Sermon Tone Analysis

Exodus 34:6–7 (KJV 1900)

6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 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.

Generational Curses

It sounds unfair for God to punish children for the sins of their fathers.

However, there is more to it than that.

The effects of sin are naturally passed down from one generation to the next.

When a father has a sinful lifestyle, his children are likely to practice the same sinful lifestyle.

Implied in the warning of Exodus 20:5

is the fact that the children will choose to repeat the sins of their fathers.

An ancient Jewish paraphrase of this scriptures specifies that this passage refers to “ungodly fathers” and “rebellious children.”

So, it is not unjust for God to punish sin to the third or fourth generation – those generations are committing the same sins their ancestors did.

God Thinks Generationally

What if you could see into the future?

What if you could see the impact simple daily decisions could make to your destiny?

Would it shape your decisions or actions?

Ironically we all can see into the future somewhat and it’s not by looking forward, but by looking back.

If we track our past we can often see our future; the patterns laid out by others before us, often repeat themselves in our lives until we make a change.

God thinks Generationally.

27 Books of the bible in over 934 verses speak about generations

The Gospel of Matthew begins with the Genealogy of Jesus and The Gospel of Luke quickly moves into speaking of the genealogy of Jesus.

God thinks generationally.

We see this throughout scripture through every genealogy, every reference to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Every time you read through the books of Kings or Samuel what you quickly see is that our decisions have a generational impact.

Consider the story about this Rich young ruler.

The gravity of the generational decision he made.

Surely this man would have been known by name in the history books?

Surely if he had been obedient to the call to lay down his life he would have been named among the heroes of the faith such as Matthew the tax collector who changed his direction, Luke the doctor or Peter the fisherman.

Surely there was great calling over his life that would have impacted his family and generation.

But he choose to say no instead of yes to change.

Many of us have had authority figures in our lives that have made decisions that had a generational impact on us.

Many of us have fallen into generational patterns that have led us to live lives that reflect the patterns of those who have gone before us.

And the great tragedy is that for many of us we are teaching the generations coming after us to live with the same unhelpful and unhealthy attitudes, decisions and behaviors because we are yet to make a change.

The effects of sin our naturally passed down from one generation to the next

We’re all a Product of Someone

If I placed an apple in front you and argued that it appeared out of thin air you’d think I was crazy.

Often times when you ask, ‘Where does this struggle (fear, addiction, insecurity etc…) come from?’,

people can rarely connect to the concept of their challenges being rooted in something.

You see apples don’t come out of thin air, apples grow on trees.

Trees don’t magically appear, they take years to mature because they started as seeds.

Seeds don’t miraculously make their own way into soil.

Seeds are sown.

Seeds take root.

Every part of your life; the way you think, react, feel, relate is the result of two things:

The seeds or root issues in your life.

The consequential belief system, habits and behavior you’ve adopted or embraced as a result of them.

Paul speaks to the idea of sowing and reaping in the letter to the Galatians.

What is sowed into us by others, we will reap, whether good or bad.

But we are assured, that when we sow good seed into our lives we will reap a harvest of righteousness.

Ultimately our upbringing and family environment is one of the most influential places seeds are sown and grown

Whats if your Family Tree?

Everyone human alive is affected by a family tree.

I have come to realize that no matter how much we want to deny or accept it, all of our family trees have bearded some level of fruit in out lives, and not all of those fruits where pleasant.

If not dealt with, we are still dealing some of those negative fruits in the family tree, truth be told, some might still be dealing with some negative inherited patterns from, Mom, Dad, Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles.

A generational curse is simply any ailment of the mind, body, and spirit resulting from negative behavioral patterns that are passed down throughout several generations.

Some examples of generational curses are: addictions (i.e.

drug/alcohol, sex), mental illnesses (depression, schizophrenia, bipolar depression), physical illnesses (hypertension, heart disease, cancer)

Generational curses are applied and maintained on three levels.

genetic,

environmental,

and supernatural levels.

Because these strongholds are three dimensional, it may be difficult to overcome them.

The first is the genetic or biological level.

It is important to understand that generational curses began with the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, and because of that, "we were born into sin and shaped in iniquity."

Although we are made in the image of God and are genetically predisposed to behave as He would, we adapted a sinful nature because of the sin of Adam and Eve

Genetics:

An example of a generational curse on the genetic level is a physical illness or disease that plagues families for generations.

Medical studies continue to indicate a genetic component for many diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers.

That is the very reason medical professionals request information about one's family history and life style when seeking treatment.

Medical professionals understand that life styles or behaviors that result in illnesses will be passed down throughout several generations.

Environment:

The second level on which a generational curse is maintained is through our environment.

It must be understood that we acquire many of our behaviors, good and bad, from our families of origin.

Most of our destructive habits or lifestyles result from learned behavioral patterns passed down from one generation to the next.

We absorb a lot of information about our world from our families of origin, and we relate to others in our world based on that information.

Some examples of generational curses on the environmental level are poverty, broken relationships, and divorces.

Sociological studies have proven repeatedly that families of low socioeconomic classes have tendencies to remain in poverty for several generations.

This is because of a consistent lack of exposure to environments that foster educational and financial advancement.

Research on marriage and family suggests that destructive behaviors taught within each spouse's family of origin contribute to the dissolution of marriages.

More importantly, research indicates that simply becoming educated about relationships and how to maintain them increases one's chances of experiencing a successful marriage.

It is because of the lack of knowledge that the people perish.

Supernatural

The third level on which a generational curse is maintained is on the supernatural level.

In Exodus 20:5 (Amplified), the scripture states, "You shall not bow down yourself to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hale Me."

Then Ezekiel 18: 2 (Amplified) also states, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?"

In the Old Testament, Israel rebelled against God repeatedly, which resulted in curses for many generations.

When we rebel against the will of God, it is as though we hate Him.

As a result.

we become cursed and are left open to attacks by satan, our adversary.

Just as there are consequences for disobeying or breaking natural laws, the same is true when we disobey the commandments of our God.

The Blood of Jesus

Here are two basic principles you need to know:

A generational curse comes through the blood line.

A generational curse can only be cancelled by blood.

And almost all things - in Levitical law, we see that purification and forgiveness was extended under a variety of circumstances, from blood, to the washing with water (Lev 15:16-17; 17:15), anointing with oil (Lev 14:29), burning flour (Lev 5:11-13), giving money (Exod 30:11-16), or releasing an animal into the wild (Lev 16:10).

But there could be no remission, removal with the shedding of the Blood of Jesus Christ.

Thus Christ died, not only to obtain the blessings of salvation for us, but to give power to the disposal of them.

All, by sin, were become guilty before God, had forfeited every thing that is good; but God, willing to show the greatness of his mercy, proclaimed a covenant of grace.

Nothing could be clean to a sinner, not even his religious duties; except as his guilt was done away by the death of a sacrifice, of value sufficient for that end, and unless he continually depended upon it.

May we ascribe all real good works to the same all-procuring cause, and offer our spiritual sacrifices as sprinkled with Christ's blood, and so purified from their defilement.

There is power in the Blood of Jesus: