Consequences of Sin on Generation

Consequences of Sin on Generation

In the bible, the bible chapters on Exodus 20:5-6 and Deuteronomy 24:16 seem to contradict each other. In the book of Exodus, God mentions that He is a jealous God and that He punishes the children up to the third and fourth generations for the sins that their fathers had committed. Contrastingly, in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 24:6, Jesus makes it clear that children are in no way punished for the sins that their parents committed or any other sins that they might commit. The question remains to be how one can reconcile the biblical emphasis on the concept of individual responsibility with the statement that the repercussions of sin extend to multiple generations. To combine both verses and their meaning, it is significant to, first of all, try and understand the judgment that is involved in the translation of both verses from Hebrew to English.

The literal translation of Exodus 20 is that the guilt of the parent or father is “visited” to the sons. In this case, there exists substantial judgment that is concerned in the translation of these verses from Hebrews to English. As such, both the bible verse in Deuteronomy and Ezekiel serves to show that the person that sins is the person that dies for the sin committed. In this case, the vocabulary in the bible verses located in Exodus 20 is different from that in Deuteronomy 24. The translation of the keywords in the bible passage in Exodus 20 is the one that carries the hidden logic. The key terms “visited” and “guilt” have been translated to mean that the punishment mated for sin carries on to both the third and fourth generations. Most importantly, the father’s guilt carries on in terms of its impact on both the third and fourth generations.

My understanding of both versus and the message that they propagate is that the eventual punishment for sin goes to the person that sins. The ultimate punishment of sin is that which is between the sinner and God, which in often case can result in separation from God and eternal death. As such, there is no other person that suffers most from the consequences of their sins as the sinner him/herself. This is the concept that the bible passage in the book of Ezekiel and Deuteronomy emphasizes. Sin, in itself, is not so clean or neat. This means that the sins that one commits have a lot of significance and influence on those around them and, most remarkably, persons that are affiliated to the sinner. In a family setting, the sins of the father have or might have considerable impacts on the children and grandchildren in the family. As a minister in the church, the sins of a pastor might have a substantial effect on the congregation that they are leading.

By default, the sins that we commit as human beings have a substantial effect on persons around us, in this case extending to the third and fourth generations. Regardless, in the book of Exodus 20: 5-6, God also says that He will individually show love to thousands of generations that love Him. I reconcile that God makes covenants with the entire family but not with individuals. As such, when He makes a covenant with given families, they ought to uphold the given agreement or rather face the consequences as a family, not as individuals. I reconcile that God punishes the third and fourth generations as a result of all of them failing to adhere to a pact that they had made as a family but not as individuals i.e., parents only. This is emphasized in Deuteronomy 24: 16, which states that children are not punished for the sins of their parents, to me, children are punished for their shortcomings, not that of their fathers or family.