Have you ever thought that your parents’ instructions made absolutely no sense at all, and decided to take your own action?? To disregard their instructions, and do things your own way??
Well, by definition, that is disobedience – a sin.
Have you ever observed a child publically disrespecting their parent(s)?? Outright telling their parents “No.”, back-talking, or even arguing with them in a grocery store, in a super market, in a restaurant, etc?
Then you think to yourself, “My child will NOT do that to me.”, but then you turn around and disrespect your own parent in a similar (or different) fashion??
Chances are your child will give you the same treatment at some point – that’s justice: the reaping of what you sowed.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
-Galatians 6:7-8
If you disrespect, disobey, and dishonor your parents, you are entitled to the same treatment (whether you receive it or not, it’s a contract you’re signing yourself away to).
God is a just and righteous God, and he told us in advance what we should and shouldn’t do -- He even told us what the consequences would be for our actions, in some cases.
But something that isn’t said at face value is this: what the parents do, the children will also do. You have to dig to find the proof of that – and I have.
There is a recorded instance that is almost bizarre:
And it came to pass, when he was come near into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
-Genesis 12:11-13
Abram (later called Abraham) was asking Sarai (later called Sarah) to claim that she was his sister, instead of his wife: because he feared he would be killed by the Egyptians’ desire of her beauty. And ironically enough, even after this instance, Abram repeats his mistake again in Genesis 20.
***By the way, he had no reason to be afraid. Because God had already promised that He would raise a great nation from Abram: and since Abram had yet to have any children, it seems obvious that God’s promise had not yet come to fruition. So he had absolutely no justification in his worries/fears***
Notice, this is LONG BEFORE Isaac is born.
Now read this recorded happening (a full 14 chapters later):
And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
Genesis 26:7
This verse is in reference to Isaac & Rebekah (Abram’s son who, again, was not born at the time of Abram’s actions).
While it is bizarre enough that the father and son should make the exact same mistake, for the exact same reasons, that still isn’t the interesting part:
Their decisions spawned from the same reasoning of fear (or it could have been lack of faith).
As Abraham’s child, Isaac would be part of the great nation that God promised to raise from Abraham. One son is hardly a nation. So again, Isaac had no reason to believe that he would die any time soon (in this case, over Rebekah’s beauty).
And it was the same for Abraham: the promise from God was nowhere near fulfilled. So he also had no reason to fear dying that soon.
A similar sin and shortcoming that is recorded in the SAME blood line, is involving Abraham’s wife (Sarai), and Jacob’s wife (Rachel) [Jacob was Abraham’s grandson].
Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
And Sarai Abram’s wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
Genesis 16:1-4
This was also a lack of faith on Sarai’s part (God promised to raise a nation from Abram, and since she was his wife, she was eventually going to have children). So both the husband and wife were lacking in faith that God’s promise would be fulfilled.
In the long run, this lack of faith resulted in family problems between the three, and Hagar’s son (Ishmael).
Then in Genesis 30, the second generation of Abraham’s descendants was victim to the same lack of faith:
And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, so that I may also have children by her.
And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.
And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.
Genesis 30:1, 3-5
But we see that obvious mistakes were repeated again and again through this blood line – all of which were caused by lack of faith (and/or fear).
God makes references about the iniquities of the fathers being visited on the children up unto the third and fourth generations (Exodus 20:5 & 34:7, and in Deuteronomy 5:9). And we see that through the blood line of Abram, to Isaac, and then to Jacob.
Is this to say that we are bound by some fate to make the same mistakes?? No. Because in each case, the Bible shows us the circumstances in which these individuals made their wrong decisions. In each case, they had a choice and the chance to make the right decision.
What this does mean however, is hidden within the verses above:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.
-Exodus 20:5
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression of sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and fourth generation.
-Exodus 34:7
Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate me.
-Deuteronomy 5:9
Firstly, the word “iniquity” does not refer to punishment or consequence: when traced back to the root meaning, it can mean “perversity.” So the perverse act will be visited upon the children.
The word “visited” and “visiting” had many different uses when traced back, one of which was “to commit” “to commit for care.” So the perverse act will be cared for by the children, or the children will have a taste for it (so they will be tempted, or they will have a curiosity).
The word “hate,” when traced back, does not have to imply a hatred of God; rather, it can actually mean a hatred for wisdom (in other words, the failure of the fathers to make wise decisions).
So in summery, the sins we refuse to overcome [and I say refuse, because we always can chose to obey, as God will not tempt us with more than we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13)] will continue to remain in our lives, even in the form of our children’s temptations, all the way into our great grandchildren’s lives.
And the third and fourth generational stretch could continue indefinitely, as the consequence is renewed with every generation (if that father does not overcome the sin/temptation when it is presented to him, then by default, he has made an unwise decision and restarted the cycle for his third and fourth generations).
