Genesis 12:2-3

2006.Dec.31 12:24

More Blessings, Curses, Etc.

Read Genesis 12:2-3 | Full Chapter

Jehovah continues speaking to Abram:

I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others. I will bless anyone who blesses you, but I will put a curse on anyone who puts a curse on you. Everyone on earth will be blessed because of you.
(Genesis 12:2-3, CEV)

The last sentence in the above verses is one of the things I would really like to be said about me. Maybe everybody wants this said of them, that everybody would be blessed because they lived. Then again, maybe for some people, that’s not a big deal. At the end of my life, I’d like to know that I was a good husband, a good father (assuming I have kids, which I hope to), and a good neighbor (which, with my inclination to be a loner, may prove more difficult than being a blessing to the world. I barely know most of my neighbors). And those things would be to a certain extent satisfying. With those, I would consider that my live was well-lived, but I don’t think I’d be totally satisfied unless I thought I’d made a positive difference also in a wider arena. Say, the world. So, I welcome reading that it is possible to live a life through which everyone will be blessed. Even more impressive is that God made it a promise to Abram, if only he would go.

Actually, it’s something that rather amazes me throughout the Bible, that time and again, the Word of God shows the decisions and actions of one person having these huge effects. I tend to see more the "nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiates 1:9) side of this world. It’s a viewpoint that my natural cynicism exaggerates. But it is part of Jehovah’s plan for this world that what we as individuals do does affect the lives of other humans. And the truth that our actions can bless or curse others does not change under this sun. Even if those effects constitute a small subset of what is conceivable, the very reality of the effects should not be ignored.

Jehovah goes into some detail in Abram’s case. He will be famous and his descendents will become a great nation. Jehovah then asserts that he will return in kind any blessings or curses on Abram. That’s a promise I believe for all those walking in God’s will (I emphasize this is a personal opinion. I don’t have a supporting verse). There’s the selfish and vengeful part of me that’s pleased to know that God will give those who curse me their comeuppance, but there’s also this amazing wonderful feeling to know that the lady who changed lanes so that I could merge easier is going to be blessed for that, even though I will never know who she was.

I don’t like to make a “currency” metaphor–after all, I’ve heard the line about faith being the spiritual currency more times than I can remember, regardless of its accuracy–but I’m going to. Hah! There’s this exchange of blessings and curses that goes on in all societal interactions. They act like well-planned investments, producing a return in kind. And so, the more I bless others, the more I receive. Which brings me to the coolest point: the more I receive because I’ve blessed others, the more I can increase in blessing others. And that seems to be how Abram (and his descendents, over time) got around to blessing everybody. They blessed a little, and received more, then blessed more and so on. And when that people, at various times, turned from God and began walking in curses, the nation suffered. But because of Jehovah’s promise to Abram, eventually one of his descendents gave the greatest blessing to all humanity.