Exodus20:5 cancelled by Ezekiel 18:20

Passage Exodus 20:5(2nd book of Old testament):

5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.

This passage was one of the thought provoking topic this week. During sermon, pastor Rich Nathan said as he was contemplating on this he had this vision," If you have a stone in your hand and you are standing by the side of a still pond, you have 2 options either drop the stone or throw it in the pond. Here stone is symbolic of sin. If you drop it, that is the end. However, if you hurl it in the pond, it creates infinite ripples on which you have no control.

The above passage does confirm that our parents sins have consequences for us. However, the passage below helps to break the chain of this sin in our families.

Passage Ezekiel 18:20(6th century BC):

20 The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness. 

Contributed by Shyni

Recent Study

A finding compared 4 groups of kids who were given a test.....first group was supervised by an adult so that they don' t cheat....second group was told that they are being watched although none was physically present or really watched. Third and fourth groups were not supervised but the fourth group was told so, not the third. Not suprisingly the first group did not cheat, the fourth group had the most who cheated. The surprising finding was the second group was comparable to the first.

Finding: When we are told that we are being watched or someone is watching to whom we are accountable, we put forth our best behaviour. To bring about social sanity, this belief works like a charm. Something to think about.