Why All The Outrage To Pat Robertson’s Remarks About Haiti? (Part 9)

Click on the following for earlier articles in the series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 and Part 8.

A Simple Illustration of Curses and Judgments.

One morning, because of a FaceBook game, you’re five minutes late in leaving the house for work. A heavy schedule and a grumpy boss awaited you ten miles down the road.

You placed the keys in the ignition of the Ford Taurus, tightened your seatbelt, adjusted the mirror and started the engine. As you headed out the driveway onto the highway, you grasped the steering wheel with a Mario Andretti racing grip.

Traffic was light. The sky was clear and the road was straight. You stomped on the gas pedal and soon you were exceeding the posted speed limit. “Please Lord, just give me grace this one time. Please!” you prayed aloud, hoping the Lord had His earphones turned on.

Being vigilant, you looked to the left and right, searching for other motorists and the dreaded state police as you zipped down the road. Everything was A-okay. You smiled to yourself and relaxed a bit. “Thanks, Lord,” you whispered, content in thinking God had overlooked your minor transgression.

Then, you heard the siren. A quick look in the mirror revealed flashing red lights and a state policeman following directly behind you. You pulled off onto the side of the road.

As you waited for the policeman to approach your front window, you removed your driver’s license from a wallet. Maybe, you thought, he’ll just give me a warning ticket. Oh, I hope so!

As the officer reached for your driver’s license, he said, “Do you realize you were speeding fifteen miles per hour over the limit?”

You shrugged your shoulders. “Sorry, officer,” you said, “I’m late for work.”

He smiled and handed you a speeding ticket. “Next time, leave home earlier,” he said with a wink of his eye. “Your trial date is written on the bottom of the ticket. See you in court.”

You resumed your journey with a speeding ticket tucked under the visor above your seat and a costly excuse for being late to work.

Two weeks later, you appeared before a county judge. “How do you plead?” he asked, peering over the top of some official-looking papers.

“Guilty, your honor,” you said, resigning yourself to your fate.

“Okay, then,” he replied as he reviewed the papers in his hands. “You haven’t had a ticket in a long time and the officer says the road conditions were excellent. So, I’m just fining you the minimum amount: four hundred and thirty dollars. Pay the clerk before you leave.”

You mumbled a thanks for his kindness and headed toward the clerk with your checkbook in hand.

In this illustration, there was a speed limit law. The blessings of the law were safety to yourself and others if you obeyed it. When you disobeyed the law and were caught by the police, this was a type of curse of the law. A penalty was involved. A judge decided the severity of the penalty for your disobedience. It was called a judgment.

If you view Old Testament laws or New Testament truths, there are always positive sides (blessings) for obedience and negative sides (curses) for disobedience. Disobedience, especially continued rebellious disobedience, will eventually cause the Judge to place a judgment on a person, group or nation.

As you can see, curses and judgments go hand and hand. They are not separate entities, okay?

(Continued in Part 10)