It runs in the family

It was not uncommon for me to encounter one family who were plagued by violence, depression, alcohol or drug abuse.  Usually the problem arose because of the habits of one member.  Rich or poor, young or old, male or female, educated or uneducated, it made no difference – the effects upon that family were extremely disturbing for them at the least and devastating for them at the most.  When learning the history of some of them, I dwelt a lot on what the Bible tells us about the sins of the fathers being handed down through the generations.  

What was uncommon for me to encounter, however, was four families from within the one extended family – all with similar problems. There were two married sisters, both with a drug abusing son of similar age – about eighteen to twenty.  One of these sisters was married to a violent, abusive man.  A third sister had died of cancer just before I came on the scene, but she too had been married to a violent man.  They also had a married brother, unemployed, who suffered from acute depression.  The elderly mother of these four suffered from chronic illnesses also. 

“It runs in the family,” is a common expression, made by most of us perhaps at some stage in our lives, but how many of us know that there is a certain biblical truth in that statement?  In the twentieth chapter of the Old Testament book Exodus, God gives us His second Commandment.  We read there that we are not to make for ourselves any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  Not only that, but He says we are not to bow down to these things or worship them.

It makes no difference if one is ignorant of this Commandment or if one chooses to disobey this Commandment, God says He will punish that person/people for this sin and the punishment continues upon the children, grandchildren and great-grand children of those who hate Him.  Now God is deadly serious here.  He means business.  He tells us clearly and specifically that He will tolerate no rivals.  On the other hand, in that same passage of Scripture, God tells us that He will lavish His mercy and love upon thousands who love Him.  In the Bible we read of the goodness of God and the severity of God.

The problem with too many in church leadership however, is that they only preach and teach the goodness (love) of God. Because of pride, political correctness and the fear of man, they shy away from preaching and teaching the severity (judgements) of God. Disobedience to God brings His curse or judgement upon us.  Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, both in the Old Testament, have much to teach us on the blessings of God for obedience and the curses of God for disobedience.

It is true that the laws in those books were given by Moses specifically for the Israeli people, but the same principle most certainly applies to all people today.  Worshiping a false god, whether it is one carved from wood or stone or molded from plaster, or whether it is one carved into one’s mind by one’s “theological” imagination – all is idolatry.  Idolatry brings a curse.  The reason it does so is that it distorts one’s concept of God.  Jesus specifically tells us that God is a Spirit and as such, He tells us that He must be worshiped in spirit and in truth John 4:24. 

As they express their thoughts and motivations, people who worship false gods (idols) are led away from dependence upon the true God to relying on these gods of their imagination.  No matter how religious they might be, this practice leads them away from truth, not to it.  As they are led away from truth they are led away from blessings as a natural consequence.  God cannot bless what He has not ordained.  It has been said that idolatry is an expression of human pride and arrogance.  Well, God most certainly cannot bless that.  That is why He rejected and punished the Israelis of Old Testament times and nothing has changed.

Whether we believe it or not or like it or not, if we lead ourselves away from truth and blessing, we lead ourselves into curses. These come upon us in the form of:  emptiness, insecurity, loneliness, guilt, fear, anger, worry, anxiety, haste, confusion, despair, strife, sickness, conflict, turmoil, depression – to name a few. As a result of those things, who knows how each one of us might react to them? Some people react with violence, hostility, jealousy, suspicion, criticism, greed, selfishness, resentment, hatred, cruelty, prejudice – to name a few. Others succumb to addictions, defeat, failure, self-pity, pessimism, isolation, hopelessness – and so on.  

Every one of these things is a curse and they all bring death.  They bring the exact opposite of what God Almighty in Jesus Christ wants for us, which is life.  Life to the full.  The abundant life – God’s life.  The parents (one or both) of these four families were deeply religious.  They had inherited a zeal for God, which they embraced and each did their uttermost to ensure that their children followed their example. The only problem was, their zeal for God was not according to biblical knowledge Romans 10:2.  It was a misdirected zeal; so misdirected in fact, that they practiced idolatry.  They worshiped a false god.

Each family knew that Jesus Christ died for their sin, but they did not know that He died to make them right with God, here and now.  In other words, they were not ignorant of the fact that they had offended God by their sins, but they were ignorant of the fact that they could turn to Christ alone, here and now, and give Him their sins and He, here and now, would forgive them their sins – past, present and future – and then lead each one of them on to experience the mercy, forgiveness, love, peace and power of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, in relationship.  That, is eternal life.

There was only one outcome from such ignorance.  They tried to appease their false god by coming under law – Old Testament law and religious man’s law.  Again, they did not understand that through faith alone, in Christ alone, He would give to each of them who trusted in Him everything that they were trying to get by religious law-keeping.  So once again in other words, these families worked very hard for their blessings, but all they got in return for their efforts were curses.  They thought that they could earn their way into heaven, having not a clue that God is no man’s debtor.

In those four families I evidenced much from the death-list above in parents, children, cousins etc.  One family had stolen goods in the home.  The mother had given her heart to the biblical Jesus Christ and some time later He went to work on her.  She was experiencing on-going sickness in her back and leg which went on for weeks.  One day the Holy Spirit convicted her about those stolen goods, so she genuinely repented of this sin and threw the stuff into the rubbish bin.  A few hours later, she was completely healed as we prayed.  Her son turned to Christ as well and although he struggled with his drug addiction, he and his mother trusted the Lord to bring deliverance. 

The other sister was fascinated to learn of the biblical Jesus.  She left her violent husband but continued to have her work cut out in looking after her sick mother, drug addicted son and his “too-often” visiting girlfriend.  She too experienced the reality of God and with her sister, looked forward to doing foundational Bible studies with us.  I ministered to their late sister’s husband for many months and although he enjoyed our time together, he did not show much interest in wanting to learn of the Lord, even though he asked Him into his life.  He didn’t get on very well with one of his sisters-in-law either. 

I met their brother and his wife only once.  They visited one day as we were doing some studies.  It was there that I learned of his unemployment and depression.  He didn’t ask any questions about God that day but his wife did.  At the end of that time both of them came into enough knowledge about God, sin, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Bible to be able to make a commitment and receive His free gift of eternal life if they so wanted and, to be released from all curses.  They learned, like these ladies, that whatever it is that God requires from us, it is He and He alone who will grant the enabling to achieve it.

The Bible declares that Jesus Christ became our curse in our place Galatians 3:13.   By becoming that curse for us, He has redeemed us from all curses that we can bring upon ourselves through false worship or anything else. All curses can be broken over our lives. But Jesus Christ is the only one qualified to do it. Once we surrender to Him, we come out from under curses to live forever under blessings.  “And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God.”  Deuteronomy 28:2.