The Bible places great emphasis on the freedom of choice God has granted to us, for by it our eternal destiny is decided, and the chapters of our lives are shaped to a great extent, for good, or for evil by the choices we make, even if there are negative factors to contend with. Too often, our sinfulness is blown out of proportion to the point where we lose sight of the grace and power of God, which is given as an antivenin against the stings of the serpent.
We also need to be very careful with the teaching of generational curses, for even though our parents and grandparents may have set a sinful course of action in motion, yet we should never downplay or underestimate the power of God to stop sin dead in its track and reverse course in very many instances.
The Bible teaches us that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, and as was stated before, all means all.
But if we believe that generational curses are the inevitable, and that we do not have any choices in the matter, then what we believe will soon become reality, because what we believe affects what we’ll expect, and what we expect then becomes possible. Thus, if we believe our progenitors have set us in an irreversible course, we will find ourselves drifting downstream in their footsteps in whatsoever sins or habits they indulged or cultivated.
Every succeeding generation should do better than the previous one, reasoning soberly from cause to effect, learning from the mistakes of parents, while improving, and retaining the good they did, but at the same time, rejecting the evil. In other words, it is the will of God that children should be more God-fearing than their parents were, not less.
Cultivated and inherited tendencies to evil can and should be overcome by the grace of Christ. In other words, if my parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, in-laws, and outlaws were alcoholics, I do not have to be an alcoholic, because through Christ the buck can, and should stop at my doorstep. Then again, if my daddy was a player, and had a plethora of wives and concubines, there is absolutely no doctrine, or commandment which states that I am duty bound to walk in his shoes.
In fact, a great part of the instruction, and counsels given to children should include our own faults and mistakes, showing them where we went wrong, and the inevitable results which followed; at the same time bidding them to depart from evil by choosing wisely. In this way we would not appear to be self-righteous in their eyes; instead we would be able to empathize with them in their infirmities, they being encouraged and strengthened by the victories God gave us.
In fact, through the grace and power of God, and the freedom of choice given, coupled together with faithful parental instruction, Solomon the son of David could have had one female wife, and could have lived with her happily ever after. Absolutely! The problem is that a knowledge of his own failures kept David silent, when he should have been talking to, and instructing his sons. Past guilt should never cause parents to be muted in their instruction to their children. Let’s read:
[Patriarchs & Prophets pp 723] There was a great change in David himself. He was broken in spirit by the consciousness of his sin, and its far-reaching results. He felt humbled in the eyes of his subjects. In his own house his claim to respect and obedience from his sons, was weakened. A sense of his guilt kept him silent when he should have condemned sin; it made his arm feeble to execute justice in his house.
The scripture unequivocally rejects the notion that we are born this or that way, with no way out of our sinful predicament, and with no recourse of action, because the freedom of choice is one of the most powerful tools, given to us by God to shape our own destiny. When we begin to excuse our choices using hereditary factors, we often lose sight of the power of God which can surmount every difficulty, large or small, and we will inevitably shift the responsibility of failure to others, God, or to present conditions, and thus, we become the sport of circumstances.
This is not to say that as believing Christians we are naïve to the difficulties or obstacles in the way, but we should never allow these adverse circumstances to blunt our potential, or to dampen our energies to succeed. Thinking like a conqueror means believing that with God, all things are possible. In fact, if we cultivate a skeptical, unbelieving mind, we actually prevent Jesus from doing miracles in our behalf. Let’s read:
Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
In this passage, a person’s willingness to believe is directly tethered to the opening up of possibilities, and herein lies our main weakness, for we too often allow conventional wisdom, scientific research, and logical reasoning to dictate the limits of what God can do. When Jesus used the “if”, He was directing the man to his freedom of choice to believe or not.
In our own personal experiences, we will need a no holds barred kind of faith to withstand the forces of logic against our souls, for satan specializes in logic, while Christ specializes in faith. Believing is not only based upon a preponderance of evidence, for it was Christ who once said, “Blessed are they who have not seen, yet still believe”. Believing is a deliberate choice we must make individually, especially when it comes to overcoming inherited tendencies to evil. Let’s read:
Mark 6:2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
The people of this district did not have a problem with the authenticity of Christ’s miracles, they were upset that an “ordinary” carpenter, who had built their cupboards and furniture could do them. But if a Rabbi dressed in sacerdotal garments who had his degree from one of the Ivy league universities, was to perform the same miracles, they might believe. Thus, social biases, and norms fed into their belief system, and before you know it, they were choosing not to believe, with the inevitable result. Let’s read:
Mark 6:5 And he could not there, do any mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
6 And he marveled because of their unbelief.
On the contrary, the Bible opens up to us the world of opportunity, in overcoming every challenge, and difficulty, through the merits and power of Christ. Now while it is true that parental wrong-doing often sets the stage for children to sin more easily, and in some cases may affect genetic factors, yet, in very many cases, the choices we make, together with the power of God can decidedly move the needle in the opposite direction. This is the genius of Christianity, given to all who believe. Let’s read:
Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1st John 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
Joseph began adult life as a slave in a foreign land, having to learn a new language in a culture that was by no means favorable to his ethnicity. In addition, he did jail time, but that did not prevent him from becoming the manager of the prison where he was locked up. The grace and power of God which had always attended him, turned every difficulty into an opportunity, and thus he was victorious, in and out of prison.
