Generational curses

This one is a long one so please bear with me.

There is a common belief that the Bible advocates for a certain spiritual principle known as the generational curse. Loosely defined, a generational curse is the punishment and/or continual misfortune, experience of harm or bad luck endured by one generation of people as a result of the sins of generations before them. There are verses in the Bible used to support this idea. However, before we get deeper into whether there is such a thing as a generational curse or not, I would like to define 4 words: sin, iniquity, generational and curse.

Sin – From Strong’s Hebrew dictionary
H2403
חטּאת חטּאה
chaṭṭâ'âh chaṭṭâ'th
khat-taw-aw', khat-tawth'
From H2398; an offence (sometimes habitual sinfulness), and its penalty, occasion, sacrifice, or expiation; also (concretely) an offender: - punishment (of sin), purifying (-fication for sin), sin (-ner, offering).

Sin - From Word Web
1) Estrangement from God
2) An act that is regarded by theologians as a transgression of God's will

Iniquity – From Strong’s Hebrew dictionary
H5771
עוון עון
‛âvôn ‛âvôn
aw-vone', aw-vone'
From H5753; perversity, that is, (moral) evil: - fault, iniquity, mischief, punishment (of iniquity), sin.

Iniquity – From Word Web
1) Absence of moral or spiritual values
2) Morally objectionable behaviour
3) An unjust act

From these definitions we can see that sin is primarily an act while iniquity is primarily a state or condition. What do I mean? Sin is a verb i.e. to sin, which to do something that is against the moral standard of God. Iniquity is a noun which means a condition of bad behaviour or continual commission of sin as a result of lacking proper spiritual guidance. For you to sin you need to have iniquity. Another word for iniquity is wickedness. For you to sin you have to be wicked. Therefore the platform on which sins are committed is iniquity. To be iniquitous is to be characterized by being morally deficient or ungodly therefore as a result you sin.

Generational – from Word Web
1) Of or relating to a generation
Curse – from Word Web
1) Profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
2) An appeal to some supernatural power to inflict evil on someone or some group
3) An evil spell
4) Something causing misery or death
5) A severe affliction

From this it appears that a textbook definition of generational curse should be “a severe affliction, evil spell or the infliction of evil by some supernatural power onto a generation of people as a result of the sins committed by a generation/s of people before them.”

After Adam fell the Bible records in Genesis 5 v 1-3 “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth.” (Boldness added). The children Adam had after he fell where in his image. God created him in His image which was sinless but after he fell he had a sinful image. This is the likeness all his descendants (mankind) have as the Bible put it that “he begat a son in his own likeness.” So all men, being descendants of Adam, have a sinful nature i.e. they will inevitably sin against God. Is this a case of a generational curse? By no means. Should God have created a new people and destroyed Adam and Eve? No way, because that would not show His mercy and loving kindness and out of His nature as a merciful God He sought to restore man into relationship with Him. Therefore all man, descendants of Adam, were to be in the likeness of Adam i.e. have a sinful nature. In that state the glory of God is magnified in that His mercy would be extended to all through His Son Jesus Christ.

So what are the verses people use to support generational curses? Here are some of them:-

Exodus 20 v 5, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”

Exodus 34 v 7, “Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” See also Number 14 v 18 and Deuteronomy 5 v 9. In these verses people say God is punishing the children for the sins of their fathers hence there is a generational curse.

John 9 v1-2, “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” (Boldness added). In this verse, people say it shows the cultural belief amongst the Jewish people in those days that one could suffer for the sins of his fathers and therefore deduct that this is proof for the existence of generational curses.

1 Kings 21:29, "Seest how Ahab humbled himself before me? Because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house." In this verse, people say it shows that God was going to punish Ahab’s son for Ahab’s sin therefore he was under a generational curse.

Genesis 9 v 22-25, “And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” In this verse Ham sins against his father yet Noah curses his son Canaan. Why? Could this be an example of a generational curse?

So these are some of the major verses used to prove the theory of generational curses. The general explanation is that due to the sins of the fathers, the children also come under a curse. So in order to break the curse one has to confess the sins of his fathers as well as his own sins so that he is completely free. To support this here are some of the verses they use:-

Nehemiah 1 v 6, “Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.”

Leviticus 26:40, “If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me.” (Boldness added).

So here is a simplified look at the principle of the generational curse and the breaking thereof based on the verses above. One generation sins against God and as a result its posterity suffers. This means all descendants of those sinners suffer for the sins of their ancestors. In order to break the cycle of suffering or the “curse”, the descendants have to confess personal and ancestral sin.

Let us look more intently into the verses above and other verses in order to test this theory and come up with a conclusion.

