Generational curses have been the problem of mankind ever since the beginning of time, so in this sermon on breaking generational curses, we are going to look at the basics of generational curses and how to break them in your life and family.
In dealing with generational curses; many preachers and religious writers always lay emphasis on just the effects rather than the main causes of generational curses.
That is why they cannot always come up with a lasting solution for people.
And for that reason, you will see people, whom they claim were delivered; being destroyed by their various generational curses in the long run.
In addition to that, we have, for a long time now; been misled to believe that it is only the poor; the hopeless and frustrated individuals who are victims of generational curses.
And in so doing we allow so many people to die prosperously with or in their generational curses.
However, poverty is but one of the effects of generational curses, and the chief of them all is death; which came as a result of the curse placed on our first parents – Adam and Eve.
This happened when they broke the covenant they had with God; by going against His word, not to eat of the fruit of knowledge of good and evil in the garden as is recorded in Genesis chapter 3.
So in this sermon, I am going to lead you deeper into the understanding; of what really causes generational curses, and the way to release yourself from them.
What is a generational curse according to the bible?
According to the bible in Deuteronomy 5:9, a generational curse is a process where God transfers the punishment of the parent’s sin to the children and children’s children down to the fourth generation.
There are several instances of curses in the Bible. And the first of them is the curse placed on Adam and Eve after disobeying God to eat the fruit in the middle of the garden. Genesis 3:14-19.
The causes of generational curses.
The commandments is the prerequisite to every generational curse and it is the breaking of a covenant that causes generational curses.
The people involved must accept to enter into the covenant before the prerequisite i.e. the law or commandments are given. For if Adam did not wish to live in the garden; he should have told God he would not be able to resist the eating of the fruit He told him not to eat.
And God would have found a way of retrieving the covenant, but since he accepted to live in the garden on that condition God can never be blamed for pronouncing the curse which He had already made him aware of.
Lastly, the breaking of the law or commandments is what brings about generational curses.
Thus, it is very important to note that generational curses always come as a result of the breaking of covenants.
And we can from here go on to clearly state that no person can inherit any curse; if he does not at first break a covenant.
What is a covenant?
A covenant is a pact or binding agreement between two or more parties. It can be between God and human beings, or between human beings themselves.
Examples of covenants in the bible.
1. The Adamic covenant.
The Adamic covenant is a covenant between God and Adam.
And it was built on the foundation that Adam should live in the garden; tend and keep it, and eat of every other fruit except the one that gave the knowledge of good and evil:
Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:15-17)
2. The Abrahamic covenant.
The Abrahamic covenant is a covenant between God and Abraham – which was built upon the multiplication of the human race.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. “And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” (Genesis 17:1-2)
3. The Sinaitic covenant.
The Sinaitic covenant is a covenant between God and the children of Israel; which was built upon making the Israelites a popular nation amongst others.
You can see this in Genesis 19:1-8.
And after the Israelites had accepted to enter into the covenant with God.
He came in a thick cloud and clearly spoke to them all; giving them the commandments which Moses formulated as the Ten Commandments. (You can find this recorded in Genesis chapter 20)
The generational curses in the Bible.
The generational curses in the Bible are instances where curses were placed on certain people and their generation also suffered from it afterward. I have clearly spotted 4 of those instances in this sermon which is:
- Adam and Eve were cursed because they ate the forbidden fruit.
- King David was cursed because he killed Uriah and took his wife.
- Moses inherited the curse placed by Isaac on Simeon and Levi.
- God prevented Balaam from cursing the Israelites.
1. Adam and Eve were cursed because they ate the forbidden fruit.
We can establish this fact using the example of our first parents; who broke the covenant they had with God not to eat of the fruit of the middle of the garden; which God had already told them if they do they will surely die.
And when they disobeyed God and ate of the fruit; they had to inherit the generational curse as we examined earlier above.
2. King David was cursed because he killed Uriah and took his wife.
Upon walking to the roof of his house, David overlooked Bathsheba; (Uriah’s wife) taking her bath.
Being so beautiful and irresistible, he sent for her and slept with her.
And after discovering that she was pregnant, David tried to make Uriah come home from the battlefield so that the opportunity could present itself for him to sleep with his wife; that way he could secretly push the responsibility on him.
But Uriah upon coming home; refused to reach his house fearing to abandon the other soldiers to die on the battlefield, even after David had him drunk.
So David ordered that he be sent to the fore-front; where the battle was toughest so as to kill him and cover his sins.
His plans succeeded and Uriah died on the battlefield. (2 Samuel 11: 2-17).
How God cursed David.