I believe, from all of this research, my own reasoning, and from other instances recorded in the Bible, that those three verses tell us that the temptation or struggle will be passed down to our children. And I have seen that happen many, many, many times, in my circles of friends and associates (in which the children follow in the same sins as their parents, or they struggle with being tempted by the same thing their parents were).
You hear phrases in movies and books like, “I can’t do it. I can’t undo what my father did. The same blood flows in my veins, the same weakness!”
In some ways, that’s not so hard to believe after reading these passages. I’ve seen young adults, whose parents struggled with drugs in their youth, fall into the same trap despite being warned and discouraged their whole lives. I’ve seen friends who have had parents divorce or separate, and even though they have been told and warned their entire lives of the damage that it does, they do the same thing. And the list of different sins, struggles, and degree of stumbling goes on, and on.
But I believe this literally points to the fact that the sins and weaknesses we fail to renounce, resist, and overcome, are passed down to our children. Will they suffer consequences of your sins? That depends, obviously -- but if they do, they aren’t being punished; they are being affected and inconvenienced by the results of your sin (and that fault is solely on you).
But for our children’s sake, if nothing else, we should strive to not just overcome sin, but to chase it out of our lives completely! Remove all traces of it -- temptations, reminders, strongholds, EVERYTHING! Be not affiliated with it in any way.
Now I’ll revisit Rachel’s lack of faith, in the past verse.
While she was not a direct blood descendant of Abram & Sarai, she was Jacob’s wife for a long time before her act of foolishness – in other words, they were already one flesh.
The mentions of “one flesh” in regards to marriage are in Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:5-6, Mark 10:8, and in Ephesians 5:31.
In all of the above references, “one” has two potential root meanings (the meaning in Genesis is different than in the latter), and “flesh” has two potential root meanings (again, the meaning in Genesis differs from the other mentions). The traced meanings I’m about to list are only in regards to marriage. The others are referring solely to numerical meanings and the sin nature of man, literal flesh of a man, etc:
one – Strong’s reference numbers 259 and 3391
259 – once and for all
3391 – only one, someone
flesh – Strong’s reference numbers 1320 and 4561
1320 – kindred, blood-relations
4561 – generation or relationship
The Bible’s first reference to “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24) literally means “kindred once and for all.”
The second can literally mean, “they shall be only one generation.”
So when Jacob and Rachel were married, they were considered one generation, just as their children would be their next generation (they wouldn’t be considered the third generation of Abram’s family, and the third of Lot’s family, for example. They are considered the same generation). That said, I believe it’s possible that that doorway of sin/temptation/weakness could very well have been opened up to Rachel upon their marriage.
But I believe it is more likely a much simpler explanation.
What followed Jacob wasn't the curse of having a foolish wife -- but rather, a delicate and very wrong situation and temptation. Because neither he, nor Abram, nor Sarai, nor Rachel, HAD to choose to handle things the way they did. Especially Abram and Jacob, seeing as it was ultimately their decision.
But they made the wrong decision in trying please their wives by complying with their wishes. And the end results were greatly troublesome, and of course, Abram's original weakness in that situation inevitably led to Jacob's same problem. That's not to say Abram was to blame for Jacob's sin -- by no means is anyone else accountable for another's sin. But he was probably responsible for the situation his son was put in; and for the temptation that Jacob was presented with.
As you can see, the stakes on sin are much higher and farther reaching than most think. And there is no such thing as a sin that only affects you, and doesn’t hurt anyone else (so many people try to justify their sinning, through that lie).
If nothing else, it hurts God. He is not a callus God, as He aptly tells all throughout the Bible (in words, and in actions) – and every time you sin, you hurt God, just as you would hurt a friend, spouse, or family member, if you sinned against them.
All sin is the same in the eyes of God: it bears guilt and consequence. By even the simplest, most insignificant and unknown little lie, we should be condemned to hell.
It hurts God just as much to see us steal a candy bar as it does to watch us steal a life.
Sin is sin: period. And as Christian warriors, we should strive to overcome sin, and not fall susceptible to it.
So before every word you speak, before every action you take, before everything you write, before anything you encourage, before anything you approve of, and before everything you don’t stand up for, consider your actions, or the lack thereof, wisely!
In every thing you touch, encourage, say, write, or are passive about, you leave Jesus’ hand print inked all over it!
Would you feel right about putting Christ’s handprint on that conversation you had yesterday, where you swore and took the Lord’s name in vain??
Would you feel right about putting His name on that argument you had with your parent??
Would you feel right about putting Christ’s handprint on that facebook post you put up last night??
That tweet you sent out?
That text you sent?
That movie you watched?
That song you listened to?
That advice you gave?
What you said to that friend?
What you didn’t say to that friend?
The example you set?
The example you DIDN’T set?
The way you handle that issue at work?
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