In the Bible “generational curses” are mentioned in several places (Exodus 20:5; 34:7; Numbers 14:18;Deuteronomy 5:9). Yahweh warns that He is “a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.”
As unfair as it sounds, for Yahweh to punish children for the sins of their fathers is more involved than it appears. The effects of sin are organically passed down from one generation to the next. When a father has a sinful lifestyle, his children, in theory, are likely to practice the same sinful lifestyle. This is implied in the warning of Exodus 20:5 is the fact that the children will choose to repeat the sins of their fathers. A Jewish Targum specifies that this passage of scripture refers to “ungodly fathers” and “rebellious children.” Therefore, it is not unjust for Yahweh to punish sin to the third or fourth generation – those generations are committing the same sins their ancestors did.
Yahweh’s warning to visit iniquity on future generations is part of the Old Testament Law. The generational curse was a consequence for Israel specifically for the specific sin of idolatry. The history books of the Old Testament, especially Deuteronomy and Judges, contain the record of this divine punishment meted out. What is a generation in the Bible? 40, 70, and sometimes 100 years.
Let's take slavery and Jim Crow as examples. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached year three of the Civil War. The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." However, discrimination continued, Jim Crow being the most notable. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, enacted on July 2, outlawed discrimination the United States based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. 1863 to 1964 is almost exactly 100 years, depending on the inception of either or both events it may very well have been 100 years.
Know this, the cure for a generational curse is and has always been repentance. When the remnant of Israel turned from idols to serve the living Yahweh, the “curse” was broken and Yahweh saved them (Judges 3:9, 15; 1 Samuel 12:10-11). Yahweh promised to visit Israel’s sin upon the third and fourth generations, but in the very next verse, He promised that He would show “love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:6). So Yahweh’s grace lasts a thousand times longer than His wrath. Does Israel continue to suffer? Outside of Yahweh's saving Grace through Yeshua the Messiah they do. A note to white people, especially white Christians who have a lengthy heritage in America, if I were you I would pray to Yeshua, just like the Israelites, to be spared the judgment brought about by my ancestors. Remember, Yah said He would judge the nation who enslaved the Israelites. It's only been fifty two years since Jim Crow laws ended. So when we look for the answer as to why bad things happen to good, innocent white people, this may be it.
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