Generational Curses—Real or Imagined?

The subject of generational curses can be a controversial topic—especially among those who refuse to believe that they may be the unwitting victim of such a thing. Moreover, many Christians deny the existence of generational curses because, after all, when you come to Christ, isn’t every sin from here on out forgiven, and all curse automatically nullified? Doesn’t every decision for Jesus card come with an exclusive insurance policy guaranteeing protection from all dark forces as well as the consequences of the sins of one’s ancestors? And from now on, it’s peace on earth and good will toward men, because Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, so what could go wrong? Until the rapture bus takes us to heaven, it’s a bed of roses. The problem is that even roses have thorns!

If generational curses is a moot point, does this mean that the saint can carelessly turn a blind eye to invisible forces behind the scenes, to the laws of cause and effect, or to the principle of reaping what you sow? How about to ripple effects on the opposite shore of the proverbial stone that has been dropped into the pond? 

Perhaps it would be wise to carefully examine what the Bible says about blessings and curses as well as the consequences of sin and how it affects a person’s life—and even those of his descendants.

As we are about to discover from Scripture and from life examples, there is such a thing as generational curses, generational blessings, as well, the consequences of both one’s sins and righteous living upon our children. The Bible speaks to each of these separate but similar, often interrelated and sometimes conflated concepts. One thing is certain. Generational sin often results in generational consequences which may lead to generational curses. Below we will discuss how each of these affect our spiritual growth or the lack thereof, and what can the disciple of Yeshua can do to both break the curse as well as mitigate the consequences. 

The Fall of Man and the Curses and Consequences of Being Cut Off From the Creator

Every human is under the general generational curse of original sin brought on the world by Adam and Eve. That curse is the result of being cut off from an intimate relationship with Elohim, man’s Heavenly Father, and as, a result, coming under the negative influences of a fallen sin nature as well as the world and the devil (which are both cut of from a relationship with Elohim), and then suffering the wages or consequences of one’s sin which is death. 

The cleavage in the relationship between the first humans and their Creator occurred when these rebellious children chose to eat of the forbidden fruit resulting in man’s first sin. Now cut off from their Heavenly Father, Adam and Eve bequeathed to their future offspring the generational curse of a “fallen” sin nature and innate tendency to acquiesce to the sinful pulls of the world, the flesh and the devil. This is the nascence of man’s struggle against sin to this day.

The consequences and curses of all sin that is unrepented of whether it be ours or that of our forefathers can negatively affect us. We can repent of our own sin, and that of our forefathers (as Daniel and Nehemiah did), and pray that YHVH will forgive us and our forebears, and then lift the curses of that sin off of us. But curses and consequences may be different. Daniel, for example, prayed for forgiveness for his sins and that of his forefathers that resulted in the destruction of Judah and the deportation of many Jews to Babylon including himself. YHVH may have forgiven Daniel for his sins (disobedience to YHVH’s commandments), but he still bore the consequences of the sins of his fathers and himself, that is, he was still exiled in Babylon—a heathen nation where he died. This is like one’s parents divorcing because of marital infidelity, yet the children having to live with negative consequences of that sin and subsequent divorce long afterwards. 

The Curse of Original Sin

The Bible addresses the issue of this generational curse that Adam bequeathed to his children. The ultimate generational curse was the sin of Adam, which is death, that passed on to all of his human descendants. Similarly, through the blessing of one man’s righteousness, forgiveness of sin and eternal life has passed on to all who accept Yeshua.

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—(for until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of Elohim and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Yeshua the Messiah, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Yeshua the Messiah.) Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Yeshua the Messiah our Lord. (Rom 5:12–21)

Generational Consequences

Even though all humans who accept Yeshua as their redeemer are set free from the curse of Adam’s sin and their own personal sins, for which they have repented, the consequences of that original sin have been passed on from one generation to the next. For example, woman still have pain in child birth, and men have to wrest a living from the earth by the sweat of their brow.

To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” (Gen 3:16–19)

These consequences of sin come on everyone because we live in a fallen world.

Curses for Disobedience to YHVH’s Commandments

We have just discussed the universal curses and consequences of Adam’s sin. Now let’s learn about the curses of an individual’s sin that can affect one’s family and even future generations. These curses are the cause-and-effect consequences of violating YHVH’s commandments or sin. 

[Y]ou shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, YHVH your Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. (Exod 20:5–6)

And YHVH passed before him and proclaimed, “YHVH, YHVH Elohim, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exod 34:6–7)

And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech. (Lev 20:4–5)

You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; also in their fathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away. (Lev 26:38–39)

In the Exodus 20 passage above, please note that conditional phrases “those who hate me” and “those who love me.” The implication is that curses will fall on those who hate YHVH by disobeying him and not fall on those who love him. We will discuss this further below.

Under the New Covenant and through our relationship with Yeshua, we can receive the Father’s forgiveness from many curses that affect our spiritual and eternal life. However, if our forefathers’ sins have resulted in our living in a cursed environment, a cursed nation, or cursed life situation, if we are saved, we can expect YHVH’s grace in that situation, but we may or may not be totally delivered from all the consequences of the past sins of our forefathers. Again, we can use the example of a parents’ divorce because of the sin of infidelity. The breakup of a family can potentially have negative consequences for generations to come.

Forgiveness for Generational Sins