When is it okay to curse people in the name of the Lord?
score:7
David in Psalm 139:21-22 states:
"Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies."
It is important to remember here that God had set aside a nation for himself and at this time the enemies of David the King of Israel were also the enemies of God.
Today we have a King who is greater than David, King Jesus. His kingdom is "Not from this world". Paul also notes that:
"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph 6:12)
More specifically the prophets of God, like Elisha, were His messengers and called to a purpose that men no longer have given the Word of God is complete in the Scriptures.
I believe that this means that we no longer have a calling to curse anyone but instead to fight against spiritual wickedness. We do this by wrestling in prayer and by using the Word of God to tear down the enemies strongholds.
Upvote:0
I met a person who is evil to the core and the holy ghost spoke to me and told me to curse them. (That the next time they commit an evil act against a child that they will be cursed) I cant say what the curse is. Mark 11: 13-14 Jesus curses a fig tree, Galatians 3:10-14 for living by the law and not by faith you are cursed, (Romans 13 the bible does say follow the law of your land unless it is against God's word.) 2 kings 2:24 Elisha curses Lads who mocked him and 1 kings 17:1 Elijah curses Ahab.
Upvote:2
I had to consider how to answer an atheist (on Twitter, no less) who used this passage as "proof" that if God does exist, He is a cruel and petty one. At least here I'm not limited to 140 characters! The hermeneutics of this passage have been well covered by others. During the reign of Ahab, not too long before this, Jezebel killed every prophet of the Lord she could get her hands on, and we can assume there was probably still significant persecution of the faithful minority. Bethel was home to one of the 2 golden calves that Jeroboam made to entice the people of Israel into idolatry and away from the Lord, so it is not surprising that we see Ejisha being ridiculed here by a gang of youths. My college OT professor told us that this carried the connotation of calling him an "emptyhead." Now look at 2 Kg. 1:9-15, where King Ahaziah sends soldiers to demand that Elijah come to him, and Elijah calls down fire from heaven and turns 2 bands of 50 into crispy bits. When the captain of the third band humbles himself and begs for his men's lives, God spares them. I see these passages as representing what is soon to befall Israel as a whole: those who reject God will be punished, but mercy will be given to those who humble themselves. These prophets were acting in the authority of God, proclaiming His message.
Now as to whether we have the authority to do this, look at Luke 9:51-56. A Samaritan village rejects Jesus because He was going to Jerusalem, and James and John ask Him if they should call down fire on them, as Elijah did. Jesus rebukes them and says "The Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them." So we do not have the authority to curse anyone in the name of the Lord.
Upvote:10
First off, "boys" is a very unfortunate translation here, as the original word properly means "youths" (teens/young men, not children.) And a group of over 40 youths coming out to confront a single man with angry words is a lot more than simple "jeering". Imagine the scene! His life was most likely in danger. (Remember when Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away because Ishmael was endangering young Isaac with his "teasing"? The ancient Hebrews seem to have had quite the gift for understatement in these matters!)
Also, this wasn't just any man they were harassing. This incident came right after Elisha witnessed Elijah's ascendance into heaven, when Elisha was granted an official status as the spiritual heir to Elijah. In other words, he was the new prophet of God, as Elijah had been. To harass him was to reject his authority as the emissary of God to Israel, and that is where Elisha is different from us. He was a prophet of God, and he had the authority to call upon the powers of heaven in order to protect himself, as Elijah did.
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