When I first encountered the concept of generational culpability, I was not at all surprised. I knew in my innards that I was the end product of a huge generational mess. Identifying with the sins of my ancestors and repenting as a representative of my tribe made complete sense to me, as did asking the Lord to forgive “us” for our crimes against Him and humanity.
    
    Lots of folks do not respond the way I did when introduced to the idea that generational issues may be affecting their lives for evil. We don’t have much of a problem accepting that we inherit generational blessings, but when some of us are confronted with the notion that we also inherit generational evil that may have started many many generations ago ... well, that’s perceived differently.
    
    Here’s what Jesus said. This is a little lengthy, so bear with me.

    “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
    “So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who
murdered the prophets.
    “Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.
    “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?
    “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
    “Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.” Matthew 23:29-36

    Remember Luke 6:37?

    “Do not judge and you’ll not be judged. Do not condemn and you’ll not be condemned.”

    Jesus is pointing out to the scribes and Pharisees that they are denying their own propensity toward sin. They are claiming to be better than their ancestors; thus, they are passing judgment on those who have gone before. This activates the “judge not” law.

    Violating this law ensures that they will do what their ancestors did. Only in this case, by murdering Jesus Christ and persecuting the Christians who followed Him, they did worse. They became accountable for all innocent bloodshed.

    So these men were just like their fathers after all. In the same way, we are just like our ancestors in that the same tendency toward certain kinds of sin lives within us.

    When we hold ourselves aloof from the wickedness of our generational line, even if we are claiming that the blood of Jesus Christ makes us “better than them,” we are judging with condemnation. If we then commit a sin in the area where we have judged, we automatically become accountable for our sins AND for theirs. A huge download of generational evil is unleashed into our lives.

    Jesus called this evil download “the sentence of hell.” I call it empowered generational evil.

    So, here’s the point. Sometimes we struggle endlessly because we need to address the problem from a generational viewpoint.

I.  What empowers the enemy
    A. Generational Evil
        1. Covenants - Formal and informal agreements made with evil spirits in exchange for protection and/or power. (2 Kings 3:27)
        2.  Iniquities - The twisting of God’s laws and principles, releasing devastation into the family line and into the land. (Leviticus 26:39-42)
        3. Curses  - There are three kinds of curses: Legal, formal and informal.         
            a. Legal curses released by God’s universal legal system in automatic response to an iniquity. (Genesis 9:6; Exodus 20:4-6)
            b. Formal curses released by the words and actions of people often in response to some offense committed by an ancestor. For example: an ancestor rapes a woman; the family of the women hires a spiritual person (witch/wizard/warlock) to formally curse the perpetrator's family line. (Balaam - Numbers 22:1-6)
            c. Informal curses are released by family members upon other family members. Examples: you’re stupid; you’re ugly, etc. that become standard practice in the family and are handed down through the generations. (Proverbs 12:18; Proverbs 18:21)

    There are several models for generational restoration. The Pool has one - though we tend to be pretty flexible and dependent on the flow of the Holy Spirit. Mostly, generational issues surface during prayer ministry and are taken care of then.
    
Prayer:

     Holy Creator God, I repent for believing myself to be better than my ancestors. Perhaps I have not sinned in exactly the same ways they have, but the same tendencies live in me and all I lack is the opportunity. Please forgive me. Please forgive us. We have sinned. Wash my generational line clean with the blood of Jesus Christ and please restore all that has been lost. Amen.

    Now, for many of us, high-level evil beings have used the iniquities, covenants and curses in our generational line as an excuse to rob us blind for years. Because these beings are criminals, they do not obey God’s laws and rules. They do not bow the knee at the name of Jesus Christ unless forced by God to do so. A heavenly appeal is a very effective approach when confronting generational evil that will not leave through simple prayer. I recommend a visit to the website of Tom and Diane Hawkins at www.rcm-usa.org for training in how to conduct heavenly appeals. Or you may contact The Pool Ministries for more information.