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Leviticus 26 Deuteronomy 27-28 Ezekiel 34 Revelation 21-22 Revelation 16

Every commandment has always come with certain conditions. There are blessings if we obey and curses for disobedience.

The Blessings Of The Good Shepherd
Ezekiel 34, Psalm 23 and John 10 shows that the duty of a Good Shepherd is to apply the blessings of the covenant to the sheep. The Lord's prayer is an appeal to the promises of the blessings of God made in the covenant.
The life of Christ shows that He is not just a good shepherd because He provides the blessings promised in the covenant. He is a good shepherd because He goes beyond this to give His life for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. (John 10: 11)

1. Eden Found (Good Pasture Land). The shepherd provides pasture land.
   I will feed them in good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. (Ezekiel 34: 14)
   The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures ... (Psalm 23: 1-2)
2. Food And Water And Rest. The shepherd gives good food and clean water. There is no famine or want or hunger or thirst.
   "I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest", declares the Lord God. (Ezekiel 34: 15)
   You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows. (Psalm 23: 5)
   
   

   Daily Bread Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts ... (Matthew 6: 11-12)

   Rest. There is also spiritual restoration. The Sabbath rest is an important part of giving this spiritual food and water. So the prayer to forgive our debt is a prayer for rest. We do not have to work to repay this debt. It is a debt that our forefathers owed and which will be required of our children. It is a generational debt bondage which we cannot repay.
   ... He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul ... (Psalm 23: 2-3)
3. Population Gathered By A Guide. While the wild beasts kill and scatter, the shepherd searches for and gathers the lost and brings them into one fold. He delivers us from evil.
   They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. For thus says the Lord God, "Look, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out". (Ezekiel 34: 5, 11)

   Deliver us From Evil And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6: 13)

   
   There is also spiritual guidance. We are in danger from sin. Satan is the roaring lion who is the wild beast who devours us.
   ... He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil, for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff they comfort me. (Psalm 23: 3-4)
   
   » The Rod And Staff. Many have used this to support beating children as a way to guide them to good behavior. But here, this is a comforting element. The rod and staff are used for comforting guidance, not punishment. It was not an object they feared. When they see the rod and staff it reassured them about where they are to go. It was a sign of safety or danger.
   The law of God is His rod and staff. They give us guidance about what is wrong. Therefore, when Jesus rules the nations with a rod of iron it is not a terrifying, brutal or dominant statement for the righteous. He gives them iron clad rules that reassure them by guiding them about what is right and wrong. However, for the wicked this rule by the rod is like an iron yoke around their necks. The broken laws and the rejection of guidance become a stumbling block in the judgment.
4. Peace And Health. The shepherd feeds and takes care of the sick and broken.
   I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick ... (Ezekiel 34: 16)

   Kingdom of God Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. (Matthew 6: 10)

5. Sanctuary In The House Of God. The shepherd fulfills the terms of the covenant. This promises abundance.
   Peace and Safety. I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
   Water. I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season. They will be showers of blessings.
   Food. Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure in their land.
   Deliverance. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. (Ezekiel 34: 25-27)
   And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23: 6)

The Law, The Sanctuary And The Curses
There is a connection between the law, the sanctuary, the creation and the curses. This relationship becomes obvious as you examine the prophetic symbols. It is the sanctuary that ties all these systems together. In the eyes of God, the difference between the righteous and the wicked is related to their correct participation in the sanctuary. The plan of salvation is the sanctuary.

• The Creation is the order in which God produced the universe. On each day of creation, something was created or was available that was used to construct the sanctuary or send a curse.
• The Commandments are the rules by which the creation lives.
• The Sanctuary is the structure that shows the order in which God will recreate sinners. The order of the furniture in the sanctuary is the same as the creation because both are creative actions of God.
  Each actually represents a part of creation that was available at that time.
  
  Each element of the sanctuary also represents some aspect of the first four commandments. Because God is trying to reconcile us to Him, the focus of the sanctuary are the commandments that show respect for God. As we conform to these commandments, we will naturally obey the commandments that describe our relationship to other people.
• The Curses are the automatic consequences of breaking the law which leads to a separation from God. They are the stale, old, left over, garbage from a part of the sanctuary.
  They are also an attack from a part of creation. As God removes His protection, a part of creation acts destructively against people who are lawless.

In the end, the wicked are owned by Satan and the judgments from the sanctuary make them ineligible to be with God. The judgments reflect how God sees them.

The Covenant Curses
Because of the mercy of God, He gives us many chances before He reluctantly applies the curses. And the curse is simply the removal of His care and protection so that we are conquered by our enemies.
Who are these enemies who can turn against us?

• Our Bodies. Sickness, disease, infertility and mental fear.
• Nature. The land and the skies do not produce for us, causing constant work.
• The animal kingdom attacks us.
• Other Nations. They rob, steal and abuse us. Our enemies conquer us.
• Satan tries to rule us by corrupting the worship of God.
• God finally becomes our enemy after we declare war and hostilities against Him.

After God called the nation of Israel. He gave them His laws, a covenant, a promise and the terms of the covenant.
The covenant promises and blessings of inheriting a Promised Land with God at the center, also includes curses for disobedience. These curses come with five levels of escalation for disobedience and hostility to God.
This is the summary of the terms of the covenant in Leviticus 26: 1-3. It essentially emphasizes the first four commandments before adding our duties to all of God's laws. Disobedience to the first four commandments shows hatred for God. Hostility towards God means that the covenant can be legally broken.

1. Do not worship the idols or images.
2. Do not make idols or images to idols.
3. Reverence the sanctuary.
4. Keep the Sabbaths.
5. Obey the commandments. The ten commandments were called the Covenant. This is why the box that they were placed in is called the Ark of the Covenant.
   And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. (Deuteronomy 4: 13)

The Fourth Curse (1798 - Seven Last Plagues).
With the schism of the Eastern Orthodox church (1054), the separation of the Anglican church (1529), the loss of her children in the Protestant Reformation (1517) which splintered of the church and then being captured by an atheist revolt in the French Revolution (1789-1798), the Papacy ended the third curse with their defeat. How is this curse important and where does is occur historically?
Third Curse (Children Lost - Infertility). And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.
Fourth Curse (Vengeance). And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
Ten Women. One Unsatisfactory Religion. And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied. (Leviticus 26: 21-26)

• The Garden Of Eden. The famine was the loss of the Tree of life. The sword was the guard at the gate of the Eden and the pestilence was death. The vengeance for the covenant was in the promise of the curse and it would be primarily against the serpent (Genesis 3).
• The First Temple. The loss of the ten northern tribes to the Assyrians, the wild beast, were the loss of the children and the desolation of the land. Rome lost their territory to the Barbarians and gave half to the Catholic church.
• The Second Temple. The child they lost was Jesus Christ. The vengeance was the rejection for the Gentiles, the loss of the priesthood, sanctuary (70 AD) and city (136 AD).
• The Three Angel's Message. The curse before the Seven Last plagues has to be the sternest warning, because there is only final judgment in the fifth. It is accompanied by the Latter Rain with the power of the fourth angel.
  First Angel (Worship The Creator). Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
  Second Angel (Babylon Falls). And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
  Third Angel (Avoid Plagues). And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. (Revelation 14: 7-12)
  • Quarrel For The Covenant. It is in the fourth curse that God seeks an occasion and brings a controversy over the breaking of His covenant. When God raised up a champion against the Philistines, God created a controversy.
    Samson. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of the Lord, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. (Judges 14: 4)
    In the First Angel's message the controversy is recognizing God as truthful about our origins in respect to the time of the creation and the identity of our Creator in whose image we are made. We are not the product of a 4.5 billion year old evolution who are made in the image of beasts.
  • Sword (War). God will began a controversy. When the architects of the French Revolution and Communists set out to conquer religion, they began a war against God. The two great world wars and the religious chaos are the wars in our time.
    . Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10: 34-35, 38)
    Since the Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God, this sword must also be religious in its nature.
    . And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: (Ephesians 6: 17)
    Defeating The Enemy With The Word Of God. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4: 12)
  • Pestilence (Disease). The rise of exotic diseases and pathogen resistance are a sign of our times as the atheist gods of this world are increasingly running out of solutions to problems they thought they can solve. Atheism is a religious disease that will kill life.
  • Famine. The rising global population is one increase in a potential food shortage, but the misuse of the land, immoral financial priorities and the financial ground on which food commodity is built for profit are the real source of shortages. Governments would rather build bombs than provide food.
    Famine For Truth. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: (Amos 8: 11)
  • Ten Women, One Oven (New Age Religion). In Revelation 17, ten kings will give their consent to the whore and the great beast. The female counterpart of the ten kings is 10 religious women who craft a universal religion based on their own rebellious imagination. The result is one melting pot of religion that provides a world starving for knowledge of the true God.
    Famine For Knowledge Of God. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4: 6)
  • Vengeance For The Covenant. God will bring revenge for breaking the covenant, especially against His priests who are responsible for apostasy. God has a controversy with the nations. When He is done, then the nations will flee out of Babylon and warn of the plagues to come, completing the second and third angel's message.
    Not Forgotten. And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord. These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses. (Leviticus 26: 44-46)
  The Lion Of Judah Roars. Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shallroar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. (Jeremiah 25: 30-33)

The Series Of Seven. The language used in the terms of the covenant lists five chances before there is total rejection, exile and destruction of the sanctuary. This is a departure from the pattern of seven used by God. Normally six is given to resolve human issues and God assumes complete control in the seventh. Let us look at this more closely.

In the structure of the portable sanctuary, each side was made from individual boards which were held together by five bars. The removal of all bars would mean the collapse of the entire sanctuary structure.
Each chance was therefore a bar removed from the sanctuary. When the fifth cycle of disobedience occurred, the sanctuary was destroyed!

What about the sixth and seventh in the series?
The fifth cycle was not a total destruction. It was exile from the Promised Land and destruction of the corrupt sanctuary. In the final application of the covenant to the world we will see the following, because there is no longer relents.

5. The Seven Last Plagues. They are a response to the final hostilities towards God. The earth receives the fifth set of curses and the wicked are killed and are exiled from heaven for a thousand years in death and their corrupt religion and sanctuary is destroyed.
6. Judgment (The Creation Of Man). The wicked face judgment and final destruction after the Millennium. In this period, the world will be exposed to God and Satan in person. They will acknowledge that God was merciful and fair. Yet, they will commit the ultimate act of hostility. They will start a war, the battle of Armageddon. They will attack God physically. This is what causes God to destroy them. Even though they acknowledge their guilt. Even though God shows mercy by leaving the gates of the city open, they do not take hold of faith and see that this may be an invitation to trust in the mercy of God. They are given some time to exist after the judgment. They are not immediately thrown into the lake of fire. They use this time to plan a war against God.
7. Heaven (The Day Of Rest). God and the faithful live in peace.

So Leviticus 26 shows the application of the curses while the earth remains.

The Curse In The Garden Of Eden
The same curse existed in the Garden of Eden.

• Covenant. Hosea confirms that a covenant was made with Adam.
  For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in knowledge of God rather than burnt offering. But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant. (Hosea 6: 6-7)
• Law. We know of at least two commandments in the Garden of Eden.
  Sabbath. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. (Genesis 2: 1-3)
  But from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, "You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die". (Genesis 3: 3)
  Since Cain murdered his brother Abel, we know that this commandment also existed.
• Curse. Adam, Eve and the serpent were cursed (Genesis 3: 14-24)
  Serpent. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed ... (Genesis 3: 14)
  Eve. I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth ... (Genesis 3: 16)
  Adam. Cursed is the ground because of you ... (Genesis 3: 17)

After they sinned, the curse was applied and we notice the following changes in Genesis 3. The same set of curses that were applied to Adam and the human race, were applied to the Jews.

