Understanding Generational Curses – Part 4 (The Basis Of This New Teaching)

Today, the topic of generational curses or generational sins is prevalent if you get involved in the healing and deliverance ministry. (This is not taught in the Elijah Challenge or Healing Encounter Ministry). In the marketplace, there are literally hundreds of books teaching that your present problems are the results of what your ancestors did in the past. Coming from the Pentecostal and Charismatic traditions, I am naturally exposed to such teaching promoted by many popular leaders of our movements. The truth of the matter is that I have never heard of this teaching until the early 1990s. It might have been there earlier but it did not catch on that fast. Now, fast forward to 2022, this teaching is not only popular but has become almost like a “fundamental truth” in the belief system of most Pentecostal and Charismatic believers who have been saved during those last 30 years.

Does The Bible Really Teach This?
Would there be some truths in this new teaching? Do I go along with the teaching even if I discovered discrepancies in its exegesis and hermeneutics? How am I to reconcile with the fact that top Pentecostal / Charismatic leaders are preaching and teaching this topic? Entire series of books has been devoted to teaching you how to repent and renounce all the sins of your ancestors. What about the proper interpretation of Scripture that I have learned from Professor Gordon Fee during my seminary days? I remember one statement that he made very succinctly in class and that was “the Bible will never say what it never did say!” Can I ignore this fact, and embrace this teaching because it is popular? My conscience does not allow me to do so because the Christian faith can only remain true to the teaching of Jesus Christ if we “believe” (faith), and “practice” (faith in action) by the correct interpretation and understanding of Scripture.

During my forty years of ministry, I have observed what Professor Fee has pointed out in his book about people who attempt to outsmart others by coming out with all kinds of unique interpretations, claiming them to be from the Holy Spirit, angels, or even some departed saints. Professor Fee wrote that… “Interpretation that aims at, or thrives on, uniqueness can usually be attributed to pride (an attempt to “outclever” the rest of the world), a false understanding of spirituality (wherein the Bible is full of deeply buried truths waiting to be mined by the spiritually sensitive person with special insight), or vested interests (the need to support a theological bias, especially in dealing with texts that seem to go against that bias).”
Gordon D. Fee, How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth.

The Basis For This New Generational Curses Teaching
There is not a trace of such teaching in Church history until about 30 years ago. What is the basis for such teaching? We can easily trace to the misinterpretation of God’s Word. The most common scripture verses used by the proponents of the generational curses are from Exodus 20:5-6; 34:6-7; Numbers 14:18; and Deuteronomy 5:9-10. The reason is because of a warning placed by the Lord to the Children of Israel against disobedience and unfaithfulness with words such as “visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children . . . to the third and the fourth generations” (KJV).

The meaning of these verses has been changed from God’s warning of the repercussion for disobedience to become generational curses. From the correct meaning of bad generational influence to another totally foreign meaning and that is the descendants will acquire the accumulated sins and also punishments on behalf of all their ancestors. If that is true then what about this scripture that “the son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffers for the iniquity of the son.” (Ezekiel 18:20, cf. Jeremiah 31:30). Why is this clarifying verse not taken into consideration?
What about the promise of Jesus in John 8:36 – “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” How about what Paul wrote in Galatians 5:1 – “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.” Paul was especially concerned not of any ancestral sins or generational curses but our personal sins that will put us back to the “yoke of slavery”.

Satan Added Into The Teaching
The next thing that the proponents of this teaching do is to add Satan into the picture. They say that since God sees you as being guilty, not just for your own sins, but also the sins of your ancestors, then if you did not repent and renounce on their behalf, you would have given the devil the legal rights to attack you. You and your family will suffer misfortune, failed marriages, violence, sicknesses, addictions, impotence, failures, poverty, and all kinds of unimaginable disasters and crises, etc.

Aren’t all these frightening? What about the blood of Jesus that was shed for your sins? Well, the proponents say that the blood is there but you must take an ADDITIONAL STEP to appropriate the blood by removing the curses that you have inherited from your sinful ancestors. Accepting Jesus as your personal Savior by confessing, repenting, and renouncing your sins is not enough. Being born-again is not enough. Even though you are now in a different bloodline is not enough. They say that you still have to break all these generational curses. And so, you run to a so-called expert or minister to help you in a ritual of repenting and renouncing all the sins of your ancestors.

