Exodus 34
In spite of Israel's apostasy, God is willing to renew the covenant. He is willing as He said to be merciful and to forgive. How often we have heard the words from this lesson:
The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. (vs 6 - NRSV)
We've heard them, but do we always believe them for everyone other than ourselves?
The scripture tells us that He will forgive our inquity, yet at the same time He will by no means clear the guilty but visit the iniquity of the parents upon the children. As we read this it can seem so harsh. I have had some very long conversations about this with every confirmation class I've ever led. Think about this: What happens to the children when a parent or other adult they are close to lives a particular lifestyle? What happens when they do not worship the LORD, but go chasing after other gods - gods like money, fame, prestige, etc? What happens when parents twist the Christian faith around mixing other religions into it as they attempt make God more into a god that they can live comfortably with? The children are taught what their parents believe, of course. The children learn a false religion and they learn to worship false gods - idols. They do not attend Worship for they can worship on the golf course or in the shopping mall. They do not read scripture because they are more pleased with self-help books. Self-help books, after all, tell us how inside of us all is goodness and the power to control our own destiny. Hogwash! Here is our destiny: we shall all die. We will all be returned to the ground from which we are made. Can any self-help book help us with that? I dare say not... There is only one who can defeat death (and has defeated it) and that is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. This Jesus lives. He died for you and He lives for you and because he does, so shall all who believe in Him. If we believe this, why would we teach our children otherwise? Why would we fail to teach them the truth? Why would we teach them to follow after other gods? This is an inquity of parents that will be passed down to their children. Who will suffer the consequences for our false teachings, for our apostasy, for our false gods?
But, for those who would turn to the LORD and cast away all their idols, the LORD will keep steadfast love for the thousandth generation. (vs 6)
In spite of Israel's apostasy, God is willing to renew the covenant. He is willing as He said to be merciful and to forgive. How often we have heard the words from this lesson:
The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. (vs 6 - NRSV)
We've heard them, but do we always believe them for everyone other than ourselves?
The scripture tells us that He will forgive our inquity, yet at the same time He will by no means clear the guilty but visit the iniquity of the parents upon the children. As we read this it can seem so harsh. I have had some very long conversations about this with every confirmation class I've ever led. Think about this: What happens to the children when a parent or other adult they are close to lives a particular lifestyle? What happens when they do not worship the LORD, but go chasing after other gods - gods like money, fame, prestige, etc? What happens when parents twist the Christian faith around mixing other religions into it as they attempt make God more into a god that they can live comfortably with? The children are taught what their parents believe, of course. The children learn a false religion and they learn to worship false gods - idols. They do not attend Worship for they can worship on the golf course or in the shopping mall. They do not read scripture because they are more pleased with self-help books. Self-help books, after all, tell us how inside of us all is goodness and the power to control our own destiny. Hogwash! Here is our destiny: we shall all die. We will all be returned to the ground from which we are made. Can any self-help book help us with that? I dare say not... There is only one who can defeat death (and has defeated it) and that is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. This Jesus lives. He died for you and He lives for you and because he does, so shall all who believe in Him. If we believe this, why would we teach our children otherwise? Why would we fail to teach them the truth? Why would we teach them to follow after other gods? This is an inquity of parents that will be passed down to their children. Who will suffer the consequences for our false teachings, for our apostasy, for our false gods?
But, for those who would turn to the LORD and cast away all their idols, the LORD will keep steadfast love for the thousandth generation. (vs 6)
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