Generational Sin's Destruction, Righteousness's Blessings
Photo image courtesy Kateryna Hliznitsova for Unsplash
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven or in the waters beneath or in the waves below. You shall not bow down and 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…”
-- Deuteronomy 5:8-10
I have been thinking about generational sin. Because I don’t have to look far to see this in my family line. They continue to wreak havoc, destruction, and consequences through our family’s generations.
In studying God’s Word concerning this, all you have to do is go to the very beginning. I’m talking Adam and Eve beginning to find evidence of sin’s consequences being passed down. After the fall, the original sin, was committed against our Holy God (Genesis 3:16-19). We had to labor intensively for our food and childbirth became extremely painful. These consequences are still in effect today.
It’s not long afterward that God delivers the Ten Commandments to Moses. We read in both Exodus 20:4-6 and Deuteronomy 5:8-10, “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven or in the waters beneath or in the waves below. You shall not bow down and 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…”
For another time, but it’s interesting God chose to place this warning alongside idol worship. We often think of idol worship as bowing down to a Buddha-shaped man, or maybe the worship of the golden calf from Exodus 32. But, really, idol worship is anything that receives our love and devotion other than God. So, certainly, sin that becomes a pattern, something we must do, also qualifies as idol worship.
Back the verse above, it’s easy to respond in two ways.
One: Give up! What’s the point if God is going to punish us and those after us anyway?
And two: Play the victim. Blame God for all the “bad” in our lives.
Thankfully, there’s another way. You see, He doesn’t leave us without hope. In Numbers 14: 19, Moses cries out to God, petitioning on the behalf of the people, saying, “In accordance to your great love, forgive the sin of these people just as you have pardoned them.” And guess what, God listened. “The Lord replied, ‘I have forgiven them, just as you asked.’" (Numbers 14:20) So we can petition on the behalf of our ancestors’ mistakes for God’s forgiveness.
But also, the Lord, in His infinite wisdom and mercy, gave us individual responsibility. We get to break the pattern and chose righteousness, starting new repetition. Proverbs 20: 7 says, “The righteous lead blameless lives; blessed are their children after them.”
Between petitioning God to forgive the sins of our fathers and our choice to break the cycle of sin in our family line, we can break free from generational sin and start new patterns of blessings. Thank you, Jesus, for never leaving us in a desolate place! Your love fills us with hope, grace, and mercy for us and the generations after us!
Questions for Reflection:
1. Is there a pattern in your lineage that needs stopping?
2. What choice concerning a sin pattern do you need to make today?