Evidence Of Laws Many try to minimize the importance of the laws by calling them "Jewish". But all the laws existed at creation, 2000 years before the Jewish nation was called. While we do not have evidence of a formal presentation of a list of laws, we have evidence that laws existed because sin occurred. Some laws were named with the entrance of sin after they had been violated. If sin occurred, then there must have been a law. Commandments. Existed at creation. One God. (Genesis) Sabbath. (Genesis 2: 3) Marriage of Two. (Genesis 2: 24) Do not covet. (Genesis 2: 16-17) Lying. (Genesis 3: 4) Murder. (Genesis 4: 10) It is obvious that the other laws existed. Covenant. Enforced after sin. Curses. (Genesis 3: 14-24) Death Penalty. (Genesis 2: 17)

• Naked. They noticed that they were naked. God had to make clothes from animal skins. (Verses 7,10-11)
• Hostility. There was no longer any peace. They blamed each other and God for the problem. (Verses 12-13)
• Children. Eve was cursed through her children. She would have pain as a mother because of her children. (Verse 16)
• Land. The land was cursed for Adam. He would have to work hard to make it produce food. (Verse 17)
• Sweat. He would work by the sweat of his face. (Verse 19) This curse is a reminder that the wicked will not have rest.
• Thorns And Thistles. They would grow out of the earth because of the curse (Verse 18). Christ would wear a crown of thorns.
• Exile. They were exiled from the sanctuary of the Garden of Eden. (Verse 23)
• Sword. Two angels with swords guarded the garden so that they could no longer go in.
  A Sword In Eden. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3: 24)
• Death. They would eventually die, and the clothes that they wore was available because of the death of an animal. (Verses 21-24). It is possible that daily sleep was introduced at this time. This is why sleep represents death.
• Serpent. The snake lost power. It would have to crawl in the dust. The assumption is that it used to fly. (Verse 14).
  A promise is also made that a Child of the woman would conquer the snake. (Verse 15)
• Wild Animals Attack. There was also enmity with the serpent.
• Ruled. The woman will be ruled by her husband. (Verse 16) The curse is to be ruled by others. In the worst case, you will be ruled by your enemies.
• God. He was no longer visible to humans. God was no longer physically with us. (Verse 8)
• Cannibalism. By the time of the flood, the curse had caused so much damage that they had to start eating animals for food. This is not the original plan.

The Final Curse
We should concentrate on the fifth set of curses in Leviticus 26: 27-46. These are the final curses when God rejects all the people and their worship. We see in this punishment, a pattern of the Sanctuary structure. Since God rejects the false worship, each section of the true sanctuary sends its own curse on the rebellious people and their false religion and their false sanctuary.
The people were hostile and disobedient. God now reacts with wrath and hostility seven times (Verse 27-28).

• Hated By God. (Verse 30). This curse is a rejection by God.
• Prayers Not Heard. (Verse 30). God no longer comes to their rescue. Therefore, they are left to suffer at the hands of those whom they have chosen to replace God. God gives them what they want and He does not rescue them.
  I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars. ... and I will not smell your soothing aromas. (Leviticus 26: 30-31).
• Cannibalism. (Verse 29). This curse makes the people unclean and unworthy to enter the true sanctuary.
  All five curses involve the results of famine that is caused by a different source.
  1. Theft. Nature allows you to produce food but your enemies raid the land and steal the crops.
  2. Nature. The sky is bronze and earth is iron. Nothing grows. There is neither rain nor soft earth.
  3. Population. The lack of people to help and the dangers of wild beasts reduce the opportunity to successfully produce food.
  4. War. The dangers and devastation of war prevents the production of food.
  5. Siege. Famine in the cities results the lack of food and in cannibalism.

  The Abomination of Desolation The final curse brings the abomination of desolation. Or more accurately, the abomination that will be desolated. As the people reject God, He rejects them and gives them over to a persecuting power that will fulfill the terms of the curse. This power destroys them and their sanctuary. Abomination. This is the sin that leads to total rejection by God. One characteristic of all abominations is their entrance into the sanctuary. A place where they do not belong. Desolation. This is the destruction. It can be done by the enemy or by God. The desolation comes because we have defiled the sanctuary and worship with an abomination.

• Yoke Of Slavery (Bear Burdens). (Verse 13). The curse places the bars of an iron yoke on your shoulders so that you cannot walk upright. Any burdensome oppression is the curse.
• Land Desolate. (Verse 32). The land is destroyed.
• Sanctuary Destroyed. (Verse 31). This curse destroys the false worship that the people have substituted for the worship given by God.
  • Idols. (Verse 30). The false gods are destroyed.
  • Incense Altars. (Verse 30). The false gods cannot answer their prayers.
• City Destroyed. (Verse 31). The Promised Land is taken away.
• Fear And Death. (Verse 30, 36-38). Their lives are taken away.
• Sword. (Verse 33). War. Christ comes at the end of the world with an army from heaven to fight the wicked with the sword in His mouth. (Revelation 19: 14-16 )
• Exile. (Verse 33). The remnant are removed from the Promised Land and given to their enemies.
• Ruled By Enemies. (Verse 39). Satan will be king of the dead bodies. Later he will be the ruler of the resurrected wicked.
  Israel was ruled by the Assyrians after they captured the ten northern tribes.
  The last two tribes and the priests were captured and ruled by Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome.
• Land Keeps Its Sabbaths. (Verse 34-35). The Land keeps all the Sabbaths that the people did not allow it to keep.
  Then the land will enjoy its Sabbaths all the days of the desolation while you are in your enemies' land; Then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. All the days of its desolation it will observe the rest which it did not observe on your Sabbaths, while you were living on it. (Leviticus 26: 34-35)
  The millennium is the fulfillment of this promise. It is a legal, binding covenant that shows that the world will last six thousand years. Therefore, if God gives back one thousand years of broken Sabbaths to the earth, then the earth should last six thousand years after the start of sin. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that the six thousand years probably started from one of these three events.
  • Creation. From the first week of creation.
  • Sin. When Adam and Eve sinned. This was within the first 130 years, before the birth of Seth.
  • Sabbath Breaking. When the world broke the first Sabbath. Then the covenant curse legally applies.

