31st October 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How are we affected by the deeds of our parents?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Previous articles are still available on the Premier Christian radio website – https:\/\/www.premierchristianradio.com\/Blogs2\/Yeshua-Explored \u00a0– (until they finally pull the plug!)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s also a subtle and insidious form of false worship that involves the energy we expend in our search for money and success. Mammon, that persistent false idol! Job claimed to be untouched by this in his self-justification:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf I have put my trust in gold<\/em> or said to pure gold, \u2018You are my security,\u2019 if I have rejoiced over my great wealth, the fortune my hands had gained, \u2026\u201d<\/em> (Job 31:24-25)<\/p>\n\n\n\n We read of Abraham accumulating much cattle and was, in his day, quite a wealthy man. But money was not an end in itself, it wasn\u2019t an idol to worship and we trust that he used his wealth responsibly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For I, the <\/em>Lord<\/em> your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And here are the consequences of misplaced worship. The only place in Scripture where God is termed \u2018jealous\u2019 is here, when dealing with idol worship. When the Israelites accepted God\u2019s offer at Sinai to be His favoured nation, His Kingdom of priests, what we saw in effect was a marriage, a bond of matrimony created between God and His \u2018chosen people\u2019. A Jew worshipping \u2018another god\u2019 is as a spouse engaging in adultery so God, the jilted partner, has every right to respond in jealous anger. The Hebrew word used here for \u2018jealous\u2019, qanna, <\/em>is related to a similar word, pronounced the same but featuring an \u2018h\u2019 (hey) rather than a silent \u201ca\u201d (aleph) as its final letter. This word takes the meaning of \u2018owning\u2019, giving the sense that the Israelite nation was God\u2019s possession and no foreign \u201cgod\u201d has the right to entice His people away from Him. So the bond between the Creator and His chosen people was a strong one, explaining why punishments for breaking this bond were going to be severe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet the punishment seems unfair. Why should the kids, grandkids and great-grandkids suffer for our mistakes? Before we judge according to our own standards \u2013 which is a dangerous thing to do of course and quite inadvisable – let\u2019s see if the Bible provides us with examples of this principle actually working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The one that really comes to mind is the result of the lengthy reign of wicked old King Manasseh. I wrote about this in God\u2019s Blueprint<\/em>: You can\u2019t choose your family and Hezekiah\u2019s son, Manasseh, was probably the worst King of all. \u201cAnd he did that which was bad in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the nations, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.\u201d<\/em> (2 Kings 21:2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Manasseh was the straw that broke the camel\u2019s back<\/em> and it is because of his many evil acts that God chose to hold back no longer: \u201cAnd the LORD spoke by His servants the prophets saying, Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, having done wickedly above all that the Amorite did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols: therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle<\/em>.\u201d (2 Kings 21:10-12)<\/p>\n\n\n\n But this doesn\u2019t happen during his reign. Ironically it happens during the reign of his saintly grandson, Josiah<\/em>, the righteous King who discovers the ancient scrolls of the Torah and dedicates his people to God, cleansing the land and the people: \u201cAnd there was no king before him like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with his entire being, and with all his might, according to all the Torah (Teaching) of Moses, nor did any like him rise after him.\u201d<\/em> (2 Kings 23:25)<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, in the very next verse: \u201cNevertheless the LORD did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath, by which His anger was kindled against Judah because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him\u201d.<\/em> (2 Kings 23:26)<\/p>\n\n\n\n God brought judgement in the reign of Josiah\u2019s son, the fourth generation since Manasseh<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One could see this principle as an effective deterrent to a people who cherished family relationships above everything. The period spanned by four generations is probably the upper limit for them all to be alive together and so, for someone\u2019s sins to have an effect on one\u2019s great-grandchildren would provoke feelings of sheer shame and horror. In modern history one wonders how our unforgiving culture would deal with any near descendants of such as Stalin, Hitler and their demonic henchmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, finally, there\u2019s a more positive spin offered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s a concrete statement of God\u2019s mercy trumping judgement. If you misbehave then your shame is going to be paraded to your living descendants, but if you behave yourself then your legacy will shine throughout all future days. Some translations prefer the term \u2018thousands of generations\u2019, which is close enough to saying \u2018forever\u2019 as you can get. If this is not an incentive for leading a good and faithful life, then I don\u2019t know what is! <\/p>\n\n\n\n