How to Store Up and Pass Down Generational Blessings

Blessing Your Children

“and I will bless you…”

Few things cause Western Christians more confusion than the concept of blessing, especially how it’s depicted in Genesis. There are five major developments to the thread of the blessing story in Genesis I find important to draw together to get a full understanding of its essence.

Chapter 1 is God blessing humanity in Genesis 1 to be fruitful, multiply, fill, subdue, and rule. This blessing is repeated to Noah after he comes out of the ark, “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” (Genesis 9:1 ESV).

Chapter 2 is God giving a multigenerational blessing to Abram in Genesis 12:2-3 “I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (ESV)

Chapter 3 is the family of Rebekkah blessing her as she goes to marry Isaac, “And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become thousands of ten thousands, and may your offspring possess the gate of those who hate him!” (Genesis 24:30 ESV).

Chapter 4 is Isaac passing this same blessing in an irrevocable way to Jacob. “May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!” (Genesis 27:28-28 ESV)

And my personal favorite the final chapter where Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh, “And he blessed Joseph and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” (Genesis 48:15-16 ESV).

As I’ve pondered this five-part story over many years, I’ve grown to believe that three principles of blessing are important for anyone wanting to build a multigenerational family line.

First, blessing is always about multiplication. In normal life, we reap what we sow. If you sow an acre of wheat, which normally yields 10 bushels of grain, you’ll likely get 10 bushels of grain. But when harvest time comes, if you end up with 20 bushels, your reaping was multiplied. That's evidence of blessing. If you only get 1 bushel, that’s evidence that you may be wrestling with a curse.

Second, blessing is how Divine favor flows from one generation to the next. If there’s one thing the book of Genesis teaches us it’s that God likes to pour out favor to a generation based on the faithfulness of the previous generation. The more favor the more generations can be blessed. Over a thousand years later Paul tells the Gentiles of the first century that the Jewish people are “beloved for the sake of their forefathers.” (Romans 11:28). Abraham’s friendship with God began a thousand-generation blessing on his descendants that continues to play out today.

Third, God is active and sovereign over how the blessing plays out in each generation. Abraham wanted to give the blessing to Ishamel but could not. Isaac wanted to give the blessing to Esau but could not. Joseph wanted to give the primary blessing to Manasseh but could not. Jacob is the only person in the story who learned this principle and he learned it the hard way as he saw the confusion in Joseph’s eyes and simply responded, “I know, my son, I know.” (Genesis 48:19 ESV). It takes spiritual discernment to pass down the right blessings to the next generation.

Tool: Store Up and Pass Down Generational Blessings

The greatest gift one generation can give to the next is divine blessing.

There is no guaranteed formula for receiving and delivering divine blessing to your descendants. God is a person, and blessings are relational. They are given because God has grown fond of us and our family through a lifestyle of obedient faithfulness. So it’s important to understand Scripture's principles for how this works without thinking we’re owed blessing. If you want to work with divine blessing, you have to accept the fact that we are never entitled to a blessing, but if you follow these principles, you will certainly increase the likelihood that your family will be blessed.

First, demonstrate your trust in God alone. God loves it when he alone is our refuge. David was a man after God’s own heart, and he, more than any other person, demonstrated what it looks like to trust in God. The Davidic Psalms are filled with declarations of trust: “Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear…” (Psalm 27:3 ESV).

Second, live a lifestyle centered on obediently following God’s design. For families, that means be fruitful and multiply. This is how a family follows God’s basic design. We have received the gift of marriage and family from God and he wants a specific return on that investment in the form of children and grandchildren “Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring.” (Malachi 2:15 ESV). Don’t expect for God to bless your efforts when you are making choices to not bless his efforts. He wants to increase your fruitfulness but in a way consistent with his sovereign plan.

Third, get close to God as a personal being. Cultivate an intimate love relationship with him. God likes to bless his friends. God loves Israel because Abraham became his friend. “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend.” (Isaiah 41:8 ESV). Talk to God, walk with God, enjoy God, and let God enjoy you.

As you pursue God in these ways, you will discover unexpected blessings enter your life. But that doesn’t make life easy. God also tests his friends. Jesus commanded us to pray, “Lead me not into temptation…” because the danger in closeness with God is God will want to find out what is really in your heart as he said after testing Abraham, “now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” (Genesis 22:12).

The more divine blessings you receive, the more you’ll have to pass down to your children and grandchildren. Take seriously the opportunity to deliver these blessings to them. We are taught how to bless our children, and it involves laying our hands on them and verbally saying the blessing has been given to you, which means you are giving it to them.

We take time to do this every week, as does every Orthodox Jewish family. We place our hands on the sons and daughters in our family and have the oldest patriarch and matriarch declare blessings over the children.

We have a general blessing for sons and daughters and then have an opportunity afterward to declare any specific blessings.

Blessing the sons, “May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh and give you the heart of David, the faith of Abraham, and the righteousness of Christ as you build our family from generation to generation.”

Blessing the daughters, “May God make you like Sarah, Rebekkah, Rachel, and Leah and give you the heart of Ruth, the faith of Mary, and the righteousness of Christ as you build our family from generation to generation.”

Feel free to use these blessings, add to them, and make them your own.

Desire to see each child, each generation, and your family line as a whole receive divine blessing. In a thousand years, it’s likely that every material blessing will be gone and forgotten, but your family will continue to experie

nce divine blessing because God knows how to be faithful to his friends.