God Takes the Curse of Self-Condemnation at His Word

When the crowd at Pilate's tribunal cried out, "His blood be on us and on our children" (Matthew 27:25), they invoked a curse of terrifying specificity. Exell observes that God, in His sovereignty, took them at their word—a principle demonstrated throughout Scripture. Thirty-eight years later, in that same place before that same tribunal, Herod demanded funds from the Jewish treasury for a water-course. When the people protested tumultuously, he dispatched soldiers disguised as citizens, armed with daggers beneath their robes. At his signal, they fell upon the multitude, slaughtering great numbers. In the ensuing panic, citizens suspecting treachery turned upon one another, and many killed themselves for fear of loss or danger.

This calamity illustrates a solemn principle: epikatarato (the invoked curse) carries weight before Elohim. The Psalmist warns that careless words return to their speakers. When John Peters, keeper of Newgate under Queen Mary, habitually swore "If it be not true, I pray God I rot ere I die," his blasphemous oath found fulfillment. Sir Gervase Elloweis, lieutenant of the Tower, wished upon the gallows that he might hang if accusations were false—and hanged he was, confessing the justice of his fate.

The lesson persists: guard your imprecations. Do not curse yourself or others, for Adonai may grant your desperate words.