Is there a Curse on Black People?

[aribell]

Thank you for sharing Shimmie. No, we have nothing to fear at all when we have Christ! I realized what, for me, is at the heart of this: Few, if any, will truly call people who are considered victimized or oppressed to repentance. Indeed, the Lord seeks to set the captives free, but it's as if instead of telling people to turn to Him to break their bonds, we discuss history and politics and policies as if they were the root of the problem.

Who is calling the nations to turn to God? The Lord doesn't just care about individuals, He cares about people groups and cultures on the whole. Again, from Revelation:

And he showed me a pure[a] river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.

23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.
26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

Redemption for peoples and societies and cultures comes only through acknowledging sin and turning away from it. That is relief from the curse. We could all talk at length about all the bad things the government has done to black Americans, but the more significant fact is that many of the things which define and distinguish specifically black communities are sinful to the core. And rather than churches telling people of God's judgment and calling them to repent of all the things that hold them bound, they talk about which political candidate will do more for them. Nothing will change by putting trust in political officials.

We can talk about the abortions, sexual sin, father abandonment, criminal activity and so on that mark the cities...but yet strangely refuse to say, "Repent!" Each generation chooses to continue to participate in and perpetuate sin, and its effects live on, and the judgment continues. Yes, the Lord says, "the soul that sins, it shall die," and "the righteousness of the righteous will be on himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be on himself"--but if you happen to be a part of a minority group, we turn it and say that the wickedness in your life isn't really your fault, isn't really your responsibility. This is not.true. Don't we know that if these communities embraced the Gospel and cleansed themselves that the Lord would do a great work among them? That He would be their God and defender?

I think that even as believers we have embraced a type of humanism that will not hold people accountable for what the Lord clearly deems sin, and thus we don't really preach the power of the Gospel for redemption because we are refusing to acknowledge that our community (black, native american, whomever) genuinely needs to be redeemed from something. We say we need a more effective policy, or more money, instead of recognizing that so long as the sin remains, the judgment remains.

I'm not sure how you bring the Gospel to entire peoples or communities, but that is what is at the core of it for me.

 

[Shimmie]

Thank you for sharing Shimmie. No, we have nothing to fear at all when we have Christ! I realized what, for me, is at the heart of this: Few, if any, will truly call people who are considered victimized or oppressed to repentance. Indeed, the Lord seeks to set the captives free, but it's as if instead of telling people to turn to Him to break their bonds, we discuss history and politics and policies as if they were the root of the problem.

Who is calling the nations to turn to God? The Lord doesn't just care about individuals, He cares about people groups and cultures on the whole. Again, from Revelation:





Redemption for peoples and societies and cultures comes only through acknowledging sin and turning away from it. That is relief from the curse. We could all talk at length about all the bad things the government has done to black Americans, but the more significant fact is that many of the things which define and distinguish specifically black communities are sinful to the core. And rather than churches telling people of God's judgment and calling them to repent of all the things that hold them bound, they talk about which political candidate will do more for them. Nothing will change by putting trust in political officials.

We can talk about the abortions, sexual sin, father abandonment, criminal activity and so on that mark the cities...but yet strangely refuse to say, "Repent!" Each generation chooses to continue to participate in and perpetuate sin, and its effects live on, and the judgment continues. Yes, the Lord says, "the soul that sins, it shall die," and "the righteousness of the righteous will be on himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be on himself"--but if you happen to be a part of a minority group, we turn it and say that the wickedness in your life isn't really your fault, isn't really your responsibility. This is not.true. Don't we know that if these communities embraced the Gospel and cleansed themselves that the Lord would do a great work among them? That He would be their God and defender?

I think that even as believers we have embraced a type of humanism that will not hold people accountable for what the Lord clearly deems sin, and thus we don't really preach the power of the Gospel for redemption because we are refusing to acknowledge that our community (black, native american, whomever) genuinely needs to be redeemed from something. We say we need a more effective policy, or more money, instead of recognizing that so long as the sin remains, the judgment remains.

I'm not sure how you bring the Gospel to entire peoples or communities, but that is what is at the core of it for me.

Nicola... We gather the children; the new generation. We gather the children of this generation and love them and teach them and fill their hearts with the Truth, the Power and the Love of God. We cover them in prayer and allow God to fulfill His purpose for their lives.

