QUESTION: In numbers 14:18 the Bible says God does not leave sinners unpunished from the iniquities of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation. Does that mean that we get punished for our sins and our grandparents’ sin even if we ask for forgiveness? Will our grandchildren suffer punishment because of our wrongdoing? Lydia
RESPONSE: THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PUNISHMENT AND CONSEQUENCES. Our children do not receive our PUNISHMENT but rather they suffer the CONSEQUENCES of our choices. THIS IS WHAT NUMBERS 14:18 IS ABOUT. Otherwise, biblical theology teaches that IT IS THE SOUL THAT SINS THAT SHALL PERISH (Ezekiel 18, and Romans 2:6-11). To argue that anyone’s mistakes are punished on another person is to implicate the Judge as one who exercises INJUSTICE. And if God as a judge does this, then the entire legal/Justice system crumbles.
FORGIVENESS
I would also like to point out something about divine forgiveness. FORGIVENESS IS A SIN BUSINESS AND IT FIXES THE WRATHFUL ATTITUDE OF GOD TOWARDS THE SINNER BUT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF ONE’S SINNING. An adulterous person, for example, will be forgiven once and for all the sinning of adultery but if he/she slept with an H.I.V positive person the forgiven sinner will contract the virus, and he/she will be an H.I.V positive forgiven sinner. If the same adulterous person raised exemplary his children in an adulterous manner, his children will suffer all that adulterous people suffer as a consequence but not as a punishment from God.
CHOICES AND CONSEQUENCES
It is important, therefore, for all of us alive today to understand that while we have a CHOICE TO MAKE ON CHOICES TO MAKE AND NOT TO, NONE OF US HAS AN ALTERNATIVE WHEN IT COMES TO A PARTICULAR CONSEQUENCE OF A PARTICULAR CHOICE. Yes, you are forgiven, but the consequence of your choice is a default-setting. God forgave King David’s adultery but the child had to die, God forgave Paul as a Jihadist-Pharisee, but that cost him an eye and while his (Paul’s) shadow healed all sorts of ailment, his eye never cured.
Let me also mention that this is not fatalism but rather a universal law that can only be interrupted by DIVINE DELIVERANCE which, unfortunately, is a divine prerogative and therefore, something we need not pray for but to wish God wills to help us out as he fulfills his WILL. When such deliverance happens, and we are delivered from the consequences of our choices, that is when we are incidental beneficiaries of divine providence. This, therefore, is not something a sober Christian can/should bank-on.
WHAT WE ARE SAVED FROM
This is why I preach that we are not saved by the FORGIVENESS of God but rather by the GRACE of God through his FAITH (Ephesians 2:8). We repent and ask for forgiveness to ensure that God’s wrathful attitude is not provoked by our indifference to our sinning. However, if forgiveness was a means to eternal salvation then the Cross of Jesus Christ minus the resurrection and man’s belief wouldn’t be necessary.
But we know, that after the Cross the arch-enemy awaits and that enemy is eternal death. We are therefore not saved from our moral mistakes which forgiveness (we seek in regular repentance) deals with, but rather we are saved from DEATH and DEATH-ETERNAL. Be notified that we are not even saved from the punishment of God. I would rather be punished by God and stay in heaven after serving my punishment than being banished to Hell eternally through eternal death. Many Christians stereotype punishment and almost replace or include it in the list of the four forces (SIN, LAW, WRATH, and DEATH) from which are saved from. However, God as our parent is entitled to punish his mistaken children (Revelation 3:19). God as our shepherd carries both the rod and the staff not just for wolves but also for wayward sheep (Psalm 23:4). He is the God who ordained through a particular culture’s wisdom that: “Spare the rod, spoil the child” (Proverbs 13:24).
So let’s not behave to avoid divine punishment, we are humans and therefore mistakes are inevitable, and it is under the jurisdiction of our heavenly parent to choose how he teaches us the lesson. Once we understand this, we start focusing on not behaving right to save the next generation but to behave for the right quality of life while in a chaotic world.
I wish I could continue but let me pose here meanwhile.
God bless you I invoke TRUTH, WISDOM, and FAITH (2Tim 2:7)
Priest M.I.T WHITE (+256-775 822833 for further inquiries)
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)
QUESTIONING TO BELIEVE, BELIEVING TO LIVE
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 