Spiritual Warfare 5 (Generational Curses)

 

Generational curses.  Is your life cursed by God?

~~ Watch the Video ~~

Scripture:

• Genesis 12:3

• Genesis 3:17

• Numbers 23:8 

• Proverbs 26:2

• Matthew 5:43-45

• Psalms 34:19

• John 10:9-10 

• Job 5: 17-18

• Ecclesiastes 9:11

• Matthew 4:5-7

• Deuteronomy 28: 1-6

• Deuteronomy 28: 15 - 21

• Deuteronomy 5:8-10

• Ezekiel 18: 2-4

• Ezekiel 18:19-22 

• Galatians 3:13-14

• Romans 5: 1-2

• Ephesians 4:26-27

• 1 Kings 11:33

• Deuteronomy 29:26-27

• Romans 8:35-37

• Exodus 23:25-26

• 2 Corinthians 10: 3-4

Introduction

Genesis 12:3

I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses [bind under a curse] you I will curse [reviles]; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

How does God treat someone He hates?

Has God cursed my life?

Has God cursed my family because my uncle was a 

• murderer

• satanist

• Molester

Outline:

• Introduction

• Traits of Wholeness

• Review Spiritual Warfare

• Why Bad Things Happen?

• Miracles

• The Curse of the Law

• Generational Curses

• Jesus Took the Curse

• Covenants With Other Spirits

• Final Thought On Curses

• Natural Causes of Generational Curses

• Defense Against Demonic Attack

• Cycles

Traits of Wholeness

We are in our series called Seeking Wholeness

How can we be:

• Spiritually healthy

• Emotionally healthy

• Mentally healthy

Free from oppression of

• Your past

• Yourself

• Bad thinking

• Strongholds

• The enemy

Sozo

• Saved

• Healed

• Delivered from demons

Dealing with life’s current stresses and also being healed from experiences/wounds of the past 

We’re not just supposed to have eternal life

• We’re supposed to have: joy, peace, patience, and self control here on earth

Traits of Wholeness

1. Authenticity 

2. Honesty

3. Kindness

4. Not seeking external approval / validation 

5. Living by values and principles 

6. Setting Boundaries

7. Taking ownership of your responsibilities

8. Living with purpose and passion

9. Optimism 

10. Confidence

11. Healthy relationships with others

12. Not losing control of your emotions

13. Free from addictions

14. Addressing Conflict with truth and love

15. Vulnerability 

16. Not critical or Judgemental 

17. Not jealous

1. Genuinely applaud the success of others

18. Forgive those who have wronged you in the past

19. Know that you’re worthy of receiving love

20. Not afraid to fail

21. Able to manage irrational fear, worry, and anxiety 

22. Selfless encounters with others

23. Not manipulating others trying to control their actions/reactions

24. You care about how others feel 

25. Patient

26. Don’t give into peer/social pressure

27. Can communicate directly

28. Don’t take responsibility for other people's emotions

1. Take responsibility for your own emotions

29. Slow to anger

30. Ability to maturely express your wants, needs and desires

31. Being led by the Spirit

We want to become 

• aware of our issues 

• empowered to manage/fix them

Review Spiritual Warfare

You Can’t Counsel a Demon

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxghnQDDuZCJnsaXJSZy9Mq2vLqUug7vYu

Review Armor of God

This is the primary way we fight spiritual warfare

Ephesians 6: 10 - 18

We have an unseen enemy…the devil

We defeat him with 

1. Living a life of “truthfulness”

2. Moral righteousness

3. Believing the gospel of Jesus Christ

4. Having faith in God

5. Having the hope of salvation 

6. Reading the bible

7. Hearing and obeying the Holy Spirit

1. Led by the Spirit

The Devil (Spirit Warfare 1)

Satan’s methods 

1. Tempt us by offering us material things

2. Taking our material things and power

3. Attacking our health

Correct doctrine

• Some problems that happen are spiritual

• And need a spiritual solution

• Some problems need a natural solution

• Negative consequences aren’t always a result of unrighteousness/sin

• Negative consequences aren’t always God punishing us

Seeking Other Spirits (Spiritual Warfare 2)

There are other spirit beings 

God’s warns us not to

• Worshiping other spirits

• Consulting other spirits

• Petitioning other spirits

Curses

What is a Curse?

a solemn utterance intended to invoke a supernatural power to inflict harm or punishment on someone or something

–Oxford dictionary

A curse is a spiritual force

A Force of Attraction

Blessings attract positive

Curses attract negative

Curses are carried out by spirits

To put someone under a curse is to authorize a condition. This condition allows certain things to happen and certain things not to happen.  