The Rise of A New Breed of Experts
These self-proclaimed experts will see visions for you, listen to God’s advice for you, and reveal all the generational curses that are inundating you. They will lead you in an elaborate ritual of listing the sins of your ancestors all the way back to four generations. You will need to confess the sins of those sinful ancestors, even they are not your own sins. You will be led to renounce all these sins and some ministers will even ask you to cut the shackles of generational curses by using your hands to strike the air with a cutting movement. You are to declare and decree that all these curses have been cut and broken in the name of Jesus. Finally, you are to repeat the prayer led by the minister or recite a recommended prayer. Are all these really biblical? Do we see Jesus or the Apostles doing and teaching these?

Personally, I do not know where all the “experts” get all these from. However, they actually reminded me of the time when my grandmother visited a Chinese temple medium to do certain rituals to get rid of all the calamities in our family. The medium went into a trance and declared the reasons for our misfortune. According to the interpreter for the medium, one of our ancestors had done a very cruel deed in the past and so our family was paying the penalty for it. Then a specific instruction was given about what type of peace-offering we have to give to that offended soul, which corner of the house we have placed certain sacred objects, and what talismans we have to paste on the doorposts, where we should have an extra altar, how many joss-sticks to burn, and what chant to utter when doing so. Very elaborate and very convincing because subsequently peace returned to the family and calamities were circumvented.

The danger that I see is that these so-called experts in handling generational curses would become “personal priests or mediums” to many who are gullible enough to seek their help. This happened before and will happen again. This is the End Times and many people would be deceived into this type of fruitless pursuit.

More New Methods And Rituals
Then as though this type of ritual is not enough, popular “teachers” keep coming out with new methods of breaking the generational curses. The latest approach is to go to the “Courts of Heaven” and get rid of your ancestral sins and generational curses. The proponents of this latest method claim that at the “Courts of Heaven”, you get to assert your “legal rights” in order to get rid of all these curses. When you get a favorable verdict from God then you are free from further harassment of such ancient curses and the attacks of the devil. Once again, we question whether this is a biblical approach and where in the New Testament we have been advised to go to the “Courts of Heaven”?

Talking about new rituals, that reminded me of the 1980s when I was pastoring in Singapore. A couple of self-styled ministers there developed a deliverance ritual such as getting people to stand in positions to form a cross. Then the officiating minister stood in the center of the cross. He apparently had these special eyes to see demons attacking. And so he shouted that he had spotted demons from a particular direction flying at them. He wanted all to be alert and ready to fight the demons. Then he commanded for all to draw out their invisible swords which were earlier placed on their backs. Then they had to say “siang” to mimic the sound of the invisible swords being drawn out. There was actually nothing in their hands but these participants had to cut the air above them with their invisible swords to kill the demons. This method of destroying the demons is not only unbiblical but hilarious. This is the result of an over fertile imagination stimulated by some Hong Kong kungfu movies. If I am not wrong, this method is still being used by some today.

The Tedious Rituals To Get Rid Of The Generational Curses
Let’s assume that the teaching of generational curses is accurate and biblical because there are many testimonies from practitioners to convince you that such a method works. You would read that this person or his family has been set free from generational curses and how happy they are now. However, when you probe deeper, you will discover a DILEMMA – with the lineages from both your parents and then from both sets of grandparents who in turn, inherited generational curses from both their parents (your great-parents) who inherited from both sets of great-great-grandparents, etc, you would have a long list of ancestors with their long lists of sins. Like one of the teachers of generational curses states that you have a “long shadow from the past” like a “long evil arm of curses” that grab hold of you so that you are not blessed but cursed. That is the reason why this generational curses teaching creates more bondages than setting people free. There will always be a doubt that maybe you have not dealt with some missing or hidden ancestral sins.

Why Some Still Believe In Generational Curses?
This is one puzzle that I have been trying to solve. Since believers are now in the spiritual bloodline of the second or last Adam (Jesus) then why are so many still living in the cursed bloodline of the first Adam? Then it dawned on me that people are thinking that their weaknesses are all results of the generational curses instead of the original sin nature given to us by Adam.

