Generational Curses: Part 5 — Exposing the secret sins

Uncovering our secrets. Photo: Rafal Zych/Flickr/Creative Commons

In this series we are studying the Biblical concept of Generational Curses that tells how the “iniquity” of the parents can be passed down to the children (Exodus 20:4-5). Children can actually inherit their parent’s sin.

In the last article, we started our discussed on how to break with Generational curses. The first step involves understanding that Jesus broke the curse. This means that we are fighting from the higher ground. The curse is broken, we must enforce it.

We also looked at the need to deal with the victim mentality that can cause people to quit the fight.

In this post, I want to look at the next important step.

Coming clean on your iniquity

Because of the nature of iniquity, it tends to be our most closely guarded secret. We don’t want anyone to find out about it.

Some say that we are only as sick as our deepest secrets.

One of the keys to breaking the power of generational curses is confession.

Job’s cover-up

In Job 31:33, the ancient patriarch confesses that he covered-up his sin by hiding his iniquity (awon) in his bosom and even compares his cover-up to Adam’s efforts to hide his sin in the Garden of Eden.

But then Job states his hidden motivations for concealing his iniquity (awon) — he “feared the great multitude’ and the “contempt” of his family “terrified him” (v 34). The reason that people hide their iniquity is fear of rejection.

People snared by iniquity believe that others will be so disgusted with their secret sins that they will no longer have any respect for them. It’s all about losing face.

David’s cover-up

In Psalms 32:5, David said ‘my iniquity (awon) I did not hide.” This verse subtly implies that David’s first instinct was to hide his iniquity and this is exactly what Israel’s great Psalmist did. When his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba resulted in her getting pregnant, David took extreme measures to hide his sin.

Bathsheba was a married women and her husband, Uriah, was a member of David’s army.

In fact, David’s illicit relationship with Bathsheba started while her husband was engaged in battle on David’s behalf. When Bathsheba became pregnant, David arranged for her husband to be brought back from the battle hoping that he would have sexual relations with his wife, which would effectively cover-up David’s affair with Bathsheba.

When Uriah — out of respect for his comrades who were still back at the front line fighting — refused, David angrily ordered his commanders to send Bathsheba’s husband to the most intense part of the battle and then to pull back the troops. This act would strand Uriah, guaranteeing his death.

After this happened according to plan, David then legally married Bathsheba.

But David’s secret sin was brutally exposed by the prophet Nathan resulting in divine judgement upon David and his kingdom.

The covering-up of sins is a common characteristics to those gripped by iniquity.

Alcoholics are usually the last ones to admit they have a drinking problem? Though everyone else sees the problem, the alcoholic believes that at any moment he can decide to stop drinking.

But coming clean on your iniquity may involve more than just confessing your sin to God. The Lord may want you to consult with others to help you deal with it.

In Psalm 51:5, David writes further about his iniquity. Most believe this Psalm was written shortly after Nathan exposed David’s sin with Bathsheba:

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.

Perhaps, the most intriguing aspect of David’s confession was that as it was sung in worship — all of Israel would have heard this confession.

I’m not suggesting a public singing of your iniquities during a church service, but confiding with a trusted friend or small group is good for the soul.

James writes:

¹⁶Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. (James 5:16 NASV)

Confession is an honest admission that we have a problem. Confessing our secret sin can be the key to breaking its hold. The secrecy is often the chain that iniquity uses to keep a person in captivity.

Once this confession is made, then a person can be healed and our prayers become effective.

This is the fifth in a seven-part series on Generational Curses.

More in this series: