You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.     Exodus 20:5-6 NKJV

We know we serve a just God, right? But I can recall reading this and thinking, “That’s not fair.” Why should any child have to pay for the sins of their father or mother? That doesn’t really sound like justice.

If we look at historical accounts in the Bible, we know that after Adam and Eve sinned and had children, their son Cain killed their son Abel. We know from Genesis chapter 6 that God decided to bring the flood because mankind had become so corrupt. Due to Noah’s righteousness, however, God saved Noah, his immediate family, and the animals.

Then I read chapter 21 in 2 Samuel, verses 1-6. God had brought drought and famine on Israel. David was unsure why God was punishing them, so he asked God about it. God told him that all of Israel was paying for the sin Saul had committed when he tried to exterminate the Gibeonites. In order to save the nation of Israel, David had to avenge the Gibeonites. He called them to him and asked what they wanted to make things right. They asked for seven of Saul’s male descendants so that they may hang them. David selected seven men of Saul’s sons and grandsons and handed them over to the Gibeonites.

God had strictly forbidden human sacrifice for the Israelites. This was a common practice among some of the pagan nations. However, there had to be atonement made for Saul’s sin. So, here we see Sauls’s descendants paying for his sin.

There is something we need to keep in mind here. How we live will affect our children and our grandchildren. That may not seem to be fair, but it’s true. It’s true because our children and our grandchildren watch us. We have influence over them from a very young age. They look to us for how they should speak, how they should act, and how they should treat others.

This is why the Bible stresses the importance of being obedient to God and trusting in God. This is why God told the Israelites in Deuteronomy 6:7, “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” He was speaking of the Ten Commandments and stressing the importance of making faith an integral part of every moment spent with their families.

This is why Proverbs 22:6 says we should, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” The phrase “train up” comes from the Hebrew word “chanak”, which means to deliberately, intentionally, teach, guide and dedicate a child to moral and spiritual development. This Scripture passage teaches us that if a child is guided on the right path from a very early age, it ensures lasting moral and spiritual influence throughout their life.

On the other hand, if a child is raised without moral and spiritual guidance or influence, they are less likely to exercise good moral judgment later in life. If a child sees the sins their parents commit, they are more likely to commit the same sins and maybe even take it up a notch. They are also more likely to raise their children in the same way and so we see a generational escalation of moral depravity.

If you want to get your child off to a good start, make Jesus a part of your everyday life. Teach your children to develop a good, solid, loving relationship with their Lord and Savior. Show them what it looks like to live a life of faith and obedience to Him.

You send them to school to prepare them for their life here on earth. Why would you not take them to church to prepare them for eternity?

Have a great day!