So there are other examples: Genesis 9:23 – Noah’s grandson Canaan was cursed. Genesis 4:11 – Cain was cursed with his descendents.
So we see then, the activity of generational iniquity and curses. How are we going to get the person free? What are the steps to freeing a person up?
The first thing is to know and understand fully what Jesus did, and then how to apply it. So we’ll just give you the scriptures for this, without taking too much time to develop them.
First, in Galatians 3:14 - Jesus positioned us to be blessed by breaking the curse. So in Galatians 3:13-14 - He redeemed us from the curse of the law. In other words: paid full price, to rescue us from all of these curses. If He paid the full price, there’s no price we have to pay. He did it so that the blessing of Abraham might come upon us through faith in Christ, and we receive the promise of the Spirit. So Jesus broke the power of curses, and positioned us to be blessed.
He also carried our iniquities. In Isaiah 53:5, it says: “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Notice there that Jesus took our transgressions - that’s breaking the law of God. He was bruised for our iniquities - that’s the core twist in our nature against God. So when Jesus died at the cross, He took all our iniquities, so that the power of iniquity could be broken completely. He took our transgressions and our sins. Colossians 2:14-15 – he removed them out of the way. Broke the power of curses, and positioned us to be blessed.
So therefore, what is required of us? How do we get a person free of these cursings? When you are working with someone, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to show us what the real problem is, and what its root is. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us. It’s always challenging to find the problem and its root. The problem may be obvious, or not obvious; but the root is what is empowering this thing. So we need to find: what is the root; and remove it, so that the person gets free from the power.
How would we get to the root of the problem? You have to ask the Holy Spirit to help you. You have to ask questions. So ask the Holy Spirit to help you, and of course, listen to what He has to say. He might just drop a thought in your mind to enquire about something.
Do you remember I’ve told you about the young man who was angry - and the Lord just dropped a thought in my mind. Obviously I asked the first question – “When did it start?”; “Are you the elder son? Were you conceived out of wedlock?” He said: “Where did you get these questions from?” “I just felt them inside - I was just listening to the Holy Spirit, and immediately nailed the problem”. From there we could work out a solution.
So the first thing is to ask the Holy Spirit to help you, and learn to listen to what He shows you. It may be that you just get a thought that comes to mind, a picture comes to mind, or you just feel the need to ask something. Stay sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
So when we’re looking at the person’s problem, you can ask these questions. What is the problem? When did it start? The question ‘when did it start?’ tends to open up whether this is a generational problem or not.
Did any member in your family have this problem? So you could draw a simple family tree, and you begin to look and see where these things have come from. When I’m working, I always have a piece of paper with me, and I ask questions about the person, then about their father, about their mother. I begin to look and see if there’re any issues coming down from either side of the family. Asking questions can help establish where this thing had begun; or the Holy Spirit will show you.
So you get it by listening - listen to the Holy Spirit; listen to the person. So listening is very important in trying to diagnose. Don’t jump to conclusions quickly. Listen and ask and follow what God is saying to your heart. The first steps of getting a person free are what you call ‘diagnose’. I would sit with a piece of paper, and I write down the things which are apparently the problems.
Now, how do we deal with a generational curse, and generational iniquity? Let me give you just a couple scriptures on that. In Leviticus 26:40, there’s a clue to how the person can get set free. Notice what God says in His word in verse 39 – 40: “They’re in their fathers’ iniquities, and are wasting away; but if they confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, and their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and walked contrary to Me.”
So you notice: confession of iniquity is important. There are a number of examples of people confessing iniquity. For example, Nehemiah 1:6 - he confessed his own iniquities, and the iniquities of his fathers. Nehemiah 9:37 – Nehemiah confessed the iniquities of himself, and his fathers. Daniel 9:3 – who also confessed his iniquities. So, there has to be acknowledgment of the sin. The sin, the iniquity, must be brought to the cross.
So, what is the generational iniquity; and have you been doing this yourself? You have to find that out. For example, if the issue was idolatry - the parents were involved in idolatry; but did you do this as well? Your own sins you need to acknowledge, and the sins of your parents that opened the door for the sin.