God curses people for Generations?

Welcome, Prayer, Intro

Good Morning Church! How is everyone doing this morning? I am excited to continue our series on the Character of God! This morning is going to be more of a mini sermon! We have alot to cover in a short period of time! It’s going to be like drinking from a fire hydrant!

Prayer- Yahweh, we come before you with a variety of emotions and experiences. Yet, you invite us into your house to be in your presence with our church family. We come this morning with a desire to know you deeper. To understand your Character in a deeper way. To love you more and see your beauty anew. May we encounter Christ in such a way that others see you in us more when we leave than when we first came. AMEN.

Intro- Today, we are going to be dissecting and wresting with the last part of our series verse Exodus 34:7. Can someone read Exodus 34:7 for us out load please? (Raise your hand, ill bring the mic to you)

This verse is a difficult one. It causes a lot of people to step back and say what??

Anyone brave enough to share what they think this verse means?

Cited as the verse: Explain generational curses- People point to this verse to explain why certain families have “problems”

Seems to say that God punishes generations of people for the sins of one. Thats problematic-

Not fair

Doesn't seem to line up with the Character of God that we have been learning about.

Transition: Lets try to understand this verse together by unpacking it a little more!

Walking Through the Text: Exodus 34:7

What is the first thing we do or ask when we come across a difficult passage or a verse we dont understand?

CONTEXT! We look at context! We ask several questions!

Whats going on in the passage? Well, we already know the answer to that! if you dont go back and listen to the past couple sermons!

Is this verse quoted somewhere else? Where else is it in the bible?

Does anyone know or have it cross referenced in their Bibles?

Exodus 20:5-6 (Slide)

Here we see where God is shortening what He said earlier, but it does clear up some things for us

God only punishes those who hate him and He is loyal to those who those who love him and keep his commandments.

God also only punishes the sins of each generation that continues to sin. The punishment is not the thing that is generational, but the sin.

Think about it like Domino’s the sin is the force that knocks over the first domino, not God!

We also see that God’s response is consistant from Generation to generation!

Strange to us, but not ancient east, where the God’s were more moody!

Now, you might still be thinking: “So what then does the third and the fourth generation refer to?”

3rd and fourth or three or even for is a special phrase in the bible

Where else is it in the Bible? - I did some digging and its actually a Hebrew idiom or saying

Essentially it means- “However many”

Examples from Prov 30 (Slides)

Examples from Amos 2 (Slides)

In light of all that we Just learned, what is this verse saying?

Generational sin is a reality (Slide)

We see this in the stories of the patriarchs in Gen - Each continues to sin in the same way for 4 generations.

Examples in our lives today- addiction, alcohol, abuse, illnesses- The damage these things cause are also generational

God does intervene! but in the end God does intervene with Joseph, (Genesis 50:20)

What does the rest of the Bible have to say about this?

Ezekiel 18 ( Read from Bible) The cycle can be broken (Slide)

Explain Parable: share how this stands as a counter example to this idea of generational curses

Jeremiah actually says the same thing Ezekiel is saying here: Jer (Slide)

What is this verse not say!

God curses generations to sin because of the sins of one generation

Your children, grand-children, and great grand children will inevitably repeat your sins.

Your Children, grand-children, and great children will be punished/cursed for your sins although they may suffer the damages of that sin!

There is no way of escaping generational sin- Ezekiel spells that out clearly, but God also says he will forgive those that turn to Him!

I now want to open it up for you to ask any questions. If answer them quickly, I will. If cant do it quickly I will get back to you.

Transition to Discussion: