Hi all,
Last week I shared how Satan was thrown out of heaven and down to earth. He no longer accuses us before our Father in heaven because he is no longer in heaven. He does not have dual citizenship.
Having been thrown down to earth, Satan walks the earth 'seeking whom he may devour'. From tempting Adam and Eve, to Jesus' temptations, to our own, Satan is confined to the earth.
Any accusations or temptations are from demons here on earth. I can't be strong enough on that point for those influenced by the COH error. Their whole teaching rests on the idea Satan has equal access to the Father that we do. That is a slap in the face to what Jesus did. One has only to read the first chapter of Ephesians to refute that error.
Satan is no longer in heaven, he is on the earth. He doesn't have dual citizenship.
Curse of the generations teaching
I mentioned the COH emphasis on the curse of the generations allows a person to blame long-dead relatives for their current life. It spiritualizes real issues of one's thoughts, imaginations, and poor choices, focusing their efforts to change their life by finding some spiritual key. This is in direct conflict with scripture which teaches taking personal responsibility and working hard to rearrange our lives for godliness.
Formulas like the courts of heaven seem to offer a simple solution to complex issues, but it is deception. The Ephesians, who you will remember from Acts 19, burned their occult books in the streets, never had their past addressed in Paul's letter to them. Chapter 4 was very direct:Stop sinning, put on Christ, work it out, walk with Him and love one another as Christ taught.
Where the 'curse of the generations' teaching came from; what the Bible says.
In Exodus 20:5 the Lord has been talking about making no idols, saying:
"You will not bow down to them, nor serve them. For I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the father upon the third and fourth generation of those who hate me."
Then in Exodus 34:7 we see a private talk between Moses and the Lord when Moses was up on the mountain in glory, talking face to face with Him (v5-6). Here the Lord repeats 20:5, though not stated in full, but as a summary.
However, Deuteronomy 5:9 is to the children born in the wilderness of those who came out of Egypt and died in the 40 years of wandering. Their children are about to enter the Promised Land, so the Lord states it in full:
"You will not bow down to them, nor serve them. For I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the father upon the third and fourth generation of those who hate me."
Notice the Lord is very specific.
The remembrance of iniquities is to the families of those who hate Him. It is NOT for the Israelites. It is NOT for those who believe and walk with the God of Israel.
This was spoken to Moses and Israel around 1400 BC. By the time of Ezekiel in 591-573 BC, the nation had been taken captive by and carried to Babylon. This happened because they and their fathers and their father's fathers had fallen away from the Lord. They were experiencing the consequences of their own sins, and the sins of their forefathers.
Does God hold the children of sinners accountable for previous generation's sins?
Ezekiel 18 answers this with an emphatic NO. The most famous line from that chapter is:The soul that sins shall die.
In Ezekiel 18:1-9 the Lord says an unrighteous father will not cause a righteous son to suffer his father's sins.
Ezekiel 18:19-22:
"The soul that sins shall die. The son will not bear the iniquity of the father, nor will the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous will be upon him, and the unrighteousness of the unrighteous will be upon him."
This destroys all the teaching of a curse of the generations. God does not visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children. A righteous child among them, that child will not be responsible for the sins of previous generations.
BUT...the teaching goes, the devil is the one bringing the curse.
If God does not hold a son guilty for the sins of his father, then the devil has no right to attack.
We are in New Testament times. We have Christ Himself in us. Our spirit has been recreated by the Holy Spirit. If we are committing the same sins our ancestors did, it is our fault, not theirs. Environmentally a person may have been raised in a dysfunctional family, but if they continue in that dysfunction it is on them.
What IS in the Bible is the acknowledgements of familiar spirits. (Leviticus 19:31, 20:6) These are demons who become 'familiar' to a family. They influence a family and their influence CAN use up multiple generations, one after the other, setting up generations of sin through the years.
Once you realize there is no 'curse of the generations' to battle, you can stand on your own two feet with Christ in you, and stop sinning. Once a person stops blaming others as the reason their own life is a mess, they can start to walk with the Lord in wholeness. It is a journey, a tough one, but it can and must be done.
Next week I'll share about my own 'breaking of the curse of the generations', and wrestling with spirits in the heavenlies.
Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
http://www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
Last week I shared how Satan was thrown out of heaven and down to earth. He no longer accuses us before our Father in heaven because he is no longer in heaven. He does not have dual citizenship.
Having been thrown down to earth, Satan walks the earth 'seeking whom he may devour'. From tempting Adam and Eve, to Jesus' temptations, to our own, Satan is confined to the earth.
Any accusations or temptations are from demons here on earth. I can't be strong enough on that point for those influenced by the COH error. Their whole teaching rests on the idea Satan has equal access to the Father that we do. That is a slap in the face to what Jesus did. One has only to read the first chapter of Ephesians to refute that error.
Satan is no longer in heaven, he is on the earth. He doesn't have dual citizenship.
Curse of the generations teaching
I mentioned the COH emphasis on the curse of the generations allows a person to blame long-dead relatives for their current life. It spiritualizes real issues of one's thoughts, imaginations, and poor choices, focusing their efforts to change their life by finding some spiritual key. This is in direct conflict with scripture which teaches taking personal responsibility and working hard to rearrange our lives for godliness.
Formulas like the courts of heaven seem to offer a simple solution to complex issues, but it is deception. The Ephesians, who you will remember from Acts 19, burned their occult books in the streets, never had their past addressed in Paul's letter to them. Chapter 4 was very direct:Stop sinning, put on Christ, work it out, walk with Him and love one another as Christ taught.
Where the 'curse of the generations' teaching came from; what the Bible says.
In Exodus 20:5 the Lord has been talking about making no idols, saying:
"You will not bow down to them, nor serve them. For I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the father upon the third and fourth generation of those who hate me."
Then in Exodus 34:7 we see a private talk between Moses and the Lord when Moses was up on the mountain in glory, talking face to face with Him (v5-6). Here the Lord repeats 20:5, though not stated in full, but as a summary.
However, Deuteronomy 5:9 is to the children born in the wilderness of those who came out of Egypt and died in the 40 years of wandering. Their children are about to enter the Promised Land, so the Lord states it in full:
"You will not bow down to them, nor serve them. For I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquities of the father upon the third and fourth generation of those who hate me."
Notice the Lord is very specific.
The remembrance of iniquities is to the families of those who hate Him. It is NOT for the Israelites. It is NOT for those who believe and walk with the God of Israel.
This was spoken to Moses and Israel around 1400 BC. By the time of Ezekiel in 591-573 BC, the nation had been taken captive by and carried to Babylon. This happened because they and their fathers and their father's fathers had fallen away from the Lord. They were experiencing the consequences of their own sins, and the sins of their forefathers.
Does God hold the children of sinners accountable for previous generation's sins?
Ezekiel 18 answers this with an emphatic NO. The most famous line from that chapter is:The soul that sins shall die.
In Ezekiel 18:1-9 the Lord says an unrighteous father will not cause a righteous son to suffer his father's sins.
Ezekiel 18:19-22:
"The soul that sins shall die. The son will not bear the iniquity of the father, nor will the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous will be upon him, and the unrighteousness of the unrighteous will be upon him."
This destroys all the teaching of a curse of the generations. God does not visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children. A righteous child among them, that child will not be responsible for the sins of previous generations.
BUT...the teaching goes, the devil is the one bringing the curse.
If God does not hold a son guilty for the sins of his father, then the devil has no right to attack.
We are in New Testament times. We have Christ Himself in us. Our spirit has been recreated by the Holy Spirit. If we are committing the same sins our ancestors did, it is our fault, not theirs. Environmentally a person may have been raised in a dysfunctional family, but if they continue in that dysfunction it is on them.
What IS in the Bible is the acknowledgements of familiar spirits. (Leviticus 19:31, 20:6) These are demons who become 'familiar' to a family. They influence a family and their influence CAN use up multiple generations, one after the other, setting up generations of sin through the years.
Once you realize there is no 'curse of the generations' to battle, you can stand on your own two feet with Christ in you, and stop sinning. Once a person stops blaming others as the reason their own life is a mess, they can start to walk with the Lord in wholeness. It is a journey, a tough one, but it can and must be done.
Next week I'll share about my own 'breaking of the curse of the generations', and wrestling with spirits in the heavenlies.
Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
http://www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
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