What Does Numbers 14:18 Mean?

[Zacki]

Numbers 14:18
18 ‘The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’

"visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation." ? I don't know what that means. It matters because I'm 2nd generation of someone who murdered 2 people then himself. ​

 

[Ace777]

"visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation." ? I don't know what that means. It matters because I'm 2nd generation of someone who murdered 2 people then himself.

If you want the spiritual answer then everyone talks about breaking the generational curse in and though the Blood of Jesus.

This video is the shortest on YouTube but there are others on this subject. Also if you want to have a discussion on Genetics and how we can inherit DNA and there are things we can do to prevent that DNA from expressing itself. Dr Ornish is the one that has done the most study on that.

Deuteronomy 7 9 "Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments."

 

[ViaCrucis]

Numbers 14:18​

18 ‘The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’​

​

"visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation." ? I don't know what that means. It matters because I'm 2nd generation of someone who murdered 2 people then himself. ​

The Scriptures also say that God doesn't punish people for the sins of their parents and grandparents.

In fact Jesus explicitly rebuked that premise. There was a man blind since birth, some of Jesus' followers asked Him, "Lord, why is he like this? Did he sin or did his parents sin?" Jesus tells them neither, it's to demonstrate the glory of God, then Jesus heals the blind man.

So here's the quick and dirty answer for you, specifically: It doesn't matter what your ancestors did, God doesn't hold us accountable to the sins of our ancestors, we are accountable only for our own sins. And that's how it's always been, Scripture affirms this:

"The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself." - Ezekiel 18:20

The passage in Numbers refers to what was said back in Exodus 34:7. This is not about God punishing people for the sins of their ancestors, it's about the consequences of actions. Poor choices in our past sometimes catch up with us, it's not about God punishing us later on for what we did earlier, instead it's that this happens. Actions have consequences. Suppose a man murdered someone, and then years later--though the man had perhaps served time, repented, got his life together--someone who knew the victim came and took vengeance on the man. Was this a punishment from God? No. Was this justice? No. But is a consequence. Not all consequences necessarily are felt in a person's lifetime. This can be especially true on a larger scale. As an American I can look to my own nation's history, to the national sins of my own country against the indigenous peoples, against black people. There are consequences--a long history of racial injustice results in people sick and tired of it, some people may resort to violence. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, referring to the riots of the Civil Rights Movement, while condemning violence also said that riots are the words of a people left without anything else they can say.

In the case here of the Israelites, the consequences of that first generation wouldn't be entirely felt until later. Not as God punishing, but because actions have consequences. God is faithful, but unrighteous acts have consequences--beyond just forgiveness or damnation.

There are some out there who teach a very dangerous false doctrine known as "generational curses", this teaching is not only unbiblical, it is anti-Christian. If anyone tells you that there is such a thing, do not believe it, and run away from it. These are wolves in sheep's clothing.

Now here's the Great News of the Gospel. Those sins which you are accountable for? Those were nailed to the cross with Jesus. Trust in Him. For He has made Satisfaction for you, for me, and indeed for the whole world by His precious blood shed for all of us. And through faith in Him we are reconciled to God and are truly pardoned. In Christ you have not only conquered, you are more than a conqueror. Christ has already beaten death, destroyed hell, and put the old devil in chains. Trust in Jesus, He has you. In everything, He has you.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Zacki]

Thanks, I'm relieved to know this. I was thinking I might be partially responsible for what my grandfather did or what my dad did. My dad was the most angry person I ever knew but he started turning it around for the better in his last years. He was much like his dad I'm told. I don't remember his dad but I was told what he did & I saw a clipping of the newspaper article.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Thanks, I'm relieved to know this. I was thinking I might be partially responsible for what my grandfather did or what my dad did. My dad was the most angry person I ever knew but he started turning it around for the better in his last years. He was much like his dad I'm told. I don't remember his dad but I was told what he did & I saw a clipping of the newspaper article.

