In a powerful teaching, the late Bible teacher Derek Prince emphasized that curses spoken by individuals acting as God’s representatives still carry spiritual weight, even thousands of years later. Drawing from both Scripture and personal experience, Prince warned that such pronouncements are “not out of date, they’re all relevant, they apply today.”
One key example Prince highlighted was Joshua’s curse over the ruins of Jericho. “Cursed be the man before the Lord who rises up and builds this city Jericho,” Joshua declared in Joshua 6:26. “He shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates.”
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Prince noted that many likely forgot those words, until centuries later, when the curse was fulfilled. “About five hundred years later in the reign of Ahab… Hiel of Bethel built Jericho… it cost him the lives of two of his sons,” Prince said, referencing 1 Kings 16:34.
Prince also pointed to David’s lament after the deaths of Saul and Jonathan: “Oh mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, nor let there be rain upon you,” quoting 2 Samuel 1:21. He explained that “the idol gods had triumphed over the true God” in that moment, and David’s emotional declaration became a lasting curse. “They’ve been amazingly successful in growing trees on their mountains. But when they came to Mount Gilboa they had totally unexpected problems,” Prince said, noting modern evidence of the curse’s lingering effects.
He further referenced Elisha’s rebuke of Gehazi for greedily receiving gifts from Naaman: “The leprosy of Naaman cleave to you and your descendants forever.” Gehazi left “a leper as white as snow,” and Prince emphasized, “the curse was on his descendants forever.”
Even in the New Testament, Prince said Jesus confirmed the authority of the spoken word. “Jesus cursed a fig tree… and the next day it had withered from the roots.” Jesus told His disciples, “You will be able to do what I did to this fig tree, and more.”
Prince recounted his own sobering experience from 1965 in Chicago. After proclaiming “the curse of God upon that pub” next to his church, the building caught fire two months later while the church remained untouched. “As I stood there and watched that I thought, God, am I responsible?… I realized I had tremendous power committed to me.” His response? “God, help me never to misuse that power.”
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For Prince, these biblical and personal accounts serve as a reminder that spiritual authority must be handled with reverence. “Not because I’m different,” he said, “because every Christian has that power.”
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