For example, I used to have an anger management problem even after accepting Christ. That’s the result of my “Sin” nature and not so much a curse. I had to go through the sanctifying process of the Holy Spirit and learn how to exercise my self-control. My legal rights as a child of God have been acquired at the cross and therefore, I am now free to become the person whom God wants me to be. However, that sanctification is a long process. The earlier I die to myself, the earlier I would become alive to Christ, and the earlier the Holy Spirit can transform me to be like Christ. When I learn to fully surrender to the Lord, the uncontrollable rage no longer exists. No curse was broken except that I have matured in Christ.

What About Past Demons?
For Christians who are still under the influence of those demons that have crept in before they accepted Jesus, the only option is to cast them out with the kingly authority and in the mighty name of Jesus. There is no question that these believers are fully saved because they are justified by the death of Christ on the cross. They have the fullest legal rights as children of God and so these demons cannot harass them anymore. The believers who have been affected, do not need to go through the tedious ritualistic process of repenting for their ancestors and renouncing their sins. All they need to do is to shut the door by repenting of their own sins and not going back to them again. By living a repented life, all believers should never need to be victims of the devil. They, instead, can become kingdom warriors to attack the enemy by applying their kingly authority.

You Are Not Under Any Curse
As long as you do not choose rebellion against God, nothing of your ancestors is going to cling to you and make you pay. Listen to what Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 31:29-30
In those days people will no longer say, “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.”
Jesus has taken all the curses away from you at Calvary cross. When you accepted Him as your Savior, you are born again into His bloodline. You do not need to repent and renounce the sins of your ancestors to be a part of this bloodline. Jesus did it for you and His Blood is powerful enough to redeem you from any curse. The Bible is clear that everyone is to be responsible for his own sins and you are not responsible for the sins of your ancestors. You are definitely not under any curse.

If you have missed out on the previous articles about Generational Curses, please check out the following:
Understanding Generational Curses – Part 1 (Adamic Curse Versus Generational Curse)

Understanding Generational Curses – Part 1 (Adamic Curse Versus Generational Curse)

Understanding Generational Curses – Part 2 (Does God Punish Sons for the Sins of Their Fathers?)

Understanding Generational Curses – Part 2 (Does God Punish Sons for the Sins of Their Fathers?)

Understanding Generational Curses – Part 3 (The Danger of Witch Hunt)

Understanding Generational Curses – Part 3 (The Danger of Witch Hunt)

Is Grave Sucking or Mantle Grabbing Biblical?

The notion of ‘grave sucking’ or ‘mantle grabbing’ has become popular among believers in the hyper-charismatic circle. Such a concept has been readily advocated by some of the better-known preachers such as Bill Johnson, Benny Hinn, Cal Pierce, etc. The purpose of ‘grave-sucking’ is for the believers to visit grave sites of specially gifted but dead ministers to ‘suck residue spiritual anointing’, especially the gifts of healing or prophesying, from these dead people.

Cal Pierce says, “Lord, if a dead man can be thrown on the bones of Elisha and be healed, then I’m asking for the anointing that is on these bones of John G. Lake.”

Bill Johnson expounds, ““There are anointings, mantles, revelations, and mysteries that have lain unclaimed, literally where they were left because the generation that walked in them never passed them on. I believe it’s possible for us to recover realms of anointing, realms of insight, realms of God that have been untended for decades simply by choosing to reclaim them and perpetuate them for future generations.”

Benny Hinn is a firm believer of grave sucking when he openly shares what happened when he visited the grave of Aimee Semple McPherson – the founder of Foursquare: “I felt a terrific anointing when I was there. I actually, I – I, hear this, I trembled when I visited Aimee’s tomb. I was shaking all over. God’s power came all over me. … I believe the anointing has lingered over Aimee’s body. I know this may be shocking to you. … And I’m going to take David Palmquist and Kent Mattox and Sheryl Palmquist this week. They’re gonna come with me. You—you—you gonna feel the anointing at Aimee’s tomb. It’s incredible. And Kathryn’s. It’s amazing. I’ve heard of people healed when they visited that tomb. They were totally healed by God’s power. You say, ‘What a crazy thing.’ Brother, there are things we’ll never understand. Are you all hearing me?”

Many of these hyper-charismatic practitioners believe that they would experience a heightened spiritual capability when they ‘suck’ the anointing from the dead ministers. Cal Pierce believes that “another generation’s ‘ceiling’ in God can become our spiritual floor”.

