Mark Huey of Outreach Israel Ministries delivers the following message, “Cursing the Blind,” as we contemplate the severity of what it means to be cursed by spiritual blindness.
“You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:14, NASU).
“‘Cursed is he who misleads a blind person on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen’” (Deuteronomy 27:18, NASU).
A number of years at a Messianic Jewish conference, I had a conversation with an insightful brother about a set of circumstances which occurred to him at the Christian assembly he attended, where he was falsely accused by another attendee of adultery. The incident described and subsequent revelation received, when coupled with some other observations heard on a radio interview, allowed me to conclude the following: one of the primary challenges which continues to plague, not only the Body of Messiah in general, but specifically the Messianic community of faith which we serve, is the “blind cursing the blind.” This results in relative darkness when it comes to following the Light of truth, Yeshua the Messiah. Let me explain.
My friend and his wife are ranch managers, who live on one of their ranches, while managing properties for others in the rural counties of Northeast Texas. It just so happens that they have so much work, that two or three times a week, depending on the workload, a younger woman comes to their ranch office where she does the accounting for all the different properties they manage. But being a wise couple with much experience in their walk with the Messiah, they have made it a family policy that whenever the wife has to leave the ranch to go to the store when the younger lady is there doing the bookkeeping, she takes her along, whether the husband is in the house/office or out on the ranch tending to some of the many chores. They knew from years of experience that even the appearance of impropriety was something they always wanted to avoid, given the “accuser of the brethren” and his constant attempts to discredit men and women of God.
As it turned out, there were rumors floating around their assembly that some unwholesome behavior had taken place out on the ranch between my rancher friend and their part-time female employee. Apparently, one of the male members of their Christian assembly (who knew about the working arrangement with the bookkeeper, and who also was a member of their church), was suffering with an excruciating case of kidney stones that he was unable to pass. Since the rancher had a gift of discernment and was used by God in a number of healing prayers over the years, the hurting man actually turned to him for prayer. Providentially, the pain was so intense that during the session of prayer, the man in physical turmoil actually confessed to my friend and his wife that he had made some unsavory comments about the rancher’s work circumstances, and those very innuendoes were the source comments that had expanded to the rumors of fornication and adultery, as gossip and slander (Heb. lashon ha’ra or “the evil tongue”) have a tendency to do.
By the mercy of God, during the prayer session after the muted confession, the kidney stones were actually dislodged until they were able to be discharged through some pain. The stones were not pulverized minimizing the pain, but the relief came within a day to the man who confessed his transgression to the very people whom he had wronged, and who just happened to be used by the Lord to pray for healing and relief. During this prayer ordeal, the rancher received a “word of knowledge” that he shared with me about how the Lord protects His anointed from the darts of the enemy.
Originally with the Scriptures, adultery was to be punished by being stoned to death:
“If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death” (Leviticus 20:10, NASU).
“But Yeshua went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, ‘Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?’ They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Yeshua stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her’” (John 8:1-7, NASU).
Because mercy triumphs over judgment—“for judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13)—my godly friend simply forgave the man for his offense, and continued to pray for healing. But in the meanwhile, the rancher understood that the concept of “stoning” actually resulted in the man with the kidney stones receiving a form of judgment for his false accusations. In other words, the very punishment of “stoning” for the act of adultery, bounced off of my friend and landed right back on the bearer of a false witness. Immediately, I was reminded of the Scriptural principle that applies to this realization found in Deuteronomy 19, so I mentioned it to my friend:
“A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (Deuteronomy 19:15-21, NASU).
If a single witness has falsely accused someone else of a transgression against the Word of God, then the judgment is now born by the accuser. In this case above, the stoning was not corporal punishment for the false witness, but instead, some kidney “stones,” which may be said to represent a stoning. Yet, the offender was allowed to confess his sin, and be free to go and sin no more—which is exactly what Yeshua directed to the woman brought forward on charges of adultery:
“Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Yeshua said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Yeshua said, ‘I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.’ Then Yeshua again spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life’” (John 8:8-12, NASU).
How does this relate to the concept of “cursing the blind?” Consider how a curse of blindness can bounce back upon those who are found to curse others—cursing them because of their apparent lack of knowledge Yeshua, as “the Light of the world,” states how “he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” Do you want the Light of life? Are you willing to examine yourself and confess that you just might fall in the category of one who happens to curse others, because they do not “know” what you “know”? Certainly, no one in his or her right mind would ever want the “curse of blindness” to fall back onto them. But let us see what the Scriptures say about light and darkness, and how those in the dark, have enhanced their inability to comprehend the Light, because they have inadvertently been cursed by spiritual blindness!
