Generational Curses

 

Generational Curses

^{Deuteronomy 5:9 “}Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: 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,”

     Not to get whacked out about God and how He curses generations as if they fall under His spell.  If my parents run rover away from God and court spirits in the dark, I am not condemned automatically.  If great grandma dabbled in secret arts looking into her crystal ball, I am not God’s target. No, this verse just gives insight on how sin cascades down generations.

     We are all trained.  Given our environment, we find out what works.  In an average child with selfish wants, does throwing a fit get the desire?  What strings does he pull?  Certain behaviors reward.

     ^{Proverbs 13:24 “}He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes.”

^{Hebrews 12:6 “}For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”

^{John 2:25 “}And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.”

     Certainly foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child.  Children don’t naturally respect their parents.  This behavior is learned.  For them, they have desires and to work with them in an adult world means patience and forbearance.  Delayed gratification is the way to maturity and civility.

     What happens if these impulses are not checked?  Like a storm brewing, the daycare cannot contain it.  Grandma only pacifies it.  The school system confronts bad behavior and works for reformation sucking in tax dollars under its obligation.  Finally, the police squelch the free spirit so bent on inflicting injury.

     Discipline surely starts in the home.  A child must understand the authority over them, particularly their father.  All authority on earth flows down from the throne.  In other words, God has ordained the father to exercise directly or to delegate.  He corrects or gives his wife permission to accomplish this.

     But what if the family unit does not function to bring about Godly offspring?  Like He has said, some generations hate Him.  They despise his model in scripture.  Forsaking love and firmness needed to sculpt a spirit, wild swinging throws the child to extremes.  Societal stop losses are unable to curb one bent on destruction until the law is exercised.

     Marriage is given as an equalizer.  An attempt by God to blend two personalities together in hopes of knocking off the sharp points.  Like heavenly sandpaper, the two have the opportunity to change.  This is His institution, a mechanism meant to refine.  But what if it still goes south?

     Those that hate Him pass on the training.  Ones so given to sin find out what works.  They cooperate with spirits to get their way.  Demonic entanglements occur when one reaches to power greater.  God simply states that this kind of involvement injures down to the third or fourth generation.  Like throwing a huge sone in the family pool, concussions abound as everyone’s head is knocked against the rocks.

     Generational curses can be a buzz word.  Looking up the tree, we find our family’s bent.  Twisted branches cause shadows.  We have no power to prune.  We only have opportunity to grow straight.  Often this means a spiritual abandonment and retraining not to follow old ways.  Submitting to God and resisting the devil avails much.