The Old Testament is far too often ignored by the body of Christ in New Testament times. At best, the main old stories are kept cherished, along with the psalms and possibly the proverbs. However, in general, most people do not really have any idea what the Old Testament is about. They tend to anachronistically interpret OT events, stories, and prophecies solely in terms of what it means to the Church. This is unfortunate as they are robbing themselves of a wonderful resource. However, some interpretive problems remain.
For instance, consider the issue of family punishment in the OT. If one committed a sin, his family often bore the punishment. Deuteronomy 5:9 states in part, “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.” As another example, consider Joshua 7:19-26, where Achan and his family are stoned, and then burned with fire. 2 Samuel 21:9 also details David’s giving over of seven sons of Saul to be killed.
By way of contrast consider Ezekiel 18: the entire chapter is about personal responsibility for sin regardless of what your father has done. It is explicitly in contrast to the passage in the Torah (Ezekiel ). What are we to make of these situations theologically and morally? First, one must understand Jewish cultural thought. In the ancient near east in general and Judaism in particular, the solidarity of the family unit was central. If the father (the head of the house) acted in a certain way it was as though his descendants acted in that way (cf. Hebrews 7:9, where Levi was said to pay tithes in Abraham to Melchizedek).
There are two ways to interpret what I will call “generational responsibility” (GR). Both of them may be embraced. First, GR means the proclivity or propensity for that particular sin would be passed on to the third and fourth generation. We see this both in the biblical record and from modern-day life experience. The same sins parents fall into are more readily done by the sons. However, this does not quite fully capture the concept in Deuteronomy 5:9. Second, GR means the consequences of the father’s sin are visited upon the third and fourth generation. I do not believe this principle alone captures sufficiently the idea of Deuteronomy 5 either. Why not?
The narrative of Achan compared with instructions in the Torah will help us here. Please recall that Achan’s entire family, including his children, were put to death.[1] However, Deuteronomy 24:16 clearly states, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” This verse comes on the heels of the command to pay the hired servant exactly what he has earned. The point is that the consequences and punishment cannot lawfully always be applied to the sons (death), so that it must be some combination of the two views above which adequately explains this principle. Hence, Achan’s family must have been witting accomplices (that only makes sense: how could they have avoided knowing he took the loot and buried it in their tent?).
Next, we must consider the context of Ezekiel 18. Culturally, this came during the exile of Israel Israel
Yet this idea is not really new. God both punished and rewarded individuals before (think of David, who is a perfect microcosm of this). We also do not see, in these examples, punishment of innocents. That is, we have reason to believe from the text itself that those who receive punishment are those who transgress. Consequences of sin may manifest themselves in the next generation (such as unfortunate transmission of disease contracted by the parent in an act of sin), but true GR only occurs in tandem with the next generation’s actually performing that sin.
God is righteous, and we know that sin has consequences that go beyond even ourselves. This principle does not offend our moral sensibilities. Yet we know God does not transmit the sin itself, though there is something to be said for everyone’s having a sin nature. In much the same way as man’s having original sin, GR means that while a particular iniquity is avoidable, it nevertheless will not be avoided by that person (in general). However, Ezekiel 18 teaches if he or she does avoid it, he has God’s blessing!
The particular case of David and the seven sons of Saul will be dealt with in a separate blog post. Feel free to comment below!
[1] There is always the answer that Joshua and Israel
All posts, and the blog Possible Worlds, are the sole intellectual property of Randy Everist. One may reprint part or all of this post so long as: a) full attribution is given (Randy Everist, Possible Worlds), b) all use is non-commercial, and c) one is in compliance with the Creative Commons license at the bottom on the main page of this blog.