Exodus 20 v 5, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”

Exodus 34 v 7, “Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”

These two verses are alike but Exodus 20 v 5 is slightly different in that God finishes of his law by saying “of them that hate me.” What does this mean? God is saying if the descendants hate Him, He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children. So what does it mean to visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children? Here is the definition of visit:-

H6485
פּקד
pâqad
paw-kad'
A primitive root; to visit (with friendly or hostile intent); by analogy to oversee, muster, charge, care for, miss, deposit, etc.: - appoint, X at all, avenge, bestow, (appoint to have the, give a) charge, commit, count, deliver to keep, be empty, enjoin, go see, hurt, do judgment, lack, lay up look, make X by any means, miss, number, officer, (make) overseer have (the) oversight, punish, reckon, (call to) remember (-brance), set (over), sum, X surely, visit, want.

I have highlighted the words it could possibly mean in the verse.

From Word Web the fifth definition of visit is to impose something unpleasant.

From these definitions, the verse could be saying one of two things. One, it could be saying God will punish the children for the sins of the fathers of them that hate Him or two, it could be saying God will bestow, set over or impose the iniquity of the fathers on the children of them that hate Him i.e. He will let the children be as wicked as their fathers should they choose not to follow Him. In order to settle the argument let us look at Deuteronomy 24 v 16, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” And Ezekiel 18 v 20, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”
From those two verses, God is clearly stating that a soul will suffer for its own sins and no else’s and neither will any one suffer for someone else’s sins. With that settled Exodus 20 v 5 and 34 v 7 must mean that God will let the iniquity of the fathers, their wickedness that is, be inherited by the children should those children hate God. This means the children will commit the same sins their fathers committed or be as wicked as their fathers in the event they choose not to follow God. In the event the children decide to follow God, God will show them mercy. Exodus 20 v 6, “And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” Let us look at some Biblical examples.

We are going to look at 3 Kings in a lineage and their actions. The 3 Kings are Jotham who beget Ahaz who beget Hezekiah.

2 Kings 15 v 32-34, “In the second year of Pekah the son of Remaliah king of Israel began Jotham the son of Uzziah king of Judah to reign. Five and twenty years old was he when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD: he did according to all that his father Uzziah had done.”

2 Kings 16 v 1-3, “In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah began to reign. Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.”

2 Kings 18 v 1-7, “Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did. He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the LORD, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses. And the LORD was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth: and he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not.” (Boldness added).

Clearly Hezekiah did not suffer for his father’s sin. Though his father had turned away from God and even worshipped gods worshipped by surrounding nations, Hezekiah chose to follow God and as a result he prospered and the Lord was with him. God did not set over him his father’s iniquity neither did He punish him for his father’s sin. So now we can see that a man will be punished for his own sin and no one else’s and neither will any one suffer for any one else’s sin.

What about John 9 v 1-2, 1 Kings 21 v 29 and when Noah cursed Canaan after Ham, his father, had sinned against him. What is happening there? John 9 v1-2, “And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” (Boldness added). Jesus explains the man’s blindness in verse 3. Jesus answered, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” Jesus does not confirm popular belief that a child could suffer for his parents’ sin but explains that this man’s blindness was so that the glory of God could be seen. In order to set aside that popular belief this is what God says.

Ezekiel 18 v 1-4, “The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, “What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”

That proverb meant that if the fathers sinned, the children would also suffer for those sins. The thing about this proverb is that God is questioning it. Therefore that proverb did not originate with God. If you search the entire book of Proverbs, you will not find that proverb so it must have originated with man. In these verses, God is setting aside the word of man to bring to light His word. Basically He is saying, children will not be punished for their fathers’ sins but that each man will be punished for his own sins. If you read Ezekiel 18 v 5-22, God keeps stressing this point using an analogy of 3 generations where a man does not live a life of sin yet his son does and that son’s son does not and God says the sinner will be punished for his own sin but his son would not be punished for his father’s sin.

Ezekiel 18 v 29-32, “Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.”

Here God is simply stating that once He had set aside that proverb, the people in their misunderstanding considered God’s ways unfair in that He had said a soul would die for its own sin. But God warns telling them that their ways are the ones that are not fair. Let me explain. It may be plausible that in order for one to cover up his own sin he would quote this proverb so that he can lay the blame on his fathers instead. This is clearly unfair in light of God’s word that no one would die for any one else’s sin besides their own. So God brings justice by judging a person on the basis of his own sin while the people bring injustice by blaming someone else for their own sin.

1 Kings 21:29, "Seest how Ahab humbled himself before me? Because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house." We all know the story here. Jezebel had Naboth killed so that Ahab could take over Naboth’s vineyard. When Elijah delivered God’s word to Ahab about his punishment, Ahab repented and God relented but went own to say the words in verse 29. In verse 21 God had said, “Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel.” In short God was going to leave Ahab with no heir to his throne but then relented because of his repentance as we see in 1 Kings 22 v 51, Ahab’s son succeeds him.

