During our recent mission to London, I took some time from our incredibly busy schedule to visit one of my favorite places, The British Museum. It contains an astounding collection of objects, particularly in its antiquities division. I only had a few hours, so I concentrated my interest on what spiritually interested me the most, artifacts of the ancient world from areas encompassing lands of the Bible. Above are a few photos I personally took that demonstrate the ways in which Near and Middle East civilizations, especially in the Mesopotamia region were preoccupied with curses.
- Lunar eclipse omens and omens from a sheep’s stomach
- Sumerian magical spell calling on god of magic
- Curse inscribed on lead sheet
- Omen tablet with each line representing a separate omen
- Mummy with amulets on chest to ward off evil
- Amulets for protection from demons, ghosts, and plagues
Keep in mind, these are just a handful of examples, of many thousands of such artifacts, on display. To anyone touring these sections of the museum, it’s clear that cultures of the so-called “cradle of civilization” were obsessed with divination, witchcraft, the occult, especially a superstitious fascination with how to invoke and counter curses. Simply put, these peoples, dating back from about 1,000 B. C. to more than 3,000 B. C. spent considerable time creating curses and escaping curses. These were the lands from which God called forth Abraham, the locations from which Moses delivered the children of Israel, and the areas settled by the Jewish nation. They believed in curses. They knew the power of curses. And they were constantly preoccupied with how to avoid the consequences of curses.
Our book “Curse Breaking” (to order click here) explodes the myth that Christians can’t be affected by curses. Such an idea is based on a faulty assumption, more thoroughly explained in the book. In short, it’s true that POSITIONALLY Christ removed the power of curses by His sacrificial atonement on the cross. But CONDITIONALLY we must place trust in this truth and by faith appropriate it. The breaking of curses by the cross of Christ is no more automatic than saying that all are saved because Christ died for sins. No, we must receive the redemption of Christ and believe it in our hearts. Christians today must proactively confront and break both present and past curses. We must declare them powerless because of the blood that Jesus shed. Otherwise, we may suffer the unwanted consequences of ancient curses.
An encouraging word: A GOODLY HERITAGE
What were your ancestors like? My book CURSE BREAKING (click here to order) emphasizes the importance of spiritually confronting any part of your heritage that was ungodly. Perhaps you can say with David, “I have a goodly heritage” (Psalm 16:6-KJV). Wonderful, if that is your case. If not, then you need to carefully renounce what was not “goodly” but ungodly. Be as specific as possible and put the generational effect of ancestral sins under the blood of Jesus. Then, determine that your children onward will have a worthy heritage.
