Does God Punish Children for the Sins of the Fathers?
Categories: Genesis Class Discussion, Biblical Theology Resources, Romans Bible Study Materials
Question:
You said that God does not punish anyone for sins that they did not commit. How does this square with the verses in the OT where God says that he will "visit the sins of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations"?
Answer:
This question came up both in class and in Bible study. First of all, I want to stick to my guns that God does not punish anyone for sins they have not committed. For starters, refer to Deuteronomy 24:16,
"Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin."
Likewise, Nahum 1:2-3, Matthew 16:27, Romans 2:6, and Revelation 22:12 also demonstrate that God, as the Righteous Judge, does not condemn the innocent, but only the guilty: those who have sinned. The idea that God punishes people for sins they do not commit is simply not supported throughout Scripture.
So, then the question: What do you do with Exodus 20:5 and Deuteronomy 5:9? To understand the issue, we need to examine these verses in their 2nd Commandment context:
8 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Deuteronomy 5:8-10)
1. "Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children" is tied exclusively to the 2nd Commandment. No such statement is joined to the other 10 Commandments.
2. The third or fourth generation is non-definitive, meaning it could be to the third and/or the fourth generation, implying the possibility that this is some sort of literary device such as a colloquialism or idiomatic expression (see Amos 1:3,6,11,13; 2:1,4,6 and Proverbs (30:15,18,21,29).
3. The numerical contrasting of those who hate God with those who love God (3/4 vs 1000) is the largest numerical contrast in the Bible (Stuart, Doug, Exodus, pg 454).
Taken together, Doug Stuart interprets the meaning as follows: God will punish generation after generation for their sin, if they keep doing the same sorts of sins that prior generations did. In other words, if the children continue to commit the sins their parents did, they will receive the same punishments as their parents.
Gordon Hugenberger's view is that the third or fourth generation implies a household, meaning that God will punish households for their idolatry, or in other words, for having household gods [Genesis 31: 30, 34; Judges 17:5; Hosea 3:4; Zech. 10:2]. For example, in the Laban narrative, we see that Laban's household, including Laban, his children, and his grandchildren kept household gods. In this case, Laban's household, represented as 3-4 generationss, engaged in idolatry with household gods. "Three or four generations" represents a household. Thus, under Hugenberger's view, God will punish households for having household gods.
I don't disagree with Stuart's conclusion, but I think Hugenberger's interpretation is stronger, given the context. Household gods were a common phenomina in the ancient near east. The second commandment forbids idolatry, whether in a pagan temple or in one's own house. If a household engages in idolatry, then everyone engaging in such idolatry is guilty and without excuse [Romans 1:19-23].
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