  No Sin	Six Thousand Years							1000 Years	End Of Sinners	No Sin
  	Start Of Sin		Human History		End	Second Coming		Millennium
  No Curse		Planet Cursed			Seven Last Plagues			Curse Devours Earth		No Curse
  Earth		Abomination	Corruption		Desolation					New Earth

Look at what Isaiah says are God's accusations against the people of the earth after the destruction.
"Look, the Lord makes the earth empty, and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters the inhabitants in it abroad ... Because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and they that dwell in it are desolate. (Isaiah 24: 1-8).

• Broken. The people broke the law.
• Changed. The people changed the laws.
• No Covenant. The people broke the everlasting covenant.

The Final Generation
Look at what the beast power of Babylon the Great does in Revelation 13.

• Broken. The people broke the law. Specifically, they broke the first four commandments.
  1. No Other God. They worshipped the beast (verses 4, 12). They teach that there is no God.
  2. No Idols. They made an image to the beast (verse 14). They teach that man is made in the image of beasts, making science their new idols and source of authority.
  3. The Name Of God. They take the name of the beast. (verse 17 and Revelation 14: 11)
  4. Sabbath. They forced the world to accept their mark, the sign of their covenant. (verse 16-17)
• Changed. The people changed the laws. They changed the Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday.
• No Covenant. The people broke the everlasting covenant by enforcing the mark of the beast. They changed the sign of the everlasting covenant. This is Sunday worship.

Does God's laws matter? Can we change His laws?
Therefore, the covenant and the laws were not made with Israel for Israel only. The covenant was made with the whole earth. Israel was given the privilege of keeping the memory of the covenant and its sign alive among the nations of the earth.

The Curse Is Doubled
We find one more principle in the wrath of God.
I will first doubly replay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations. (Jeremiah 16: 18).
And Jeremiah prays the following. ... bring on them a day of disaster and crush them with twofold destruction. (Jeremiah 17: 18)

We find that God applies this principle in the punishment of Babylon.
Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. (Revelation 18: 6).
This is not just a punishment in severity or number. The Papacy falls twice in history. The world falls twice. Satan falls twice.

The Curse Is Applied
The cycle of curses had been applied many times in history. We are generally left with a historical record of the events of the fifth and final set of curses because the events were so devastating.

1. Adam and Eve were exiled from the garden of Eden.
2. Noah was saved and the rest of the world was exiled from the earth in the flood.
3. The tower of Babel was destroyed. It was built because of disobedience and hostility to God. When God confused the languages, He was able to scatter the people.
4. Egypt was destroyed as God rescued Israel from slavery.
5. Israel would experience two destructions and exiles from Jerusalem by Babylon and Rome.
6. The earth will be destroyed and experience a one thousand year exile at the Second Coming.

History: Israel And The Curses
Historically, the curses have been applied to the two nations called by God. The nation of Israel experienced two sets of this cycle. Each ended with the destruction of their temple. The Jews saw the wrath of God in their final plagues in 70 AD. when the sanctuary was destroyed. The Christians (global Israel) will experience this during the seven last plagues.

1. The Destruction Of The First Sanctuary By Babylon In 586 BC.
   Jeremiah prophesied that the exile would last for seventy years. This is the amount of Sabbaths for a period of 490 years. This is the exact amount of time that they had existed in the Promised Land since the exodus.
2. The Destruction Of The Second Sanctuary By Rome In 70 AD.
   Because of a series of revolts, the Jews were exiled and killed until Antoninus Pius repealed many of the harsh policies towards Jews (138-161). Again, this is approximately seventy years of exile.
   • One million Jews are killed in 70 AD and the second temple is destroyed.
   • Bar kokhba Revolt (132-135) - Half a million killed. Hadrian builds a pagan temple over the site of the second temple. He renames Jerusalem Aelia Capatolina and forbids Jews to live in Jerusalem.
   
   In His final week on earth, Christ prophesied about the rejection of Jerusalem in many ways.
   • Jesus cursed the fig tree and it withered. This demonstrated that the nation was no longer connected to God, the source of life.
     Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered. (Matthew 21: 19)
   • Their house was desolate. Look, your house is being left to you desolate. (Matthew 23: 38).
     Therefore, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to and given to a people producing the fruit of it. (Matthew 21: 43).
     With these words, all people who obey God become the new Israel.

The Wrath In The Exodus
The exodus from Egypt to Israel should have taken about seventy days. Instead it took forty years. They left Egypt on the Passover and arrived at Mount Sinai (Horeb) two months later on Pentecost. From there they were supposed to take the Promised Land, which was only eleven days away.
It is eleven days journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-Barnea. (Deuteronomy 1: 2)
See a map of the exodus.

42 Camp Sites in the Wilderness (Numbers 33)
Camp Site		Comment	Wrath
11	Rephidim	No water to drink	1	Thirst
	Massah	Moses strikes rock		Amalek
12	Wilderness of Sinai	Ten Commandments. Worshipped a Calf	2	Eat the gold calf
-	Taberah	Fire from God	3	Heat
13	Kibroth-Hattaavah	Ate quail meat.	4	Plague
17	Libnah	Punished for forty years.
33	Kadesh-Barnea (Wilderness of Zin) (Meribah)	They rebelled. Moses sins. Strikes rock twice. Water from the rock.	5	Exile

Israel sinned many times, but Moses chose to point out five specific cases. They sinned four times and complained about God, amidst all of the overwhelming evidence of miracles and His care. They even sinned while God was visibly on top of Sinai with Moses. After the first four sins, they were condemned to wander for forty years. At the end of that period, they sinned for the last time and they were barred from entering the Promised Land.
I took your sinful thing, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it. ... Again at Taberah and at Massah and at Kibroth-Hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath. When the Lord sent you from Kadesh-Barnea, saying, "Go up and possess the land which I have given you", then you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You neither believed Him nor listened to His voice. (Deuteronomy 9: 21-23)

• Outer Court. God led them from Egypt and through a baptism in the Red Sea so that they could meet him in the Holy Place. There, they had His constant presence.
• Holy Place. But they rebelled during the first seventy days that they spent with God.
  1. Sinai: Bread (Food Offering). They worshipped a golden calf at Sinai and Moses crushed it to a powder and made them drink their idol. They cannibalized their false god. 3000 were killed by the sword. (Exodus 32: 20, 28)
  2. Massah: Drink Offering (Thirst). They complained about water. God fed them from a Rock. Amalek attacked them.
  3. Taberah: Menorah. God sent fire and heat when they complained.
  4. Kibroth: Altar of Incense (Plague). They complained about food. They did not want manna. They wanted meat. God gave them the meat and a plague in a cloud of quails from the sky.
• Kadesh-Barnea: Most Holy Place. The fifth and final punishment was their exile from the Most Holy Place. This was the Promised Land. Kadesh-Barnea was the door to this place.