Favor is a condition where the help of men comes to you

Favor with God and man

• Favor in the Physical and spiritual dimension 

Can a Christian be Cursed?

Genesis 3:17

Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; With hard labor you shall eat from it All the days of your life.

• Dirt doesn’t respond different to Christians

A Christian can be affected by a curse

We will revisit this question 

Balaam

Story: Balaam & Balak (Numbers 22 & 23)

Numbers 23:8 

“How am I to put a curse on him upon whom God has not put a curse? And how am I to curse him whom the LORD has not cursed?

Granting Permission

Proverbs 26:2

Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, So a curse without cause does not come to rest.

Something had to

• Initiate it

• God had to allow it

Permission has to have been given for a curse to operate on you

Cause could be

• Your behavior 

• Your ancestors

Curses from:

• God

• Your actions

• Breaking a covenant

• Ancestors

• Others / witches 

God’s Curses

A curse only holds as much power as the one who speaks it

• Or the power of the spirit they are in agreement with

The only curses that have creative power behind them where the curses spoken by God

God cursed

• Individuals

• Nations 

• The ground

• Animals

Defense against curses

• Righteous living 

• Prayer

• In the name of Jesus

• Mercy

Mercy

The mercy of God is the system in the kingdom where guilty people are made free

Mercy is the attribute of God that provokes His help into your life regardless of your conditions

Every time God changed his will it was because of Mercy

• Hezekiah

• Golden calf

• Sodom and Gomorrah 

Why Bad Things Happen?

Common Grace

Matthew 5:43-45

43“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may prove yourselves to be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

God will cause good things to happen to bad people

Bad Things Happen to Good People

Psalms 34:19

The afflictions of the righteous are many, But the LORD rescues him from them all.

Being a believer doesn’t insulate you from negativity

Sowing and Reaping

Natural consequence of your thought or actions

What if I told you that I think God is punishing me because I got hit in the head with a rock this morning?

What could be some reasons?

I’m throwing a handful of rocks in the air as part of my morning routine

Physical Laws

• Gravity

You got hit in the head with the rock

Your Belief

Your subconscious knows the angle that the rock will hit you

If you believe you have bad luck you will cause it to hit yourself

• Your expectation impacts your reality

• Your focus impacts your future

Reticular Activating System

• Focus

• Believe

• Goals

• Fear

The Enemy

John 10:9-10 

9 “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.

• The devil is always out to get you

God Pruning/Directing You

Job 5: 17-18

17“Behold, happy is the person whom God disciplines,

So do not reject the discipline of the Almighty.

18“For He inflicts pain, and gives relief;

He wounds, but His hands also heal.

How God Hated Esau - discipline

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRqQG1bc/

God chastens those who He loves

Time and Chance

Ecclesiastes 9:11

11 I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning, nor favor to the skillful; for time and chance overtake them all. 

Bad stuff happens

Miracles

Jesus Has Authority Over the Natural Laws

Jesus performed miracles

• Water to wine

• Walk on water

• Raise Lazarus from the dead

Name of Jesus

Don’t Abuse The Miraculous 

Matthew 4:5-7

5 Then the devil *took Him along into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and he *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written:

‘He will give His angels orders concerning You’;

and

‘On their hands they will lift You up,

So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written: ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

What was wrong with what Satan was tempting Jesus to do?

We shouldn’t ask God to interfere to break natural laws just to show other people that we can

We shouldn’t abuse our power/privilege

Most of Jesus’ miracles were to prove He was the Messiah

The Curse of the Law

Deuteronomy 28: 1-6

1“Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I am commanding you today, that the LORD your God will put you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings will come to you and reach you if you obey the LORD your God:

3“Blessed will you be in the city, and blessed will you be in the country.

4“Blessed will be the children of your womb, the produce of your ground, and the offspring of your animals: the newborn of your herd and the young of your flock.

5“Blessed will be your basket and your kneading bowl.

6“Blessed will you be when you come in, and blessed will you be when you go out.

We like to recite this verse

Deuteronomy 28: 15 - 21

15“But it shall come about, if you do not obey the LORD your God, to be careful to follow all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

16“Cursed will you be in the city, and cursed will you be in the country.

17“Cursed will be your basket and your kneading bowl.

18“Cursed will be the children of your womb, the produce of your ground, the newborn of your herd, and the offspring of your flock.

