We are very blessed to have our very first guest blogger and she is none other than Pastor Nerida Walker. She has written a brilliant piece of the issue of generation curse. Her insights are amazing.
Here it is.
“What I love about the truth on generational curses is this… When you pull apart the original scriptures of “visiting the sin to 3rd-4th generations etc” it is not talking about “generational curses” in the way of how people understand this today. I believe the Israelites misunderstood this too. So I believe God was correcting the people’s misunderstanding in Ezek 18 when he said “what do you mean when you say….I say it is like this…” (paraphrasing). So the truth God was communicating in Ezek 18 was ALWAYS the case! That each man will pay for his own sin. There are scriptures in Deuteronomy (within the law) that say this too. When we look at the original scriptures it was only ever “the guilty” who are punished and in context the guilty were those who rejected God.
This is made clear when you look at the meaning of the Hebrew word for “sin”, in Ezek 34:6-7 which was “the sin that was punished or visited” it means “intentional sin“. (will post separately after this) And the context was (and still is) that those who intentionally (or wilfully) sin, are those who wilfully, intentionally or openly “reject God” (Yahweh’s Salvation) and the punishment (consequence) is, that they will die. In Ex 20:4-6 the context is also clear!
Note that it was ONLY those who “hated God” who were punished. To hate God is to reject God! This was NOT referring to those who loved God And therefore certainly cannot be applied to New Covenant believers today! I think you hit the true meaning of the Generational curse in Romans 5. I believe that there is ONLY ONE generational curse and that is… through Adam’s one offence death spread to all men! This is the generational curse – Death (the consequence of sin = rejecting God) AND is the ONLY generational curse! It is death that continues to spread to men who reject God!
When you break all this down the simple yet powerful truth revealed is the Gospel message (and there is only one Gospel message that is consistent throughout the whole Bible) and that is…If you are born of Adam you will die because death reigns (spreads and is passed down) in Adam (the only generational curse) BUT if you are born again in Christ you are now dead to sin (which means we are dead to the consequences of sin because death is the consequence or result of Adam’s sin) so we now LIVE! Those who are in Christ are dead to the generational curse of Adam that spread and was passed down to all generations of men, which was death!
Ex 34:6-7 KJV And the Lord passed by before him (Moses) and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity (a) and transgression (b) and sin (c), and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity (d) of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. (Num 14:18 same).
Note: Vs 7 forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin BUT by no means clearing the guilty?
If God forgives iniquity (a), transgression (b) and sin (c) then what is the context of “the guilty” here?
The context is made clear when we look at the meanings of the following words in Hebrew…
Keeping = preserve, guard, keep, maintain, protect (cause to be safe from danger)
Forgiving = to lift, bearing away
Iniquity (a) {Heb awon} = perverseness (to be bent or crooked), guilt, punishment for iniquity.
Transgression (b) = rebellion (revolt, sin against lawful authority)
Sin (c) = to sin, miss the way, go wrong, incur guilt, forfeit, (incurring guilt and penalty)
“by no means clear” = is one word in Hebrew and means: not empty or clean
God will not empty or clean the guilty!
Visiting = {Heb – paqad}: to attend to, to visit, to muster, to appoint.
There is also an appointment (or consequence) for the guilty!
We know what is “appointed” because Heb 9:27 tells us that it is “appointed for all men to die once then face judgment”. The context is that death entered through sin at the Fall and since then it is appointed that all men will die. The consequence of sin is death!
Iniquity (d) {Heb awon} = “as above” see Iniquity (a) *BUT please note on the 2nd mention of this word iniquity (d), the footnotes in the “One new man Bible says the meaning of the word iniquity (d) here means “intentional sin”.
The consistent Context (throughout the bible) of intentional or willful sin simply means to know the truth but to reject it openly. It is knowing what Yahweh’s Salvation is but to reject it openly!
Now if you reject God then you reject WHO HE IS! Yahweh is Salvation (Jesus)! Under the New Covenant if you reject Jesus then you reject the payment for your sin so you are then left guilty (sinful) before God and you are left to pay the penalty. Likewise, under the Old Testament law it was the blood sacrifices of bulls and goats that was the payment (atonement) for sin. Therefore, the simple and consistent truth remains: if there was no payment made then you are left to pay the penalty. And what is the penalty, consequence or punishment for sin? Death!
Therefore, if you have iniquity (d) which is the intentional or willful sin of rejecting God (His law of Salvation under the Old Covenant) then you are left guilty! There is NO PAYMENT (atonement) for your sin and the result is you will die!
In other words, the visiting (appointment or consequence) of the iniquity (d) of rejecting God is death. And the generations of people who continue to reject Yahweh’s Salvation (Jesus) will be visited with the generational curse of DEATH and this will continue to spread and be passed down to all who hate God!
NOW lets put the meanings of all these words in Ex 34:7 together along with what we know to be the consistent Gospel message:
God will preserve, guard, keep and maintain mercy for THOUSANDS (who love Him), forgiving, lifting and bearing away all of their iniquity, guilt, perverseness and the punishment thereof, also their transgression and rebellion and the sin of missing the mark and going the wrong way BUT He will by no means clear (empty and clean) the guilty, which are those who are in the iniquity (d); of the intentional and willful sin of rejecting God (His law of Salvation). Therefore, the visiting (appointing) or the consequence of the iniquity (d) of rejecting God’s law will spread to the generations of those who continue to reject Him (hate Him).
In other words, Adam’s generational curse of death will continue to spread and be passed down to the generations of those who continue to hate God BUT for those who love God, He will lift and bear away all their iniquity and perverseness, transgression and rebellion and the sin of missing the mark and going the wrong way! His mercy and goodness will continue to keep, guard and preserve them from death so that for all of their days they can enjoy His abundant Life!
Now that is Good News!”
Absolute Brilliant.
Pastor Nerida Walker is the Senior Pastor of RIVER Christian Church Kariong (RCC) and the Founder of New Life Ministries – bringing life to barrenness, Author of God’s Plan for Pregnancy and IT IS FINISHED!
Here’s links to her ministry!
Decluttering Religion. 
Thank you so much for this post – this is an issue that I am still struggling to understand, and I do note that there are certain circles who like to use the term ‘generational sin’ rather liberally.
I note that the post has carefully termed the consequences of the Fall as ‘generational curse’. And also that the writer has gone to lengths to explain some differences between ‘sin’, ‘transgression’ and ‘iniquity’. But there seems to be no definition or explanation on the relationship between ‘curse’ and ‘sin’?
For me, it is interesting to note that the Law of First Mention for ‘sin’ is found in the account of Cain and Abel, not the Fall.