From Rabbi Jack...
Have you ever wondered why some families tend to have recurring tragic patterns in their lives? When they look back into their family history they find recurring things like divorce, no father in the home, personal failures, financial problems, homosexuality, drug and alcohol addiction, untimely deaths, depression, mental illness, unexplained health problems, fear, and many other repeated misfortunes that have occurred over the generations of their family? I have heard it said that alcoholism, addiction to tobacco, and criminal behavior are genetic dispositions, but is that true? Genetics explains why we look like our parents, but can genetics explain why certain catastrophes can be traced through family lines? Is it possible that there is more at work here than just the arranging of chromosomes? Could the sins of our parents, grandparents and even our great, great grandparents become issues for us to deal with in our lives? Are we linked to our family line spiritually?
Exodus {34:6-7} 6) And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7) Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
This verse might be difficult for some to accept; that our sins are visited upon our children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation, and we might be tempted to just ignore it. However, what God has said here, is not an isolated occurrence in the Scripture. I found it four other times: Exodus 20:3-6; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9-10; and Jeremiah 32:17-18. So, since this warning is repeated at least five times in Scripture, I think it is safe to say that God thinks it significant and worth paying attention to.
If there are some specific sins that you can identify in your life without much thought, then I suggest confessing them and asking God for forgiveness. However, maybe there are things that your past generations have done that are affecting your life that you do not know about and cannot identify offhand. So, I also suggest confessing the sins of your ancestors and asking God to forgive them. A prayer like Nehemiah's would work fine.
Nehemiah 1:6 let Your ear be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer Your servant is praying before You day and night for Your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's family, have committed against You.
Nehemiah did not list each and every sin; he just said that past generations sinned against God. So, say a general prayer asking the Lord to forgive the sins of your ancestors; a prayer asking for Him to forgive you for any of their sins that may have entered into your life. You should also ask the Lord to identify any of those sins so that you can specifically confess each one. The good news is that when you confess those sins and turn away from them, you break the generational curse!
Hi Ellen here…
I'm sure you have heard that the eyes are a window to the soul. Matthew 6.22-23 says the following: "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single (clear, undivided, without hypocrisy), thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil (wicked, malicious), thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" Have you ever looked into the eyes of someone and sensed a troubled heart or was blessed by another with peace and grace? Proverbs 30.17 tells us this: "The eye (face, countenance) that mocketh (derides, scorns) at his father, and despiseth (disrespect, rejects) to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out (pierce, thrust out, hollow out), and the young eagles shall eat it (feed upon)." Wow, not a pretty picture but the Word of God does not lie. Everything we need is in His book even a side glance or a wink of an eye can be explained. Let us read Matthew 13.15: "For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." I implore you; I urge you to open your eyes and ears to your fate should you continue down a path contrary to God's Word. Yeshua said, and I am paraphrasing, that He is the light of the world. Let us strive to be more and more like our Yeshua and shine with His light.
Yours in Messiah Yeshua, "…while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Messiah Yeshua." (Titus 2:13)
Rabbi Jack & Ellen
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