Ezekiel 18 - Sins of our Parents

 “Yet you ask, ‘Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.
 “But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die." (Ezekiel 18:19-21 NIV)

“You shall have no other gods before me.

 You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord 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, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:3-6)

 

Whether the children are punished for their parents sins comes up every time we discuss the ten commandments in confirmation classes. Yes, sometimes, the young people, discuss their parents sins! They are not as secret as you might think or hope. Your children know and others know as well. The youth are concerned about your sins; for your sakes as well as for their own. They become especially worried when they hear that they might be punished for something they have not done. I always reassure them that they will not be punished, according to the word we've received through Ezekiel. But, what we have to be careful of is that we do not inherit, by learned behavior, that which is wrong. God has given us His Spirit of Truth, by which we can discern the difference between what is right and what is wrong. We do not have to follow in our parents' footsteps if they have chosen a path which leads us away from God's will for us.

 

Likewise, I think we often tend to blame parents for the sins of their children. Sometimes, the case may be that they have learned these sins from their parents. But, just as often, they may have learned them elsewhere. In today's society there are a lot more adults than parents that children are learning from.

 

Be careful then what we teach our children and our neighbor's children. 

 

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—  “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." (Eph 6:12)

God's Peace - Pr. J