Let us look at the story when God’s word in verse 29 comes to pass.

1 Kings 22 v 51-53, “Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin: For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.”

To set the scene, we can clearly see that Ahaziah chose not to follow God and as a result he was just as wicked as his father therefore he was going to pay for his own sins and not his father’s. So this is what happened next.

2 Kings 1 v 2-4, “And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease. But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.”

2 Kings 1 v 16-17, “And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.” (Boldness added). Ahaziah died with no posterity in keeping with God’s word in 1 Kings 21 v 29 not because of Ahab’s sin but because of his own sin. Ahab repented of his sin and was not punished for it while Ahaziah did not repent and so was punished for it in keeping with God’s word that the soul would die for its own sin. God knowing the future simply prophesied to Elijah that the next King of Israel would die with no posterity. God did not declare that he would punish Ahaziah for Ahab’s sin but that Ahaziah due to his own sin would die with no heir.
Genesis 9 v 22-25, “And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.”

The land of Canaan was not known for obedience to God. There were in fact pagans as we read in Joshua that they worshipped idols. Noah knowing that his son had done him wrong appears to have pronounced a curse on his grandson. Now Canaan could simply have blamed his misfortune on his father’s error. But that would be unjust as we have seen in the preceding teaching. So what is the explanation?

2 Peter 2 v 5, “And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.” (Boldness added). Noah was a preacher of righteousness as the word has declared. Though not explicitly said it is implied that he may have been a prophet as well. So in the case of Ham, Noah prophesied to Ham that his son is cursed. We all know the story of Canaan. It is the land God swore on oath to give Abraham and his seed. However, the people of Canaan were not worshippers of the Lord therefore the curse that befell them was as a result of their own sin and not their progenitor Ham.

Proverbs 26 v 2, “As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.”

This proverb is teaching that a curse cannot fall on someone without reason therefore Canaan could not have been cursed for no reason. It would be unjust for him to be cursed on account if his father’s error, as the word has taught, therefore the curse pronounced on him by Noah was not causeless and was as a result of his own sin as history recorded in the Bible has proven.

What about Nehemiah 1 v 6, “Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.” (Boldness added).

What was Nehemiah doing? Nehemiah was simply following the instruction in Leviticus 26 v 40-42, “If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me. And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.” (Boldness added).

One of the curses for disobedience in Leviticus 26 was captivity. In that setting, God says if the people confess their iniquity and that of their fathers, have walked contrary to Him i.e. have worked against Him, humble their hearts and accept the punishment for their iniquity, he will remember them. Note he says “accept the punishment of their iniquity” not accept the punishment of their iniquity as well as that of their fathers. The curses were a punishment for their iniquity and theirs alone and not their fathers as well. Confessing the iniquity of the fathers was just an acknowledgement of sin inherited and not a prerequisite for salvation. Nowhere in the gospel preached by the Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles is there an instruction to confess the sin of our fathers. If we were to specifically confess the sins of our fathers, it would be cumbersome and we would always have guilt before us because we do not know all that our fathers did.

So in a nutshell what am I saying? There is no such thing as a generational curse. Though there may be cases in families were people seem to be falling into the same misfortune generation after generation, it is because those people keep doing exactly what the generation before it did. In other cases, in order to give credit to his own infamous doctrine, the devil could impose these curses upon people using footholds people give him through their own sin. Ephesians 4 v 27, “Neither give place to the devil”. This is a ploy to get you into religious ritual where you sit and confess your ancestors sin though you are already saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. Witches may cast spells on you but those spells only work if give them a cause i.e. your own sin. You inherit your fathers’ wickedness through them influencing you and by making a choice not to follow Jesus Christ but you will in no wise ever suffer for the sins of your fathers. Instead of sitting down and writing lists of what your fathers did in the past rather invest time in building your relationship with God. 2 Timothy 2 v 16, “But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.” Titus 3 v 9, “But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.” (Boldness added).
The Bible is very clear. Each man will be judged according to his own sin. Matthew 16 v 27, “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” (Boldness added). What may look like a curse in the family is not really a curse that runs in the family but a consequence of each generations own sin. The same misfortune may be falling on each generation but if you look intently into each generation, you will see that the same window of opportunity has been afforded that curse by each generation. After you have repented and turned to the Lord, you need not fret about any curse in that you have been set free. In order to change your habit, you need to have a renewal of your mind through digging deeper into God’s word, practicing it and giving time to building a relationship with God. Do not fall into the yoke of having to remember yours and your father’s sins as well as burdening the Holy Spirit with requests for Him to tell you which of your ancestors sins remain unconfessed. Repentance from your own sin and faith in Christ is sufficient for salvation and breaking the curse of the law which every man is under as long as they reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. God bless you.