes, there are witch covens and other groups of Satan
worshipers that get together in our villages, cities, and suburbs for the
exact purpose of speaking curses against God’s children. But often, the curses
come in a much subtler way.
Curses can come in answer to the simple question,
“How’s so-and-so doing?” Answers like: “Oh, she always has problems with her
finances.” “He can’t seem to make a marriage work.” “She is sick all the time.”
These seemingly innocent responses can act like sections of a chain-link fence,
combined to make a monstrous barrier preventing the person from the freedom
they seek. Word curses have power, good or evil.
But things we often think and say about ourselves are
even more insidious than what others say about us. Things like: “My father died
of a heart attack, and it’ll probably get me too.” “I probably won’t ever get a
better job.” When we say things like that, they can keep us in a state of being
cursed, smitten, withered, or even violently spewed out of our own promised
lands.
BUT THERE IS AN ANTIDOTE. On Balak’s second try to get
Balaam to come and curse God’s people, Balaam did go. King Balak took Balaam up
to the mountaintop, where he had a good view of the Israelites, but when it
came time to speak the curses, Balaam opened his mouth, and blessing words came
out! After three tries from three different viewpoints, Balak was furious
because Balaam could only speak what the Almighty God gave him, which were
words of blessing over the Israelites. Finally, on the last try, an amazing
thing happened:
Balaam not only did not curse the Israelites, but he
prophesied a wonderful blessing instead. In many situations, we need to do the
same. It takes wisdom to respond to spoken curses in a more encouraging and
positive way, but not phoney! God doesn’t want us to call a snake a puppy! I
know you know what I mean.
Balaam spoke of the coming of the Messiah, Jesus
Christ, who would cut down and eradicate every possible curse ever!
“I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not
near. A
star shall come forth from [the descendants of] Jacob. A scepter shall rise out
of [the descendants of] Israel and shall smite [remember the definition of
“smite”] the princes of Moab and destroy all the sons of Sheth. And Israel
shall do valiantly. Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and
shall destroy him that remaineth of the city” (Num. 22: 17-19).
Balaam prophesied how Jesus, the King of Kings,
would rise out of Israel and “smite” the princes (devil spirits that
instigate the curses) of Moab. And Jesus shall have dominion and destroy any
curses that remain to this very day. And that “day” includes the present day.
We have the privilege to use the powerful name of Jesus
to rebuke and halt any curses spoken against us. Jesus took all those things
that have been and will continue to be spoken against us, to the cross. He took
them and destroyed their power. In His name, we stay vigilant to confront and
destroy them now.
1 John 3:8b says: “For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
And Galatians 3:13 tells us the truth about curses:
“Christ purchased our freedom and redeemed us from the curse of the
Law and its condemnation by becoming a curse for us.” All the things spoken
against us, including the things we have recently said about ourselves,
are wiped away when we believe what Jesus has done for us, not only in
the spirit but in our hearts, minds, emotions, decisions, and bodies.
Deuteronomy 28:15-68 lists curses of the Law of Moses. The
King James Version says God brings them, but truthfully, God only
allows them if people aren’t willing to accept redemption from them or maybe
don’t know that they can be free or know how to get there.
That’s why we have to get more of Jesus, less of us,
less of our intellect and reasoning, and more simply believing and receiving. I
am right there with you on this.
Among the curses and their effects in Deuteronomy 28
are:
Vs. 20 – despair, confusion, and rebuke in every
enterprise you try to do
Vs. 22 – consumption (emaciation, anorexia perhaps?),
fever, inflammation
Vs. 27 – tumors
Vs. 28 – insanity, blindness
Vs. 29 – oppression, not prospering, being robbed
Vs. 30 – adultery, failure in business
Vs. 32 – sons and daughters turning away
Vs. 35 – problems with knees and legs
Vs. 61 – every sickness and every disease
Suppose we take a look at some of these verses and see
those things in ourselves. In that case, we’ve probably been cursed by thoughts
that have turned into words from our own mouths, words from others in our
lives, other communication’s media, and even curses that have come down into
our lives through our ancestors, down into our blood and DNA.
We rebuke those curses in the name of Jesus Christ. We
call on the King of Kings to crush the powerful spirits who backed King Balak,
and we accept new freedom and release as we both meekly and boldly follow the
leading of Jesus Christ, the curse breaker, receiving our victory in Him.
Love, Carolyn