After Uriah’s dead, David made Bathsheba his wife; and as such the Lord’s wrath was kindled upon him; so He sent the prophet Nathan with this message to him:
Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.” ‘thus says the Lord: ‘behold I will raise up adversity against you from your own house, and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. (2 Samuel 12: 10-11).
Although David fasted in sack clothes, the curse was never lifted, we see it come to manifestation when David’s son Amnon burned with lust for her sister Tamar, and as a result, committed incest with her.
And immediately he finished sleeping with Tamar, Amnon hated her and sent his servants to throw her out of his house.
This action made others discover their activities and the aftermath is seen when Absolom (David’s eldest and beloved son) kills his brother Amnon and becomes an adversary with his father; (2 Samuel 13), to fulfill the curse-‘behold I will raise up adversity against you from your own house.
Now Absolom further went in to sleep with his father’s concubines. (2 Samuel 16:21-23).
And this happened to fulfill the curse: and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun.
Then finally we see the end of Absolom which fulfills God’s words through the prophet Nathan; the sword shall never depart from your house. (2 Samuel 18:9).
How Solomon inherited David’s curse.
Next David’s curse found its way to King Solomon, the son he had from Bathsheba (Uriah’s wife).
Solomon became a womanizer; he had too many wives, including the daughters of Pharoah, Moabites, Edomites, etc of which God had warned the Israelites never to intermarry, so they will not turn their hearts after other gods.
And as sure as God fore-told, Solomon’s heart was turned to the gods of the women he married (1 Kings 11: 1-10).
Therefore he displeased God and as such inherited another curse and covenant for the next generation.
God promised to tear the kingdom from Solomon and allow him to rule over only one tribe.
This curse is seen manifested during the reign of Rehoboam (Solomon’s son) when he responded harshly to the people’s request on how he was going to treat them.
The kingdom was truly torn away as God said, leaving Rehoboam to reign only over the children of Israel who dwelt in Judah. (1 Kings 12: 1-19).
How the curse continued in Davd’s generation.
But still, the curse did not stop there, you can see it manifested in the lives of the Kings of Judah, down to Manessah who was the most stubborn and wicked of them all to the time of the Babylonian captivity during the reign of King Zedekiah.
See how the sin of one man can bring destruction to so many!
Now we can, from David’s example above, see how curses and covenants pass down from generation to generation, long as the curse generation continues in the sins of their fathers.
Now we must note that David’s generation was never poor, in fact, Solomon became the richest man the world has and will ever have; which goes to prove that poverty is not the cause of curses and covenants as some suppose, but rather one of its effects.
And for that reason, we must therefore look for curses and covenants in the life of the rich and well-to-do, even our very so-called men of God; apologies if I offend anybody-but I need to tell the truth.
3. Moses inherited the curse placed by Isaac on Simeon and Levi.
The second perfect example of curses and covenants is the case of Moses, whose constant anger and its effects were a result of the curses and covenants upon His lineage as seen in (Exodus 11:8, Exodus 32:19-20, Numbers 16:15).
And In Numbers 20:7-12, we can see how Moses constant anger prevented him from entering the Promised Land.
To discover how Moses inherited these curses, please read Exodus 2:1-10.
As we can now evidence from the above scripture, Moses was born to Levite parents but was adopted as a son to Pharaoh’s daughter who gave him the name Moses.
For biblical references, please read the whole of Genesis 34.
Now it was what happened in the above scripture that made Jacob pronounce the following curse on Simon and Levi before he died:
“Simeon and Levi are brothers, instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place. Let not my soul enter their council; let not my honor be united to their assembly; for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they harm-strung an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; and their wrath; for it is cruel! I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel. (Genesis 49:5-7)
Thus, Moses, as a descendant of Levi, had to inherit this curse which made him have an anger so fierce; even an anger which prevented him from entering the Promised Land as we saw earlier.
And because of these so-called generational curses, the scripture shows us in Romans 7:15-24 that even if we may have the tendency to always choose and do what is good, we will always find ourselves doing what is evil.
But as there is and must always be a solution to every problem; let us move on to see how we can free ourselves from our respective curses and covenants.
4. God prevented Balaam from cursing the Israelites.
A second example is in Numbers chapter 21 where God prevented Balaam, who was hired by Balak; king of Moab, from cursing the Israelites.
Because there was no covenant between Balak and the Israelites that was broken; to warrant the curse he intended upon them.
So we can then quickly add that anybody that remains in a covenant; by obeying the laws and commandments which go with it will never ever inherit any curse.
Our Father Abraham is a perfect example; I mean what can become of the person who is able to keep God’s covenant?
