I’ve realised that certain occurrences in life are not a result of any curse upon one’s life or demonic influences but direct consequences of one’s actions.

It’s interesting to observe that while God gave Moses commandments, statutes, judgments and ordinances for Israel on Mount Sinai, there was no mention of Satan or demons. It was all about obedience and the blessings of obedience, or disobedience and the consequences of the same. Actions and effects of the actions. Actions and consequences of the actions.

Satan could indeed have tempted the children of Israel to disobey God but punishment for sin or transgression was squarely on the sinner/transgressor and the blessings for resisting temptation rested on the overcomer. It’s as if the only two variables were God and man. Nothing more.

Sometimes, our cultural or religious background makes us attribute most occurrences to a demonic curse or evil pattern. The effects of such a mindset are: you give the devil power over things he has no power, you assume some things are permanent or you direct your prayers in a way that relieves you of your responsibilities. That is, you fail to take responsibility for the consequences of your actions.

Was the misfortune of Esau a result of any curse? Did Jacob’s troubles stem from a curse upon his life by Abraham, Isaac, or Terah? Not at all. Many of those issues were consequences of actions, decisions, and deliberate, conscious choices to go in a certain direction as opposed to another. Men acted and reaped the fruits of their actions. Satan can indeed tempt but you decide to yield or resist.

I say this to talk about the firstborn of Jacob, Reuben, whose lustful desire led him to sleep with Bilhah, his father’s wife, and whose unstable stance made Joseph be sold into Egypt.

What transpired in Genesis 49 was Jacob giving prophetic utterances to his children. And like many prophetic utterances in the Bible, some are declarations that must be (concluded matters) and others are warnings or instructions regarding things that could happen if a certain course of action is taken.

Some prophecies are conditional promises, whose fulfilment is tied to the recipient meeting certain conditions. Others are curses that will manifest if God’s injunction is disobeyed.

So, on one hand, there is a fatherly prophetic release on Reuben that remained on him all his days, even after the reversal by Moses. For instance, the tribe of Reuben lost its firstborn position to Joseph and remained inferior in position throughout history. On the other hand, there was a warning in those last words of a dying father.

I read Jacob’s words thus, “Reuben, you are my firstborn. But your instability will cost you your firstborn position, might, strength, dignity power and overall success. You better become stable in life, or you’ll end up a perpetual failure.”

Instability in decisions, instability in controlling desires and impulses, instability in remaining firm on a given course, and instability in standing on values and principles will always result in failure, shame, mockery, destruction of reputation, and misuse by others.

So, when Jacob told Reuben that his instability would make him a perpetual failure, it was also a warning.

I believe that if Reuben had wept before his father as Esau did before Isaac and taken conscious steps to mitigate the effects of those words, the consequences would have been far less.

We must begin to take responsibility for our actions.

What has God asked you to do? Are you doing them or are you going against his word?
What are the right things to do regarding your life, family, career, health, ministry, and relationships? If you do them, you will enjoy the blessings of obedience. If you neglect them, the consequences won’t be because of the devil’s work but the effects of your negligence or laziness.