Joseph could have chosen to grovel in the “Why me pit” of depression. He could have chosen to blame God for not protecting him from Potiphar’s wrath when he had stood firmly for the truth. Then again, he could have blamed his brothers for his present circumstance. Instead he chose to make the best of his situation by seeking to help and serve fellow his inmates, as evidenced by the following inquiry. Let’s read:
Genesis 40:1 And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt.
2 And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.
4 And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward.
5 And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night.
6 And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad.
7 And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him in the ward saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly today?
8 And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.
The same issue of individual choice is brought to bear in circumstances where one’s grandparents or parents may have indulged in evil. Just because the progenitors did wrong does not mean that the kids are duty bound to do wrong too, regardless of their own choice. The genius of salvation is that through Christ every evil tendency, and practice can be put into reverse gear permanently. There will be sore conflicts, but it can absolutely be done. Let’s read:
Ezekiel 18:1 The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying,
2 What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?
3 As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
14 Now lo, if he beget a son that sees all his father's sins which he hath done, and considers, and doeth not such like,
15 And hath not lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbor's wife,
17 He shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.
20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
God, is in these passages making direct reference to our freedom of choice, for if the son chooses not to follow in the evil ways of the father, the buck will absolutely stop at the son. This principle of personal choice applies across the board, not only for iniquity that was practiced by one’s parents, but also to the addictions that one may have inherited. To a great extent, these tendencies and evils can be uprooted and reversed by the power and grace of God.
Whether it be drug addiction, alcohol addiction, sex addiction, and the predispositions to such problems like diabetes, obesity, and cancer, the grace of God when engaged through faith and obedience can and will accomplish the impossible in many instances. It was God who inspired the words “I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health”, therefore we cannot conclude that the same God would not enable us to accomplish that which he Himself has wished for.
This issue of choice must be understood thoroughly because whatever we decide to do can affect the outcome at the end of life’s journey. Thus, we must embark on our main case study from the Bible, in which one father had practiced untold evil for very many years. After he died, his son came and did the exact same thing, and for all intents and purposes it would seem as if an irreversible course of action for the offspring had been set in motion. Let’s read:
2nd Kings 21:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem.
2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the
Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.
3 For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.
4 And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.
6 And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.
The scriptures tell us that after years of cultivating iniquity of the darkest hue, Manasseh repented and made great changes, but the collateral damage had already been done. In fact, the bulk of his years on this earth were spent doing evil, and as they often say, “Like father like son”, that is, if the sons choose to walk in their father’s evil footsteps. Evil example, and genetic predisposition do not coerce anyone to sin, for every propensity can be stopped at the gate of choice. Let’s read:
2nd Kings 21:18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
19 Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.
20 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh did.
21 And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:
25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
But then, Amon has a son who “Considers” just like the Lord stated in Ezekiel. He considers the evil his progenitors did, and he reasons soberly from cause to effect, and then his decision is made: “Whatever my daddy, grandpa and grandma may have done in times past, I personally will not be following in their footsteps. He decides to serve the Lord through the freedom of choice, and the rest is history. Let’s read:
2nd Kings 21:25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
26 And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.
2nd Kings 22:1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem.
2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
10 And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.
11 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes.
12 And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Michaiah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asahiah a servant of the king's, saying,
13 Go ye, enquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.
14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, and they communed with her.
15 And she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you to me,
16 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read:
17 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
18 But to the king of Judah which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard;
19 Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.
20 Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.
Our progenitors too may have walked contrary to the will of God in times past. They may have eaten and drunken that which is forbidden by God, and as a result the offspring may be predisposed to obesity and diabetes and cancers of all sorts. Sexual sins, or predispositions may have taken root, and may have affected us genetically. But just as the young Josiah grabbed the bull by the horns, and put in place radical changes, just so, we too may grab our own bull by the horns through our freedom of choice.
If lollipops, candies, twinkies, and Haagen dazs ice-cream used to be an integral part of Manasseh’s daily menu, Josiah as his son must institute radical changes if he wants to cooperate with Christ in the restoration of health. He would need to clean out his refrigerator of all those items which caused the unhealthy state in his dad, for unless he does this, his prayers for health will go unanswered.
Then Josiah will have to do some much-needed research to see what lifestyle changes should be implemented. And as he studies the history of his fore-parents, and as he reasons soberly from cause to effect, he will have to put into practice the things which God will show him, for if he doesn’t, the text in James which says “I wish above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospers” will become an elusive dream.
Whatever the problem, or the issue might be, and whatever may be the latent tendency that has been transferred from father to son, the grace of God is given to break every chain, and every cycle of evil, so that the image of God may be reflected in our persons, internally and externally. But the choice is ours. It’s not satan’s, nor the voice of the popular majority, nor the church, nor our parents, uncles and in-laws. The choice is ours! We therefore close with a quote from the pen of inspiration. Let’s read:
[The Desire of Ages. pp 125] While Satan can solicit, he cannot compel to sin. He said to Jesus, “Cast Thyself down,” knowing that he could not cast Him down; for God would interpose to deliver Him. Nor could Satan force Jesus to cast Himself down. Unless Christ should consent to temptation, He could not be overcome. Not all the power of earth or hell could force Him in the slightest degree to depart from the will of His Father.
The tempter can never compel us to do evil. He cannot control minds unless they are yielded to his control. The will must consent, faith must let go its hold upon Christ, before Satan can exercise his power upon us.
Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith The Lord.
God bless!