Another reason to keep the second commandment is that God visits the iniquity of the fathers unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him. The sins of copying and even tolerating the sins of the father and grandfather are a means by which the divine judgment falls.
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 everyone shall died for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.”[1] The context speaks of one generation of Babylonian exiles blaming the previous generations before the exile, possibly based upon a misunderstanding of Ex.20.5. The principle that each person is judged individually is elaborated more largely in Ezek.18.4-32. The Exile was not the result of the sins of a single generation, but the continued, cumulative sins of Israel through many generations, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day. (2 Kings 21.15) The cumulative guilt was judged by God in the event leading to the destruction of Jerusalem. Many exiles questioned God’s justice. Years later, Ezekiel would cite the proverb quoted by Jeremiah above, Ez.18.2, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. The Lord rebuts the claim. The sense of the plaintiffs against the Lord is: “It’s not our fault—we are being punished for what we’ve not done. Our forbears brought this and we are paying the price.”
Ezekiel’s rebuttal is that God judges individuals and individual generations. The exiles cannot escape their guilt; they were suffering for their own sins in their own generation. Ex. 20.5 states that the guilt is visited with judgment unto the third and fourth generation of them—throughout those generations—that hate God. Hence, it is important to break any generational cycles of sin in one’s own day.
Ezekiel holds out the promise of forgiveness in a generation or for any individual who sees, repents and believes in the divine promises.
Ez.18.14-18: If, however, he begets a son who sees all the ins which his father has done, and considers but does not do likewise; who has not eaten on the mountains, nor lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, nor defiled his neighbour’s wife; Has not oppressed anyone, nor withheld a pledge, nor robbed by violence, but has given his bread to the hungry and covered the naked with clothing; who has withdrawn his hand from the poor and not received usury or increase, but has executed My judgments and walked in My statutes—He shall not die for the iniquity of his father; He shall surely live! As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother by violence, and did what is not good among his people, Behold he shall die for his iniquity.
What sins a father or mother covers or practices, his children and grandchildren may, more likely than not, improve and perfect.
This is why repentance, even therapeutic inquiry by self-examination, is so healthy—for oneself as well as the next generation.
From the 1662 Book of Common Prayer:[2]
Almighty and most merciful Father; we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou them, O God, which confess their faults. Restore thou them that are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu [sic] our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake; that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.
[1] Reference will be from the New King James Bible, unless otherwise specified. Bible quotations will be italicized for contrast and emphasis.
[2] The Book of Common Prayer (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode Limited, Her Majesty’s Printers, 1968), 43.
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