Observations of Blessings and Curses in Genesis

 

BC01 - Assignment One: Observations of Blessings and Curses in Genesis
Paragraph	Themes / Summary	Clues / Questions
	Blessings
Blesssing - H1293: Berakah Noun - H1288: Barak - Verb - A benefit or goodness imparted (by God)
Genisis 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing:	God imparts a blessing to Abraham.
Genesis 27:12 My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver, and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.	Jacob fears his father's wrath if he discovers Jacob’s deceit. He also fears bringing a curse upon himself.	Did Rebekah infer the curse upon herself from her son Jacob?
Genesis 27:35 And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.	Jacob stole his brother’s blessing. The blessing was a spoken pronouncement of God's favor into the life of the person receiving it.	Issac understands the blessing as a matter of substance. Is that the same for us today? Do we recognize the substance of the blessing?
Genisis 27:36 And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?	The is a difference between the birthright and the blessing. The birthright appears to be a temporal impartation of favor, ie; land, cattle, homes,etc., whereas, the blessing appears to have its roots in the spiritual realm. So whether spoken by God, or man, blessing originates from God.
Genesis 27:38 And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.	The blessing, once imparted, may not be rescinded or transferred. Esau had to settle for a 'lesser' blessing.	Again, do we realize how substantial a blessing is today?
Genesis 27: 41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.	Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing that was stolen from him.
Genesis28:4 And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham.	Issac confers the blessing of Abraham upon Jacob, placing him in the Messianic lineage.	Blessings have weight. They can impart eternal consequences.
Genesis 33:11Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it.	Here, 'blessing' is translated as a gift or present. Jacob refers to it as 'my blessing', which implies that it is but a gift and not a spiritual impartation.	This is the equivalent of a substantial monetary gift. Note: Jacob does not seek compensation. This is a gift.
Genesis 39:5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.	Because of Joseph's obedience and Potiphar'srecognition of the Spirit guiding Joseph, God can, and does 'bless Potiphar's house abundantly. Blessing from God always results in a bountiful harvest, greater than what was sown.	God will bless those who bless his children. By acknowledging God's people, those outside of the covenant of God can be blessed by God.
Genesis 49:25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:	Jacob speaks a great blessing on Joseph, implying that the blessing comes directly from God.	In this verse and the ones immediately preceding, Jacob implies that Joseph is 1. Not his son, and 2. receiving a greater blessing than he, Jacob has the authority to impart. This passage requires further research.
Genesis 49:26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.	Jacob continues speaking the great blessing on Joseph and intimates that this blessing supersedes and is greater than the blessing from his ancestors.	Same as above.
Genesis 49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.	This verse ends the blessing of Jacob to his sons.
	Curse
Curse H7043 qalal - Verb - To make vile or despicable To abate or withdraw, to shake.
Genesis 8:8 Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;	Abate here is the same word for curse in Hebrew. It gives a picture of withdrawal..	Withdrawal can be symbolic of God withdrawing His Presence
Genesis 8:11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.	Same as above. The water had not yet withdrawn to a safe level.	If the flood represents an overflowing abundance of the Presence of God, what was God doing in the earth while the surviving humans were in the ark?
Genesis 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.	God accepted Noah's sacrifice and made an everlasting promise to never curse or withdraw from the earth entirely because of man's wickedness.	God promises to keep the earth in a cyclic state of replenishment, regardless of the evil of man. Is this a modification of the curse pronounced on the earth when man fell in the Garden?
Genesis 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.	The Abrahamic Blessing and God's promise of protection for Abraham	The 'curse' as a protective mechanism.
Genesis 16:4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.	Sarah despised Hagar. Because of this, Hagar was removed from a place of 'covering' in Abraham's home.	Sarah, as one in authority, 'removes' the blessing of covering from Hagar.
Genesis 16:5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.	Hagar laments to the Angel of the Lord that she is 'hated' by her masters’ wife.	Hagar is reduced to looking for covering, or safety in the wilderness.

In a few short hours, I have gained more appreciation for directed, bible study using the bible study methods we are acquiring at OBA. Blessing and Cursing are the subjects of the first assignment in session BC01. The power of these terms can be underestimated without some in-depth study. 

Blessing: Berakah - A benefit or ‘goodness’ imparted by God, a gift, a pronouncement, by men or women, of the aforementioned benefit.

In Genesis, we find that where God imparts blessing, He imparts it in overwhelming, overflowing abundance. We learn that the weight or gravity of a blessing is quite substantial and that in many cases, a blessing has generational or even eternal ramifications. We also learn that blessings have their origin in the spiritual realm (Heaven).

Curse: Qalal - To make vile or despicable, to abate or withdraw, to shake.

In Genesis, when we encounter the word ‘curse’, we find that it is something to be regarded as vile, evil, or despicable. Additionally, however, we find the same word used for the waters of the flood withdrawing or abating from the earth. This implies that something that is cursed withdraws’ or is withdrawn. That further implies that something cursed is withdrawn from the Presence of God. That is a frightening eventuality. The other word for curse means to shake. The implication here is that a cursed thing is something that has no substance without God. Again, the thought of that is frightening. 

Both terms, in the proper context, give us but a glimpse of the majesty and the eternal omnipotence of our God. They also provide, but a glimpse of the everlasting love with which God loves us, His Church.