Exhausting the Curse

Jesus bore the poverty curse, which is presented in its most absolute form in Deuteronomy 28:48:

“Therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything.”

Some years ago, while I was preaching on the theme of God’s financial provision, I received a revelation from the Holy Spirit that went beyond anything in the sermon outline I had prepared. While I continued to stand before the people and speak to them, I was having an inner mental vision of Jesus on the cross. I saw Him there in all the stark reality Scripture describes. The Holy Spirit went over the four aspects of the poverty curse for me, one by one, showing me that Jesus totally exhausted the curse in all its aspects.

First, He was hungry—when He was taken to be crucified, He had not eaten for nearly twenty-four hours. Second, He was thirsty—“I thirst” was one of His last utterances. Third, He was naked—the Roman soldiers had stripped Him of all His clothing and divided it among themselves. Fourth, He was in want of all things—He had no robe to wear while He died, nor did He own a tomb to be buried in afterward.

Jesus had nothing. Why? Because in the divine purpose of God, He exhausted the poverty curse on our behalf. At first, I did not realize the full implication of what the Holy Spirit was showing me. Looking back, however, I would have to say that this revelation has given me the basis for my faith for prosperity. In the absolute finality of the exchange, Jesus took the poverty curse so that we might receive the blessing of Abraham, whom God blessed “in all things” (Genesis 24:1), which is administered by the Holy Spirit.