The Watchman's Diary

“Messiah liberated us from Torah’s curse, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)”—Galations 3:13

You have probably heard the stories, or saw for yourself, generations of families experiencing the same illnesses, tragedies, and sorrows. These can be like chains anchoring us to what we desperately need to leave behind and may be due to what is called a generational curse. According to scripture, God shows “mercy to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means leaving the guilty unpunished, but bringing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 34:7). In 2 Samuel 1:1, God tells David that the reason they were having a severe drought was “because of Saul and his bloody house, for he put the Gibeonites to death.”

Biblical scholars continue to debate whether generational curses still exist and whether or not believers are susceptible to such curses. We are human and prone to repeating the mistakes of those who have had the most influence on us. This doesn’t mean that we will, but we tend to take on the traits and attitudes of the community within which we develop. Parents tend to pass on certain attitudes and behaviors to their children that may cause them to act in the same manner as the parents did. We must always guard against repeating the mistakes of our parents, mentors, and others who have had any form of influence over us.

Those outside the body of Yeshua (Jesus) may be susceptible to “generational curses” but we who are in Messiah Yeshua have been made free. He has broken the chains that bound us and taken upon Himself our curse.

We still live in a sinful world that is rampant with all kinds of sickness and chaos. Rejoice in your freedom from the curse but remember, if “anyone among you [is] sick? Let him call for the elders of Messiah’s community, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14) and “keep seeking the things above—where Messiah is, sitting at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1).