A Spiritual Lesson In Toon Language: Lesson 35
Topic: Short Fuse
Series: Super Mario Bros. Super Show
Episode: Toad Warriors
Lesson PDF link: 35.pdf
Introduction
I am using another clip from the Super Mario Brothers Super Show. The episode that I am using is from the episode "Toad Warriors." We are studying righteous vs. unrighteous curses. Appropriate language when trying to interact with people is imperative, so this a lesson showing in part how not to react to a problem with people making fun of you. Things might be different if an obstacle threatens the very witness. Prayer is needed for the reaction to this. Trust God that the obstacle is handled in a Godly manner and with much prayer.
Scriptures Used Include: Romans 12: 9-21; Genesis 3: 8-19; II Kings 2: 23-25; Matthew 21: 18-22 (parallel in Mark 11: 22- 25)
Today, we are discussing a short fuse (bad temper). We are discussing the right time to get mad and the wrong time to get mad. We are discussing the differences between righteous and unrighteous curses. First of all, what is a curse in your opinion? Where do you think that one of these is and isn't appropriate? Why?
Cartoon: Super Mario Bros. Super Show: "Toad Warriors":
What do you think of Toad's actions regarding the Bob-Bomb? What do you think of the Bob- Bomb's reaction to Toad? I don't think that Toad was very nice. I don't think the Bob- Bomb reacted well to Toad either. They should read their Bible.
The Bible States In Romans 12: 9-21:
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.
18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.
20 On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
I am going to show a few examples of curses in the Bible however. I want you to tell me if the curse used is righteous or unrighteous. For the first example, in Genesis 3: 8-19, God cursed the serpent and put certain curses (believe it or not) on us in the Garden of Eden.
The Bible States:
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me'she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
Is this a righteous curse or not? Because we sinned, we were brought under God's judgment. Satan got the brunt of it though. In this passage however, there is a redemption clause. The serpent is said to bruise man's heel. The man is said to crush the serpent's head, in this is a prophecy of Jesus coming to become our sacrifice. This evil serpent will not be around us anymore after God crushes him. However to humble us, he gave us a not so easy road in life. We have to trust God now more than ever. In another example, we see a very interesting passage that might raise some eyebrows.
The Bible States In II Kings 2: 23-25
23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!"
24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.
25 And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.
This may look like Elisha has a short fuse. Is this a righteous or unrighteous curse? According to biblical scholars, these youths were obviously not ordinary miscreants. These youths were likely hard core worshippers of Baal (a popular false god in that day) who wanted nothing less than to stop Elisha at any cost. Elisha needed to get to where he was going and didn't have time for foolishness. God needed to teach a lesson about idolatry through Elisha so His Word and His servants would be safe from such falsehoods.
In yet another example, Jesus even used a curse.
The Bible States in Matthew 21: 18-22:
18 Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry.
19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered.
20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked.
21 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.
22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
Is this a righteous or unrighteous curse? He uses a curse to give us a good solid example of what having faith in Him will do.
The book of Mark parallels this in chapter 11 verses 22-25. Basically this scripture says the same thing except one important detail is added, this being when you pray, pray believing you have what you request already in faith and you will have it. This, of course is only if the requested thing is in God's will to begin with. If it isn't, God will let you know it.
There is a big difference between the curse that Toad used in the clip and the curses shown biblically. There were righteous reasons inspired by God in the examples given. Toad made fun of the walking bomb just for a laugh. Now if we look at the Bob-Bomb as an example, we see that it reacts with anger and rage at being made fun of (doesn't tolerate the curse). When someone makes fun of you, don't about explode like he did. Remember the first passage of scripture about loving on your enemies. We need to listen to the other three sets of scripture and allow God to do the cursing. He is the only one who can in a holy way give curses. Putting down (mocking) anyone usually is an unrighteous curse. We have to trust God with the timing of any righteous ones. We need to curse injustice and all kinds of evil (by praying a divine curse on such things so they wither like the fig tree). We have this power because our Lord gave us the privilege. We need to pray for the destruction of wickedness, but pray the salvation of the Lord on the wicked. Only very few times will it be proper to make a public example of the wicked (as with Elisha and the youths), although God does this from time to time with the reprobate (lack of conscience about their wickedness), but in God's due timing He will wipe away the unrepentant wicked. God wants them saved before this will happen. Insults like what Toad did are unrighteous because it would make an unsaved person not to want to follow Jesus and he/she may do bad things like murder and suicide (just like the Bob-Bomb tried to ' trying to blow up everyone with murderous rage and himself). If a person's witness is endangered by another, this would require some kind of action by the witnessing person which may include a curse. This is as simple as asking God to show up in this situation and God will either humble the person or remove the obstacle (like in the case of Elisha) somehow in His time. This has to be done by a lot of faith. What is your opinion now of righteous vs. unrighteous curses (when is a curse appropriate)? What have we learned? How will you have a cool temper in situations that you find yourself in (instead of being oversensitive to insults - unlike the Bob-Bomb) and know what needs to be cursed?