#151: A Dreadful Promised Curse
Then as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O King!” And he said, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?”
II Kings 6:26-29 NKJV
And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.”
One of the first chapters I remember memorizing as a child in Sunday School was Deuteronomy 28. Regrettably I no longer remember the whole chapter from memory but I can remember sections and the theme of the chapter: Blessing for obeying the voice of the LORD and His commandments (vs. 1) and cursing for not obeying the voice of the LORD to observe all His commandments (vs. 15). As a young child I was taught many lessons through this chapter including: to fear the Lord God who graciously spoke to us in His Word and gave us His good commandments; to love walking with Him in obedience to His will in gratitude for His saving work for me on the cross; to flee from sin and the just and terrible curse of God upon sinners for their sin; and when I sin to swiftly repent of my sin knowing that God is faithful and just to forgive me my sin and to cleanse me from all my unrighteousness. As the curses of Deuteronomy 28 unfold they seem to get worse and worse until we read the following beginning in verse 52:
They shall besiege you at your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land… You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you. The sensitive and very refined man among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind, so that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates.
The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicate ness and sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter, [and toward her young one that cometh out form between her feet (KJV)], and her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates.
Deut. 28:52-57 NKJV (except where otherwise cited)
Israel had rejected God for generations. They had been delivered up to their enemies, famine, disease, and plague for many many years. Constantly the Word of the Lord came to them through the prophets and constantly they rejected the prophets and even sought to kill them. Finally the Lord’s curse was heightened, the Syrians were besieging Samaria. The starvation became so great during the siege that we read of the horrendous account of the two women who promised each other’s sons for food.
The sin at this point in the siege was extreme and shameless. So overcome with starvation, cannibalism of one’s own child was deemed acceptable to report to the king in the pursuit of justice. The people of Israel did not turn to the Lord who was ready to hear and help but turned against their own children to do that which is unimaginable to our ears. These two women agreed to kill, boil, and eat the children they were called to protect. Following their hunger and with no hope in God whom Samaria had rejected, the two women did as they plotted with one boy – they killed, boiled, and ate him. But the next day, the woman with the surviving son had remorse and hid her son rather then killing him as she had agreed. At this seeming injustice, the woman whose son had been killed lamented her plight to the King of Israel.
Why did this happen? Because the people would not listen to the Lord to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which He commanded them (Deut. 28:15). The horror we read of in this portion of II Kings is the promised curse of God when He and His Word are rejected. It should make us tremble at the judgment, justice, and wrath of God against sin. This historical narrative should cause us who are prone to wander from the Lord and sin to turn from our wicked ways unto the Lord our God in whom alone is forgiveness, mercy, and help for the time of trouble.
What about in our present day? Will God curse again for the sin of unbelief? A friend recently recounted a question that was addressed to John MacArthur, “When will God judge our wicked land?” John MacArthur was recounted to have responded along these lines, “If God’s judgment were to come, how different would it look than what is taking place right now?”
Perhaps we do not often see parents eating their children but mothers and fathers are killing their own children to satisfy their own lusts and desires. Medical professionals so called assist them in that butchery. Rather than boil their children after killing them or as the means of death, today mothers and fathers drive up to places called “clinics” or offering their services for “Parenthood” where instead of help to parents and children, poison pills are given that kill the child in the mothers womb. In other places, doctors sever the spinal cord of the child to kill them. Other times the baby is stabbed or bled to death. These are hard things to imagine especially when done so openly and seemingly peacefully because we cannot hear the screams of the children in the womb. But God hears their screaming and will in no way allow the guilty to go unpunished. If you are living in sin, repent while forgiveness in and through Jesus Christ may be found.
Are we living under God’s curse or should we expect it in another time? What do you see? Fathers and mothers butchering their own children to death, the state supporting it, homosexuality flourishing, wise becoming fools in their promotion of folly and sin, God’s order being hated, idols worshipped, the deity of Christ rejected. Such things are the way of the cursed. As they were in ancient times so they are today.
What then must we do? Listen to the Lord God who reveals Himself and His commandments in His Word the Bible. Keep His commandments and delight in doing them. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ of Scripture alone.Pray to the Lord alone for help in the present evil age. Pray for conversion and witness towards that end. The Lord still has His remnant and will certainly save more to everlasting life for He has not returned yet. So flee from every wicked way. Hear, believe, and obey Jesus Christ the Son of God. Perhaps through the conversion of many, the curse that is upon our land will end, and the Lord will bless us and our children with His favorable presence and countenance upon us. Do not lose hope or grow weak in faith through all the griefs, sorrows, and sins of life. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart!
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