What does the Bible Say About Grave-Sucking?
Absolutely nothing. Yes, the Bible has no such precedent. Some of these grave-sucking practitioners may protest by pointing their example to an incident recorded in 2 Kings 13:21:

“And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men, and they cast the man into the sepulcher of Elisha: and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.”

Why did the Lord allow this event to be narrated in the Old Testament? The record in the Bible expressly mentioned that the dead man became alive when his body touched the bones of Elisha. Didn’t that prove that the dead bones of Elisha were still full of the Holy Spirit?

The truth is that God did not give us a reason. As for the answer to the second question, God also did not give specific intentions. But as people with reasoning power, we can make an educated supposition.

We all know that Elisha received a double portion of the Spirit which was upon Elijah. During the lifetime of Elijah on earth, through the power of the Holy Spirit, he performed a total of 14 miracles. Since Elisha had asked for a double portion of the Spirit, he should have performed 28 miracles. However, at the time of his death, he had only 27 miracles under his belt. The miracle of the dead man coming alive was the 28th miracle, thus fulfilling the requirement for the ‘double-portion’ promise. There may be other reasons but like the writer has mentioned, they will all be conjectures. The one that is not conjecture is the transferring of the mantle of the dead saints to living ministers of God’s Word. That is superstition at best.

Any Impartation of Anointing From The Graves?
Would the same type of ‘anointing’ from gifted but dead ministers be transferred to anyone who lays hands or rolls upon their graves? Let’s check the Bible again. Reading from the same story of the bones of Elisha, we ask ourselves a question: “Did the dead man receive the mantle of Elisha after his dead body came in contact with the latter’s bones”. No, he did not.

Did the resurrected man ultimately receive the power of the Holy Spirit, just as most of the prophets and leaders of the Old Testament did? Did he become a prophet just like Elisha? Did he perform great miracles after that? The answer is a resounding no! The only thing that happened was that the dead man became alive again.

Moreover, in the Old Testament, the presence of the Holy Spirit was upon specific individuals and could be lifted at any time. That was why King David cried out to the Lord when he repented of his sin, “Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me.”

In the New Testament, the Holy Spirit did not operate in the same manner. He came upon all believers (Acts 2). God has poured out His Spirit upon all flesh (Acts 2:17; ref: Joel 2:28-29) and we have become the “dwelling of God in the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:22). Paul emphasized, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Even though we appreciate the ministries of our predecessors, it is God who gives us the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Paul recognized that not only did people worship dead spiritual heroes, they also created living ones. But God is the One who builds His Church. He does not owe that to anyone. He is the only One whom we seek and not depending upon dead or living heroes of faith. Paul sent a strong message against this type of attitude: “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.” (I Corinthians 3:5-7).

If we are not careful, our churches might be affected by teachings that are not found in the Bible but in cults. The danger is that we mix a certain degree of pantheism into our theology and begin a spiritual journey with a sharp tangent that will carry us far away from the original Gospel and the Word of God.

Here is a helpful video about “Crushing Counterfeit Gods”. Pray that this will message will bless you.

Understanding Generational Curses – Part 3 (The Danger of Witch Hunt)

Have you heard of the Salem witch hunt? Back in 1692, in the village of Salem, Massachusetts, a group of young girls claimed that they were possessed by the devil. Those girls, in their hysterical fits, saw in their “visions” that they were bewitched by some villagers. All the accused were arrested as witches, tortured, judged, and subsequently, 19 of them were hanged on Salem’s Gallows Hill. For several months, fifty men, women, and children were also accused of witchcraft. Their “crimes” were based sheerly on the “visions” of these girls. Thankfully, before the year was over, good sense came to the village and the locals began to turn against the witch trials. Through the Massachusetts General Court, all those who lost their lives because of the witch hunt had their guilty verdicts annulled. The families who lost their loved ones were indemnified. However, from that time onward, anger and bitterness continued to hover over the community for many years.

THE WITCHHUNT OF GENERATIONAL CURSES
Today, there is a new form of witch hunt and that is to find which member of the family, whether living or dead, is the reason for the generational curses that have befallen the family. When things go wrong in the family, they feel like it must be a punishment from God for some unrepented sins of their dead ancestors or even those elderly relatives who live with them. Then, directly or indirectly, the blame game would begin and certain social stigma would be placed upon the so-called perpetrator of the curse.

