Transcript

ANNOUNCER: In Exodus 20, when the Ten Commandments are given, it talks about the sins of the Fathers being passed to the third and fourth generation. What does this mean, and how does it happen? That is our topic today on Grace in Focus. Thank you, friend, for joining us. Grace in Focus is a radio broadcast and podcast ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. We have a website, faithalone.org, and we also have a YouTube channel, YouTube, Grace Evangelical Society. There we release short videos each week for your viewing. Please go there, sign up, and like our videos, and share them with others. YouTube, Grace Evangelical Society. And our website once again, faithalone.org. 

And now with today’s question and answer discussion, here are Philippe Sterling and Sam Marr. 

SAM: I’m Sam Marr, and I’m here with Philippe Sterling today. Bob is not feeling well, so we are the reinforcements filling in. Philippe, we have a question from Charles, and it’s about Exodus, which you’re writing about for the Grace New [sic] Testament Commentary.

PHILIPPE: Well, I’m editing. 

SAM: Editing, sorry. So this question is on Exodus 20:5-6. He asks, if the iniquities of the fathers can be transferred to the children, can blessings also be transferred from faithful fathers to the children as in verse six? And how does that square with the doctrine of grace transference? 

PHILIPPE: Yes. Well, let’s consider Exodus 20, which is a listing of the Ten Commandments. And this one is the commandment about not making any carved images, about the whole matter of idolatry. And the things that also carry on with idolatry, we go into Romans 1. For example, it talks about the gross immorality that can eventually be involved in idolatrous types of worship. So that’s part of what we see going on here, and what is being contrasted between God’s judgment and God’s mercy.

So let me read beginning with the second part of verse five and then verse six. Yahweh speaking, the Lord is speaking, says, “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.” 

So here’s a contrast between God’s judgment and God’s mercy to individuals and to the generations that may follow them. So to those who are involved in idolatry and gross immorality, that does call forth down the wrath of God upon the individual and upon the group, even, in general that are particularly identified with that. So understanding God’s wrath and God’s judgment upon cultures, it’s how infectious this type of behavior really is and easily transmitted in terms of belief and practice generation to generation. 

So as that occurs and what will that God’s wrath is continuously expressed against that. And the judgments might involve even that continuing downward spiral where it becomes worse and worse, whereas to those who are responding to God, those who believe and those who begin to order their lives in accordance with God’s call, God’s purposes, God’s commandments, here for the Israelites is the law of Moses, for us it’s the law of Christ, that itself also brings forth the blessing of God and the blessing of God has a generational influence as well, particularly for groups of people. 

That doesn’t mean that individuals within those groups can go astray and bring forth God’s temporal judgments upon themselves as well, but the thing is God longs to be merciful and where ever, you know, there’s a response to Him, then His mercy takes precedence over over judgment, mercy trumps judgment basically too and that carries, of course it’s influence, you know, generation to generation, but that doesn’t mean that the children or the grandchildren of an idolatrous family cannot also come to individually believe and come into the experience of blessing as well. 

But generally it holds true, we know that, you know, we know in families the sense of the father tends to carry on sometimes generation to to generation, especially where there has been gross immorality and in this case idolatry, you know, that is being talked about here. 

SAM: Right, but I think even just in the two verses here, because verse six starts with him saying, “but showing mercy to the thousands” and he doesn’t say mercy to the thousands of fathers and their generations, it just says mercy to the thousands. so I think even within here we see if you’re, you know, father, your grandfather or your culture is rebellious against God, they’re idolatrous and that incur—that brings God’s judgment on that group of people or that family. That doesn’t mean that the individuals can’t repent and be spared that judgment. Now, maybe if you live in a country or for them, if they were in a society or city or civilization or whatever that had incurred God’s judgment or God’s wrath, then that does affect the entire group of people to an extent, but that doesn’t mean individuals like Rahab. 

