In the last two posts, we explored how the doctrine of original sin grew, and how there are differences in the beliefs surrounding original sin between the Catholic church, the Orthodox church, and the protestant churches. While that takes some time to muddle through, it is worth it and necessary to understand the concept of generational curses in scripture, and how they are approached.

From The Big Ten

In Exodus chapter 20, we find one of the most well known verses about generational curses.
 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for 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.” (Exodus 20 5:4-6)

Most often, when the idea of generation curses is spoken about and this verse brought up, it is verse 5 that is spoken about. When that is done however, important context is missing that illuminates the verse and its meaning. Obviously this is about making idols for the purpose of worship. It is clearly forbidden, and then there is the warning that generations after will be punished. One key to understanding this passage is the usage of sin. Scripture often uses the words sin and iniquity interchangeably, but at times that can be especially confusing. This is one of those times. In verse 5, iniquity is likely the better word to be used. Now that we understand that, we have to look at what iniquity can mean. It can simply means sin, but just as often it is used to express the consequences of sin.

There are a couple of commonly accepted interpretations of this passage. Perhaps the most commonly accepted in this day and age is that a Jewish household typically extended to three or four generations. Because of this, the head of the household that worships idols, will bring judgement down upon his entire household, which would include three or four generations typically. It is a nice neat package.

The common understanding in antiquity was that the sin of idolatry and its associated guilt belonged to the one worshiping the idol. The generations that followed were, as a natural consequence, be affected by the consequences of the sin, but did not bare the guilt of the sin unless they too worshiped idols. In this understanding, sin and iniquity are understood in a cause and effect type of relationship in the passage. Because there was sin, what follows is iniquity, or the consequences of that sin. This is the understanding that I personally hold to.

I do want to speak about the reality that we often commit the same sins as our parents and those who we have looked up to. This is simply a reality. Does that indicate there is generational sin? I do not think that it does, rather I think that it demonstrates the power of a bad, or good for that matter, example. Children do indeed tend to live what they learn, but that is not a punishment from God, nor is it the sin of the father being transferred to the children. If someone wants to call that generational sin, with the understanding that it is not from God, but due to mankind’s fallen nature, then so be it. This is far from the only verse in scripture that deals with the idea of generational sin. Others can be found in Exodus 34:7, Numbers 14:18, Deuteronomy 5:9, and there are more as well. I encourage you to look up these other areas for yourself, but the pattern remains the same.

Responsibility

Since most references to ancestral sin is contained in the Old Testament, I think it responsible that we look to the Old Testament for further explanation. Do we bare the guilt of our ancestors, or do we suffer the consequences of our ancestors? For some clarity we will look at Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18. In Deuteronomy the statement is made reasonably clearly. “Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.” I am not going to post the entirety of Ezekiel chapter 18, but I would encourage you to read it as it expounds upon this very well. Honestly, I do not think I can say it any better than these two passages in scripture.

There are many people who are teaching that you need to repent of and break the power of generation sin and generational curses. Northwoods Community Church, an evangelical mega church in Illinois, has a spot on their website devoted to forgiveness and repentance from generational sin. Here is the prayer they suggest:
“Lord Jesus Christ, I come to you on behalf of my family and my ancestors and repent for of any and all sins we have committed against you. I recognize patterns in me and my family that destroy your purposes. Today, I am choosing to declare the power of your shed blood, demonstrated at the cross, over all of them. I renounce and repent of any sexual sins: sins of fornication, adultery, abortion, rape, and lust. I renounce and repent of sinful tendencies of laziness, lying, jealousy, weaknesses, anger, rage, bitterness, hatred, and racism. I pray against sins of addictions towards drugs of any kind.

In Jesus’ name, I renounce and repent of any activities with false religions, witchcraft, occultism, astrology, gangs, fortune telling, palmistry, or any organization or practice that violates your standard of holiness. I renounce and repent of all judgmentalism, pride, criticism, depression, worry, stubbornness, poverty, rejection, and perfectionism. I claim authority over all physical diseases and sicknesses that plague me including cancer, heart disease, arthritis, mental illness, and diabetes. I also renounce and repent of any evil covenants my ancestors ever made.

I now ask that the blood of Jesus cleanse all the generations of my family, past, present, and future generations. In the name of Jesus, I declare that any and every claim of the evil one against my family has to be broken now. I thank you Jesus that you appeared to destroy the devil’s work (1 John 3:8), and I declare that truth over my life, my family, and my ancestors all the way back to Adam.

Father, I ask you in the name of Jesus to remove all iniquities in my family and replace them with blessing. I ask for your protection around my life, my family and all future generations of my family. Thank you for setting me free Jesus! Amen!”

This is one example of many. Asking the question of what responsibility we have for the sins of our ancestors is a worthwhile pursuit however. When it is within our power to do so, we should make right those things we are able, even when they were perpetrated by those who came before us. Not only is this the decent thing to do, it very much is a Christian principle. I would argue that we are even obligated to do so. But do we need forgiveness from the sins of our fathers, and to break the curses of those sins?

What Does Original Sin Have To Do With It?

Finally, we make it back to where we have started. This is where thoughts on original sin comes into play. If you believe that we bare the guilt of Adam’s original sin, then it only stands to reason that you would also think it likely that we also bare the guilt of the sins of our ancestors. If you believe, as I do, that we bare the consequences of Adam’s original sin, but do not bare the guilt of it, then it stands to reason that you likely think of ancestral sin as a matter of consequences passed down, but not the guilt for them. Either way, I think that we can agree that it is good and right to do all that we can do to repair any damages done by the sins of our ancestors when it is possible.

The question remains still, do we need to repent of the sins of our ancestors? Based upon my understanding, I do not believe that we do, but recognizing that there is another view, I want to look at it from a practical and theological standpoint. If you believe that you bare guilt from Adam’s original sin, then baptism has removed the stain of original sin from your soul. Doesn’t it stand to reason that the same baptism that cleansed the original sin also cleansed ancestral sin? If you have come to the cross and repented of all your sin, and you bare the guilt of ancestral sin, isn’t that also forgiven? It seems to me that the simple, and correct, answer is yes.