NewDayvotional

From the pastor for the people

Does God Punish Children For The Sins Of Their Parents?

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Someone asked me recently: Does God punish children for the sins of their parents? In this post I’ll attempt to answer this question.

This idea (that God punishes children for the sins of their parents) comes from the Mosaic Law (the law God gave to the Israelites through Moses):

  • Exodus 20:4–6, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
  • Exodus 34:5–7, Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
  • Deuteronomy 5:8-10, ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Admittedly, these verses, on their own, are a little confusing. So we need to turn to other Scriptures that speak to the question at hand to provide further clarity. For example:

  • Deuteronomy 24:16, “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin.” 
  • 2 Kings 14:1–6, In the second year of Joash…king of Israel, Amaziah…became king over Judah…he did what was right in the sight of the Lord…Now it happened, as soon as the kingdom was established in his hand, that he executed his servants who had murdered his father the king. But the children of the murderers he did not execute, according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, in which the Lord commanded, saying, “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; but a person shall be put to death for his own sin.”
  • Jeremiah 31:29–30, In those days they shall say no more: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
  • Ezekiel 18:20, “The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.”

Clearly, the Bible teaches that each person rises or falls on their own merit. Therefore,  Exodus 20:4–6, Exodus 34:5–7, Deuteronomy 5:8-10 cannot mean that God punishes an innocent generation for the sins of a previous generation. What then do these verses mean?

  • In Exodus 20:4-6, “…the iniquities of the fathers upon the children…” refers to sins the parents committed that the children are now repeating.
  • And when Exodus 34:5-7 says “…by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children…” it’s clear that the children are guilty of sin themselves.

Therefore, we conclude that what these verses are affirming is God’s determination to punish successive generations for committing the same sins they learned from their parents. They do not teach that God punishes the children for the sins of their parents.

So in sum, the Bible teaches:

  1. If kids repeat the sins they learned from their parents, God will punish them just the same as the parents (Exodus 20:4–6, Exodus 34:5–7, Deuteronomy 5:8-10).
  2. But kids will not be punished by God for the sins of their parents, because each person will rise or fall before God based on their own merit, not someone else’s (Deuteronomy 24:16, 2 Kings 14:1-6, Jeremiah 31:29-30, Ezekiel 18:20).

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah brings these two truths together nicely in Jeremiah 32:18–19 when he wrote, “You show love to thousands but bring the punishment for the fathers’ sins into the laps of their children after them…Your eyes are open to all the ways of men; you reward everyone according to his conduct and as his deeds deserve.”

Note: Just because the Bible teaches that God will not punish kids for the sins of their parents, does not mean that kids won’t suffer for the sins of their parents. Many times they do. As they learn bad habits from the example their parents have set, they suffer the natural consequences of sin.

Jesus’ Three Jobs

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Jesus has three primary jobs in the Bible: Prophet, Priest and King.

  1. Let’s talk first about his role as Prophet. Moses said in Deuteronomy 18:15, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you…” Moses was the mouthpiece of God to the nation of Israel. When he said God would raise up a prophet like him, he meant in the sense that the prophet would be the mouthpiece of God, as he was. Well what do we read of Jesus? In John 14:24 Jesus said, “These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” When Jesus came to earth he spoke the words of God about how mankind could be saved from the penalty and consequences of sin. So Jesus was the fulfillment of Moses’ prophecy. Jesus was the Prophet Moses spoke of.
  2. Now let’s talk about Jesus’ role as Priest. In the Old Testament the high priest was the supreme ruler over the nation of Israel. Well Hebrews 6:20 tells us that Jesus has become our High Priest forever. And as High Priest, Jesus is the supreme ruler over the church. As the high priest was the supreme ruler over the nation of Israel, so Jesus, as our High Priest, is the supreme ruler over the church.
  3. Finally, let’s talk about Jesus’ role as King. Jesus told us to pray in Matthew 6:10, “…your kingdom come…” That’s because one day, Jesus will rule as King over his kingdom here on earth during his thousand year reign (We’ll actually be covering this in week five of this series). Isaiah spoke of this time when he wrote in Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders…” At Jesus’ first coming he was the suffering servant who died for our sins. But at his second coming he will be the King of kings and the Lord of Lords.

Now, in the past Jesus primarily played the role of Prophet. In the future Jesus will primarily play the role of King. But in the present, Jesus primarily plays the role of High Priest. You see, until the consummation of the age, Jesus will play a role in the salvation of mankind. And Jesus wants the same to be true of us! If you haven’t found a role to play, click here to check out some of the serving opportunities at New Day.

Satan’s Three Temptations

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Satan will tempt you with three things: pleasure, possessions and pride. We see this over and over in Scripture.

Genesis 3:6, When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. 

  • GOOD FOR FOOD = pleasure
  • PLEASING TO THE EYE = possessions
  • DESIRABLE FOR GAINING WISDOM = pride

Deuteronomy 17:16-17, The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself… 17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

  • GREAT NUMBERS OF HORSES = pride
  • MANY WIVES = pleasure
  • LARGE AMOUNTS OF SILVER AND GOLD = possessions

Matthew 4:1-10, Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4  Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7  Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8  Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” 

  • TELL THESE STONES TO BECOME BREAD = pleasure
  • THROW YOURSELF DOWN AND THE ANGELS WILL RESCUE YOU = pride
  • ALL THIS I WILL GIVE YOU…IF YOU BOW DOWN AND WORSHIP ME = possessions

1 John 2:15-17, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”  

  • LUST OF THE FLESH = pleasure
  • LUST OF THE EYES = possessions
  • PRIDE OF LIFE = pride

Be on guard for temptation in these three areas, for they are the areas Satan has been trying to tempt mankind in since the creation of the world.