I STRUGGLE SO MUCH WITH PERSISTENT
SIN AND CONTINUE TO FACE SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL PROBLEMS.
IS IT POSSIBLE THAT
I’M UNDER A GENERATIONAL CURSE?
Many people have asked if
curses from past generations could have been passed down, causing spiritual
problems in their lives. These kinds of questions arise because certain Bible
teachers have misinterpreted a few verses and developed a whole theology of
generational curses.
By generational curses, they mean
that a curse that fell on one generation for sins committed in the past has
been passed down to the next generation and then on and on. According to these
teachers, these types of curses can cause demonic affliction on later
generations even though these individuals did not actually commit the sins of
the previous generations.
As a result, these teachers have
developed workshops and seminars on how to break generational curses, usually
involving the alleged casting out of demons from believers and other
sensational counter-actions designed to break the chain of curses. Although
their presentations seem powerful, they’re actually based on weak and incorrect
interpretation of God’s Word.
EXAMINING THE CLAIM
As evidence for the existence of
generational curses, people frequently cite the biblical commandment against
worshiping idols which also states that God would visit “the iniquity of the
fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who
hate Me” (Ex. 20:5). The same idea is stated elsewhere in the Torah (Ex. 34:7;
Num. 14:18; Deut. 5:9). But it is a mistake to assume that these passages
support the idea of generational curses.
The first reason is that the
generational curse interpretations miss the point of these verses. They are
all designed to emphasize that God's love and mercy is far greater than His
just judgment. For example, after saying that God will visit “the iniquity of
the fathers on the children, on the third and fourth generations of
those who hate Me” (Exod. 20:5, italics added), the very next verse says that
God will show “lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and
keep My commandments” (Exod. 20:6, italics added). The same message of God’s
greater mercy and love is found in Exodus 34:6-7, Numbers 14:18 and Deuteronomy
5:9-10.
By reading these passages in
context, we better understand the emphasis on God’s mercy and love. Second,
these verses are not about curses caused by sin, but rather the consequences of
sin. This is captured much more clearly in the CSB translation, which states
that God will bring “the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children
to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing faithful
love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commands” (Ex.
20:5-6, italics added).
This passage identifies the reason
parents must be careful to bring their sinful behavior to the Lord for
forgiveness and transformation by Him. Sadly, studies have shown that
alco-holism and substance abuse, adultery, anger, and emotional and physical abuse
as well as other sins, cause damage, and too often these sins repeat themselves
in the lives of the next generation.
Heartbreakingly, children often
follow in the footsteps of their parents and pass the consequence of that same
sin on to the next generation. It’s naive and harmful to believe that the
sinful behavior of one generation won't cause damaging consequences to the
next generation and even the following one.
PRESENTING THE COUNTER-EVIDENCE
Old Testament Evidence Although
there are observable consequences of sinful behavior on the following
generations, there are four biblical passages which present ideas that
contradict the idea of generational curses. To begin, the Torah itself, in a
section about capital crimes, declares “Fathers shall not be put to death
for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone
shall be put to death for his own sin” (Deut. 24:16). The point of this
command is that people are to be responsible for their own sins. Moreover, it
is forbidden to take vengeance on family members for the sin of another,
whether parents or children. If God were to send generational curses, He would
be violating His own law.
Second, many years later, the
prophet Ezekiel affirmed the above Mosaic commandment, stating, “The person
who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s
iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the
righteousness of the righteous will be upon him-self, and the wickedness of the
wicked will be upon himself” (Ezek. 18:20). When a father or mother sinned,
God would not respond by breaking His own principle, punishing the next
generation with a generational curse for the parent's sin.
New Testament Evidence
A third way the Scriptures contradict
generational curses is in the story of the healing of the man who was born
blind (John 9). There, the disciples asked Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man
or his parents, that he would be born blind?” (John 9:2). The implication of
their question is that it would be possible for the punishment of the parents’
sin to fall upon a newborn baby. The Lord Jesus answered, “It was neither that
this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be
displayed in him” (John 9:3).
The disciples had adopted the
mistaken ideas of Job’s friends, that all suffering is a direct result of
personal, or even parental, sin. Although suffering is indeed a result of
living in a fallen world, caused by Adam’s sin, the Lord Jesus makes it plain
that the man’s blindness was not a result of sin, committed by the parents or
the man. Rather, the man was born blind so that God would be glorified in him.
