Even when God curses, He hides a blessing in it. He does this by hiding Himself in His judgments.

Is It A Riddle?

Again we have something that seems like a contradiction. When you bless someone, you are speaking good things into their life. When you curse someone, you are speaking bad things into their life. So how does a blessing ever arise out of a curse? It would seem that this defeats the purpose of cursing. Samson said something similar in a riddle but in his case, he had actually gotten honey out of lion he had killed Judges 14:14. So also, this blessing that comes from a curse is not a riddle. This is how God dealt with Adam and Eve after they disobeyed Him.

A Blessing That Hides

After Adam was done throwing his wife under the bus and after Eve was done throwing the serpent under the bus, God gave His verdict in Genesis 3:14-19. God had said that they would die if they disobeyed Him. However, His curse upon them reveals that the death He had told the about involves a lot suffering. This curse sounds bad all around. But then all of a sudden, there appears this small part in verse 15 where God talks about how the seed of the woman shall bruise/crush/attack the head of the serpent. And then God moves on almost as if He had not said it at all. This tiny phrase is the beginning of the mercy of God. This tiny phrase is a ray of mercy hinting at the Radiant Son. But as He came on earth, He was hidden behind the darkness of the curse Romans 8:3. Nevertheless, even in cursing Adam, Eve and the earth, a blessing reveals itself.

Now when you look at the structure of the rest of the curses on the woman and the man, you begin to see the pattern emerge again. There should be no childbearing at all. No children for Adam and Eve but instead God says that if Eve is willing to struggle in pain, she will bear children. The earth should have stopped yielding and responding to Adam altogether. But God says that if he is willing to struggle and toil, he will eat and feed his family.

Esther best expressed this in her request before the king. The edict could not be reversed but she received the grace to fight Esther 8:7-8, 10-12. In the end there is dust and death but in between we are given the grace to fight. This grace to struggle means suffering. But this grace also gives us time. And in time, maybe a Savior can come.

Honey From The Lion

Even before Jesus came, there is something that should not be missed. God spoke the curse to Adam and Eve. He could have been silent. He could have walked away. He could have let them discover for themselves the consequences of their disobedience but instead He spoke the curse to them. This act of speaking the curse is itself a blessing. It means that God is willing to maintain the relationship with Adam and Eve. Maybe it never will be what it was before, but God didn’t leave.

This is why the story of Adam and Eve closes with a men and women struggling to maintain a relationship with God Genesis 4:26. This would have been impossible without the blessing of His Presence even though He spoke to them a curse. It makes sense then that Jesus would come. God, His Father, demonstrated He is willing to be Present with us even though we disobeyed Him. Love does not want to be distant and it pursues the loved one to be near her everywhere she goes. It makes sense that Jesus became one of us. This means (and this blows my mind) He suffered under the curse that He had spoken against us. God taught His prophet Elijah this same lesson by making him suffer the drought he pronounced along with the people 1 Kings 17:1-7.

Jesus suffered the curse unto death. And again here, we find a blessing in the curse. This time the Blessing, Jesus Christ, enters into the curse with us. It is one thing to suffer but it is even worse to suffer alone. So the presence of Jesus Christ, as one of us on this earth with us, suffering like we suffer, and struggling like we struggle lets us know two things. First God was serious about the curse. He is serious enough about sin and its consequences, that He did not rescind His Word, even when His Own Son was suffering under the same curse. Secondly, and equally glorious, it means that we are not alone. Our Judge loves us and so He chooses to suffer along side the very people He condemned. It is not yet over. The suffering persists but He blesses us with His Presence. We are not alone. Continued in the next bite…