PHILIPPE: Oh, well, that’s a perfect example because that we’re dealing with Israel, you know, just a generation later, you know, as they’re about to enter into the land and Rahab had heard about all the judgment had  occurred by Yahweh in Egypt and was already responsive and drawn to that and wanted to identify herself with the people of God. So she and the people were spared the judgment that occurred at Jericho, her family and also all whom she invited and who responded to that invitation who took refuge in her house on the wall and everything. That portion of the wall did not fall out too, but she and all her household and all of those that came were spared from that judgment and became incorporated into the people of God eventually, whereas we have even becomes an ancestress of Christ. 

SAM: Right. The judgment for Jericho was that all of the inhabitants were to be killed, right? And the livestock and God was extremely strict and he was very clear all and yet His mercy triumphed over his judgment for Rahab and her family. 

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SAM: The judgment for Jericho was that all of the inhabitants were to be killed, right? God was extremely strict and he was very clear all and yet his mercy triumphed over his judgment for Rahab and her family. And so I think Charles, if the question here is about current day, your father, your family, someone you know, their father, their family is, I mean, specifically in verse five and six, it’s talking about idolatry, but if we’re saying in rebellion against God and they’re incurring God’s wrath or God’s judgment does that inherently affect children or descendants and the answer would be yes, but that means that those individuals all have the opportunity to repent and receive God’s mercy rather than God’s judgment, right? 

PHILIPPE: Now some of them could take this too far and talk about a generational curses that have to be identified and we pinned it off or and everything and God deals with people individually. Anyone in any generation, any setting who responds, who’s seeking God will give them more light, they can come and hear the message of everlasting life and believe the promise of it, and be regenerated and born again and not under the wrath of God, not under this temporal wrath of God. Now as we say again, generally mercy triumphs over judgment, whereas it does a turning to God. 

SAM: And God wants to be merciful because we have other examples like Nineveh where Nineveh, their sins were filled up, God was ready to unleash His wrath upon them, ready for them to receive their judgment, but He wanted to extend one last opportunity through Jonah for them to repent and receive mercy. 

So I think if we’re applying this to modern day examples or family examples, then I think it would be very unlikely that God is judging this particular family or this particular group extremely harshly, they’re incurring His wrath and there’s no opportunity for them to repent. God is just and He is merciful and He wants His mercy to triumph over His judgment. So I think that there there are opportunities for individuals and families and people groups to repent and receive His mercy. 

PHILIPPE: Yes. And again, we come even to 2 Peter chapter 3 saying that with the Lord, His day is as a thousand years, a thousand years is as a day. So we’re not to be concerned about even God’s delay of His wrathful judgments, temporal judgment. He is willing to postpone, that if there is repentance and this concerns a temporal wrath, you know, of God. 

SAM: Yeah, you touched on it a little bit at the beginning, I think, but does this have the same to the inverse, the same application of the inverse. If a family is righteous, they’re God-fearing, they, you know, live as best they can, for us it would be following the example of Christ, but then a son or a grandson or a great grandson is rebellious, doesn’t believe, doesn’t walk in the light, doesn’t—becomes prodigal or however you want to look at it. You know, does this go the other way? Is that son magically protected because his father’s—

PHILIPPE: No, no, not at all. No, God’s, God’s temporal judgment follows. The wages of sin is death. And here we’re talking about a probably physical death, ultimately a death type of experience that can lead to a premature death. So a person who grew up in a, and was properly instructed in, had examples of a godly family yet, leaves that and goes to the far country as their prodigal son will eventually experience what the prodigal son experienced. You know, he wasted his wealth, you know, fell into poverty and had to take care of the pigs and longed to even eat the food of the pigs, you know, the pods and everything until he came to his senses and then went back home, but he experienced the temporal judgments on his life for doing that. 

But in his case, certainly he was a believer as we look at Luke 15 contextually. And once he returned home, he experienced the blessings. Once again, even though there will be still consequences, other consequences that may have followed, but a matter of wrath and judgment and mercy is always there for individuals, I think, for groups and for nations as well. 

SAM: All right, well, thank you for the question Charles. Thank you, Philippe, for your expertise on it. And let’s remember everybody, keep grace in focus. 

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On our next episode: can someone’s heart be so hard that they can never be saved? Please join us and until then, let’s keep grace in focus.