In this way, the Lord Jesus Himself repudiates any idea of a generational curse
that would cause the man to be born blind.
Fourth, the apostle Paul reminds us
that it is impossible for a follower of the Lord Jesus to experience
condemnation. He writes, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). A generational curse would be a punishment and
condemnation passing from one generation to the next. Even if that were
possible (which all the above Scriptures indicate that it’s not), then trusting
in Jesus would immediately break any condemnation. To be clear and plain, the
idea of generational curses goes against the consistent teaching of Scripture.
BREAKING THE CYCLE
Although the Bible rejects any form
of generational curses, it is possible for the consequences of parental sin to
be passed from generation to generation. In light of that, is it possible to
stop the consequences and break the cycle of sin? Absolutely! A child of
alcoholics or drug abusers does not have to relive those issues. The Bible
gives hope for breaking the cycle of sin in four ways.
A New Creation
First, when a person comes to know
the Lord, trusting in Jesus as their Redeemer and Leader, he or she becomes a
new new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2
Cor. 5:17). Coming to know the Lord has a transformational effect—we have a new
capacity for obedience to God. God sees us as united to the Messiah Jesus. We
really do become new people.
A New Spiritual Power
A second way that God empowers us
to overcome the consequences of parental sins is through the indwelling Holy
Spirit. The apostle Paul is clear—once we come to know the Lord Jesus, the Holy
Spirit dwells in all of us. In fact, Paul says, “if anyone does not have the
Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him” (Rom. 8:9).
Clearly, the opposite must be
true—if anyone belongs to Christ, he has the Spirit of Christ dwelling in him.
Paul clarifies the significance of the indwelling Holy Spirit and the patterns
of sin into which we may have fallen. He declares, “But if the Spirit of Him
who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from
the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who
dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11).
The simple point of this is that
the very power that was potent enough to raise the Lord Jesus from the dead
dwells in us and will enable us to break the cycle of sinful patterns. As we
learn to appropriate the Holy Spirit's power, sin will no longer reign over us
and these habitual or even instinctual sins will lose their hold over us.
Even though there are no
generational curses, there are certainly generational consequences for sin.
What God has done by creating us anew and empowering us by the power of the
Holy Spirit is strong enough to break harmful family patterns of sin.
A New Community
Third, when we follow Jesus, we are
put into a new com-munity, the body of Christ. This community is “built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets” and “growing into a holy temple in the
Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the
Spirit” (Eph. 2:20-22). Not only is the Spirit of God at work in individual
followers of Jesus, He is building us into a community that looks more and more
like Jesus.
That's why the author of Hebrews
encourages us to keep meeting together so that we can “stimulate one another to
love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24-25). It’s also the reason being part of a
congregation is so vital—it is one way God works to help us break the cycle of
sinful patterns we may have learned from our parents. Just as alcoholics need
to go to Counselling (meetings) to help stay on the path of sobriety, so we, as
recovering sinners, need to be in our home congregations to help us on the
path to obedience, thereby breaking the cycle of sin.
A Renewed Mind
A fourth way we can break the cycle
of parental sins is through the renewing of our minds. Paul urged followers of
Jesus to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2). The
Scriptures are central to biblical mind renewal. This follows the basic
computer programming principle of “garbage in, garbage out.” When we program
our thoughts with the excellence of God’s Word, God uses it to produce
obedience in us. Therefore, we need to read, memorize, and meditate on the
Scriptures to experience transformed lives (Ps. 1:1-3; 119:9-11).
FINAL THOUGHTS
A young boy whose father was
violent, angry, and abusive. As a boy, this child vowed never to be like his
dad. Many years later, having married and raised a family, a friend asked him
how it was that he was able to be such a loving dad and reject his father’s
behavior, thus breaking this sinful pattern.
This man thought for a moment and
said, “As a child, I was determined that whatever my dad did, I would do the
opposite. But I would never have been able to fulfill that promise, except that
as a teenager, I trusted in Jesus as my Redeemer and Lord. He made me into a
new creature, gave me His Holy Spirit, and gave me the Scriptures to guide me
and fellow believers to encourage and strengthen me. That’s how God did it, not
me.”
Clearly, this man demonstrates that
the patterns of parental sins need not be replicated in the next generation
because God's “divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and
godliness” (2 Peter 1:3) in order to break the consequences of sin from one
generation to another.
.jpg)