Nation	1		2	3	4	Time Out	5
Israel	Thirst	Water from a Rock	Gold Calf	Heat	Plague	40 Years	Water from a Rock	Exile
Church	Crucifixion	Early Rain	Apostasy	Persecution	Plague	1260 Years	Latter Rain	7 Last Plagues

Water is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Water from a supernatural Rock is a symbol of the Holy Spirit sent by Christ. We have two stories of water coming from a Rock during the first and the fifth apostasy.
The Holy Spirit came after they rejected Christ and He will come just before the Second Coming.

History: The Church And The Curses
After God called the church, the church itself turned against God. This time, the idolatry would be centered around a man. The Antichrist would place Himself in the temple of God and act like God. According to Paul, the Antichrist was present in his day but he was being restrained by the Roman government. Just as Israel experienced two separate cycles of destruction, the church will experience two major judgments.

1. The Papacy Fell. It would later be healed and form Babylon, the last empire on earth. We can see the five sets of curses applied to the church.
   1. Fear. The repeated attacks by the Barbarian nations caused the breakup of Rome and the relocation of the capital to Constantinople.
   2. Famine. The Bible says that there would be a famine for the word of God.
      Look, days are coming says the Lord God; when I will send a famine on the land. Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the Lord. (Amos 8: 11)
      According to Daniel 8: 12, the church was given to the "little horn" because of apostasy. During the papal rule, the Bible would be forbidden and many superstitious practices would enter the church.
   3. Population Reduced. The schism of the Orthodox church in 1054 and the Protestant revolt in the sixteenth century decimated the church.
   4. War And Disease. During this period, the plague killed 30% of the European population. The crusades were fought against the Muslims, but were largely unsuccessful in recapturing the Holy Land. In the following years, the wars of Religion and the Inquisition would kill many people.
   5. Destruction Of The Sanctuary. Finally, in 1798, as a result of the French Revolution the pope was imprisoned by General Berthier of France. This effectively ended the papal domination of that period.
2. The Papacy Falls Again. (The Seven Last Plagues). This second judgment of the church coincides with the judgment of the world. The church now reaches a global audience and the world becomes aware of the covenant.

The Wicked Suffer The Curses
... Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God. (Revelation 16: 1).
At the end of the world, a global religion will be enforced on the world. God will make an effort to warn the earth about disobedience and apostasy. After the earth is warned, the global curse is applied to the world. The seven last plagues are the wrath of God against the entire world. There is a separate lesson on this topic here.

The Wicked Are Made Unclean
The wicked symbolically go through this process because they are being separated from the righteous. In the earthly sanctuary, only priests could go into the sanctuary. Therefore, God makes the righteous His priests. At His crucifixion, the High Priest tore the veil between the Holy Place and the Most Holy place so that all priests could have access.

You shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by their defiling my tabernacle that is among them. (Leviticus 15: 31).
In the earthly Sanctuary, there were rules which made the worshippers unclean and could keep them out of the sanctuary.

Unclean The true concept of being unclean is not simply objects or people to avoid on this earth. Everything that is unclean represents realities that will not be in heaven. On the spiritual basis, the unclean is anything that cannot represent Christ. Therefore, the righteous separate themselves from uncleanliness to remind themselves that in the end, God will establish a world where these things do not exist.

• Gentile. Only Israel could enter the sanctuary.
• Blood. Being associated with any blood other than the blood of the sacrifice.
  • Eating Blood. Any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who live among them, who eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. (Leviticus 17: 10).
  • Discharge of Blood. (Leviticus 15: 19-28).
  • Birth of a Child. (Leviticus 12: 4).
• Eats Fat. It is a perpetual statute ... You shall not eat any fat or any blood. (Leviticus 3: 17)
• Forbidden Food. Forbidden food makes a person unclean (Leviticus 11). Cannibalism is the worst case of eating forbidden foods. In Deuteronomy 14: 23 God has a meal in a place where He chooses to establish His name.
  You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God at the place where He chooses to establish His name.
• Seed. Being associated with any spilled seed other than the Seed of God which would be cut off. (Leviticus 15: 16-18)
• Dead Body. Christ was resurrected, the righteous have no association with the dead.
  Command the sons of Israel that they send away from the camp ever leper and everyone having a discharge everyone who is unclean because of a dead person (Numbers 5: 2; Leviticus 21: 1)
• Sores. Any signs of defect or impurity. (Numbers 5: 2)
• Sweat. The clothes of the priest should not make them sweat. (Ezekiel 44: 18). Sweat indicates work. In the sanctuary there is no righteousness by the works of the priest. God gives us rest from sin through His own works.
• Naked. The priests should not be naked or exposed. (Exodus 20: 26)
• Imperfection. The offerings must be perfect.
  Those who are blind or fractured or maimed or having a running sore or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to the Lord. (Leviticus 22: 22)
• Spiritualism. The person who consults mediums and spirits ... I will cut off. (Leviticus 20: 6)
• Harlot. They shall not take a woman who is defiled by prostitution. (Leviticus 21: 7)
• Curses God (Blasphemy). If anyone curses His God, He shall bear His sin. The one who blasphemes the name of God shall be put to death. The congregation shall stone him. (Leviticus 24: 15-16)
• Curses Parents. Anyone who curses his father or mother shall surely be put to death. (Leviticus 20: 9)

Christ Suffers The Curse For The Righteous
Christ suffered the penalty of the righteous. He suffered for our death and on the day of the crucifixion He experienced the wrath of God. This wrath ended with the destruction of His temple. This is His body. There is a separate lesson on this topic here.

