Sermon Central
-
Freedom From Generational Curses
Contributed by James Dina on Jan 24, 2021 (message contributor)
Summary: Why would God want you to confess the sins of your father or mother when you had nothing to do with their sins in the first place? He wants you to know the severity of their sins. A generational curse comes through the blood line and can only be cancelled by the blood of Jesus.
FREEDOM FROM GENERATIONAL CURSES
“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” (Exodus 34:7)
It is obvious that patterns of sin are passed down through families. When we acquire or inherit a sinful habit or belief from our parents that negatively affects our lives or those around us, this is known as a “generational curse.” It is the shadow side of behavior passed down through the generations, but is it possible to break this cycle of suffering?
Family is important to God, and it is clear that he does not think merely in terms of individuals but also in terms of generations. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations. From David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until Christ are fourteen generations.”
When God looks at you, he also sees your family. He sees where you came from. He looks at your ancestors, and he looks at your children and grandchildren.
When making a covenant with Abraham, God never once said, “I’m going to bless you.” He always said, “I am going to bless you and your descendants.” (Genesis 22:17-18). Abraham obeyed God and was blessed, and his descendants were blessed, too, because blessings tend to run along blood lines.
Curses also run along blood lines. In Exodus 20:5-6, God warned the children of Israel not to follow false gods, saying, “You shall not bow down to them nor serve them.” For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. “
The iniquity of the parents is carried on to the children to the third and fourth generations (Exodus 34:7), and the children have an inner inclination toward the same certain sinful habits. “Our fathers sinned and are no more, but we bear their iniquities.”(Lamentations 5:7) Even though they may be dead and in the grave, their iniquity is sticking with us.
List of curses pronounced by God (Deuteronomy 27:15–26)
Most of these curses from God are generational curses.
1. “Cursed is anyone who makes an idol (a thing detestable to the Lord) and sets it up in secret. “
2. “Cursed is anyone who dishonors their father or mother.”
3. “Cursed is the one that does the work of the Lord deceitfully” (Jeremiah 48:10).
4. The Curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked (Proverbs 3:33).
5. “Curse is anyone who moves their neighbor’s boundary stone.”
6. “Cursed is anyone who leads the blind astray on the road.”
7. “Cursed is anyone who disobeys the Lord’s commandment” (Jeremiah 11:3).
8. “Cursed is anyone who gives nothing to the poor” (Proverbs 28:27).
9. “Cursed is anyone who robs God of tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:9).
10. “Curse is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.”
11. “Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his father’s wife, for he dishonors his father’s bed.”
12. “Cursed is anyone who has sexual relations with any animal.”
13. “Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the mother of his mother.”
14. “Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his mother-in-law.”
15. Cursed is anyone who rewards evil for good (Proverbs 17:13).
16. “Cursed is anyone who kills their neighbor secretly.”
17. “Cursed is anyone who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.”
18. “Curse is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.”
19. Cursed is the person who trusts in man, who draws strength from flesh, and whose heart turns away from the Lord (Jeremiah 17:5).
20. Cursed is anyone who steals and swears falsely by the Lord’s name (Zechariah 5:4)
21. Cursed is anyone who makes graven images (Deuteronomy 5:8).
22. Cursed are the ministers who fail to give glory to God (Malachi 2:2).
SYMPTOMS OF CURSES
Poverty Alcoholism
Hereditary disease Drug addiction
Divorce Immorality
Child abuse Adultery
Sexual abuse Perversion
Domestic violence Depression
Confusion Fear
Panic attacks Indecision
Mental illness Suicide
Destructive attitudes and behaviors.
When you look at your family tree, do you see a pattern of any of these things? Do you struggle with a particular sin and see a history of that sin in past generations? Maybe you’ve been told that the depression or fear you deal with runs in the family, or perhaps you struggle with marital infidelity and can identify a pattern of affairs and divorce going back to a parent or grandparent. These could be symptoms of a generational curse.
