Promise in the Prophets 423: We shall be a Blessing

423. Curse turned to Blessing

Zechariah 8:13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.

God says that He wounds and heals, He kills and makes alive: He also curses and blesses. God cursed the first man and all his descendants; He also blessed Adam and Eve with the promise of a seed who would crush Satan. God then promised that He would bless the nations through Abraham and his seed. In this Zechariah passage the Lord cursed His people by sending them into exile among the heathen. The Lord promises that the same God who cursed them will also save them and make them a blessing. Therefore, because of God’s blessing we will not fear but we shall be strong.

All of us as human beings live under the curse on account of sin. The Curse makes itself felt every day in every way. It is so pervasive that we do not even have much of a clue what life could be like if there were no curse. The Curse destroys life on every level and at every turn. We need a wild imagination to see a glimpse of what life could be like without the curse.

But Jesus took the curse upon Him and took it away. Those who have faith in Jesus are not under the curse any longer, although they live with the curse around them and in them all the time. The Good News is that those who were under God’s Curse will be saved and shall be a blessing. God said Abraham would be a blessing, and all those with the faith of Abraham will be a blessing. Not only are Christians blessed, and abundantly so, but they are also a blessing to others. Just as we receive blessing from God so we also give it away to the rest of the world around us. Christ is a “blessing to the nations” and all those with Christ in them are blessings to the nations.

We need to believe this promise for we cannot see all the blessings we have received, and we do not see how we are a blessing to the nations. For just like we cannot know what life would be like without the Curse, so also we cannot know what life would be like without the Blessing. In other words, it makes a difference when believers in Christ live their lives according to their faith. Believe the promise: “I am a blessing.”