Is there a curse in the Kennedy's family? 

DAY 1
Well, it has been the hottest topic since last week and it may also still be the hottest topic for the next several weeks.

This society has been watching the tragedies in the Kennedy's family  since World War II. 
The following are some of the deaths that have  happened in this family:
1944 Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., son of Joseph and Rose, is killed in a plane crash in 1944 during World War II at the age of 29.  
1948  Kathleen Kennedy, daughter of Joseph and Rose, dies in plane crash in 1948. She was 28.
1963 Jackie's baby, Patrick died 2 days after his premature birth (Patrick was a 6 weeks premature baby)
1963 John F Kennedy was shot in Dallas
1964 Edward M. Kennedy, JFK's brother, is critically injured in plane crash; an aide, Edward Moss, is killed.  
 1968  Robert F. Kennedy, JFK's brother, is assassinated in Los Angeles on June 5. He was 42.  
 1969 Edward M. Kennedy drives a car off a bridge on Massachusetts' Chappaquiddick Island after a party. Aide Mary Jo Kopechne is later found dead in submerged car.  
 1973 Joseph Kennedy, Robert's son, is involved in an auto accident that leaves a female passenger paralyzed for life.  
1973 Edward Kennedy Jr., Edward's son, has cancerous right leg amputated
1984 Robert Kennedy's son David dies of a drug overdose in a hotel near family vacation home in Palm Beach, Florida. 
 1985 Patrick Kennedy were in a car accident
1985 William Kennedy was is a rape case
1997 Michael Kennedy, Robert's son, is killed in a skiing accident in Aspen, Colorado. Michael, who had been accused of having an affair with his family's teen-age baby sitter, was 39.  
 1999 And finally, the prince of the Kennedy family, the quite and most charming Kennedy member, died in a plane crash with his  wife and his sister in law.

So, what is the answer?  Is there an explanation to this family tragedy?  One of the suggested explanation from the media is that John F. Kennedy, the most famous Kennedy, must have made a  packed with the devil to give his family fame and fortune and surely the devil has collected the fees that is the tragedic deaths of the
Kennedy family members.

DAY 2
What is a curse?
A curse is defined as something bad/tragedic, usually to the point of death, that will happen to a person regardless on what that person does. It is a bad thing that can not be avoided.
Curse worked almost like fate. No matter how good you are, if you have a bad fate, then bad things will come your way.
Curse is like that too. No matter how good you are, how careful and wise you conducted your life, if you are cursed, then bad and tragedic things will come your way.
Is it true that the bad things that our parents do, will carry curse to the children? So that no matter how good the children are, the bad things will still come their way?
Let us see what the Bible say about curse from Ezekiel 18.
(vs 2) "The word of the Lord came to me: What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?"
Ezekiel starts this chapter 18 by saying what do you mean when you said if the fathers do bad things (i.e., eat sour grapes), then the children is set on a bad curse (i.e., are set on edge)
(vs 3) "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son, both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die." Immediately, Ezekiel recorded that God said that the proverb should no longer be used. Only the soul of who sins will die. This means that if the fathers do bad things, then judgement shall come upon them. If the children do good things, then the judgement will not come upon the children. Each person is responsible for his own act.

DAY 3
Yesterday we have seen the theme of Ezekiel 18, that is about the passing of JUDGEMENT from one generation to the next generation. Today we will see the elaboration of this theme. (vs 5) "Suppose there is a righteous man who does what is just and right. ... (vs 9) He follows decrees and faithfully keeps my laws. That man is righteous, he will surely live, declares the Sovereign Lord." Now, let us continue (vs 10) "Suppose he has a violent son who sheds blood or does any of these other things though the father has done none of them. ... (vs 13) Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he will surely be put to death and his blood will be on his own head." Let us continue again (vs 14) "But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things. ... (vs 17) He keeps my laws and follows my decrees. We will not die for his father's sin; he will surely live. But his father will die for his own sin." (vs 19) Yet you ask, "Why does the son not share the guilt of his father? Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son." So, from the reading from Ezekiel 18, we have seen clearly that God does not pass judgement from one generation to the other. Each person is responsible for his own judgement and natural consequences of his own actions and behaviors. But, what about those verses in the Bible that talk about judgement that are passed to the third and fouth generation? We'll talk about that tomorrow.

