Sins of the Father

Sins of the father, and Mercy of the heavenly Father

Let us now make a covenant with our God to divorce our pagan wives and to send them away with their children. We will follow the advice given by you and by the others who respect the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law of God.

Ezra 10:3 NLT

            In this we find that Ezra has returned to the Israel to put God’s house (temple) back in order, the remnant of Israel that will begin to rebuild the nation (currently scattered due to sins and God’s punishment). We find that the men of Israel have been marrying wives that were not of the same faith. These marriages had resulted in children. The Israelite men decide to get right with God and to do so must the divorce their wives and send them and the children away.

            I have struggled with this because it seems harsh, God wanted to send women and children away. I can understand the pagan worshiping ones to some point, but children, too young to really have done wrong. That’s when we have to realize that God is not punishing them because of their actions, he is punishing them because the actions of their father. The sins of the fathers result in the suffering of the children.

            Following this line of historical thought, we can see this throughout the Old Testament, sins of the father falling on the generations after. In fact we see the disciples following in this idea of children reaping from the parents.

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.

John 9:1-4 NLT

Jesus then proceeds to heal the blind man.

What we see here should bring joy to our hearts. Under the law that no man could maintain, children were victims. They were at the mercy of the sins of the father. But thanks to Jesus and the MERCY of the heavenly FATHER we do not have to pay for the sins of our fathers but can be healed and set free to the glory of God.