Generational Curses

People have always looked for reasons why bad things happen to them. And what to do about it. Superstitions have been born out of the search. Well, a superstition has been doing its rounds in the church for the last few years.

This teaching is one of many that has caused Bible believing Christians to trade the truth of the Bible, for experience and anecdotes as their source of light. It robs Christians of their freedom in Christ and leaves them with fear, legalism and a distrust of God's promises (whether consciously or unconsciously).

Below is a brief address on some of the justifications put forward for this doctrine and how the Word clarifies the issue.

Curses in General
Firstly, read Deuteronomy chapter 27 and 28 to get an understanding of how many curses there are, how they are incurred, and how narrow the margin of error is to avoid them based on our good performance. (Deu 27:26 MKJV) Cursed is he who does not confirm all the words of this Law, to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Paul affirms this:

(Gal 3:10 MKJV) For as many as are out of works of the Law, these are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the Book of the Law, to do them."

and again, reading from Deuteronomy:

(Deu 28:15 MKJV) And it shall be, if you will not listen to the voice of Jehovah your God, to observe and to do all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, all these curses shall come on you and overtake you.

Notice that there's no room for error here, its all the curses, if the whole law isn't obeyed – that puts us into a depressing situation. Usually advocates of curse theology will try and give us a bit of hope in their doctrine.
That the curses only come upon you for a few distinct sins. But the Word doesn't make that distinction, it says 'all'.

Where 'Generational' comes in

(Exo 34:7 MKJV) keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the sons, and on the sons of sons, to the third and to the fourth generation.

Here we see that God visit's iniquity from one generation to the next.

A look at God's new covenant

Jer 31:29-35 MKJV
(29) In those days they shall not say any more, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the sons are dull.
(30) But every man shall die in his iniquity. Every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be dull.
(31) Behold, the days come, says Jehovah, that I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah,
(32) not according to the covenant that I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which covenant of Mine they broke, although I was a husband to them, says Jehovah;
(33) but this shall be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days, says Jehovah, I will put My Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
(34) And they shall no more teach each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Jehovah. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.
(35) So says Jehovah, who gives the sun for a light by day and the laws of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, who divides the sea when its waves roar; Jehovah of Hosts is His name;

Again:

Eze 18:2-3 ESV
(2) What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
(3) As I live, declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel.
(4) Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.

And again:

Eze 18:19-20 ESV
(19) Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done awhat is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live.
(20) The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

The Hebrews had a proverb, that the parents would practice iniquity and the children would get punished for it, here God says that they would no longer have occasion to say this proverb, and He connects it to the time that a new covenant will be made with them – this covenant has been ratified in the blood of Jesus. Even though God has said that this proverb should never again be quoted – people are teaching it, preaching it and writing books about it.

Christ's substitution

Please read through the whole of Isaiah 53. This foretells the work of Jesus and how we benefit from His sacrifice.

Isa 53:5 MKJV
(5) But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was on Him; and with His stripes we ourselves are healed.

Isa 53:11 MKJV
(11) He shall see the fruit of the travail of His soul. He shall be fully satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify for many; and He shall bear their iniquities.

Here we see that the iniquities of our forefathers cannot be placed at our account, because everything that was due to us, was laid onto Christ.
Even the curse that I deserve because I broke (and a day doesn't go by that I can say that I haven't transgressed somewhere) His righteous law were carried by Christ.

The issue made simple

(Gal 3:13 MKJV) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone having been hanged on a tree");

Here's Paul makes it simple for us. In verse 10 he affirms that anyone who doesn't continually keep all of God's law are cursed, in this verse he affirms that Christ Jesus is our substitute, and has redeemed us from the curse of the law.

Where do we now stand ?

Its important to consider that neither Jesus nor the apostles ever taught about the need to break Generational Curses – not even once! Take Corinth as an example; the inhabitants were practicing a vile form of idolatry – they used to fornicate with temple prostitutes as part of their worship. Yet Paul, in everything he says to them, never says anything about curses needing to be broken.

This doctrine seeks to draw us from the all sufficiency of Christ.

We come around the Lord's table on a regular basis and are exhorted to remember Christ's death. We are regularly made aware of His broken body on the Cross and the blood that was shed for us. Don't be mislead that Jesus is not enough – He is. We are delivered from all curses, because we are in Christ and He has taken the wrath and the curses that we deserve.

If you look at those that believe in any superstition. You are sure to find stories and experiences that are used to prove the validity of their superstitions.
The experience might be valid, but the interpretation of the experience is incorrect.

