Proverbs 3:33

The book of Proverbs gives us insights into so many different areas of life. The book gives us instruction on how to live our lives for God. Here is a proverb that gives us insight about God’s blessing and cursing: 

Proverbs 3:33 (ESV)

The LORD'S curse is on the house of the wicked,

but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous.

One of the most famous places in Scripture is found in Deuteronomy 28-30.   It is known, especially to the Jew.   This is the passage in the Law that is often referred to as the "blessings and the cursings."  The name Deuteronomy is the Hebrew for "the second giving of the Law."   Moses is about to die and will never see the promise land.  His protégé, Joshua, will have the privilege of leading the nation into the land so coveted by Moses and his generation.  But, they sinned and, until now, all but Moses died in the wilderness.  Now it was Moses' time to die.   But, before he does so he repeats the Law (what was originally found in Exodus and Leviticus) here in Deuteronomy.    In the last chapters of that great book (as referred to above) he tells the new generation that was born in the wilderness to make sure they heed the Law.  He gave them this second writing of the Law at the foot of two mountains.  One mountain was the Mountain of Ebel and the other was the Mountain of Gerizim.     The mountains were to represent the two choices before the nation.  If they obeyed the Law they would experience the blessings of Mt. Gerizim.  If they disobeyed, however, they would experience the cures of Mt. Ebel.   So, when Solomon uses the words above to describe those who Fear The Lord and those who pursue folly as the righteous and the wicked; and says the righteous will be blessed, but the wicked cursed, the image of the listener of this proverb would be vivid.   Although the concept of being cursed by God for disobedience is spoken of many, many times in the Bible, this particular word for curse in the Hebrew, used here, is only used five times in the Bible.   It is used twice by Solomon (here and again in Proverbs 28:27 about those who turn a closed eye to the poor); twice by Malachi (one of those for those who steal from God by not giving Him their tithes) and once in the Deuteronomy passage.   God takes seriousness the sin against Him and the obedience toward Him.   But, as spoken here in this proverb it is not just the individual who is cursed or blessed.  It is the "house" or the "dwelling" of them both.   Those who disobey God will bring cursing on their entire home.  And, those who obey can be the conduit for blessing.   The psalmist wrote about this in Psalm 91.   Paul wrote about it 1 Corinthians 7 when he said a believing parent sanctifies the unbelieving spouse or the unbelieving child in the home.   Although we will each answer for our own response to Christ, cursing and blessing can be done corporately.   When the wicked rule the entire country is cursed (Proverbs 29:2).  Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim might have been directly illustrations for the second generation of Israelites, but the theme of blessings and cursings are for us today.