Blessings And Curses

Blessings And Curses

The verses in the book of Exodus 20:5-6 are one of the most controversial in the Bible.

You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

These verses if understood literally contradict the God of Love as revealed to us by Jesus. How can the God who offered His own beloved Son punish someone for somebody else' wrong doings? Scripture will never contradict itself. If it seems to do as in the above case than we need to look beyond the apparent.

It is an accepted fact of life that one generation inherits from the previous generations. The inheritance can be good and cause joy or it can be evil and cause suffering. Besides material things we also inherit body features, behavioral patterns, hereditary diseases, etc. The behavior of the parents has a influence on the child from the time the child is in the womb. The character of a  growing child is influenced by all those around him. Closer the link greater is the influence. A disease like AIDS can be caused due to an undisciplined life or it can be inherited. Other behavioral patterns have similar linkages. The life style of the parents influences the offspring positively or negatively when making important choices. There is an undeniable linkage.

With the advance of the various sciences we are able to grasp this understanding with relative ease. But the people who lived 3500 years ago to whom these scriptures were given had no way of understanding these things. The spiritual mind set of these people was very primitive. Everything that was good and caused joy was termed as a "Blessing" and everything that was bad and caused suffering was termed as a "Curse". If something good happened to them it was because God was happy and if something bad happened to them it was because God was angry. God was held responsible for everything.

We know that God teaches human beings only that what they are spiritually mature to understand. That is why God took thousands of years to prepare humanity to receive the Savior. Moreover Scripture is God's word written in human language. The language used has to make sense to those to whom it is historically addressed. Hence the language used in the above verses  seem to suggest that it is God who is responsible for the punishment. With the spiritual maturity we have acquired from knowing Jesus we know that it is not so.

If these people were told things they were not able to understand they would not obey them. The best way to make them obey was to tell it to them as a command of God. Likewise the book of Deuteronomy contains a lot of teachings on good hygiene which although could not affect the relationship of a person with God did prevent the spread of diseases. All these instructions were given as a command of God. A person was deemed ritually unclean and at times isolated from others. Some examples are contact with lepers, contact with women during menses, contact with a dead body, forbidding eating certain animals, forbidding eating meat without draining blood, covering human excreta, etc. Of course this was God's way of dealing with a limited man. We who live in the 21st century with the knowledge of all the sciences and the superior knowledge of God should not be baffled.

So does God punish us for the wrong doings or sins of our parents & ancestors? Definitely Not.

Do we suffer for the wrong doings or sins of our parents & ancestors? Definitely Yes.

As we proceed lets keep in mind that everything that is good and causes joy is termed as a "Blessing" and everything that is bad and causes suffering is termed as a "Curse".

We need to note at this point that every wrong doing or sin has a eternal consequence and a temporal consequence. The eternal consequence is the condemnation of hell and the temporal consequence is the suffering during the earthly life. Temporal consequences when accepted with humility lead to cleansing or purification from sinful inclinations. The eternal consequence is dependent on the actions of each individual alone. The above verses only deal with the temporal consequences which are linked to our forebears. But we know that our temporal condition does influence our abilities to make the right choices. This in no way means that we do not have the ability to make the right choices. Repentance and confession leads to forgiveness and hence the cancellation of all eternal consequences. But getting rid of temporal consequences needs additional prayers of healing and deliverance in the name of Jesus.

Other scriptures similar to Exodus 20:5-6 are:

Deuteronomy 5:9-10
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Numbers 14:18
“The Lord is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children to the third and the fourth generation.”

Jeremiah 32:18
You show steadfast love to the thousandth generation, but repay the guilt of parents into the laps of their children after them, O great and mighty God whose name is the Lord of hosts,

Daniel 9:16
O Lord, in view of all your righteous acts, let your anger and wrath, we pray, turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because of our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become a disgrace among all our neighbours.

Lamentations 5:7
Our ancestors sinned; they are no more, and we bear their iniquities. 

But the following scriptures appear to say something different.

Deuteronomy 7:9-10
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,and who repays in their own person those who reject him. He does not delay but repays in their own person those who reject him.

Jeremiah 31:29-30
In those days they shall no longer say: ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge.

Ezekiel 18:2-4
The word of the Lord came to me: What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? As I live, says the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Know that all lives are mine; the life of the parent as well as the life of the child is mine: it is only the person who sins that shall die.

If these verses mean what is apparent than how can something be left for the next generations?

As we said earlier if something that is apparent is contradictory we need to look deeper.

If we read carefully the verses that precede all three references we will notice that God is talking about a post restoration period. Restoration starts when the people are completely cleansed or purified of all their sins including the sins of their ancestors. In the first instance the cleansing or purification is achieved by the 40 years wondering in the desert and in the second case by the exile. After reading Exodus 20:5-6 and other similar scriptures there is always a tendency to overlook one's own sins and therefore blame everything on the ancestors. Here God is warning us from falling into such deception. The latter scriptures of Ezekiel chapter eighteen also confirm the fact that the eternal salvation or eternal damnation of an individual has no connection with the actions of the ancestors but is solely dependent on one’s own actions.

In the new testament accept on one occasion no mention is made about the topic of generational sins.

The gospel says in John 9:1-3
As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.
If the disciples said something wrong Jesus would have definitely rebuked and corrected them. But Jesus merely says that this particular case is an exception.

From the above evaluation we can convincingly conclude that we can be subject to good things that cause joy (Blessings) and we can be also be subject to bad things that cause suffering (Curses). 

When we associate ourselves with God we become sharers in what He has and what God has are Blessings. When we disassociate ourselves from God through sin and associate ourselves with Satan we become sharers in what Satan has and what he has are Curses. God does not punish us but just withdraws from us. This leaves us unprotected from Satan our enemy who just hates us and makes us suffer. (Deuteronomy 31:17)

But the good news is there is forgiveness, healing, and deliverance in the name of Jesus who has taken upon himself all our curses. The letter to the Galatians 3:13 says
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’

Other Scriptures for Reference:

Ezekiel 18:30-32
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Turn, then, and live.

Joel 2:13
Rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.

Important:
The prayers given under the Prayer section have been prepared to cover all the aspects that lead to complete forgiveness, healing, and deliverance of soul and body.
1 Thessalonians 5:23
May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.


The topic of Blessing and Curses is one of the most misinterpreted, misunderstood and debated text of the Bible. This article provides scripture based conclusive arguments  towards an acceptable explanation.


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