Are "generational curses" real?

Question: All through my childhood, my pastor talked about the need to break “Generational Curses” off of my life. I even received prayer for this multiple times. I never really understood what he was talking about. Are generational curses real?

ANSWER:

Though I can’t provide you with a scripture reference that directly denies the existence of generational curses, because it is impossible to prove a negative (to prove that something doesn’t exist), I can show you where in the Bible contradicts such a notion. It’s found in Ezekiel:

[Eze 18:27 NASB95] "Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life.

[Eze 18:28 NASB95] "Because he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

[Eze 18:29 NASB95] "But the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not right.' Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?

[Eze 18:30 NASB95] "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct," declares the Lord GOD. "Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you.

In this passage, the Lord took offense at Israel’s suggestion that He held children accountable for the sins of the father and denies doing so. Those who claim God “curses” the children for the father’s sin as a “generational curse” are repeating the same error and show themselves ignorant of the Bible since Ezekiel 18 obviously and clearly refutes such a claim.

When you hear someone teaching or preaching about this concept of generational curses they typically refer to Deuteronomy 5 to support their belief. Unfortunately, this is a misinterpretation of the passage.

Please take a quick look at it:

[Deu 5:5 NASB95] [while] I was standing between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. He said,

[Deu 5:6 NASB95] 'I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

[Deu 5:7 NASB95] 'You shall have no other gods before Me.

[Deu 5:8 NASB95] 'You shall not make for yourself an idol, [or] any likeness [of] what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

[Deu 5:9 NASB95] 'You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth [generations] of those who hate Me,

[Deu 5:10 NASB95] but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Simply put, the Lord declared that in the law his punishment for idolatry would be so severe, it would impact multiple generations. Does this contradict Ezekiel 18? No, because the Lord wasn’t saying that He’s holding the children responsible for the parent’s sins. The Lord was saying that the punishment on the parents would be so severe that it would last for several generations, but only the parents were to blame.

What was the punishment? To be carried off and exiled to Babylon. In fact, we know from history that this exile lasted 70 years. If you do the math, that is actually 3-4 generations in length (a generation is 20ish years) just like God promised!

So the passage out of Deuteronomy isn’t prescriptive or a general promise to all people in all situations. Rather, it is a specific promise of God only to Israel and only talks about the issue of idolatry.

Therefore, generational curses are pure fiction based upon a misinterpretation of Scripture.