Generational Curses

“Generational Curses”

by

Elder Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.

One of the most misinterpreted scriptures of the Bible has caused much confusion for many years. It has been the catalyst for many false teachings that are taught in some churches today. It has caused people that are filled with the precious gift of the Holy Ghost, redeemed by the blood of the lamb that are able to cast out demons, heal the sick, and preach this glorious gospel to become superstitious. There are now even preachers who have developed what is nothing short of ritualistic incantations as a method of dealing with what amounts to nothing more than a misinterpretation of the Word of God.

This scripture or the phrasing of the scripture that has been misinterpreted is found several times in the Bible and it’s the phraseology that is misunderstood. We will look at this scripture and the phraseology of it. That scripture is none other than Exodus 34:6-7 “And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the father upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and fourth generation.” Similar scriptures are Exodus 20:5, Numbers14:18, Deuteronomy 5:9.

Many people will take this scripture and try to base that there are such things as generational curses. I will say yes there are; however, they are not the curses of bad luck or a hex placed upon a family they are the results of the iniquity of each individual and due to this iniquity the curse of disobedience is upon them. Through the Word of God in this lesson I will show you what is meant when I say a generational curse, the difference between a hex and curse, and the most important differences of all what the Word of God was truly saying when it says “the iniquity and transgression and sin”, never once does the Bible say place a curse or hex is placed upon someone.

The meaning of the word Curse.

The word curse opens a cornucopia of different meanings to different people. To most people the word curse refers to some form of vulgarity that back in the day would cause one to have their mouth washed out with soap. To some the word curse refers to the things they see in the movies or read in some fairytale book, like snow white, how the witch put a curse of snow white and cause her to fall into a deep sleep. Then there are those that feel unless they wear a necklace of garlic, carry a crucifix, and pack a gun with a silver bullet in it that they are likely to be bombarded by demons that are lurking around every corner just waiting to curse them. Then there are those that say oh that was then, but in this day and time we don’t have to even worry about that, we are not in the dark ages anymore.

The word curse according to the dictionary has a few definitions:

1. A prayer or invocation for harm to come to someone.

2. A word or expression used in swearing, profanity.

3. Biblically it is “Empowered to fail” (Deut. 28:15-68)

Of the 185 times the word curse is used in the Bible I believe that it’s more the second definition is brought on as a result of the first definition. We must understand that unlike today’s society, that the people of the Old Testament had more of a fear and respect for God and His punishment coming upon them. Because of this fear and respect when one person would get mad and upset with someone they would say I curse you, wishing harm and retribution upon them. I believe a good example would be Peter when he had denied Christ and he began to curse and swear Mark 13:71. Although the Bible doesn’t confirm this, if we just look at how people act today we can say that it is quite possible, when Peter began to curse and swear I like to believe he said something like, “I don’t know the man, leave me alone, I curse you and may the wrath of God come upon you, leave me alone @%&*%.” This is based upon the first and second definitions given above.

Many people feel that a curse is some form of hex placed upon a person by some other person. The word Hex simply means one that practices witchcraft. Witchcraft is dealing with sorcery. Sorcery is the use of magic. Magic is the art of a person who claims to be able to do something by the help of supernatural powers or their own knowledge of nature’s secrets. Understanding this, a curse, as we call it can only come form God or Satan if God permits it to be so. Satan was able to afflict (curse) Job with the things he did only after God gave him permission to do so and even then he was limited to what he could do, because the power is God’s. No man or woman can curse a person because they do not have the supernatural capabilities to do so. The Bible says in 1st Chronicles 16:22 & Psalm 105:15 “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm”.