The parents, we also embrace with the love and the prayers of God. We have to speak the truth to them, however the resistance is the wall that has to be torn down. One thing I've experienced is that the children will listen and are more open to seeds of God's Truth being planted into their hearts.

The 'world' is already 'feeding' them sin. Our Churches can feed them the waters of life. It is so easy to do. In my Sunday School classes, the children were taught the Word at their level -- on purpose-- I didn't have a babysitting Ministry and their parents acknowledged the difference in their behaviour

Our Churches have to put more focus on the children of this generation. It will 'sweep' out the sin.

ETA: Nicola... you have a 'call' a Ministry of consecration and conviction; bringing hearts to repentance. Please don't stop speaking your heart. I can 'see' you ministering to women in prisons, literally setting the captives free. God's anointing is upon you.

 

[moonglowdiva]

To some degree.... yes. I do believe that as a race we may have a sin problem moreso. Sin is what puts a person under a curse. We have a high rate fof illegitimacy. That is sin and it put a person back under the old covenant and then have sex outside of marriage... sin and it puts back under the old covenant. A lot of time in the negro community, we will go to church and confess to have Christ yet sinning like there is not consequence to our action. That is being lukewarm... the worst condition one can find himself. If we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive but HE will not forgive you if you do not confess. No sin is hidden from God. You also have black ministers that are corrupt and if the head is corrupt the body will be too. It starts with the individual and where they are being fed. Then the church as a whole the community etc. I think we choose to live under the curse. Also simple sin like greed, lust, and pride. Often times we don't know we have that and do not have much of a prayer life so those sins are often ignored. Even here on this site sin is very prevelant. We are all guilty of greed and covetousness. That has to be confession and forsaken. As a black community we are godlike but often times we live like hell. This is just my take on it and I do not have scripture here to back me because I wouldn't have even finished typing but nevertheless. Black folk have a sin problem moreso than anything. The Word says we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of GOd. Sinned is past tense if we are a new creation in Christ Jesus then we should have put our sin under the blood. We don't wilfully sin anymore.

ETA: I have not read what other have posted just the OP.

 

[Crown]

The book of Malachi was authored after Ezekiel, and in 4:6, there is the verse saying that the Lord will turn the hearts of the father to the children, "lest I strike the earth with a curse." So, the Lord was still speaking of curses even after He inspired Ezekiel, so I can't take Ezekiel 18 to mean that they no longer exist.

Prior to the Lord speaking that in Ezekiel, there was no relief from a curse, regardless of one's faith or righteousness. If it was a curse for all generations, then that was it--period. However, the Lord has made a way of redemption from curses--through repentance and faith. It doesn't mean they no longer exist, but that unlike before, you can escape them by deliberately turning away from wickedness and living righteously.

I think that's why this topic is not a negative one to me. Redemption is readily available to all, and indeed, has been experienced by many.

ETA: I was curious and looked at an online concordance. Curses are mentioned several other times after Ezekiel 18 was written.

I also found that the final end to all curses will come in the new heavens and the new earth. Revelation 22:3 says: "No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him."

I thought it was interesting that the word "any" is used. Like, it's not just one curse (from the Garden) that will cease, but there will no longer be any curse whatsoever. The ESV says, "No longer will anything be accursed," which at least to me seems to imply that before we all get to the new heavens and the new earth, there are plenty of things which are, in fact, cursed.

I didn't intend to get this deep, but it's there. This is interesting and significant to me, but as Laela mentioned this may not be profitable for others. And some may feel that what is being talked about is a personal condemnation or devaluation of their worth as black women--which is not at all the case. So, I may choose not to continue to engage in this discussion.

Sorry, my post was not complete, I was talking about generations.
But, it's over, no need for an answer.

 

[Crown]

You're right, it is 'mankind'. Yet it's the 'mankind' of our Black community who are most affected.

"Why our people?"

My first Pastor use to say this a lot:

"The devil hates Black People because he is afraid of the power that we possess. satan knows that once 'we' as a Black Whole, come together in support of one another, that we will literally 'wipe' out his plans."