The curses come directly from the sanctuary or the part of the environment that is represented. As a result, when Christ suffered the curses, He did not defile Himself. He still remained as the pure offering because He experienced the alternate curse.

#	Sanctuary		Environment	Righteous	Christ	Wicked
1	Worshippers		People	Clean	Clean	Unclean
	Altar		Earth	Pure	Beaten and wounded	Full of sores
	Laver		Sea	Robes washed white in the blood of the lamb.	Naked, covered in blood and water	Naked, bathed in the blood of the dead.
2	Food offerings Bread and wine		Rivers, Springs, Trees	Drink the water of life. Eat the bread of life.	Drinks vinegar. Broken bread (body)	Drink blood. Famine
	Menorah		Heavens. Sun, moon, stars	Guided by the light in the word of God	Keeps law. Dark day. Sweats blood	Lawless. Heat produces sweat
	Incense		Air, Sky, coals	God hears them	Ignored by God	Ignored by God
3	Ark of the covenant Throne	Two Angels	People	God (Father and Son)	Two cursing thieves	Abandoned
		River of Life	Rivers, Springs	Life	Resurrection	Death
		Commandment	Light, fire	Rest	Rest. Sabbath death	No rest
		Word of God is a two edged sword	Light to our path	Word of God is life	Sword in His side	Sword from the mouth of God
		God	Air, Heaven	Name of God in their forehead	He is God Earthquake	Name of the beast in their forehead

As God responds with the curse, He sends destruction from the four environments or containers He made on creation. He sends it against the last three systems that He made.

1. Earth. The earth is as hard as iron. It does not produce food. It tries to go back to its early state where it is an abyss. Earthquakes destroy. God uses the dust to cause disease in humans. From the earth comes disease, famine and sores.
2. Sea. The sea is roaring and wild. It is not a source of good water for humans. It is not the place that is hospitable to humans. When the sea takes over, humans are removed.
3. Rivers And Springs. They dry up because the sky dries up. There is no fresh water or water to keep the trees alive. Therefore, famine and drought occur. In addition, a sudden downpour of rain can cause flooding which destroys trees and does not provide clean water.
4. Sky. Sky is like bronze. It is hard. It does not give rain to water the earth and it does not let prayers get to God. Therefore, God does not hear prayers. He cannot. When he does send rain in response it rains hail, fire and brimstone. They all destroy.
   
   » Heavens. The heavens do not give light. In the destruction they roll up like a scroll and vanish. There is heat and darkness and the protective covering is removed from the earth.

In contrast, God gives us righteousness, peace, security, food, water, shelter and light. He becomes the direct source of all these things. He does not provide it through secondary created sources. Under the shelter of His wings, He builds a booth for us, here He will hide us until the destruction is over. Then He builds a new city in which He Himself lives with us.

Satan Suffers The Curse

Curse	The Man Of Sin Corrupts (6000 Years)							Desolation	1000 Years	No Sin
	Fear		Famine		Population Reduced	War And Disease			Millennium
Curse		Planet Cursed			Guilty	Covenent Vengeance		Curse Devours Earth		No Curse
Earth		Sabbath	Idolatry		Name of God Removed	God Attacked		Seven Last Plagues		New Earth

Idolatry. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; (Exodus 20: 3-5)
It is Satan who determined the structure of the curse and it is God who will apply the same trap to him before God removes the curse. It is the only law that is abolished. We can see the five sets of judgments which will be applied to Satan for sending the same version of curse and wrath on the people. In breaking the first four commandments this is what Satan has accomplished.

1. Sabbath Breaking (Fear). The foothold of the apostasy and devastation begins with Sabbath breaking. Failure to keep the covenant, feasts and finally the fourth commandment are all chains in a link that will forge our slavery. Then it proceeds with fear as our enemies begin to rule and exercise authority over us.
   Quoting both Genesis 1 and the Sabbath commandment, the first angel reminds us to fear, honor, respect, worship and glorify God as the Creator. If we fail this step we will be worshipping idols.
2. Idolatry (Famine). Denial of God and prostitution with a false God will lead to famine for the word of God and God will be silent. There will be no light and every vision and prophecy fails because of the work of the evil one.
   Famine occurs because the evil one destroys our meeting places and burns or changes our books, sends lying prophets and we no longer have a sure foundation. There is no light because they have removed, bullied or killed all the prophets and established wickedness in every corner, on every hill, in every house, in every school, church and seat of government.
3. Name Of The Lord (Population Reduced). The persecutions destroyed the people and places on which God has placed His name (the people, city and temple). The signs of God are removed from the temple, the land and the hearts of the people. God is marginalized, forgotten or replaced.
4. God (War And Disease). The true universal wars were World War 1 and 2. This is the time of vengeance for the covenant as God gives His final response.
5. Destruction Of The Sanctuary. The events of the seven last plagues and the Second Coming.
6. Judgment And Punishment. The 1000 years of punishment for Satan.
   • Babylon Falls. The religion he tried to set up was destroyed.
   • Exile. He is banished to a destroyed earth for a thousand years.
   • The Sea Becomes Dry (Population Reduced). All the people are dead. He cannot tempt anyone.
   • Darkness. The sun, moon and stars no longer shine. It is extremely dark. Hopefully, he will suffer from a case of poor eye sight.
   • The Serpent Is Humiliated He crawls in the dust and eats dust (Genesis 3: 14). This is perfectly fulfilled during the millennium when Satan is confined to a devastated earth. It will be dark, smelly and dusty. Because there is no life, the surface will become dust. Because he is confined to the earth he will walk, crawl and sleep in the dust. He has no raw materials to make himself comfortable.
   • Incense. The earth is filled with the smell of the dead bodies of the unburied wicked. The one who walked among the stones of fire under the altar of God now walks among corpses.
   • War And Hostility. He starts a war with God and is defeated instantly. How could he have been so utterly ungrateful and stupid?
   • Earthquake. The earth is split in two and it will be trembling during the millennium. (Jeremiah 4: 23-27 )
   • Death. He will be thrown alive into the lake of fire. Revelation 20: 10.
7. Death. He will die in hell fire with the angels, the beast and the false prophet.

