Generational Sin
Sharon W. Betters
TODAY’S TREASURE
Do not hold against us the sins of past generations; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need (Psalm 78:8).
Sin misses the mark of God’s law. It is disobeying God’s Word and worshiping idols. Families hand down sins or tendencies from generation to generation. Think about your own family’s sin patterns. What negative tendencies keep you tied to past habits, sinful patterns, or way of viewing life through the grid of selfishness? Moms weep when they tell me they swore they would not parent like their mother, yet they struggle with the same impatience, screaming, or distancing. They don’t want to pass on to their children sinful patterns, but all they can see is the yelling and impatience that keeps them stuck in a whirlpool of guilt, regret, and self-condemnation. They feel helpless to control their tendency to duplicate the very behavior they hate. Recognizing their sin as generational helps understand its pull. Yet, while we might understand our tendency toward specific sin, God holds each of us responsible for our own behavior:
“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live” (Ezekiel 18:30-32).
Throughout Scripture, we see examples of generational sin. In Genesis 12, Abraham says Sarai is his sister because he feared that if the Egyptians knew she was his wife, they would kill him and take her. Sarai paid for Abraham’s sin because Pharaoh took her for his wife. Fortunately, the Lord “struck Pharoah and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife “(Genesis 12:17). Abraham passed on the sins of fear, doubt, and lying to his son Isaac. Isaac told the men of Gerar that his wife Rebekah was actually his sister. Like his father, he lied out of fear they would murder him and take Rebekah. Like father, like son.
In our story about the sons of Korah, we see grace and mercy extended to these men whose forefathers gravely sinned against their God. At first glance, the Sons of Korah seem insignificant, yet their story is a microcosmic view of the Gospel. Just as we cannot ride on the coattails of our parents into heaven, we are not responsible for their sins, either:
“Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself (Ezekiel 18:19-20).
LIFEGIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
While parents’ bad choices might make it more difficult to resist a particular sin, we must take responsibility for our choices. A young man heard about the adultery of his father and then learned his grandfather and great grandfather had made similar choices. Fearfully, he asked, “Does this mean I will do the same thing?” His wise uncle took his nephew’s face in his hands, looked him in the eye, and responded, “No. This sin stops here with your generation. Your father’s sin will make you more aware of the devastation your bad choices will cause. And that awareness will strengthen you as you break the chains of generational sin in your family.”
A young woman grew up with alcoholic parents. While her friends looked forward to going out for drinks and social drinking, this young woman chose to abstain, concerned her body might have a tendency toward alcoholism. She did not take responsibility for her parents’ bad choices but, instead, based on her observation of the damage of alcohol in their lives, took a different pathway. Neither of these young people is responsible for the sins of their parents, but neither can they use their parents’ sins as an excuse for their bad choices.
We don’t know how old the sons of Korah were when their father rebelled against God. Maybe they were old enough to choose to stand against their father’s sin. Or, they were too little to know the evil their father represented. Just as Ezekiel says, God did not hold them responsible for their father’s sin.
Though the Israelites may have shunned the Sons of Korah, God did not. He nurtured them and eventually placed them in positions of great prominence. Their past informed their present, but it did not disqualify them from God’s love or service. Perhaps they prayed with the Psalmist:
Do not hold against us the sins of past generations; may your mercy come quickly to meet us, for we are in desperate need (Psalm 78:8).
The good news is the Lord does not leave us to fend against generational sin by ourselves. He sent Jesus to “break the power of canceled sin and set the prisoner free,” as written in 1739 by Charles Wesley. Charles Wesley celebrated the birthday of his conversion every year by writing a hymn. For his first spiritual birthday, he wrote this hymn. Are you discouraged, feeling helpless to battle generational sin? Let these words remind you that you are not alone in this battle. “His blood can make the foulest clean His blood availed for me.”
O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing Charles Wesley, 1739, public domain O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace! My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim, to spread thro' all the earth abroad the honors of your name. Jesus! the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease, 'tis music in the sinner's ears, 'tis life, and health and peace. He breaks the power of canceled sin, he sets the prisoner free; his blood can make the foulest clean; his blood availed for me. To God, all glory, praise, and love be now and ever given by saints below and saints above, the Church in earth and heaven.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sharon W. Betters is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, pastor’s wife, and cofounder of MARKINC Ministries, where she is the Director of Resource Development. Sharon is the author of several books, including Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace. She is the co-host of the Help & Hope podcast and writes Daily Treasure, an online devotional.
For more from Daily Treasure please visit MARKINC.ORG.
Originally published Wednesday, 15 June 2022.
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