INTRODUCTION

Author: Pastor André Coetzee

It’s undeniable that even after the death and resurrection of Jesus, which brought us freedom, we still experience problems in our daily lives. Can this be because of some sin in our parents’ or even grandparents’ lives that brought a curse upon our family tree, more specifically called a generational curse?

While studying this subject, a question arose in my mind that went like this. “Can a bloodline curse be strong enough to even reach through the blood of Jesus into my newborn life and bring doom upon me?”  A good friend of mine walked into the room and caught me thinking very deeply; so in the spur of the moment, I asked him that same question. To my amazement he gave me an answer that I didn’t expect from him. He said “Yes.” Shocked by his answer, I was struck speechless. Then he carried on saying. “Even if you are a born-again child of God, if you believe there is a bloodline curse upon your life, it will be to you according to your faith. No matter if it is true or not.”

“Sometimes we have darling hearts, but such foolish minds”

The real question we should ask ourselves is what do you believe? Is your belief system based on truth (the Word of God)?

Galatians 1:6
I am surprised at you! In no time at all you are deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ, and are accepting another gospel.       

Please enjoy the journey with me exploring the truth in God’s word.

In the creation of mankind God created man according to His image, (Gen 1:26) according to His likeness. God placed something in Adam and Eve called faith, which gave man the ability to govern, control, rule and to have dominion over the work of God’s hand. So God ruled over His creation trough Adam with the power of Adams faith in God’s word.  We know about the rebellion in heaven and how Satan was kicked out of heaven and it became Satan’s obsession to destroy everything that represents God. Satan decided to strike at God’s image, but he knew that the faith of man on earth was so powerful that everything was controlled by it. In himself Satan has absolutely no power, – unless – he can get us to believe his lies. Even until today Satan has no power nor the authority to steal kill or bring destruction on man’s life, unless we give him the power through our faith in his lies.

“Some people have more faith in the destroyer to destroy than faith in the Keeper to keep.”

If Satan can get you to believe the lie that even after being born-again again there can still be generational curses upon you, it will be the power of Satan working in your life according to your faith in his lies. The shocking truth about believers today is that they have more faith in the power of the destroyer to destroy than what they have faith in the power of the Keeper to keep.

Overview

SHOULD CHRISTIANS BE CONCERNED ABOUT GENERATIONAL CURSES TODAY?

This module explains why we do not need to walk in fear of the past concerning our ancestors. For there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. In these last days we do not need to walk according to the vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers. We can walk in the freedom of Jesus Christ.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

DEFINITIONS

Terms	Definitions
Curse	A solemn utterance intended to invoke a supernatural power to inflicts harm or punishment on someone or something.
Inheritance	Something gotten by legal right from a person at his or her death.
Consequences	A result or effect, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant.
Generations	All of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively.

THE CURSE OF SIN

The first recorded account where a curse is spoken over mankind in the Bible is where God confronts Adam and Eve in their sin after they ate of the forbidden tree.

Genesis 3:16-17
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 

The first principle of this curse is that it did not come as an inheritance but as a consequence of sin. You cannot inherit a curse. Adam, through his disobedience, became the first man to fall into a sinful nature, and his children inherited the same nature as their parents. Kind produces kind. Cain and Abel inherited the same sinful nature, which propelled Cain to do what came naturally to him; namely, to sin against God. Cain was drawn away by his own evil desires, and his evil desires gave birth to sin, which resulted in God speaking judgment on him individually.

Genesis 4:11
You are placed under a curse and can no longer farm the soil. It has soaked up your brother's blood as if it had opened its mouth to receive it when you killed him.  

“The curse of sin did not come as an inheritance, but as a judgment on the sinner.”

According to Romans 3:23, we all fall short of the glory of God due to our sinful nature that we inherited from our forefather Adam. Nothing we do can change our inheritance; we are born with it.

 When the three-year old boy pulls down the tablecloth to steal a biscuit from the jar after his mother told him to leave it alone, and when his mother asks him why he stole a biscuit, he replies with chocolate-crumbed lips, “It wasn’t me, Mommy”. Who taught this boy how to tell a lie? Who taught him to steal? Answer: He inherited the sinful nature at his birth. It took a work of God to save us from our sinful condition.

Galatians 3:13
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, cursed is every one that hanged on a tree: 

2 Corinthians 5:21
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 

Jesus took our sinful condition upon Himself at the cross and became a curse for us so that we can have a new inheritance, a Godly nature, through the new birth in Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 9:15
And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.          

Nicodemus came to Jesus in the night to ask Him about this new inheritance and Jesus answered him, “…You must be born again…” The born-again child of God inherits a new nature and is saved from the curse of sin and death.