As many pastors from the Charismatic persuasion are happily teaching this popular idea, it is inevitable that this superstition continues to spread like wildfire among the laity. Many have become firmly entrenched in this idea because they have somehow “experienced” it or even “delivered” from it.

A NEW BREED OF “WITCH HUNT” MINISTERS
There arises a new breed of self-styled “prophetic” ministers (both from clergy and laity) who, by way of “special knowledge from on-high” tell you which members of your family or ancestors are the perpetrators of the generational curses. Once that so-called “revelation” is given, then it is impossible to clear the reputation of the person. For example, if this self-styled “prophetic” minister says that God has given him a divine revelation to your family history and that in the distant past, your grandmother had committed adultery with a neighbor and so the curse of adultery is in the family, then your poor grandmother, whether she is dead or alive, will forever, have her name tarnished. No one knows what actually happened in the past and so many resorted to this witch-hunting method. Do you see how dangerous this approach is?

Here is a sad testimony from a sister-in-Christ who responded to the earlier blog post about Generational Curses – Part 2.

My sister-in-law passed on last September, it was sudden death. It started with food poisoning. All of us were heartbroken but we chose to look to Jesus and continue to put our trust in God, knowing God loves us and has the best for us, we may not understand the reason now but we will one day.
Suddenly someone from the church told her mom that it may be due to my mom as they came to know about my mom had lost her first husband after she got married years ago.
It must be a generational curse from my mom’s side so they asked my mom to attend a deliverance zoom session and to renounce all generational curses. My mom felt so bad and followed what they said.
I mean making confession and doing renunciation can do no harm to a person, but the wrong understanding of the whole thing, now everyone believes my late sister-in-law’s (she was very young and was a very pleasant lovely lady, faithfully serving God, and just got married for 11 months) passing was caused by my mom. So our relationship became so sour despite me explaining to them from Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32.

Here is another testimony about how after renouncing all generational curses, the believer continued to have doubt about being fully delivered from the curse… not until she learned the biblical truth about the wonderful promise of Jesus in John 8:36 – “So if the Son sets you free you will be free indeed.”

Thank you for sharing on this subject matter, Pastor Albert… I came from a broken family background — my mom divorced when I was a kid and I was separated and eventually divorced more than 10 years ago. I have gone thru the Freedom in Christ course that taught about renouncing generational curses and all. So sometimes the thought does come back to question whether it has really been broken for me and my children. Your article gives clarity and peace to know exactly where I stand as a born-again believer. Thanks for sharing.

YOU ARE NOT UNDER ANY GENERATIONAL CURSES
Many people got stuck here when they were told that they need to renounce all the sins of their ancestors so as to be set free from their generational curses. However, most of them have no idea what their ancestors had done. And that put that false guilt and condemnation upon them. Maybe they are still under the generational curses.
Those who have been adopted have been told that they are at a disadvantage. Why? Because many do not even know who their ancestors were. All these add guilt trip and fear into the life of the believer. Instead of being free in Christ, they experience additional bondage.
Today, we want to affirm that all these are absolutely false. We are now of a different bloodline – the blood of Jesus. We are all free from any generational curses. Remember – “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36).
Once again, the Bible affirms that you are not under any generational curses. Jesus taught against generational curses. Read John 9:2-3 – His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life”.

THE ADAMIC CURSE BEING CONFUSED AS THE GENERATIONAL CURSES
The confusion between the Adamic Curse and the Generational Curses is further enhanced by the so-called evidence of inherited behavioral traits, diseases, and tragic events. For example, a family friend told me that his anger management problem stemmed from a curse passed on from his father who apparently received that curse from his grandfather. That sounds plausible except that his two other brothers do not have that same anger management problem. Did the generational curse miss them and just concentrate upon this poor chap?

In another example, a woman shared with Grace and me that her family has been cursed with the generational curse of divorce. She said that almost every sibling is divorced except for one. So, we asked whether the spirit of divorce has somehow missed this sibling? She told us that the relationship between this sibling and his spouse is not good either. So, the idea of her family being targeted by this generational curse of divorce remains in her mind to this day.