19“Cursed will you be when you come in, and cursed will you be when you go out.  20“The LORD will send against you curses, panic, and rebuke, in everything you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have abandoned Me. 21 The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has eliminated you from the land where you are entering to take possession of it.

The Law was a contract of blessings and curses.

Generational Curses

What is a Generational Curse (Church Definitions)?

“A generational curse is an act of willful disobedience of God that started in one generation and with every generation it got worse

• “ what was in the closet with granddad is in the street with the grand children“ 

A curse is when something has been given a legal right to operate in your life and in your family’s life. It is a weight holding you down. It is cyclical in nature and no matter what you do it keeps repeating.”

–Ron Carpenter

Pursuit by familiar spirits

• Alcoholism, death,molestation, miscarriage, accidents, intense marital strife

• Barrenness

• Almost there anointing (success, marriage, job promotion )

• Baby out of wedlock

• Financial issues

• Can't grow spiritually 

• Buried talents

• Disappearance of those who desire to help

• Chain 

• illnesses

• Problem after problem

• Struggling and working tirelessly but not achieving 

Cycles

A generational curse is believed to be passed down from one generation to another due to rebellion against God. If your family line is marked by divorce, incest, poverty, anger or other ungodly patterns, you're likely under a generational curse. The Bible says that these curses are tied to choices. Deuteronomy 30:19 says we can either choose life and blessing or death and cursing. 

You can be the victim of a story that predates your existence

Are Generational Curses Biblical?

Deuteronomy 5:8-10

8 ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, even on the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing favor to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

• Of those who hate me

“The sins of the father’s are punished in the children by becoming the children’s own sin”

–John Piper

God Clarified the Curse (Under the Law)

Ezekiel 18: 2-4

 2“What do you people mean by using this proverb about the land of Israel, saying,

‘The fathers eat sour grapes,

But it is the children’s teeth that have become blunt’? 3As I live,” declares the Lord GOD, “you certainly are not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. 4Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.

…

Ezekiel 18:19-22 

19 “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not suffer the punishment for the father’s guilt?’ When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has kept all My statutes and done them, he shall certainly live. 20 “The person who sins will die. A son will not suffer the punishment for the father’s guilt, nor will a father suffer the punishment for the son’s guilt; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. 21 “But if the wicked person turns from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall certainly live; he shall not die. 22 “All his offenses which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live.

The curse wasn’t “passed down” literally.  

You were only cursed if you did the same sin as your ancestors.

You can break the curse/cycle

The children can confess their own sins and the sins of their father’s and be forgiven and accepted by God

–John Piper

In the Law, you were not accountable for your ancestor’s sin

Jesus Took the Curse

Galatians 3:13-14

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written: “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”-- 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

• God doesn’t  curse you for your sin

• You aren’t cursed because of the Old Covenant

The Gospel of Peace

Armor of God

Romans 5: 1-2

1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we celebrate in hope of the glory of God. 

You are righteous in terms of the law

You are in right standing

A Christian cannot be cursed by God for the law

God doesn’t punish Christians for sinning

The Enemy Can Still Attack

Ephesians 4:26-27

 26BE ANGRY, AND YET DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and do not give the devil [t]an opportunity. 

• When you sin, you help the devil come against you

God will not curse a Christian even if you sin

When you sin you assist the enemy in attacking yourself

Covenants With Other Spirits

Territorial Gods

There were/are “elohim” over other nations

1 Kings 11:33

33 because they have forsaken Me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess [elohim] of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god[elohim] of Moab, and Milcom the god [elohim]of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and observing My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did.

• Notice that each of these gods and goddesses was each over a different nation

• Each nation had a local god/deity whom they worshiped

Only “fallen angels” allow themselves to be worshiped 

These are the “elohim” the “Sons of God”

Deuteronomy 29:26-27

26 ‘And they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they have not known and whom He had not assigned to them. 27 ‘Therefore, the anger of the LORD burned against that land, to bring upon it every curse which is written in this book;

• Other gods

• Assigned by who?

• Cursed

• What book?

