Understanding and breaking generational curses 🤺⚔️

Ezekiel 18:19-20 says that a son shall not bear the guilt of the father because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all God’s statutes and observed them. The inverse of this statement is therefore also true that: if the son of a sinful father (or mother indeed) is also living in sin then it is possible for the son to bear the guilt of the father in addition to punishment for the son’s own sins.

And for how many generations can this curse possibly continue for? We know from Exodus 20:5-6 that God can continue placing the punishment for iniquity of the father until the third and fourth generation that hates Him, while willing to show mercy to those who love Him even until the fourth generation (Also see 2 Kings 10:30). So we find the same principle from Ezekiel reflected here in Exodus: when we continue living in sin, we may open ourselves up to generational curses we know nothing about; but what breaks that chain, at least on your head, is righteous living!

Two examples from the Bible:

1. We know about Ahab, Jezebel’s husband, that “there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord” and for this, God pronounced a curse on Ahab for this wickedness in 1 Kings 21:20-26. But because Ahab humbled himself (v. 29) before God when he heard the punishment for his sins, God postponed the punishment to the days of his son. This was fulfilled by Jehu in 2 Kings 10:11, 17 when God instructed him to kill all seventy sons of Ahab and all the remainder of his family in fulfillment of the original curse on Ahab.

2. King Josiah’s grand father, King Manasseh, was the king who’s evils finally sealed the fate of the people of Judah (2 Kings 21:9-16) – NB: we studied the terrible consequences of King Manasseh’s sins and how to repent before God here. Follow me now: Josiah’s father (Manasseh’s son), King Amon, was evil and was killed by his servants in his own house. Then comes King Josiah, on who’s head a curse from his grandfather was still floating but he did what was right in the sight of God. In 2 Kings 22:18-20, God said that because Josiah’s heart was tender and he humbled himself before God, he will die in peace and his eyes won’t see the punishment God was to bring on the people of the land. 2 Kings 23:25 tells us that:

“there was no king like Josiah who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses; not after him did any arise like him”. NKJV

• All the remaining kings of Judah, till it was taken captive by Babylon under King Zedekiah, were evil. 2 Kings 23:26-27 tells us that the curse to destroy Judah from the time of King Manasseh continued to reign even after righteous Josiah died. Basically, Josiah’s righteousness saved only his head from the generational curse but the curse remained over the heads of the subsequent kings because: 1) Manasseh’s sins so provoked God that God had determined not to change His mind, and 2) the kings themselves were all evil. Manasseh ruled for 55 years; by the end of the following 55 years, Judah was destroyed.

All in all we can take comfort from God’s promise in Proverbs 26:2 –

“An undeserved curse will be powerless to harm you. It may flutter over you like a bird, but it will find no place to land”. TPT

So while you may confidently have little to fear, watch your ways and wholeheartedly seek and return to God as that’s the only way to break the power of an unseen curse over your life. The power to change your life lies with you, no one else! 🙏🏾😇

Recent thoughts

So I was thinking recently about how through Adam’s fall to the devil’s temptations he brought condemnation to the human race, through Christ’s victory in the same areas as the first man was tempted, He brought salvation to all of humanity (Romans 5:18-19). Thinking about generational curses, Christ, while from the lineage of Adam, His victory i.e. not succumbing to the same temptations as His human forefathers, broke the chain of curses for all of humanity. Basically, just as Christ was tempted in similar manner as Adam, so also the son may be tempted in similar manner as his father/mother.

The question then becomes – will the son fall in the same area(s) that his parents fell and let the generational curses continue to prevail, or will he by the power of the word of Christ become victorious, breaking the chain in his own life and for that of his lineage? These generational problems may include communication problems, sexual promiscuity, drunkeness, partying, late nights for work or pleasure, anger, lying, eating disorders, covetousness, adultery, broken marriage/family, poverty or lack of financial discipline/knowledge, sleeping too much, lack of excellence and diligence at work, overindulgence in any area, no fear of God or a relationship with Him etc.

Christ has shown us the way. We can overcome in any area but we must, through the Holy Spirit and godly counsel, first gain the right perspective to understand what we’re dealing with and then be intentional about following Christ’s steps to break the chain in our own lives and for the sake of our posterity. Amen!

For more context, read my older post on: Generational curses – what the Bible says