I taught a year-long Old Testament course for eight years, and I missed it. I'd taught the chapter as one of the most profound chapters in the entire OT narrative. I'd even taught the verse right before it every year. Let's start with what I did not miss: Exodus 20:5, which says, "I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation."
Now, this seems harsh, doesn't it? Even for the Old Testament, it feels like God goes a little far with his jealously. It helps to know that this particular punishment is for a special kind of sinner: idolators. In the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me," God gives some explanation. Verse four contains the restriction of carving no graven images or worshiping idols, which would violate the first commandment. Verse 5, then, is an extension of that thought. So, the sinners who will see the iniquities, or consequences, of their sins visited upon their children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren are those who set up and idol and served it.
Why would God be so harsh to idolators? He indicates his reason in the last phrase of verse 5, which I previously left off. Here's the end of the verse again with the last phrase included: ". . . visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me." According to God Himself, people who worship idols hate God. And that's why he's so harsh in his punishment of them.
Every teaching on these verses that I've ever seen, including my own for eight years, focuses on God's punishment for sin, which means we've all missed one of the most powerful expressions of God's grace and love, not only in the Old Testament, but the entire Bible. That expression can be found in verse 6, "
Now, this seems harsh, doesn't it? Even for the Old Testament, it feels like God goes a little far with his jealously. It helps to know that this particular punishment is for a special kind of sinner: idolators. In the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me," God gives some explanation. Verse four contains the restriction of carving no graven images or worshiping idols, which would violate the first commandment. Verse 5, then, is an extension of that thought. So, the sinners who will see the iniquities, or consequences, of their sins visited upon their children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren are those who set up and idol and served it.
Why would God be so harsh to idolators? He indicates his reason in the last phrase of verse 5, which I previously left off. Here's the end of the verse again with the last phrase included: ". . . visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me." According to God Himself, people who worship idols hate God. And that's why he's so harsh in his punishment of them.
Every teaching on these verses that I've ever seen, including my own for eight years, focuses on God's punishment for sin, which means we've all missed one of the most powerful expressions of God's grace and love, not only in the Old Testament, but the entire Bible. That expression can be found in verse 6, "