When you think about it, we are the most gifted and talented of all people in this earth. We definitely can Dance ... and sing. I'm not being catty with this comment. We have beautiful gifts with design and hair care long before this forum existed. Even the shortest hair was made to look classic by 'sisters' who knew how to work a hair style. We have builders, architects, landscaping skills that have made history in the richest of homes. We have mathematicians, science scholars, wizard minds in technology that even the government couldn't invent; doctors who have the gift of surgical skills that can never be matched.

Yet.... why is 'our' race still on the bottom?

What on earth is going on?

We more than qualify to be above the other races who have succeeded to achieve where it should instead be our people? What is going on? What?

I know that racism plays a huge key, however racism abides in all races and cultures, etc. How is it that we have been subdued by it? Why was it 'our' race that ended up in American slavery and not another?

Why did our forefathers have to be the ones who were whipped, beaten, burned alive, shot, hung as 'strange fruit' on southern trees?

Why is it Black skin no matter what shade -- light, tan, honey or rich brown -- why is it 'our' skin that is under such scrutiny and not one that is white.

Why do Eastern Indians own Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins Ice stores (combined) ???

Why are 90% of the taxis I ride in have Middle Eastern drivers?

Why does the solid waste industry have 90% white execs and the trash trucks are driven by Blacks and the garbage pickups are Black men?

I just want to know why 'our race' and not another? What made 'us' the prime and conquered targets.?

Why?

So many of 'our' People are hurting from this. I met a woman who shared with me that she once wanted to 'die' because she was 'Black'. The love of God healed her heart from this. But there are a lot of women who do not want to live because they are Black and this spirit of opression has to be done away with.

I only have parts of the puzzle. I need the whole picture and it's origin so that the roots of it's affect can be destroyed.

Os. 4.6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…

Because we’ve lost memory.

I think it’s basically an identity problem. And it’s profound.

The truth is out there ! Search for it !
I am done. Blessings to all !

 

[Guitarhero]

To some degree.... yes. I do believe that as a race we may have a sin problem moreso. Sin is what puts a person under a curse. We have a high rate fof illegitimacy. That is sin and it put a person back under the old covenant and then have sex outside of marriage... sin and it puts back under the old covenant. A lot of time in the negro community, we will go to church and confess to have Christ yet sinning like there is not consequence to our action. That is being lukewarm... the worst condition one can find himself.

Believe me, whites don't get a pass on that either. They just have more knowledge on how NOT to get preggers. They shtoop just as much outside of marriage. As far as corrupt ministers, have you ever heard of the molestation cases at my Church?

 

[PraiseAngel]

I don't believe Black people are cursed. Every group of people at some point have gone through trials and tributions Blacks being no different.

 

[Guitarhero]

My particular community doesn't need redeeming more than any other. Our trials might be many, but we're still here. The difference I see is in the mindset. We have pride. We also believe in ourselves, in our abilities, in our humanity and in our ways. One biggest difference particularly with the traditionals...we don't see the "white" way as superior and something to attain. The eagle, clouds, wind, rock in the stream...are all important and a part of creation...are a part of us. We're earth-based and realize the importance of community. We want the old ways (spiritual). If Black people, at large, can look to tradition and see that money and status (as that achieved by whites) is not the prize, then they will awaken to reclaim what they have lost...human dignity. It's the chasing after what they perceive to be success that is literally killing them. One needs to change his mindset, one person at a time, multiplied by many. Money and status adorn the outside...not the inside of the person.

 

[MyInvisibleChyrsalis]

I know why there's emnity between Satan and the woman, but maybe our dark skin and features resemble Jesus and Mary? Dark skin and "African" features are looked down upon worldwide so maybe that's why? Jeuss was treated as the lowest of the low, right? Who knows.

 

[makeupgirl]

Yes there is a curse on black people. And on Hispanics. And on Asians. And on Indians. And on Europeans. Point is, if you're human and you're on this earth, you're automatically cursed via Adam's sin. Not one particular race of people is singled out or cursed.

Me...the day I accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, that curse was lifted. So if you're in Christ, Hello, you're a new creature, you have been set free. You're no longer under the bondage of sin, curses, or anything else.

I'm not trying to be funny but Why does race always come into topics on these forums?