GOD VISITS THE INIQUITY OF THE FATHERS ON THEIR CHILDREN

God is perfectly just. This is the consistent testimony of all Scripture, as Daniel had acknowledged in his prayer to the Lord:

·       “Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice.” (Daniel 9:14)

The Lord is never unrighteous, as the Israelites had prayed:

·       “Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly.” (Nehemiah 9:33)

Yet, we encounter several verses that seem to contradict God’s just nature, for example, the Ten Commandments state:

·       “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me…” (Deuteronomy 5:8-9; Exodus 34:7; Numbers 14:18; Jeremiah 32:18)

Is it just to punish the children for the sins of their parents? This question is compounded by the fact the numerous verses teach that the children should not be punished for the sins of their parents or visa-versa:

·       “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin. (Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:20; Jeremiah 31:30; 2 Kings 14:8)

This is a paradox. Can it be that punishing the children for the sins of their parents is a righteous action for God but not for us? This doesn’t seem likely, especially in light of the fact that we are to be holy and righteous as He is (1 Peter 1:14-17). Consequently, if God’s justice has Him punishing the children, even those yet unborn, for the sins of the parents, shouldn’t this be an example for us? But it isn’t!

How can we reconcile these two “conflicting” sets of verses? Perhaps God doesn’t proactively (directly) punish the yet unborn children. Perhaps instead He merely allows the parents’ sins to punish them. For example, when the parents commit adultery or divorce, their behavior adversely affects their children. Likewise, any of their sins or crimes can adversely affect their children, whether alcoholism, various forms of abuse, or even lying.

There is also another possible factor. Perhaps the sins of the parents are visited upon their children by means of their children learning or just passively absorbing their sinful tendencies. Children do what they see.

Would it be more just if God sheltered the children from the effects of their parents’ sins? I don’t think so, no more than if He would shelter them from the implications of their parents’ love and righteousness. After all, He had wisely designed the family with this form of interconnectedness.

Over my years as a Probation Officer, many of my probationers confided that, now that they were now fathers, they knew that they had to get their act together for the sake of their children. God’s design for the family forces us to grow up and to face reality.