• The Law

They were assigned to administer their specific nation

• Not to receive worship

These are the 

• Powers

• Authorities

• Principalities

Covenants With Another Spirit

There can be blessings and curses in covenants with other spirits

If you ancestors came into agreement with other spirits it could impact you

This could be through

• Voodoo 

• Ancestor worship

• Secret occult organizations

• Fraternities / Sororities

• Witchcraft

• Covenants with other spirits

These curses can have generational implications

Covenant structure (example)

1. Historical background = Introducing the covenant parties and recounting past relationships and promises

2. Stipulations = Listing the general and specific expectations of either party

3. Blessings and Curses = Announcing the possible consequences (blessings/rewards and curses/punishments)

4. Witnesses = Verifying the contract through earthly and heavenly observers

5. Remembrance = Recording a review, revision, and renewal process

Demonic Strategies

Demons do strategize against families

Demons understand genetics in human nature

The parents and the children will have similar traits

If you were born into a family of alcoholics… The enemy is going to tempt you with alcohol

Demons attack with

• Temptation

• Torment

• Thoughts

• Dreams

• Scaring you

• Deception

If you walk in disobedience those attacks become more powerful and more effective

Final Thought On Curses

A Christian can’t be “generationally cursed”

• Christians will be targeted by demons

You Are Not a Powerless Victim

You are blessed

You are not a powerless victim at the mercy of some curse

Romans 8:35-37

35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or trouble, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 Just as it is written: “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE KILLED ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE REGARDED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

Your Faith Gives the Enemy Power

“Your faith has made you whole”

• Your faith in God can make you whole

• Your faith in demons can make you sick

Your faith in the strength demons give them power

Bunker Bean Story

https://youtu.be/Jku7Ga3g7oo

Just because bad things happen doesn’t mean that there is proof that you have been cursed

Natural Causes of Generational Curses

A generational curse is a habit or behavior that has been passed from one generation to the next. 

Nature

Grandchild is in grandmother’s womb

All the eggs a woman will carry form in her ovaries while she is a fetus in her mother's womb. In other words, when your mother was in your grandmother’s womb, she carried, at that time, the egg that eventually became you. This means that a part of you, your mother, and your grandmother all shared the same biological environment. In a sense, you were exposed to the emotions and experiences of your grandmother even before you were conceived.

Genetically predisposition

• Alcoholism / addictions

• Health conditions

• Mental illness

Nurture

• Coping mechanisms

• Conflict/argument styles

• Parenting techniques

• Relationship roles

• Relationship expectations

• Mindset / view of life

• Victim vs Growth

• Orphan vs Abundance

• Thankfulness

• Entitlement

Generational Trauma

Breaking the Chains of Generational Trauma | Psychology Today

Transgenerational trauma refers to a type of trauma that does not end with the individual. Instead, it lingers and gnaws through one generation to the next. Families with a history of unresolved trauma, depression, anxiety, and addiction may continue to pass maladaptive coping strategies and distrustful views of life onto future generations. In this way, one can repeat the same patterns and attitudes of former generations, regardless of whether they are healthy or not.

Tips on how to break the cycle:

• Open up a conversation with your parents about their lived experiences and how they coped .

• Notice any embedded patterns, attitudes, or narratives from your family that you continue to portray.

• Get counseling if you’ve been through a traumatic event

Defense Against Demonic Attack

Churchy Prayer

Prayer Against Generational Curses

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjmHw6ej3Qi/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

There aren’t any special words you need to say

Strategies 

• Armor of God

• Renounce your (or ancestor’s) involvement in any witchcraft/occult activity or contracts

• Fasting

• Praying To God

• Name of Jesus

Worship

Exodus 23:25-26

25 Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, 26 and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.

Cycles

Treadmill analogy 

I don’t like running on treadmills

It says 2 miles but I’m still in the same place

I wonder where I would be if I wasn’t running on this cycle

Some of you are trapped in cycles

Some of you are in cycles of

• Relationships

• Alcoholism

• Marriages

• Finances

Casting out a demon would be a quick fix

Taming the flesh can be a struggle

Strongholds

2 Corinthians 10: 3-4

3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

• Strongholds holding you back

Often times the issue is that you have a belief that is in conflict with God’s word

“It’s not a demon…it’s the way you think that’s holding you back”

Example: Relationship

Have you adopted the world’s view on gender roles or Gods?

God’s view

• Usury (debt) - Read the book of Proverbs

“What is one thing that if I stopped doing (changed), it would change my life for the better?”

Instructor: Michael Leadon

References

How to identify and terminate Curses in 2021 | Apostle Joshua Selman

Overcoming daily

How curses work | apostle Joshua Selman

Soaring daily

Breaking generational curses and limitations 2020 – apostle Joshua Selman

Voltz gospel channel

We need to talk about “generational curses“

David Dega Hernandez

Extra

Sowing and Reaping

Seasons Example

https://culture.teldap.tw/culture/index.php?option=com_content&id=1462:forecast-through-divination-a-special-exhibition-on-the-use-of-oracle-bones-for-weather-prediction

What was an important source of water for farming in Jesus’ time?