We who are in Christ are new creations, old things have past away, and all things have become new (2Co 5:17)

Evangelical Rabbit's Foot

I find it tragic that so many have a baseless false sense of security when it comes to eternal things.
Some people comfort themselves with the thought that they were baptised as infants, or come from Christian families. 

In the time of Luther in the 15th century a piece of paper from the Roman church could give people a sense of security:

As soon as a coin in the coffer rings / the soul from purgatory springs. - Tetzel

In evangelical churches we find this puzzling, even comical, but what is the difference between this superstitious confidence and the mouthing of a "sinner's prayer" that someone in the front of a church told us to repeat after him.

 The disturbing words of Jesus

Compare the idea that all a person needs to do is to make a confession, with something that Jesus said would happen at the end of the age:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' (Matthew 7:21-23 ESV)

It’s not enough to confess Jesus as Lord.

When Paul in Romans 10:13 said that all that is needed is to call on the name of the Lord. He had more in mind than just mouthing off a verbal formula.

Look at the audience of Jesus' end time address: 

These people had heard the message of Jesus, they confessed Him as Lord.
In other words, this passage is not talking about those in other religions, or those that are godless.
These are those that have a type of faith in Jesus. They know who He is and what He has done.  Instead of an outright rejection of Jesus they seemed to have received Him, and might have even prayed a prayer of “receiving Jesus”

Listen to what Jesus says in another place :

"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?" (Luke 6:45-46)

A confession is meaningless.
The thing that God is looking for is a heart attitude. Now this heart attitude does overflow with a confession from the lips, but a confession without the heart attitude has no value.

In verse 21, Jesus talks about the need to do the will of the Father in heaven.
But it's self-evident that the first step in doing the will of the Father is submission to that will.
The Creator of everything has a universal right of authority over everything that He has created. To shake our fists at God and insist on our own ultimate lordship over our lives is not just foolish, but it's fundamentally wrong.

Our consciences bear witness that a supreme being could never be satisfied with empty rituals as a substitute for a right relationship.

Doing Christian “activities” is not enough

Now this is extraordinary!
You would think that a person that is in church, who is standing up every Sunday and prophesying, who is casting demons out of the possessed, and who does miracles in the church service and in the mission field would definitely have God's stamp of approval !

These days, in the minds of most Christians, being able to do these types of activities is a guarantee that a person is not only a Christian, but a very special Christian indeed!
But this text shows us that that isn’t the case.

Now if supernatural works are not enough to guarantee that we won’t hear the words “depart from me”, then it’s a “no brainer” that being involved in natural church activities is no basis for assurance.
A person might do something with a high profile, being a deacon or an elder or maybe someone who helps lead worship. Or he might serve in a low profile role. He might water the flowers, sweep the church, serve coffee - surely doing such humble service guarantees an affirmative nod from the King of Kings?
But here, like the miraculous works, is no foundation for security.


A person must be “known” by Christ

At first brush this is a strange remark!
Jesus never knew these people! If He is God, how can He not know them? Doesn’t He know everyone?
In fact He knows them enough to know that they are workers of lawlessness (v 23).

What is meant here, is their use of the words “Lord,Lord”.
Jesus never knew them as those that had a right to call Him Lord.
In other words, they never repented and submitted to His Lordship. He never knew them as the servants that they professed to be.

People can pray impressive prayers, or confess biblical creeds. They might have been baptised as babies (or adults).
But the burning question is whether they have made the life-ending decision to give themselves to God. Have they decided to become a disciple and servant of Jesus?
Have they decided to place their trust - from a ritual, from their own righteousness - to Jesus Himself?

We should not change the Gospel into a placebo. The Gospel is true, eternal medicine.
Too often a new gospel is preached. 

One that is nothing more than motivational speak. Then an altar call is made, and people are led through a "sinner's prayer". Which makes them feel emotionally comforted for a season, but which offers no real value.

Image: Chris Sharp / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Christian Witchcraft ?

The practice of sorcery and witchcraft in all its forms is detestable to God (Deuteronomy 18:9-12)

Christians only equate witchcraft with the external and obvious (pentagrams, pointed hats etc), and usually make a strong noise of resistance when the latest Harry Potter movie comes to the screen.

Unfortunately, most Christians have been fighting on the wrong front. Right under our noses the enemy has blinded us and has brought that black crow of witchcraft to roost in our churches, and to even squawk from our pulpits.

