Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.
There are two statements in our first passage which need to be clarified, once and for all, because there are persons who study the Bible one-sidedly instead of line upon line, and precept upon precept, and if this is the case, wrong conclusions of God and of the passage in question will certainly be drawn. Here is the first statement of interest which need clarity: [1] “Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me.”
The word “Visiting” is too often interpreted to mean that God would directly place the sins of the fathers, and results thereof upon future generations, in ways that cannot be averted by the children. Nothing can be further from the truth, for that interpretation is quite contrary to other passages of Scripture.
There are laws of cause and effect, and there are laws of sowing and reaping that are, in many cases, allowed to run their natural course, without direct interference from God, and which bring to maturity the pertinent fruit, either for good, or for evil. If one’s parents and grandparents, going back many years were to cultivate a love for smoking and a love for drinking, their children would be born with such tendencies, and by example, the habit can become set in stone, in the offspring of such, especially if the children were to now cultivate and practice the very same patterns of behavior.
Ezekiel 18:27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. 28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!