Blessings and Curses, Part 3

This message continues with the account of Naaman's healing and focuses on Elisha's servant's actions.

In Gehazi's outrage that Elisha did not accept the gifts that the Syrian general, Naaman had brought, he determined to get them for himself and swears an oath to that end:
"As surely as the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him" (2 Kings 5:20).

By invoking the LORD's name, Gehazi was calling down a curse on himself.

Amazingly, he DID get "something from him" (2 Kings 5:20), but it was not what he wanted. What Gehazi got was Naaman's leprosy for himself and his descendants (2 Kings 5:27).

Deuteronomy 29:18-19 reminds us that we cannot counter a curse by mouthing words without repentance.

Galatians 3:13 ff. teaches us that the Lord Jesus took our curses on his own head as he hung on the cross. Galatians 3 goes on to tell us that he did this so that the blessings of Abraham would come to all who are "in Christ."