Romans 8:2
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 

“The born-again inherits a new nature”

INFLUENCE OF GENERATIONS

In this book, I want to concentrate on generational curses, but we must first make a clear distinction between the influences the fathers have on their sons versus the so-called bloodline curses due to the sins of the fathers.

Where the patterns of sinful people continue from one generation to the next, there the same consequences will also continue.

A few years ago, a man died at the age of 40 of a heart attack. Testimony from people that knew him confirmed that this man kept on saying, “My grandfather died at the age of 40, my father died at the age of 40, I will die at the age of 40.” At the age of 40, one morning, he did not wake up. Was this a generational curse?

Answer. If you continue in the same sinful patterns as your parents: smoking, drinking, being very short tempered, overeating, etc., and they died of a heart attack at the age of 40, the chances that you will follow the same route is unavoidable. It will be illegitimate to say, “That was a generational curse.” Whether this man believed or even knew about generational curses, I cannot tell, but we can tell on the confession of his faith (in the 40 years,) that he received what he believed here on earth.

“If the pattern of sin continues, so will the consequences”

An undeniable fact is that we as parents have an enormous influence on our children. When we do sinful things, like talking hatefully of people with a different skin color, our children pick it up and they may even pass it over to their children.

In my own life, I could identify sinful things that were also in my father’s life. Surely my children will be able to see things in their lives that are also present in my life, but if I confessed the sins of my father, it will not give me victory over my sins. I have to take responsibility for my own offenses and confess them as sin unto repentance.

1 John 1:9 
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.          

It is not only unbiblical, but a waste of time, to try and ask God through prayer to forgive my father for having an unforgiving attitude towards others, or for visiting a Sangoma, etc. The guilt of a sinner belongs to that person.

“The Guilt of sin is a personal thing” 

In Matthew 9:2, Jesus saw the faith of the friends bringing a man sick with palsy to him, and said to the man, “Your sins are forgiven you.” Jesus did not forgive the sins of all his forefathers. He forgave the sins of that person. It is nowhere found in the Bible that we are instructed to pray for the forgiveness of our forefathers’ sins, or to pray some ritualistic prayer to cut off bloodline curses. We can confess (admit) their sins, but it is nowhere stated in scripture that God will forgive my sins if my children ask for forgiveness on my behalf. If I am hard-headed and stiff-necked, I have to repent and ask for forgiveness.

Generational-curse believers will insist that when something in your life is not going very well you must go and research your forefathers’ sins. According to them, somebody in the past did something wrong and now you are cursed being the reason for the troubles in your life.

This is the age-old desire of man to shift the blame to someone else, just as Adam and Eve did in the garden. Sin is personal and not transferable to the next generation.

Deuteronomy 24:16
The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin. 

Jeremiah 31:29-31
In those days they shall say no more, the fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge.   But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.  Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 

Ezekiel 18:20
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. 

GENERATIONAL CURSES

The foundation of the generational-sins-and-curses teaching is tied to the principle of blaming the previous generations if one’s welfare is not according to his personal satisfaction. Furthermore, they believe if you experience some trouble in your life, then you can pray and ask God to show you and the Holy Spirit will then reveal to you what ancestral sin is bringing this so-called curse upon your life. This method of opening up your forefathers’ closets to see what skeleton is hidden there, especially if they are diseased, is unbiblical and can lead to familiar spirits that will feed lies to anyone who is willing to listen.

The Holy Spirit can only take of what belongs to Jesus and give it to you. He will never take anything that comes from the dead and give it to God’s children as revelation knowledge.

John 16:13-14
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 

The teaching of generational-sin/curses, is based on the following scriptures that are taken out of context.

Exodus 20:5
for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 

It is so dangerous when people develop theories based on scripture taken out of context or ignoring the latter part of the scripture. In Exodus 20:5, the scripture ends with these words

, “…for those who hate Me.” So if you can purposefully develop a hate for God in your heart and worship idols, you have reason to be thinking you are cursed. And if you teach your children and theirs the same pattern, surely God will judge every one of them even to the fourth generation.

This scripture deals with God being jealous of those that belong to Him as a warning that they should not bow down to other gods. The generations He is speaking to are those that are alive at the same time. The greatest number of generations that can be alive at one time is four. The possibility that the idolater that bows down to an idol will teach their children also to bow down to idols is very good.

The chances that they will pass this sinful torch on to their children and their children’s children that are alive at the same time is undeniable.

The context of this scripture is dealing with four generations that can bow down to idols at the same time. God will surely visit their iniquity even to the fourth generation that hate him. But if one of these generations chooses to love God and not bow down to idols, the scripture says in Exodus 20:6 that God will show mercy unto thousands that love Him.