THE CURSE OF THE ORIGINAL SIN
As in the earlier articles, (Understanding Generational Curses – Part 1, Understanding Generational curses – Part 2), I pointed out that biblically speaking all the curses stemmed from the Original Sin of Adam, who was the original federal head of mankind. That is also known as the Adamic Curse. From then, all the good order of God has been tarnished and disorder is here in this world. The endless blessings of Eden have become the endless sufferings of mankind outside of Eden.

Sins have become a part of mankind and suffering, on the global scale, is the effect of that disobedience. Paul says in Romans 8:22 – “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” That is to say that the natural world created by God for mankind is now subjected to the entropic nature, the bondage of decay, corruption, and death. We can understand this further by reading the following two verses:

“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8:20-21).

Nature is the victim of the Adamic curse and one day, Jesus will come to rectify that. In the age to come, the natural creation will be liberated and transformed to the original glorious intent of the Lord. Therefore, what we are experiencing now – the entropy, degeneration, infirmities, natural disasters and decay are not the result of the generational curses but that of the original Adamic curse.

YOU ARE UNDER A NEW MASTER
This new concept of generational curses is popular because there must be real bondage that people want to be set free from. To put it simply, it is not any sins of our ancestors that have been affecting us but before we came to know Christ, we were the prisoners and slaves of sin. We were held captive to the impulses and instincts of our sinful nature.

Paul said, “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.” (Romans 6:20-21 NLT).

When you were born again, you change allegiance to a new master. The Lord has given you a new nature to work with and the best thing of all is that God has blessed you with the presence of the Holy Spirit. You have been set free, liberated by the most powerful of all spirits – the Holy Spirit. Paul expresses so well in these words of 2 Corinthians 3:17: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Let me repeat the biblical truth – The only generational curse that you WERE under was the Adamic curse caused by the Fall. That has been taken care of by Jesus at the cross. Nowhere else in the New Testament has any record of Jesus or the Apostles teaching about renouncing the generational curses caused by your ancestors. In fact, Jesus taught against generational curses (John 9:2-3).

I trust that this will clear off all the doubts that you have of the true freedom offered by Christ. Here is a message from the Word of God that will help you to overcome your struggles with anxiety, worries, and stress:

Understanding Generational Curses – Part 2 (Does God Punish Sons for the Sins of Their Fathers?)

Does God visit the sins of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations? (Exodus 20:5-6). As part of the Ten Commandments, God seems to say that He would do exactly that. In Exodus 34:7, God revealed Himself to Moses, and gave the same warning that He would visit “the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation”. When one cross-examines Leviticus 26:39, the sins of the fathers would definitely affect future generations – “Because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.”

Then we read other prophets who recorded that “the son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son.” (Ezekiel 18:20, cf. Jeremiah 31:30). How are we to reconcile these two opposing ideas? The coherence of these biblical texts would help us in our understanding of the character of God – Is God really a loving Father or just a tyrannical despot? This information will also help us to counsel people who are loaded with guilt not only from their own sins but the sins of their ancestors.

DO WE REALLY HAVE TO PAY FOR OUR ANCESTORS’ SINS?
The proponents of “generational curses” argue that verses such as Exodus 20:5-6; 34:7; and Leviticus 26:39 are clear pieces of evidence of the generational curses, being placed by God upon a family, up to the third and the fourth generation. So, according to these proponents, if you were born into a family with such generational curses, then it’s just as what the world would say, “tough luck!”

You will be responsible for the sins of your ancestors whether you like it or not. You may scream that it is unfair and unjustified for you to bear the consequences of your ancestors’ sins but you still have to pay the price. The only way that you can stop the “generational curses’ is by “going back” to identify every sin of your ancestors and renounce each sin. If you have no idea what those sins might be, then you have to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal them to you.

Can this be true? Do we really have to do that? Does God require us to renounce the sins of our ancestors? Nowhere else in the New Testament requires us to seek out every sin of the ancestors. Jesus never taught that and neither did the Apostles. Where did this idea come from?

THOSE WHO HATE THE LORD
Let’s see if the Lord requires all believers to do the ritual of renouncing the individual sins of their forefathers? Returning to those scriptures again – “I the Lord…visit the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:5; cf. Numbers 14:18) and compare with the verse in Ezekiel 18:20 – “the son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son.”