What is magic?

Christians rightly label the source of witchcraft's power from Satan.
But the enemy doesn't need the practitioner to acknowledge him, or even to believe in him in order to give him his temporary aid, if it suites him.

In fact most practitioners of magic don't see witchcraft as coming from the devil, but they see it as an intrinsic part of nature:

“Pure Witchcraft on the other hand, may focus a little more tightly on using Magick and ritual to work with the elemental and spiritual forces in nature. Regardless, I feel the differences are slight in that Wicca and Witchcraft both work to achieve balance and harmony within nature and self. - http://www.wicca.com/celtic/wicca/wicca.htm”

Definitions

Here are a few words from Merriam Webster's dictionary:

Magic –
1.
a. The use of means (as charms or spells) believed to have supernatural power over natural forces.
b. Magic rites or incantations.
2.
a. An extraordinary power or influence seemingly from a supernatural source

Spell –
1.
a. A spoken word or form of words held to have magic power
b. A state of enchantment

Incantation –
1.
a. Use of spells or verbal charms spoken or sung as a part of a ritual of magic;
b. A written or recited formula of words designed to produce a particular effect

(Bold italics mine)

Water in the ship

Someone once said that the church is like a ship on the waters of the world.
Good when it's in the water, bad when the water's in it.
Some examples where the water has gotten into the ship:

Post modernism in the world – Emergent church movement to accommodate it
Gay rights movement in the world – gay ministers
Entertainment driven world – entertainment driven churches
Witchcraft popular in the world – incantations in the church.

Many modern “Christian” books and preachers teach that our words have mystical power to change reality.
We are encouraged to “name it and claim it”, that we need to “confess” a thing into being. (Or be careful not to “confess it”)

What about scriptures that mention our words?

Some scriptures are taken out of context to support this view:
“The tongue has the power of life and death,
and those who love it will eat its fruit.” - Proverbs 18:21 NIV

The Hebrews first read this verse in the context of the Law of Moses. The context that surrounded them theologically gave them things like bearing false witness (it could get you killed), teaching the Law (revives the soul) etc; very practical things.
The star wars, new-agey interpretation would never have entered their minds.

Here's a practical example of what kind of power this scripture is hinting at:
a) Put an empty glass on the table.
b) Get someone to look at the glass and “confess” for an hour that it is going to fall off the table.
c) Now, ask someone that's nearby to please knock the glass off the table for you.

Which method has the most power?

Many times references are made to Jesus teaching about the power of “saying” (like moving the mountain in Matthew 21:20-22 NIV).

But this is in error. Jesus was teaching about faith, not words.
In verse 21 He says “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt”
In verse 22 He says “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer”.

A good contrasting illustration of this principle can be found in God’s dealings with Israel in the desert while they were being led by Moses. (Exodus 17:1-5; Numbers 20:1-13)

The people are thirty, they start wining.
God commands Moses to strike a rock. He does, and water gushes out.
At a later time, the people are thirsty again and they start wining again.
God commands Moses to speak to the rock (here we go, maybe the power of words will do the trick),
Moses disobeys out of frustration and strikes the rock instead – the miracle still happens and water gushes out of it.

Where is the Christian’s source of miraculous power?

The source of power for a Christian is simple – it’s God himself.

It has pleased God, that the vehicle of this power is confidence in Him and His word (i.e. Faith). And it is inevitably linked to obedience to Him.

This means that Godly works of power work like this: He commands us to do this and that, we obey (which takes faith from our side), and God works the work of power.

There isn’t any intrinsic mystical power inside of humans, the source of power lies outside of us.
Whether God is the worker of that power, or Satan.

Witches and sorcerers believe that the power comes from them and from nature – they’re mistaken.

Many Christians believe something similar.

Is positive confession in the will of God?

All through scripture we have God's command and assurance that we should pray to Him if we are in need of anything. Any casual reading of the Bible will convince anybody of this.

One of the corner stone teachings on prayer is regarding His will:

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God:
that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”
- 1 John 5: 13-15 NIV

Now, if I ask God for something for say, 6 months and He won't give it to me.
Then I positively “confess” the existence of that thing into my possession, and it actually arrives – where is it coming from?

Well, it’s not from God; He closed his hand when I prayed. Why would he give it to me when I used a repetition of words?

The church has substituted/supplemented prayer with incantations.
Once this counterfeit to pray has saturated a person's spiritual life, how will he be able to discern the other seductions from the enemy?