Nehemiah 10:28, 29
The great hymn writer Isaac Watts penned the words to “Joy to the World”, nearly 300 years ago. I do not know if he intended for it to be used primarily as a Christmas song, but I do know that it is full of theology. The third verse in particular, emphasizes a point that I believe should be brought to light often:
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
With the arrival of Jesus and His subsequent death on the cross, we now have the power to “no more let sins and sorrows grow”, but we do still have thorns infesting the ground. However, the price paid by Christ with His precious blood has given us a guarantee that someday all of the curse against this earth will be lifted (Revelation 22:3), and that His blessings will truly flow, “Far as the curse is found”.
Man has had the knowledge of the curse on the ground, and the sorrow of sin, since the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden, but he has not had the knowledge of the curse of the law forever. Until Moses gave the law, sin was not imputed (Romans 5:13), though it did exist. With the advent of the law, came the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20), and the oppressive weight of the curse of death.
Fourteen years after the return of Ezra to Jerusalem, Nehemiah led up a company of Israelites to restore the walls and civil authority. The book that bears his name is the record of those events, and its ninth chapter is the prayer of repentance by the people, while they observe the Feast of Tabernacles. The 10th chapter opens with the people and the priesthood signing a covenant, which they have written, basically, promising God that they will not sin again, and verse 29 describes what this covenant represented:
“They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes.”
The moment that Israel entered into this covenant, they identify it as a curse! This covenant is not a blessing; it is a curse, which is exactly what breaking the law brings. It is viewed as a curse because the people were confident in only one thing when they entered into it: they could not keep it.
For the believer under the New Covenant, we have the assurance that God has removed the curse of the law from us, because Jesus took the curse upon himself (Galatians 3:13). The Father did not cut covenant with you and I, because we are notorious for not keeping our end of the deal, so He cut the covenant with His Son (Galatians 3:16). Now, you and I have no fear of the curse when we fail because Jesus has taken the curse for us.
May His blessings flow for you today, “far as the curse is found”.
The great hymn writer Isaac Watts penned the words to “Joy to the World”, nearly 300 years ago. I do not know if he intended for it to be used primarily as a Christmas song, but I do know that it is full of theology. The third verse in particular, emphasizes a point that I believe should be brought to light often:
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
With the arrival of Jesus and His subsequent death on the cross, we now have the power to “no more let sins and sorrows grow”, but we do still have thorns infesting the ground. However, the price paid by Christ with His precious blood has given us a guarantee that someday all of the curse against this earth will be lifted (Revelation 22:3), and that His blessings will truly flow, “Far as the curse is found”.
Man has had the knowledge of the curse on the ground, and the sorrow of sin, since the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden, but he has not had the knowledge of the curse of the law forever. Until Moses gave the law, sin was not imputed (Romans 5:13), though it did exist. With the advent of the law, came the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20), and the oppressive weight of the curse of death.
Fourteen years after the return of Ezra to Jerusalem, Nehemiah led up a company of Israelites to restore the walls and civil authority. The book that bears his name is the record of those events, and its ninth chapter is the prayer of repentance by the people, while they observe the Feast of Tabernacles. The 10th chapter opens with the people and the priesthood signing a covenant, which they have written, basically, promising God that they will not sin again, and verse 29 describes what this covenant represented:
“They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes.”
The moment that Israel entered into this covenant, they identify it as a curse! This covenant is not a blessing; it is a curse, which is exactly what breaking the law brings. It is viewed as a curse because the people were confident in only one thing when they entered into it: they could not keep it.
For the believer under the New Covenant, we have the assurance that God has removed the curse of the law from us, because Jesus took the curse upon himself (Galatians 3:13). The Father did not cut covenant with you and I, because we are notorious for not keeping our end of the deal, so He cut the covenant with His Son (Galatians 3:16). Now, you and I have no fear of the curse when we fail because Jesus has taken the curse for us.
May His blessings flow for you today, “far as the curse is found”.