The Curses As Blessings
Based on the terms of the curse, it is my opinion that Satan designed the details because the terms of the curse are immoral and illegal. In other lessons I show how the curses break the laws and do not reflect the character of God.

• Justice. The vengeance of God requires that the wicked get a dose of their own medicine. They must drink the cup that they prepared for us.
  Caught In His Own Web. The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. (Psalm 9: 15-17)
• Punished Forever. One condition of the curses is that they must remain upon the children forever.
  Cursed Forever. Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. (Deuteronomy 28: 45-46)

So let us explore how Satan falls into his own trap and how God makes these curses a blessing for us. We show that Jesus not only suffered these curses for us but now we will show how God makes the curse so we will gladly endure it forever.

• Forever (Eternal Life). The consequence of the curse is that we have to remain with God forever. This is why we have to be born again as His seed so that we inherit His blessings and curses.
• A Perpetual Sign. Like the seal of God, the mark of Cain and the mark of the beast, the curses remain on us as a "sign and wonder" forever. When acts are intentional God even puts a mark to protect us as he did with Cain.
  The Mark Of Cain. And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. (Genesis 4: 15)
  The sevenfold vengeance on the slayers of the sinner Cain, is the same as the seven last plagues on the persecutors of the former sinners.
  » Reversing The Curse (Marked By God). The name of God will be written on our foreheads (Revelation 14: 1).
• City Of Refuge (New Jerusalem). This law is evidence that God sees our actions as unintentional. God saves the intentional or accidental sinner by allowing them to escape to the city where the high priest lives. He is protected from the blood avenger until the high priest dies.
  This curse causes us to live in the same city as the High Priest until he dies. Since Jesus will never die we have to live with God forever. So God moves His throne to be with us on earth in the New Jerusalem, the last city of refuge.
  
  It is interesting that no matter what the charge, God has us protected under any contingency.
  • No Accusers. In Jesus' judgment we see that if there is no accuser then the case is closed.
    No Condemnation. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. (John 8: 10-11)
  • False Accusers. Satan is our discredited accuser and he has been cast down as a murdering liar.
    The Liar Exposed. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. (Revelation 12: 9-10)
  
  » Reversing The Curse (Forever With God). Jesus became human and was named Emmanuel, which means "God with us". The Holy Spirit dwells in us until sin dies. Then God the Father will live with us forever.
• Drought And Famine. Satan hates us so much that his plans are to use famine to force us to eat our own dung, drink our urine and blood and to cannibalize each other.
  Consume Filth In The Siege. But Rabshakeh said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you? (Isaiah 36: 12)
  God implies that to reverse the curse of sin it will take real fasting and denial of the demands of self to overcome the opposition of Satan who wants to keep the human race under the bonds of slavery.
  Sacrificing For God. Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? (Isaiah 58: 6)
  God imposes fasting as a means of learning to put away the physical things that we think we need so that we can connect with the spiritual food.
  Food From God. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4: 4)
  Food Of God. I am that bread of life. (John 6: 48)
  Life From God. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6: 51)
  » Reversing The Curse (Water Of Life). The river of life flows from the throne of God and the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us.
• Cannibalism. The height of this horror is to cannibalize our own children.
  We cannibalized Jesus at the crucifixion, while He was nailed to the wooden cross, by spitting on Him, gnashing at Him with our teeth, skewering Him with nails and roasting Him in a fiery trial. However, this symbolic act led to our eternal life. He was the Bread of Life sent from heaven.
  Eating Life. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. (John 6: 54, 56)
  » Reversing The Curse (The Tree Of Life). We will eat from the tree growing beside the throne of God and eat the Passover Seder in the new earth. Forever eating of the symbols of the flesh and blood of God without being cannibals.
• Scattered. Shattering is a military strategy of dividing and conquering. It weakens the force of the collective. However, sometimes a threat is best contained and shattering might lead to lethal contamination as tiny particles spread in more places than the original large threat. Throughout history the scattering of the people of God has not only caused contamination by heathenism but it has also led to the spread of the Gospel.
  Shattered And Scattered Power. And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. (Daniel 12: 7)
  In the last days, the power of the people will be shattered before the Second Coming. This refers to both the final persecution attempts at the end. However, it also leads to these isolated small groups of people spreading the Gospel under the power of the Holy Spirit. Empowered by the Spirit, each person becomes a small army of special forces with special weapons and tactics.
  » Reversing The Curse (Gathering Together). When we come together for public worship or prayer meetings we create a picture of the great gathering together at the Second Coming when we will never separate again.
  Church. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10: 25)
• Sword. God gives us the Holy Spirit who cleans us up by washing away sin, writing the law in our hearts and cutting away any rotting, evil intentions. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (Ephesians 6: 17).
  Surgery And Cauterization. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4: 12)
  » Reversing The Curse (Farmers Not Warriors). We shall turn our swords into plowshares.
  Turning Weapons To Farming Equipment. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Isaiah 2: 4)
• Wild Beasts. They take away our children just like the foreign enemies. These conquerors are symbolized as wild animals in Daniel 7.
  • Lion. Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged the God of Israel as superior to all gods.
  • Bear. Daniel became the head of their astrologers and about 520 years later it was the Persian wise men who recognized the sign of the birth of an important Jewish king. Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes acknowledged the God of Israel as superior to all gods.
  • Leopard. Alexander saw a vision of the Jewish high priest leading his troops to victory and was kind to them.
  • Terrible Beast. Rome eventually gave its kingdom to the church and the spread of the Roman empire spread both the cruelty of Europe and their religion across the globe.
  • The Dragon. At the end the dragon captures the sciences and ensnares people in its theories. However, during this time of atheism God's enemies are spending their resources to conduct experiments and to verify basic information that He wants the world to know. So the beast captures the world but it will be caught in its own web of theories.
  • The Lion Of Judah. So Jesus became the wild beast who would capture us.
    The Lion King. For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him. (Hosea 5: 14)
    We cannot be rescued nor do we want to be rescued from this Lion King.
  • The Serpent In The Tree. Jesus even became the serpent lifted up on the cross who would heal us of our diseases if we eat Him like food or take Him like medicine.
    Eat This Fruit. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3: 14-15)
    He also conquers the great dragon by swallowing him on the day of our deliverance from the land of sin.
  Although these nations contaminated the religion, nevertheless God's people were spread among them. The Gentiles are the wild branch that will be grafted into the family of God. God will tame the wild!
  » Reversing The Curse (Taming The Beasts). Surrounding and besieging the throne of God, we are the wild beasts who were tamed and are now worshipping God.
• Exile. We are supposed to live separate from the world.
  » Reversing The Curse (Exodus). We are rescued and exiled to heaven at the Second Coming for 1000 years.
• Fear. The fear of the Lord is wisdom. (Psalm 110: 10)
  Wisdom. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; (Isaiah 11: 2)
  Fear And Trembling. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. (Psalm 2: 11)
  » Reversing The Curse (Ambassadors). As kings and queens reigning with God we will be serving Him forever as willing slaves, testifying about the greatness of God.
• Hard Labor. Salvation is without our works because Jesus bought our freedom with hard labor and His blood.
  » Reversing The Curse (Eternal Rest). It begins with 1000 years of Sabbaths.
• Death. Jesus became dead to conquer death and capture the keys to death and hell.
  » Sleep And Work. While the curses represent less than the ideal situations, they also protected us from ourselves. If humans did not have sleep and work they would be committing sin twenty four hours each day. God arranged our physical and biological environments to reduce the amount of evil we would create by reducing the amount of time and opportunity to sin.
  The average person sleeps eight hours and works for eight hours. We spend another hour in transportation. One hour of grooming and two hours of eating. That is twenty hours of tasks that we must do. Therefore, it leaves four hours of unoccupied time to sin.
  » Reversing The Curse (Eternal Life). After we are dead to sin we will be alive forever.