I believe that if followers of the Messiah would simply take the profound teachings which Yeshua conveyed in His Sermon on the Mount of Matthew chs. 5-7 to heart, and do them, then our walks with Him would be less complicated than they need to be, due to the influences of the world, our flesh, and the Evil One. After all, Yeshua the Messiah, God incarnated in a human body, revealed for all of humanity exactly what His chosen disciples are supposed to do, as each lives out their lives in the blessing of the salvation that they have received:
“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say, ‘YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU [Psalm 2:7]’? And again, ‘I WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME [2 Samuel 7:14; 1 Chronicles 17:13]’? (Hebrews 1:1-5, NASU).
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14, NASU).
The challenge with my conclusions, involving the profundity of the words of the Messiah, is the reality that too many of us do not really follow His instructions, and the Messiah’s own basic interpretations and applications of the Word as He knew it, the Tanakh or Old Testament. For most assuredly, if Believers would do what Yeshua directed in Matthew chs. 5-7, many of us would not be in the predicament where we currently reside—with strife, division, rebellion, and all sorts of evil permeating our supposedly sacred assemblies. So what is the problem? I would contend that many of us have each received a blindness of spirit, because whether overtly or covertly, we have found ourselves cursing others, by our thoughts, words, and deeds. Let me give you an example.
Consider many of the Pharisees of Yeshua’s day, and the challenge they had when this wandering Nazarene teacher, was questioned by a future disciple named Nathanael (John 1:46). Imagine what various Pharisees living in Jerusalem thought when the Lord came and introduced Himself as Yeshua or “Salvation.” “Shalom, I am Yeshua!” What do you think various high-minded and proud teachers of the Torah thought when this seemingly “unschooled” man approached them and declared that He was salvation! Do you think they might have had an issue with a proclamation which was simply a reflection of His given name? Of course they did, but it was not necessarily just the name, because they were in the presence of the Holy One of Israel in the flesh. Despite their study of the ancient texts, many did not realize that they were encountering the Creator God in a human body. Perhaps they had been blinded by various curses that they themselves had hurled upon Greek and Roman occupiers of the Land of Israel, who had been the cause of much oppression for several centuries. From the Tanach, Israel had been called to be a light to the nations and a beacon of God’s goodness, rather than a vehicle by which condemnation was to come upon them:
“I am the LORD I have called you [Israel] in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, and I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations” (Isaiah 42:6, NASU).
“He says, ‘It is too small a thing that you [Israel] should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make you a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth’” (Isaiah 49:6, NASU).
The responsibility of Israel proper, with all of the blessings available through obedience to the received Word of the Holy One of Israel, was to be a servant to the rest of the world, in order to reveal to them the character of the One True God, and hence the opportunity for salvation through the Messiah. But because Greeks, Romans, and many other pagans were not following the ways of Israel’s God, can you imagine how many curses were issued from religious persons—who were actually supposed to be an example of righteousness and obedience to His Word? My conclusion rests on the fact that because of the spoken or unspoken curses of many religious Jews in the First Century, upon the pagans at large—much of which took place as a byproduct of frustration or general lack of respect, and much of it being issued against their idolatry—what should have been a concern for their sin and well-being instead turned into self-righteousness and nationalistic self-absorbsion. The Apostle Paul had to confront some of this in his writing to the Romans, where he addresses how possession of God’s Torah does not at all mean that those who know what it commands always follow it:
“But if you bear the name ‘Jew’ and rely upon the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?” (Romans 2:17-23, NASU).
Thankfully, any blindness that Paul discerned was present among his Jewish brethren, was only partial, and in God’s perfect timing, the veil will be lifted:
“For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation– that a partial hardening [blindness] has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.’ ‘THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM [Isaiah 59:20-21], WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS [Isaiah 27:9; Jeremiah 31:33-34]” (Romans 11:25-27, NASU).
Elsewhere, Paul depicts how a veil lies over the hearts of many of his fellow Jews, a result of being declared sinners by “the ministry of condemnation” (2 Corinthians 3:9)—but that in turning to Yeshua, they are able to fully behold the Lord:
“Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Messiah. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:12-18, NASU).
A veil of blindness keeps people in darkness and susceptible to the wiles of the Devil. Much of the blindness that religious people experience—professing “Believers”—can come a result of their cursing others via a spirit of self-righteousness, and the thought that they can act in a condemning manner because they apparently know and follow the Word of God. Yeshua the Messiah instructed His followers to maintain a clear eye focused on the Light, so that the ever-present darkness can be lifted, and hence any blindness resultant of curses or condemning words they have declared, be removed:
“The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matthew 6:22-24, NASU).