With careful evaluation, we can safely conclude that the descendants who are being judged are those who have been influenced by the sins of their forefathers. As the Bible is clear that temptation alone is not sin, therefore the descendants would be judged solely for their sinful actions. These descendants would be like their forefathers, they hate God and so they are rightfully being judged or cursed.

In short, those who hate God will be judged and they will pay the price. Thus the sins of the forefathers would have indeed visited the descendants – sinful generation after sinful generation because those sins are being expressed and manifested in the lives of the descendants. Ultimately, the ungodly children will be judged according to their own sins and not the sins of their forefathers as mentioned by Prophet Jeremiah – “Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.” (Jeremiah 31:30).

THOSE WHO LOVE THE LORD
How about those who love the Lord? Since the descendants are being judged for their own sins, that means that we would be judged based upon our own sins or faith. If the price of sins has been paid by Jesus at Calvary cross, then we should be living in the zone of victory and blessings.

In Exodus 20:5, God said in the second half of the verse that He would show “steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Wow. Isn’t that wonderful!

In Deuteronomy 7:9, we read the confirmation of God’s promise to those who love God and walk in His way – “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.” So, even in the Old Testament, people did get the promise of a thousand generations, if they were to honor God and keep His commandments. What about the believers in the New Testament?

A THOUSAND GENERATIONS
King David says that God will always stand by his covenant – “the commitment He made to a thousand generations”. (Psalm 105:8). For the true followers of Christ, this promise or covenant of love (Exodus 20:5) for a thousand generations has been given to us in the form of a New Covenant because of the obedience of Christ.

Paul declares. “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8). In Romans 5:18, we read, “Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.” (NLT). Our blessings will not just be a thousand generations of God-fearing descendants but a life of worship in eternity.

ARE BORN-AGAIN BELIEVERS STILL UNDER THE CURSE?
Therefore, how can we who have been Born Again still be under the judgement or curses similar to those who are living in godless disobedience?

Shouldn’t we be exempted since we are not “those who hate the Lord”? Why is there teaching about believers still being chained to the sins of their past and sinful forefathers? Why must we be asked to dig up all our past sins and those of our forefathers and renounce them one by one when Jesus has already paid for all our sins? Why is the Blood of Jesus not able to break all these yokes and we need a “second grace” of special prayer to break them?

Do we really need to renounce every specific sin of our past and also that of our ancestors? What happens if we were to miss one or two? Wouldn’t that make this whole exercise a failure and we would still be in bondage? Wouldn’t this approach undermine the cleansing of sin through the blood of Jesus in the general repentance of sin during salvation? Having to have another set of rituals to target specific sins in the past and also those of the ancestors only points to the fact that the blood of Christ alone is not powerful enough to free the believer from the power of Satan. That is of course a ridiculous notion.

ARE WE STILL IN THE ADAMIC BLOODLINE?
Most of the teachings about believers still under some kinds of generational curses comes from the idea that we are still stuck with the bloodline of first Adam. This Adamic bloodline of Original Sin is more of a corporate problem than an individual one. We have to understand that the Original Sin is not primarily about the sinful actions of individuals but rather the nature or condition of sin in every one of us.

That is to say, everyone is born with a fallen nature or sin nature. David acknowledges his frailty, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5). Paul exclaims in Romans 3:23 “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” and explains further in Romans 5:12 – “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned….”

A DIFFERENT BLOODLINE
In John chapter 1, we read, “Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

To be born of God is to be Born Again. Jesus explained to Nicodemus in John 3 – “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again’. (John 3:5-7).

That is the good news: As the citizens of the kingdom of God, we now have a different bloodline and are a part of the eternal family of God, through the bloodline of the second or last Adam – Jesus Christ.

YOU ARE NOT UNDER ANY GENERATIONAL CURSE
Many people got stuck here when they were told that they need to renounce all the sins of their ancestors so as to be set free from their generational curses. However, most of them have no idea what their ancestors had done. And that put that false guilt and condemnation upon them. Maybe they are still under the generational curses. Those who have been adopted have been told that they are at a disadvantage. Why? Because many do not even know who their ancestors were. All these add guilt trip and fear into the life of the believer. Instead of being free in Christ, they experience additional bondage.
Today, we want to affirm that all these are absolutely false. We are now of a different bloodline – the blood of Jesus. We are all free from any generational curses. Remember – “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36).