Generational Curses

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Does it Still Apply Today?

Yes, there are some scriptures in the Bible that speak about generational curses. A generational curse is the idea that God punishes the descendants of those who sin against him, up to the third or fourth generation. Some of the verses that mention this concept are:

Exodus 20:5 - 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. Numbers 14:18 - The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation .Deuteronomy 5:9 - 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.

However, there are also other scriptures that suggest that each person is accountable for their own sins and will not bear the guilt of their ancestors. Some of these verses are:

Ezekiel 18:20 - 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 upon themselves, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon themselves. Jeremiah 31:29-30 - In those days people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.

Galatians 3:13 - Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”

Exodus 34:7 “7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”

Exodus 20:5–6 “5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to 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; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”

Leviticus 20:9 “9 For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.”

Ezekiel 18:20 “20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”

Deuteronomy 24:16 “16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.”

Galatians 5:1 “1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Generational curses are negative patterns or consequences that are passed down from one generation to another12. Some types of generational curses are12:

The curse of the law, which is the result of disobeying God's commandments. (Deuteronomy 28:15)The curse of God, which is the original curse that came from the fall of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:13-19)The curse of idol worship, which is the punishment for worshipping other gods besides the true God (Exodus 20:3-5)The curse of man, which is the curse that comes from the words or actions of other people (Zachariah 5:4)The curse of seed time and harvest, which is the principle that whatever a person sows, they will also reap (Galatians 6:7)

A generational curse is a repeating pattern of misfortune in a family.“Generational curse” is a common term for any kind of misfortune or tragedy that’s present in multiple generations of a family, such as illnesses, certain negative behaviors, or recurring outside events.

The term is popular in many Christian circles, and some Christians point to Exodus 20:5 as evidence for these curses.[1]

Exodus 20:5 reads, “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.”[2]Some Christians believe that generational curses are punishment for particular sins, like idolatry, adultery, or other trespasses.Some also say that there are two primary kinds of curses: those that are passed down from a previous generation, and new curses inflicted by a current generation.

Disobedience This is a curse thought to be inflicted by God himself as a result of the fall of man in Genesis. Genesis 3: 17 states, “Cursed is the ground because of you.”[3] Some believe that Adam and Eve’s first disobedience in eating the forbidden fruit caused all children to rebel against their parents, as the first humans rebelled against God. This is said to be the first curse, and all other curses come from it. As a result, many families are thrown into disarray because of conflicting beliefs or convictions, rather than living in harmony.

Signs: Unruly children, emotionally distant parents or children, family ruptures, negative feelings toward family members, constant disagreements

Solutions: Improve your family life by spending quality time with them, like going on a vacation or to church together. Try to understand that each member of the family is an individual with their own wants and needs.

Violence Violence is a curse that’s caused by our fellow man, and is said to originate in Genesis 9:25, when Noah curses his son Canaan for mocking him.[ Thus, it’s said that man can inflict curses upon his fellow man, in the form of violence. That violence might be physical or emotional—abuse, manipulation, unkind words, negative thoughts, etc.—but its effects are lasting and can span generations. It’s one of the most common curses, and affects more than just the family unit, but also society as a whole.

Signs: Physical or emotional aggression, chronic frustration, resentment toward family members, frequent insults or arguments

Solutions: The cure for violence is often improving your own empathy to better understand your neighbor, which prevents you from doing unkind things to them.The Bible supports this empathy cure. John 15:12 says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you,” and 1 Corinthians 12:26 says, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”

Idolatry

Exodus 20:2-3 says, “I am the Lord your God… You shall have no other Gods before me.” The curse of idolatry, then, is when a person idolizes something other than God, which leads to spiritual neglect, as well as the neglect of their children or other family. This idol might be wealth, fame, lust, or anything else that takes their attention away from their duty as a parent and a Christian.

Signs: Lack of prayer, loss of faith, neglecting familial relationships, spending large amounts of money on luxuries, easily distracted when praying

Solutions: Diligent prayer can keep your focus on God, and prevents you from turning to idols in his place. Then, spend more time with your children, or spend time with your parents in order to bring the generations closer together and ward away false idols.

Bad habits This is also known as the curse of the ill harvest. Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”[ In the context of generational curses, this might refer to the habits we build in order to live good and faithful lives. Sowing bad habits like adultery, sloth, or envy only causes one to reap a destructive harvest and weathered morals. Those morals rub off on one’s children, and they in turn teach their own children those bad habits.

Signs: Destructive tendencies like laziness or gluttony, warped morals, tendency to sin rather than turn toward God, difficulty changing behavior, reluctance to seek forgiveness

Solutions: Change bad habits into positive virtues. Any time you feel yourself drawn to sin, spend time praying instead in order to turn your mind toward God.Or, use the opportunity to form other good habits instead. For example, instead of spending the day on the couch, get outside with a hike or a walk to get some air.

Illness Many illnesses are genetic, and therefore passed down from a parent to a child.[8] In this way, illnesses might be said to be a kind of generational curse. They’re often nobody’s fault, but rather the result of original sin (when Adam and Eve first disobeyed God and inflicted pain upon the world) but still they linger and cause distress. Illnesses may be physical, like cancer, or mental, like depression or addiction, all of which might be passed genetically.

Signs: Chronic or hereditary illnesses, addiction, mental illnesses like depression or other disorders, fatigue, lack of passion for God or the family

Solutions: While illness can be difficult to cope with, Exodus 23:25 says, “You shall serve the Lord your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you,” suggesting that deepening your faith may help you understand and live with illness.Matthew 9:12 encourages the sick to seek treatment, saying: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” If you struggle with a physical illness, visiting a doctor is a safe and faith-informed way to handle it.

Generational curses aren’t totally supported by the Bible. Ezekiel 18:20 states, “The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child.”[9] This suggests that later generations won’t be blamed for the sins of earlier generations, which may reconfigure how we approach the concept of a generational curse. That said, just because children aren’t to be blamed for their parents’ sins, it doesn’t mean they aren’t affected by or don’t suffer because of those sins.

Generational curses do have some scientific evidence.What Christians view as “generational curses,” psychologists might call “generational trauma.” Generational trauma is the idea that a certain trauma or misfortune that happens to a parent can persist into the life of a child, causing further trauma or misfortune.[10] These misfortunes are varied and diverse, from illnesses to societal injustices to physical abuse.

For example, a parent with an alcohol addiction might inflict physical or emotional pain on their child, which may cause the child to grow up to develop their own addiction, which in turns affects their child.

In whatever view we take whether Biblical or scientific they do exist and we as Christians and Humanity have to deal with and case them out of our internal being.

Galatians 3:11–14 “11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”