When someone calls another person blind, or erects legalistic stumbling blocks for those they consider to be “blind to the truth”—has condemning judgment been issued? Does not Yeshua say that one will be judged by, and then receive, the measure by which you judged or cursed another person?
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:1-5, NASU).
The solution is fairly simple. Just take the log of legalism out of your own eye, confess that you have been judging others by your own flawed standards (because we are all human), and then repent of ever judging or cursing others again. Then you should see that the blindness to spiritual understanding, whether total or partial, will begin to be lifted. All of a sudden the words and teachings of Yeshua become more profound than ever. The Messiah’s example for us should then take on such importance, that you actually believe that in following Him, you will have eternal life—not to mention a more useful and meaningful life advancing His Kingdom here on Earth. All of the good works that you were predestined to complete will now become evident, and you will actually begin to walk in them. Of course, because of our humanity, we will always see through a mirror dimly or a “glass darkly”:
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:12-13, NASU).
Notice the reward of having some of the darkness removed. All of a sudden attributes like faith, hope, and love become evident in your life. We are told to abide in all three, with love being the dominant feature of a life devoted to Him and His Kingdom. And by the way, when we do so, the ability to volitionally choose to serve God rather than wealth becomes a joyful choice! Finally, everything we have been created to do with the life we have been given, makes so much more sense. Not only is our blindness lifted to a certain degree, but ears which have had a hard time hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit, hear much more clearly.
Now we can forgive others when we are falsely accused of anything, because we not only know we are forgiven ourselves by the atoning blood of the Messiah Yeshua—but we understand that people are blind because they have inadvertently cursed themselves, by not believing what Yeshua says we should be doing, in lieu of judging or cursing with our thoughts, words, and deeds. Soon, even our prayers will be received as they ought by the Holy One of Israel, because we actually understand that if a brother has anything against us, we go and make restitution or reconciliation before even getting on our knees to pray:
“Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison” (Matthew 5:23-25, NASU).
Additionally, if or when a brother sins in a manner to an extent where it is jeopardizing fellowship with the saints, there is a Biblical means to address the transgression:
“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED [Deuteronomy 19:15]. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15-17, NASU).
Notice that in both cases above, where disunity or sin is evident, it is incumbent upon the child of God to initiate the reconciliation process, either before presenting an offering, or when a private meeting can be arranged to address a sin requiring restoration of fellowship. As one’s sight is being reclaimed by feasting upon the Word of God, baskets of darkness will be lifted off, as good works shine the light of truth on even the secret and hidden sin that entangles so many in the Body of Messiah:
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16, NASU).
“And He was saying to them, ‘A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.’ And He was saying to them, ‘Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him’” (Mark 4:21-25, NASU).
In addition, as blindness is lifted, ears to hear the small and still voice of the Holy Spirit, improve their ability to listen. In time, as one more consistently listens to Him in order to walk by the Spirit and be led by the Spirit, more usefulness for the work of the Kingdom is possible. But, when the light of understanding reveals hidden sinful things, or an increased ability to hear the Holy Spirit is misused with inappropriate measures taken to remedy what was shown or heard, the Holy One will then take those attributes away. After all, He monitors even the slightest action where His chosen vessels begin to depend upon their own human nature to accomplish the work of His Kingdom.
This natural tendency to avoid dependence on the Spirit of God, and return to independent thinking—given human talents, abilities and spiritual gifting—can lead to a “blind spot” of self-righteousness that Yeshua addresses:
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen’” (Matthew 6:1-13, NASU).
Personally, I believe that covers it all. But as an aside, try asking the Father if you are consciously or subtly cursing others because they remain ignorant of what you know about the Scriptures, and how the Spirit of God is apparently working in your midst. These people you know just might not understand that many of the wiles of the Evil One have cleverly kept them bound in error. Indeed, many are still dead in their trespasses and sins—which should cause us to be a good example to them of those changed by the Lord, not examples of harsh condemnation which will push them away from Him:
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest” (Ephesians 2:1-3, NASU).
A life of being in slavery to sin is to be replaced by a new life in service to righteousness:
“But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:17-18, NASU).
We are not to curse the blind, but instead, be imitators of God who walk in love as “children of Light”:
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Messiah also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Messiah and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, ‘Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Messiah will shine on you’” (Ephesians 5:1-14, NASU).
What do you think? Is it time to stop cursing the blind, and wake up from the darkness of our sleep? Is it time to arise from the depths of our dullness of hearing, and see the work of the Spirit of God? Indeed, let us truly allow Yeshua the Messiah to shine upon us—so that we might witness the blind see Him!
May He do so, according to His riches, and for His glory alone!
