Are you perhaps suffering under a generational curse?
Welcome to "Little Lessons", today's question is about generational curses and of course
we could first ask, "What is a generational curse?"
Well, a generational curse is commonly referred to as something that is a curse that's passed
down from generation to generation.
For example, if your great-grandmother was a voodoo priestess or something, God was angry
at her and he cursed her and now that curse that got put on her has passed down from her
to her mother or father to you and so forth.
That is the explanation for why you're suffering so much or things aren't going well in your
life, because you're suffering under a generational curse.
Where does that idea come from?
Well, all ideas that are promulgated within Christianity usually have some basis in the
Bible and this one's no different.
There are about four passages of scripture in The Old Testament that the folks derive
this idea of a generational curse from.
Two of them are found in Exodus, one in Numbers, one in Deuteronomy.
The very first one is in Exodus chapter 20, when God was first giving the 10 Commandments.
Let me read to you his prohibition in Exodus chapter 20, verse number four, about idolatry.
He says, "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in the
heavens above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth."
All right, so prohibition against idolatry.
"You shall not worship them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God."
Okay, so God saying something about himself, revealing something about himself.
"I want your full devotion.
I want you to love me with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.
I don't like it when your heart's divided or devoted to some other God."
Now he goes on to elaborate on that jealousy thing where he says, "I, the Lord, am a jealous
God.
Visiting ..." Here it comes, "Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on
the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing love and kindness
to thousands to those who love me and keep my Commandments."
There's the basis of the whole generational curse idea.
Now, is it possible that you are suffering under a generational curse, because that's what
God said here?
He does those kind of things.
Well, I'm gonna take exception to the idea that God does those kind of things for a number
of reasons, okay.
One of which is that doesn't fit the whole Bible.
Know that the very first rule of Bible interpretation is that "your interpretation of any single
verse has to harmonize with what the rest of the Bible says".
It always amazes me how people will find one little scripture and get some bizarre interpretation
of it.
It contradicts from Genesis to Revelation hundreds others scriptures, but they say,
"This is the one!
Here's the truth!"
Well that's not the truth.
The Bible is the truth.
You gotta harmonize your one verse with the 30,000 other verses that are in the Bible,
okay?
We take for example a whole chapter in the Bible, Ezekiel chapter 18, where over and
over again God refutes the idea that some people had, back in Ezekiel's day, that he
was ... That it was okay and right to punish children for the sins of their parents and
God says, "I wouldn't, I don't do that.
That's not my character.
I'm just, I'm fair."
Everybody gets what they deserve.
They don't get what their dad or mom deserve.
Now, not to say that we all, to some degree don't suffer for our parent's sins.
If your parents were thieves and spent 10 years in jail, you suffered as their child,
as someone else was raising you and taking care of you.
That's indisputable.
What we're talking about here is God.
Does God actively, sovereignly say, "I don't like you and so therefore I'm gonna curse
you and I want that curse to jump onto your kids, your grandkids and your great-grandkids,
so they'll be suffering for four generations for what you did."
I'm saying, Ezekiel 18 says, God says, "I don't do that."
Then you have other passages of scripture, there's a lot we could look at.
Of course the whole Bible talks about God's justice and fairness.
Take for example Deuteronomy, chapter 24.
God says to his people, Israel, under the most Mosaic law, "Don't be doing this.
Don't be punishing anybody for the sins of their parents."
That's fundamentally wrong and unjust and God doesn't like that, okay?
Is God contradicting himself in this case?
No, of course not, so let's go back at Exodus 20 and let's ask ourselves, "What is God actually
saying here?"
Is he talking about, "I'm gonna put a generation curse on somebody?"
I don't think so.
I think he's talking about doing something that when you considerate, it's completely
just, completely fair.
I mean, it couldn't be fairer.
That is, here's what he says.
He doesn't say, "I'm gonna punish the children for their father sins."
Here's what he says, "I'm gonna visit the iniquity of the fathers."
Who's iniquity?
The iniquity of the fathers.
What kind of iniquity in particular?
The iniquity of the fathers on the children.
This is iniquity that parents commit since they commit against their own children, I'm
gonna be visiting that to the third and fourth generation.
Now, lot of times people blame their parents.
"The reason I'm like I am, the reason I sin like I do is because that's the example my parent
set and it's all their fault."
People are navel-gazing to try to explain themselves, taking no personal responsibility.
That's kind of hard to accept.
Don't be blaming other people all the time.
But there is an element of truth to that, isn't there?
That we are a product of our environment, and your parents did influence you, and many people
are very disadvantaged because of the parents they had.
Or the grandparents, or the great-grandparents, because things do pass down wrong examples,
wrong teaching, wrong living.
Right?
Right.
God is saying here that, "I'm not just gonna hold you accountable for your own sin.
Oh no, I'm very holy and just.
I'm gonna hold you accountable at least in part."
Now of course, you take the whole Bible, just a part, not full.
"I'm gonna hold you responsible in part for the sins that you pass on to your kids and
if your kids pass that sin on to their kids, I'm gonna hold you partly responsible for
that as well.
If they pass that sin onto your grandkids, I'm gonna hold you partly responsible for that."
Now that is perfectly fair.
It makes us think about, "Wow, how holy God is and how I better ... If I haven't repented of my
sins yet and started serving the Lord Jesus Christ, I better do that, because
when I stand before him, I'm not just gonna be in trouble for what I've done, I'm gonna
be in trouble for what impartially, what my kids, grandkids and great-grandkids do, because
of the sins that I set in example before them."
Okay?
And that's what it does say.
Now that's what it does say.
"I'm a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third
and the fourth generation of those who hate me."
That interpretation much better fits the rest of the Bible.
Okay?
That was a great question, thanks for sending that in and can't wait for the next Little
Lesson we get to.
Thanks for joining me.
God bless you.