This is the 13th article in a series entitled Wonderful Counseling. You can view the rest of the articles by clicking on the link above.
A Pronouncement of God’s Judgment
Because the word “curse” is often used quite differently by moderns, it is very important to understand the biblical meaning.
In the Old Testament, a curse was a pronouncement of judgment by God on those who violated covenant stipulations.
When a covenant was made or “cut,” an animal was sacrificed and cut in two. The covenant makers would walk between the pieces of the dead animal, invoking a curse upon themselves should they violate the covenant. The following is an example of the curse or pronounced judgment attached to would be covenant violators.
“Therefore, thus says the LORD: You have not obeyed me by proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and to his neighbor; behold, I proclaim to you liberty to the sword, to pestilence, and to famine, declares the LORD. I will make you a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 18 And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— Jeremiah 34:17-18 (ESV)
A Revelation of God’s Justice
The curse or pronouncement of judgment was a revelation of God’s justice in that it provided the proper warning and punishment for disloyalty to God.
Adam and Eve betrayed God when they chose self-rule over his loving lordship by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil instead of the tree of life. They valued and believed the serpent’s words more than God’s. The judgment upon their sin was the pronouncement of God’s justice in the form of a curse.
The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring;he shall bruise your head,and you shall bruise his heel.”16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;in pain you shall bring forth children.Your desire shall be for your husband,and he shall rule over you.”17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you,‘You shall not eat of it,’cursed is the ground because of you;in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,till you return to the ground,for out of it you were taken;for you are dust,and to dust you shall return.”Genesis 3:14-19 (ESV)
The curse contained the following components, including a messianic promise.
- The serpent would be cursed or judged more than any other animal.
- He (Satan) would be ultimately crushed by the coming Messiah.
- The woman would suffer great pain in birthing children.
- The relationship between the husband and wife would be strained.
- The entire earth (creation) would be cursed, making life much more difficult for people and animals.
- The final aspect of the curse was the penalty of death.
It should be clear to us that, as descendants of Adam, we participate in this curse. The explanation we will explore later is that the effects of the curse were passed down to succeeding generations.
A Curse Pronounced by Jesus
Below I quote a New Testament example of a “curse” pronounced by Jesus over the residents of Jerusalem who were about to reject and crucify him, the ultimate act of covenant disloyalty.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. Matthew 23:29-36 (ESV)
Jesus understood that succeeding generations inherit the judgment earned by their ancestors. Do we?
Accumulated Looming Judgment
We see in Jesus’ words the principle that unconfessed and unforgiven sin accumulates judgment that looms over the generation of descendants still living.
Jesus linked the generation he was speaking to with their forefathers and their sins. The innocent blood shed by their forefathers still cried out to heaven for vengeance (Genesis 4:10), which God had been storing up to release on a future day.
God held (holds) successive generations corporately responsible for the sins of their fathers, especially if they chose (choose) to actively participate in those sins.
To the modern Westerner this seems very strange and maybe even wrong. To the New Covenant theologian, it also seems to violate the Law’s pronouncement that children will not die for the sins of their fathers.
Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin. Deuteronomy 24:16 (NIV)
Surely Jesus knew about that law; yet, he made the pronouncement quoted above. There is something going on here that deserves a better explanation. This goes to the heart of grasping what is the nature of generational sin, curses, and the consequent devastation. In my next article, I will explore in greater depth the nature of corporate sin, guilt, and judgment.