DAY 4
But, what about those verses in the Bible that talk about judgement that are passed to the third and fouth generation?
Let us read from Exodus 20:5. Exodus 20 records the ten commandments that was given through Moses.
Vs 5 says "You shall not make for yourself an idol ... you shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations, of those who love me and keep my commandments."
This commandment is also repeated in Deuteronomy 5:9. At a glance, it seems like Exodus 20:5 and Ezekiel 18 contradicts each other, yet actually they are not. They actually go hand in hand; one completes the other.
Ezekiel 18 writes that each person is responsible for his own act. This verse is put into balance with Exodus 20:5 that says that even though each person is responsible for his own act, yet a person's behavior has DIRECT IMPACTS on his children. For example, a child may be raised with a grandmother's influence. Every night she reads bible stories for him. Finally, she led him to Christ. The child keeps growing in Christ and when he become an adult and get married, he makes sure that his family is a family that fears the Lord. Through his godly behaviors, he leads his children to the Lord.
Through this example, we see that the live of the grandmother have a chain of influence to the second, third and fourth generation. The same thing also holds for those parents that do not set a good example for the kids. A parent may just be Christian friendly (i.e., friendly with the Christianity teaching, but he does not truly worship the Lord). Then, his behavior will have direct impacts on the children. There is very great probability that his children will grow without knowing God. Then the grandchildren will not even care about God. These two verses on Ezekiel 18 and Exodus 20 completes each other by showing that even though each person is responsible for his own act, but he does have direct impacts on his children. Therefore, we as parents do have to be careful with what kind of influence we are giving to our children. It is possible to have ungodly parents, but godly children. For these, God in Ezekiel 18 assures that the children will not be punished. But because of the natural consequences of sin, there is very high probability that ungodly parents produces ungodly children. For these, God has given warning to the parents in Exodus 20, that the parents will be punished, and the ungodly children will also be punished. But note that even in Exodus 20, God still assures again that "God shows love to those that love Him and keeps His laws." So, what kind of a parent are we? Are we going to leave godly or ungodly impacts and influences to our children?

DAY 5
Finally, today we will go back to the Kennedy's family.  So is there a  curse in the Kennedy's family?  No!  There is not a curse in the family.   Each person is responsible for his own actions and behaviors.  On the other hand, there is a chain of natural influences in each family (including  in the Kennedy's family) that results in a chain of natural consequences.

The son of Pat Kennedy described the main characteristics of the Kennedy's  family as people that think that they can break the law and finally ended up broken by the law.  If we look at the lives of the Kennedy's family, we see a history of people that think that they can live above, beyond  or along-side the law.  There are only a few tragedies in the Kennedy's family that are truly tragedies that happen to common families, yet most  of the tragedies are direct results of what is described by the son of Pat Kennedy.

In the Bible there are some stories like that of the Kennedy's family. David, a royal king, thought that he could live above the rules when he decided to shed the blood of Betsheba's husband (i.e., kill him)  and took Betsheba as his wife.  As a powerful king, he thought that  he did not have to abide by the law.  He was wrong!  As a result of his actions, King David set a chain of influence to his children in  inappropritate sexual relationships and in the shedding of much blood.

Now, how about us?  Do we think that we can live above, beyond or along-side of the law.  There is one law that God has said in the Bible that is  every man is a sinner and the wages of sin is death.  Only through Christ we can have eternal life.  Now, do we think that the reality of hell is not for me?  Do we think that the reality of life after death in hell is  for somebody else but not for me.  I can surely lead my life here right now anyway I want it to be, because somehow that law is not applicable to me.

Are we going to make the same mistake that John Kennedy Jr. made?  Knowing that he was going to fly at night with a haze above him, somehow he thought he could have make it without knowing how to read the instruments.  What are we doing now with our lives?  Are we flying through life, passing through the haze above us and think that we can make it without knowing  the only and true Lord.

Finally, there is one more thing to remember that we as parents do have  a direct influence on the lives of our children.  We may choose to ignore the law of the Lord about death and living eternity in hell, but as  parents we should remember that our actions do have direct influences on  the lives of our children.  They may grow to be just like we are and they may fly through life, pass through the haze above them and never know  the only and true Lord.  Are are setting our children in the path to  eternal death and destruction?

Disclaimer
This material is a summary of the message that was preached by Pastor Jack Graham at Prestonwood Baptist Church.  The writer of this EBS (Electronic Bible Study) made some changes and added some personal notes that is necessary to customize this material into an electronic media, a daily reading material and to better fit the audience.  The Prestonwood Baptist Church is not affiliated in anyway with the Indonesian Christian Fellowship of Fort Worth.