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Deuteronomy 5 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
False teachers love to cherry-pick verses and twist the context to their liking. A perfect example of this is found in Deuteronomy 5:9.
‘You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. [9] ‘You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, [10] but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Deuteronomy 5:8-10 NASB
I have heard some ridiculous interpretations of this verse. People often use it to incite fear and support their false teachings while recklessly abandoning the full context of the Word and the sweep of Scripture. When we are unsure about what a passage means, the worst thing to do is to isolate it and formulate an application based on human thinking. This is certainly the case with Deuteronomy 5:9.
Over the last 30 years, many books have been written on the theory of generational curses utilizing this verse (and Exodus 20:5; 34:7; Numbers 14:18) as a backdrop for the interpretation. The initial problem is the misleading terminology. The authors who interpret this passage as affirming “curses” often will prescribe their own “special knowledge” to break the curse. This usually involves renouncing every individual sin of your past as well as the sins of your ancestors paying careful attention not to miss any because the curse might return! Yes, I am rolling my eyes too. I have even heard of parents of making their children confess the individual sins of the abuse they suffered as a victim of their abuser! It’s sickening!
Contemporary Old Testament scholar Walter Kaiser writes
“Children who repeat the sins of their fathers evidence it in personally hating God.”
Walter Kaiser
This is the most obvious point that proponents of generational curses fail to acknowledge. Verse 9 reads, “visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me.” Naturally speaking, children who hate God, like their parents did, will continue the learned behavior or genetic predisposition to those same sins. Outside of repentance and faith in Christ, a God-hating alcoholic father will many times produce a God-hating alcoholic son.
“A Jewish Targum specifies that this passage refers to ‘ungodly fathers’ and ‘rebellious children.’ So, it is not unjust for God to punish sin to the third or fourth generation – those generations are committing the same sins their ancestors did.”
GotQuestions.org
Many trusted commentators agree with this interpretation.
“This necessarily implies – IF the children walk in the steps of their fathers; for no man can be condemned by Divine justice for a crime of which he was never guilty.”
Adam Clarke
“What we are told is that when father’s sins are visited on the children it is because the children have become sinners like the fathers. The father’s sins are the children’s sins. So no innocent child has ever been punished for a father’s sins; only guilty children are punished and are guilty of the very sins that their fathers sinned.”
John Piper
Another hole in the generational curse theory is the inclusion of demons. False teachers often peddle the same motto that goes something like this: “Demons are passed from generation to generation and these demons have ground in the lives of Christians because of generational sins.”
The problem is that this passage in Deuteronomy says nothing about Satan or demons. In fact, the verse itself states that God will be the one to bring the consequences upon the sinful generation, not demons. In Colossians 2, Paul outlines how we are complete in Christ. The power of sin has been disarmed by the cross. If we have come to know Christ and profess by faith in His payment for all sin, why would God leave us in demonic bondage only to have to do additional work to be truly free? We don’t need Jesus + incantations to experience freedom and holiness. We only need Jesus.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”— [14] in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Galatians 3:13-14 NASB
Furthermore, the direct context here is speaking to idolatry on a national scale. God’s warning to the future generations is part of the Old Testament law here in the 10 Commandments. The consequences God inflicted on Israel were specific to their covenant and directed at a specific sin. That sin (idolatry) was proven to be broken through repentance in the context of Israel’s history. When they turned from sin, God showed mercy and forgiveness.
Let me give you an example. Why did God let these children into the Promised Land when their fathers worshiped idols? Shouldn’t He have kept them out due to their fathers’ sins? This commandment serves as a warning to the children. In other words, repent and don’t be like your fathers or you will naturally suffer the same consequences that they did!
Additionally, the false theology of having to confess the sins of an ancestor to receive healing is not a consistent teaching throughout the rest of Scripture. In fact, we see the opposite. The Bible encourages each individual to take responsibility for his or her own sins.
“In those days they will not say again, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ [30] “But everyone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge.
Jeremiah 31:29-30 NASB
“The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. [21] “But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
Ezekiel 18:20-21 NASB
Any teaching that requires human works in order to truly be free is stealing God’s glory and diminishing the power of what Jesus accomplished at the cross. By faith, we receive healing, freedom, and forgiveness in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8-10). When we stumble, we must repent and turn back to Him, not to man-made rituals or mystic incantations that will certainly deceive us in the end.