Another important point to note is that such a person will be a returner of both curses and blessings; to anyone who attempts to either curse or bless him.
I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
(Genesis 12:3)
And from here we can see that supposing Balaam was stubborn and went ahead to curse the Israelites; the curse would have bounced back on him.
That is why we see in the follow-up chapter i.e. Numbers 22, how he turned around to bless instead of cursing the Israelites
And since we, as all the families of the earth are to live under the Abrahamic covenant. We can then inherit a curse or blessings; based on how we break or adhere to the law given by God; which is the prerequisite to the continuation of the Abrahamic covenant.
It is also important to note that it is this Abrahamic covenant that was re-enacted in the Sinaitic covenant.
And finally, in the covenant of the New Testament, which was made with the blood of Jesus; we as believers are expected to work towards achieving so we can inherit eternal life as recorded in Hebrews 8:10-13.
How generational curses are passed down.
Generational curses are passed down through several mediums like human beings themselves, deities, demons, signs, etc.
1. How human beings pass down generational curses.
God can use human beings to pronounce a curse upon anybody who has broken His covenant; i.e. by breaking any of the law which acts as a prerequisite to the keeping of this covenant.
Therefore if anybody does not break any of God’s laws; and someone else goes ahead to place a curse on him; the curse will surely have no effect on that person.
It can even bounce back on the person who curses.
Because whatever was promised to Abraham was also promised to those who will be able to keep the commandments of God through faith; and in so doing abide in His covenant. (Read Romans 4:16-24).
2. How deities evoke generational curses.
Apart from God, human beings have, since antiquity, entered into covenants with certain evil deities, spirits, and demons.
And as Abraham’s covenant was meant to be inherited by his descendants; so also must these evil covenants be inherited by the descendants of those who entered into them.
Therefore, if you are unfortunate to be born into a family that had any such evil covenant in whatever form or manner.
You have surely inherited the curse that came with the covenant if you refuse to abide by it.
For instance, if your grandfather entered into the covenant with the devil; agreed to be sacrificing a cow in the shrine at the end of every year; and afterward passed the same act to your father; who also kept it diligently.
But in getting to your time; you decide not to continue doing the same because of one thing other than being born again in Christ Jesus to inherit the Abrahamic covenant.
The evil deity will then choose to place any curse on you.
This may manifest as the effects of generational curses which are so numerous and not limited to death, misfortune, poverty, sickness of any kind, insanity i.e. madness. Etc.
This is what our people ignorantly always refer to as “obot emana”.
3. How generational curses are passed down through demon possession.
Demons are always responsible for causing the victims of generational curses to behave in whatever way that goes contrary to the natural norms.
This is what we always refer to as “possession”.
A perfect example is the case of Judas Iscariot who betrayed the Lord Jesus.
And as we can see in Luke 22:3-4, Satan entered into Judas; and caused him to go and confer with the chief priests and captains on how he might betray Christ.
You can see other examples in the many instances where Jesus cast out demons to set people free from various miseries. (Mathew 8:16, Luke 4:33-35, Luke 9:38-42, Luke 8:27-30).
4. How generational curses are passed down through signs.
For example, the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham was that of circumcision; as we can see in Genesis 17:11-12.
And as we can see from the above scripture; this sign was to cover Abraham and all that belonged to his household. Even if they were not directly related to him by blood.
Therefore, our forefathers who entered into whatever covenants with the evil deities; had one sign or another which sealed their covenant.
And in our own case, we understand that they used to bury or keep one thing or the other – probably an idol – in the family compound. They will from time to time pour libations and offer sacrifices.
And since this act was to continue from generation to generation, any generation that fails to do so must begin to experience the manifestations of generational curses; in whatever form or manner.
So therefore; whoever wants to be free from such must go and appease the deities (utum obot” as our people always say).
What is the concept of curses?
The concept of curses is that curses must be passed on from generation to generation and manifests through inherited sin which lives in the human bloodstream.
That is to say; those things that are not good but one finds himself doing them, no matter how hard he tries to abstain.
This sin runs in the blood veins because one was born with it. It has found its way from the great-grandfather, to the grandfather, to the father, and finally to the victim.
It is however not the victim’s fault, because the first person that committed that sin passed it over; until it caught up with him or her.
And this always happens to fulfill the scripture: ‘You show loving kindness to thousands, and repay iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them-the great, the Mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts. (Jeremiah 32:18).
Prophet Jeremiah quoted this scripture from Exodus 34:6-7.
If you want to know how to break generational curses, please read the next article: How To Break Generational Curses.
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