Deflecting Concern of God's Children over Generational Curses

To buttress their stance on generational curses, Christians of certain persuasions have inter alia sought support from the NIV translation of Exodus 20:5 (which, being placed among the 10 Commandments, raises the eye-brows of many a reader): “… punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation …” (hereafter referred to as version 1).  Believers who find version 1 difficult to explicate should fall back on traditional Bible translations (such as KJV, RSV and ASV) and read instead the corresponding text for this otherwise-perplexing verse (which is replicated in Deuteronomy 5:9 amidst Moses’ recollections): “… visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation …” (hereafter referred to as version 2).

 

In view of the imperative to distinguish between these two versions, the first action item for the present discussion agenda is to mull over the following observations:

●     The text “visiting the iniquity” in version 2 seems preferable by virtue of the fact that its counterpart “punishing the children” in version 1 runs counter to an explicit prohibition in the Torah: “fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers” (Deuteronomy 24:16).

●     How then should version 2’s “visiting the iniquity … to the third and fourth generation” be perceived?  A likely scenario is that the sinful practices of forefathers tend to be passed down the generations; for example, in Genesis 15:16 the Amorites’ sin, which in the Lord’s judgment “has not reached its full measure” around the time of Abram’s arrival in Canaan, must have climaxed some 400 years later when “in the fourth generation your descendants [viz the Hebrew race] will come back here” to settle in the Promised Land.  Another possible scenario is that the negative consequences of parents’ sinful deeds may adversely impact their descendants; for example, in I Samuel 2:29-33 God told Eli that “there shall not be an old man in your house forever [as] all the descendants of your house shall die in the flower of their age” because “you kick[ed] at My sacrifice ... and honour[ed] your sons more than Me”.

●     Attention must additionally be drawn to the end-of-sentence text (whether version 1 or version 2) found in both Exodus 20:5-6 and Deuteronomy 5:9-10: “… third and fourth generation of those who hate Me but showing mercy to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.”  It is patently obvious from the two highlighted portions of this oft-overlooked text that the so-called generational curse is actually targeted at those who hate God and by no means intended for His adopted children to whom God shows mercy for a thousand generations.

 

Of pertinence too is Ezekiel 18:20 which unambiguously states that “the son shall not bear the guilt of the father …” as “the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”  Incidentally, this particular passage also serves to archive (for the benefit of posterity) the unwavering instruction reiterated here by God when encountering the vengeance-seeking accusers who (in blatant disregard of His decree in Deuteronomy 24:16) posed the following question for Him to re-consider: “Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?” (Ezekiel 18:19)  Indeed, as affirmed by the Lord yet again via another prophet, there is to be no doubt whatsoever that “every one shall die for his own iniquity” (Jeremiah 31:20) and not because of his forefathers’ transgressions.

 

The next issue to be addressed is whether there are biblical instances of compliance with this repeated directive.  The following accounts (which have been interspersed throughout the OT books) are eminently illustrative:

#1    reverting to Ezekiel 18:19 as regards the accusers’ challenge (reproduced in the preceding paragraph), the unequivocal response from God for this case has been documented in the two sentences flanking the vindictive question: “because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes, he shall surely live” (Ezekiel 18:19) whereas “his father shall die for his iniquity because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother by violence and did what is not good among his people” (Ezekiel 18:18)

#2    the prohibition stipulated by the Deuteronomy 24:16 statute was expressly taken into consideration by King Amaziah who “did not put to death the children of the murderers according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses in which the Lord commanded that fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers” (II Kings 14:6)

#3    King David asked, “Is there not still someone alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?” (II Samuel 9:3) even though the grandson of Saul acknowledged that “all my grandfather’s descendants deserved nothing but death from the king” (II Samuel 19:28) who had to escape so many times from the clutches of his overtly-suspicious predecessor

#4    Abraham willingly bound himself with a vow when agreeing to abide by the condition put forward by Abimelech (who approached the immigrant from Haran with the intention to negotiate a treaty): “now swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me, with my offspring, or with my posterity” (Genesis 21:23)

#5    King Josiah feared that “great is the wrath of the Lord aroused against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of His book” (II Kings 22:13) but God subsequently assured him that “because you humbled yourself before Me … your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place” (II Kings 22:19-20) due to the wickedness of his father (King Amon) and grandfather (King Manasseh)

#6    that “the Lord was with Hezekiah and he prospered wherever he went” (II Kings 18:7) clearly shows he did not fall prey to any generational curse arising from the wicked sins of his father (King Ahaz) who “did not do what was right in the eyes of the Lord his God but walked … according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the children of Israel” (II Kings 16:2-3).

Ostensibly in line with the advice proffered by Christian mentors when coaching counsellees how to break generational curses, are the last two accounts (viz #5 and #6) in the afore-listed biblical instances.  The salient take-away is that how any son is to be judged ought not be prejudiced by what his father had committed: “a son who sees all the sins which his father has done and considers but does not do likewise ... shall not die for the iniquity of his father; he shall surely live” when he “has executed My judgments and walked in My statutes” (Ezekiel 18:14-17).

  

Also useful to take note of (in relation to contemporaneous-generation curse) is the circumstance where “God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them” (Jonah 3:10) after the entire Ninevite population responded positively to what Jonah had proclaimed (presumably repeatedly while traversing the evil city over a 3-day span): “yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (Jonah 3:4)  Perhaps a brief digression to view the matter from an individual (instead of collective) perspective is helpful as well at this juncture: upon hearing from Elijah the curse pronounced by the Almighty that “I will bring calamity upon you and I will take away your posterity …” (I Kings 21:21), King Ahab likewise responded positively and as a consequence God thereafter disclosed to the prophet that “because Ahab has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days [but] in the days of his son …” (I Kings 21:29) even though undeniably at the time “there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord” (I Kings 21:25).

  

In a broadly general sense, the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden may be perceived as having resulted in generational curses that still continue to impact all of posterity (way beyond the idiomatic third and fourth generation): “through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men” (Romans 5:12).  Nevertheless, it has to be borne in mind that the generations down the line are not of themselves without guilt as “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23): when “the Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek God” (Psalm 14:2), the lamentable conclusion is that “there is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10) coupled with “there is none who does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12).  Given His observation that “there is none who seeks after God [for] they have all turned aside” (Romans 3:11-12), the troubles befalling any human being cannot be squarely attributed to generational curses and each will have to be held accountable for the sins perpetrated by himself/herself.  Wonderfully, the Lord’s amazing plan of salvation (which is on offer to all who love God and accept Jesus Christ as Saviour) incorporates the element of imputation too: “as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19) and hence “blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin” (Romans 4:8).