In his forward to Deliverance by John Thompson, JohnMark Comer writes:
“For over thirty years my wife lived with chronic illness. We saw every type of doctor we could imagine…Then we discovered a generational curse. Four generations ago, a shaman In Mexico City had been hired to curse the firstborn daughters of her family line.”[1]
The idea that Christians can suffer from “generational curses” has been widely propagated. From what I can tell, it’s based on the statement the Lord makes in the Ten commandments:
“I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”[2]
You will notice there that this is not about curses being passed down, it’s not about other human beings having power to pass something on, it’s not about evil spirits. Rather, it is very simply about the consequences of sin being serious. Even then, God wants to emphasise the greater extend of his blessing on his covenant people. Judgement flows to the 4th generation, love to a thousand.
The statement also has to be read in conjunction with Ezekiel 18:20 which says:
“20 The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.
At first glance, the two verses may contradict each other but remember that Hebrew wisdom is developed by pairing strong propositions that mark out the opposite boundaries and encourage us to wrestle through to wisdom. The point is that God’s justice is serious. It has lasting consequences. However, it is truly just. We are responsible for our own sin and repentance. And again, the reminder of the boundless nature of God’s love, grace and blessing.
In any case, these verses are, to repeat, not to do with generational curses or inheriting demons. There isn’t a Biblical basis for this concept. It’s an unhealthy idea because:
- It gives far too much power to evil people and evil spirits, that they could influence what is happening today from a few hundred years ago.
- It essentially pushes responsibility onto people, spirits and events many years back and away from what is happening today.
The responsibility thing is significant. If I can blame something on a generational curse then I can duck out of responsibility for my actions now. I also don’t have to face the reality of suffering including things like genetic health conditions being part and parcel of a fallen world. So for some it offers the easy option.
For others though, it carries great fear. The idea that unknown forces, far in the past might be controlling what happens now is scary and of course, it depends often on experts to detect and to deal with the situation so that they gain power.
This is why sticking with the Bible is both a challenge and a comfort. It’s a challenge because it doesn’t let us off the hook and a comfort because it offers true freedom from fear.
[1] John Mark Comer, in Jon Thompson, Deliverance, i.
[2] Exodus 20:5-6.
Faithroots 