Title: Generational Blessings
Theme:
Text: Exodus 20:1 – 6; Deuteronomy 30:19
Review of Last weeks Message
Generational Curses & Iniquities
Deuteronomy 30:19-20 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; (20) that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."
Curses or Blessings
Exodus 20:1-6 And God spoke all these words, saying: (2) "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (3) You shall have no other gods before Me. (4) "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; (5) 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 on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, (6) but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Christ Promise
“…Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Galatians 3:13-14
Psalm 112:2 Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
Abraham – some notes found from research on the internet on Generational Blessings
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12:1-3)
And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. (Genesis 22:15-18)
And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. (Genesis 26:1-5)
Isaac
Genesis 26:12-13 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. (13) The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous;
Genesis 26:18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.
Jacob
Gen 28:12-13 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. (13) And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: "I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants.
Gen 32:24-31 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. (25) Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. (26) And He said, "Let Me go, for the day breaks." But he said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me!" (27) So He said to him, "What is your name?" He said, "Jacob." (28) And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; [60] for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed." (29) Then Jacob asked, saying, "Tell me Your name, I pray." And He said, "Why is it that you ask about My name?" And He blessed him there. (30) And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: [61] "For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." (31) Just as he crossed over Penuel [62] the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.
Joseph
Genesis 50:19-20 Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? (20) But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
King David
Pastor Jentzen Franklin relates the following: After Solomon had been king of Israel for many years he disobeyed God by accumulating many foreign wives who turned his heart to idolatry. God was very angry at him and told him that He was going to take most of the kingdom away from him, but God said to him, "
I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David." (I Kings 11:12) This event occurred 20 years after David’s death. Decades later Abijah, the great, great grandson of David, reigned in Jerusalem.
Abijah was an evil king, but again God did not take the kingdom away from his family, "Because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. (I Kings 15:5) This event occurred 79 years after the death of King David.
This same scenario played out time after time in the history of Jerusalem, but let me skip down to King Hezekiah, 11th in the line of great grandsons of King David. The King of Assyria brought a vast army and surrounded Jerusalem. Hezekiah humbled himself and prayed, and Isaiah the prophet received a word for him from God, concluding with this statement: "I will defend this city, to save it, for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake." (2 Kings 19:34)
God said this to King Hezekiah 305 years after the death of David! The life lived by the man who in his youth was a sheep herder so impressed God that God was still talking about it and blessing David’s bloodline hundreds of years later! (In Strong’s Concordance, David’s name is referenced in over 7 pages of double columns, about 1,125 times. That is even more than Moses, who has 5 pages, about 925 references).
Timothy
2 Timothy 1:5-7 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. (6) Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. (7) For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Examples of specific blessings:
- God will help those in trouble if they show concern for the weak; (Ps 41:1)
- someone who doesn't associate with wicked people but enjoys meditating on God's Law will be prosperous; (Ps 1:1)
- those who are poor in spirit will go to heaven; (Mt 5)
- people who are meek or humble will inherit the earth; (Mt 5)
- the merciful will receive mercy; (Mt 5)
- the pure in heart will see God; (Mt 5)
- peacemakers will be called God's children; (Mt 5)
- believers in Christ will find rest after death (* eternal salvation); (Re 14:13)
- those who bless Israel will bring blessings upon themselves (Nu 24:9).
Intentional Teaching
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! [11] (5) You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. (6) "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
Matthew_12:34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
Luke_6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart [47] brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
(7) You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it. Prov 22:6 (NASB)
Teach - A dependence on Scripture
Teach - A dependence on prayer
Model Faith
Ephesians 6:4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
Persistent Prayer
1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray without ceasing,
Luke 18:1 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,
Keep Love
Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.
Speak Blessings
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, ad those who love it will eat its fruit. Prov 18:21 (NASB)
Conclusion