The Curse Is Removed
There will no longer be any curse. (Revelation 22: 3).
After sin and sinners are destroyed, the Bible says that the curse will be removed. Chapter 21-22 simply describes all the blessings that the church will receive. God Himself will be the temple. We go to Him for worship. The Throne of God will be relocated in the New Jerusalem. Our new city becomes the permanent home of God. And we will be His beloved sons and daughters.

• Naked. The people are clothed in the righteousness of God.
• Hostility. There is peace and reconciliation.
• Children. We are the children of God.
• Land. We inherit the earth and the throne of God is relocated here.
• Sweat. We have rest from our labors and from sin.
• Thorns And Thistles. We produce fruits of righteousness.
• Exile. The exiles return. Eden is restored and God lives with us.
• Sword. Jesus rescues us with an army and a sword (Revelation 19). Then we turn our swords into ploughshares and there will be no more war.
• Death. We receive everlasting life.
• Serpent. The great serpent, the dragon is imprisoned until he is publicly judged and executed.
• Wild Animals Attack. The wicked attack the city of God before they are destroyed (Revelation 20).
• Ruled. We reign as kings and priests with God.
• God. He lives with us forever.
• Cannibalism. We eat from the tree of life forever, praising God forever.

Summary

Group		Hostility	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
			Fear	Drought, Famine	Population Reduced	War, Disease, Famine	Sanctuary Destroyed	Exile	Resolution
1	Israel	Idolatry	Phillistines and others	Famine	Ten tribes lost to Assyria	1260 days of drought by Elijah	First Temple 585 BC	70 years 609-539BC	Another chance
2	Israel	Idolatry	No peace during rebuilding	Famine	Persian and Greek dispersion	Roman occupation	Second Temple 70 AD	~70 years 135/6 AD	Christians called
1	Papacy / Rome	Replaces God	Barbarians. Church given to the little horn.	Famine for the word of God. Bibles denied.	Schisms and reformation	Bubonic Plague. Crusades. Inquisition.	Papacy falls in 1798	~130 years	Wound healed
2	Church/ World	Secularism, Communism, idolatry	Colonial era wars, disease, slavery	French Revolution closed churches	Communism	AIDS, famines, two world wars, terrorism, Islam, Atheism/Communist /Secular, USA/Papacy	Papacy Falls Babylon falls at the Second Coming	1000 years Millennium and Armageddon Revived	Heaven or hell
1	World	Adam and Eve sinned	Eden Lost	Flood	Tower of Babel	Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Europe, Papacy, Atheism, USA	The Seven Last Plagues
2	Satan	Replaces God	Heaven Lost	No access to the throne he covets	Christ wins with His blood	War in heaven. He was expelled	Babylon the Great falls		Gog/Magog Hell Earth lost

Every rebellious group appears to get two chances before destruction and exile.

• Israel. Babylon and Rome caused the greatest destruction.
• Church. Papal Rome and Babylon the Great.
• World. The global flood and the Second Coming.
• Satan. Expelled from heaven and then he tempts Adam and Eve. He is expelled from earth.

Although the global record is lost, we can guess at some Biblical events that point to a global application of the curses.

1. Eden Lost. Although the world was more perfect than it is today, it was inferior by the standards of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve suddenly knew fear. They could no longer talk to God. Trees and flowers were now dying. This was a time of fear for them.
2. Flood. The blessings promise rain in their season. Therefore, the curse could be drought as well as rain "out of season". This is the flood.
3. Population Reduced And Scattered. At the tower of Babel, the changing of the languages allowed the people to be scattered.
4. War And Disease. AIDS, the plague, a succession of global empires prophesied by Daniel, two world wars, the atomic bomb, terrorism and the constant threat of global annihilation because of weapons of mass destruction.
5. Sanctuary Destroyed. In the future, the false global religion set up by Babylon will be destroyed. Then the wicked will be exiled and the land and the people will keep all the Sabbaths that they did not. The millennium is this extended Sabbath of a seven thousand year period. That is six thousand years on earth then one thousand years in heaven.
   • 1000 years of weekly Sabbaths that were not kept by the people for 6000 years (360,000 Sabbath days).
   • 1000 annual Sabbaths that were not kept by the land for 6000 years.