• Rain

3500 years ago in China, in the Shang dynasty, people often predicted weather through divinations performed with oracle bones.  

Shang people 

• inquired about their fortune or fate, 

• solved dilemmas, 

•  predicted the future 

through the ritual of divination.

Farmers used to pray for rain

God must be punishing me

God divinely decided that it would rain for three weeks on my crops

Calendar

What was one of the biggest inventions to help farmers?

• The calendar

• They learned about seasons

Now they knew that if I’m having long sunny days right in 4 or 5 months it will be rainy season.  Now you can plan your crops accordingly.  Now you can plan your life accordingly.   You can plan a vacation, staffing, equipment.  Harvest season.

If I know about the season I’m not surprised when it rains for weeks or sunny for weeks.  I expect it.

Seasons

• Winter, summer, fall, spring 

• Planting, harvesting 

If you planted your crop in the wrong season… You may conclude that God has providentially decided that I don’t need to grow this crap because he did not give me rain.

• No… The truth is God set up the seasons, and it was your ignorance of the seasons that caused you to fail

• It’s the same in life

Gangster Example

Example: gangster kills half the gang families

• Gets saved

• God forgives him

• This doesn’t mean that the rest of your short life will be easy

• Sat next to a Christian on the flight back

• Get saved

Does Jesus' blood cover the murders?

• Yes

Will God forgive him?

• Yes

Will he be meeting Jesus soon?

• Yes

Just because God forgives me doesn’t mean everyone else forgave me

People can still hurt you

• Demons can still hurt you

God isn’t going to stop what they are about to do to you 

• He could 

• But it’s not required through the Gospel

The gospel doesn’t claim that your enemies will now love you

Whether that enemy is a human or a demon… They still will hate you

• Outside of a miracle

• A miracle is when God intervenes in the natural order of the world

Idol Worship

If you make a covenant with another being other than God then Jesus’ blood doesn’t cover any curses resulting from that.

Exodus 20:4-6 

4 “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. 5 “You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing favor to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Don't worship Mary

Luke 11:27-28 

27 While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that carried You, and the breasts at which You nursed!” 28 But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and follow it.”

“His disciples were more blessed in hearing Christ than his mother in bearing him.” (Trapp)

Mary is an idol if you worship her

regard with great respect; revere

Mary, Saints

Curses in the Bible

Deuteronomy 27:15-26 

15 ‘Cursed is the person who makes a carved image or cast metal image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall reply and say, ‘Amen.’ 16 ‘Cursed is one who treats his father or mother contemptuously.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 17 ‘Cursed is one who displaces his neighbor’s boundary marker.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 18 ‘Cursed is one who misleads a person who is blind on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 19 ‘Cursed is one who distorts the justice due a stranger, an orphan, or a widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 20 ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s garment.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 21 ‘Cursed is one who has sexual intercourse with any animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 22 ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 23 ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 24 ‘Cursed is he who attacks his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 25 ‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to attack an innocent person.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 26 ‘Cursed is anyone who does not fulfill the words of this Law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’

• idolatry

• dishonoring parents

• treachery against neighbors

• injustice

• incest

• adultery

• bestiality

• bribery

• perjury 

• disobeying the Law

There were many curses under the law.  They were contractually agreed upon blessings and curses.

Causes of Curses

1. Curses can come directly from God

2. Curses can be transgenerational… Ancestral curses

3. Self inflicted causes

Curses from God

Everyone who doesn’t acknowledge Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior is under a curse

• The dominion of evil perpetually remains above you

The curse that is upon creation cannot be taken away

• You can only be exempted from it

• Mortality is a curse that came upon creation

If you’re not in Christ… You qualify for the sinners curse

Ancestral curses

Ancestral curses are products of violating the terms and agreements that constituted the basis for mutual relationship between men and deities.  

Curses operate on legal grounds.   There is a system that God is obligated to honor.

Self inflicted curses

Self inflicted curses are the result of ignorance and disobedience

——

1 Corinthians 5:5^

5I have decided to turn such a person over to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

God allowed it

Hedge of protection

———-

Judgment

Apostles can forgive sins

John 20:22-23

22And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, their sins [d]have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

Jesus Paid the Cost

Hebrews 12:1-3 (NASB20) 

1 Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

“The sin”

Isaiah 53:5 (NASB20) 

But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed.

Jesus was wounded on the outside for visible sins.

He was bruised on the inside for the sins people can’t see

Romans 8:1-4 (NASB20) 

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.