A perfect example of this is found in Judges 6:25 where Gideon, on God’s command, tore down the altar of Baal. This was the place where his father worshiped and the curse of his father did not come upon him. Instead, because he loved God, he became a judge of their enemies. With 300 men he conquered the Amalekites and the Midianites.

Even though the sins of people in a country or a nation can have terrible consequences on the whole country, God will show mercy and grace to any individual for their personal repentance. It will not be necessary for us to hold our ancestors responsible for so-called curses brought upon us as a result of their sins.

We must keep in mind that God is dealing with Israel as a nation in Exodus 34:7 and Numbers 14:18 through His covenant of the law. The covenant was conditional. If you break the law, curses will follow. If you were obedient, blessings will follow. Today, God works through a new covenant with better promises.

1 Peter 1:18-19
For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vein conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 

The negative outcome of the generational-sin/curse teaching is that it is supposed to produce freedom in Christ. But instead, it creates an unhealthy obsession with the past. And then there is the ongoing uncertainty as to whether all the sins and curses have been identified and removed.

The generational-curse teaching -that the children even to the fourth generation will be cursed if the fathers sinned- is not a new teaching. It goes back thousands of years after the law was given to Moses. Why it lasted even unto today is strange to understand, because God addressed this same issue in Ezekiel 18 to bring correction of this false accusation against God.

Ezekiel 18:1-3
The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, what mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. 

“You will not repeat this proverb in Israel anymore.”

SALVATION

We have great teachings from the Apostles that walked with Jesus, so what did they teach concerning generational curses?

Answer: Nothing! Nowhere in the New Testament can we find scripture that shows us how to identify generational curses or what effect it will have on our lives. But they do speak about our faith that will be tested and tried.

1 Peter 4:12
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. 

The New Testament speaks of salvation through Jesus Christ. This word salvation means to be saved from. Saved from what?

Romans 8:2
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 

To be saved from sin means that you will not taste the consequences of sin, which is the curse, nor will you taste death, which is eternal separation from God in Hell.

I always find it very saddening when we cannot accept our new creation in Jesus. Jesus said He came to make us a new creation and the old things have passed away. Only a few years after my water baptism did this new creation become a reality to me. I thank God for His Word that constantly brings a renewing to my mind. The new creature in Christ is so reviving to my spirit. The moment I was baptized into the death of Jesus, the old Andre, the African, was put to death and buried, and coming up from the water, it is no longer I that live but Christ lives in me. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

When you are born again and bury the old man through baptism, you are born into a new family. You have a new bloodline and the old bloodline no longer exists. You have new brothers and sisters, you have a new Father, which we call “Abba, Father.”

Romans 8:15
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 

A few years ago, a young man gave his life to Jesus at our church and was born again, baptized, and everything. A few weeks later, he was very depressed and started sharing about a traumatic incident in his past of being raped by other men in his family and that he felt that this is like a curse upon him that hinders him from growing spiritually. Our youth pastor asked him, “But aren’t you born again?” Ignorantly, he answered, “Yes, I am born again.” The youth pastor then answered, “But if you are born again, that rape didn’t happen to you. It happened to the old man that was buried a few weeks ago.”

I hope this testimony will also shed some light on you who really know that you’re born-again. There is just no sense in digging up a corpse to try and fix the dead. There is just no sense in going into the dead-and-buried old man’s ancestral past to try and fix some curse. God says that the old things have passed away. We do not dwell in the land of the dead but in the land of the living.

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 

Colossians 3:9-10
…seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF A BELIEVER IS CURSED BY ANOTHER PERSON?

Jesus gave the solution to how we should react.

Luke 6:28
 “Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” 

Nowhere in the Bible are we taught to reverse or cancel curses made against us, but rather to bless those that curse us.

Secondly; in Proverbs 26:2(GNB), the Word declares that an unfair curse will not land on its intended victim. They are like birds that fly by and never light. (Proverbs 26:2 GNB)

CONCLUSION

There is just nothing like the redemptive power of God’s Word. Many times, Jesus said, “Do not fear.” Those who are sent by God have the Spirit without measure. (John 3:34)

There is no reason for God’s children to walk in fear of the future or to walk in the guilt of the past. God has delivered us completely from the past through the wonderful blood of Jesus. “If God is for us, who can be against us.” (Romans 8:31-33)

Colossians 2:8
Let us not be deceived with cheap philosophy according to the traditions of man, according to the basic principles of the world, that which is not according to Christ. 

BIBLOGRAHPY

Nelson, T. (1982). The New King James Version Bible. Thomas Nelson.