On my father's side my grandfather was a narcissistic drunk. This wasn't something most people in the family knew, not even my dad or aunts and uncle. My grandmother protected the family from my grandfather's darker side, she was able to keep him under control. But as they got older, her mind began to wane, when she finally left us to be with the Lord Alzheimer's had all but taken her mental faculties away. It began with her Alzheimer's, my grandfather started going out of control, and after my grandmother passed the worst parts of him came to the surface. My uncle is a (now retired) pastor, and he and the elders of his church had to confront my grandfather on more than a few occasions because he was coming to church absolutely intoxicated and being incredibly rude and unbelievably inappropriate, especially toward the young women of the church. Eventually they had to tell my grandfather he couldn't come to church because he refused to even take the smallest amount of accountability for his actions. My grandfather lived with my uncle, which made it all the more difficult. And when my grandfather finally passed away, he still had never really taken accountability for the verbal and emotional abuse he put people through. He was a narcissist right until the end.

So for what it's worth, I am familiar with having those ugly family demons (not literal demons, I mean them in a figurative sense here). Here's the thing, my dad was a good father, he was a caring and loving man, and who was there for my younger brother and I even when our mother wasn't; often serving double duty as both mom and dad. He taught me to be a man of principle, character, compassion; to not be afraid of showing weakness, but demonstrating through his own character that one can be strong in weakness because a Christian is to exemplify the love and mercy of Jesus Christ. My father's character and strength is something that can be attributed to my grandmother, her own strength, her faith, her love for her family, her devotion to Jesus.

So there are no generational curses, there is no God punishing us for the sins of our fathers and forefathers. We have a God of unconquerable love toward us sinners, who sent His only-begotten Son. Our Lord Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. In Him we have the invincible, undefeatable, unconquerable love of God, the grace of God, the mercy and heart and compassion of God who looks upon us not in His wrath, but in His joyous mercy as a loving Father. The Father of our Lord Jesus has become, by so great a salvation as this, our Father as well; and we have received the Holy Spirit, who living in us has converted our hearts and made us children, to cry out to God, "Abba! Father!" And He hears us, and knows us, and is compassionate upon us. This is why our Lord Jesus taught us to pray:

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your Name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our sins even as we forgive those who have sinned against us..
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever.
Amen.

See how the Lord invites us not to pray only to His Father, but invites us to call Him our Father. To join with Him in calling His Father, our Father. See how the Lord invites us to see His Father as our Father, whose will and kingdom come, not only in the future at the end of the age; but even now--to give us all that we need.

The phrase "give us today our daily bread" is itself fascinating. Literally it can be translated "give us today our super-substantial bread". Here is not just the regular food for our bodies, but everything we need, our spiritual and physical wellbeing. He is the giver of every good gift, as St. James says in his letter, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, from the Father of lights". Our good Father cares for each of us, knowing the number of hairs on our heads, He knows the sparrows by name and cares when even one of those little birds dies. He adorns the fields with flowers. For this reason we can trust Him, as the good and bountiful gift-giver, to provide for us--in life and in death, when we are well and when we are sick, when things are going good in life and when thing are bad. In our weaknesses, in our sufferings, in everything we have a good and loving Father who cares more for us than we could ever possibly conceive. Whose love and care is so great that He sent Jesus, to bear the full weight and burden of a dying sinful sick world on His shoulders, to bleed and suffer on a Roman cross, and to be the Reconciliation between God and man--to restore what was broken and destroyed in Eden, and to bring many sons to glory. And He will not only restore us, from our sin and death to the forgiveness of our sins and the life of the resurrection. All of creation shall be redeemed and healed on that Last Day. New heavens and new earth.

"Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

For the will and kingdom of our God is that we should be reconciled to Him through His Son, and that all things should be given to His Son, in whom there is redemption and restoration of all things; and in the end it is the will of the Son that all should be in the hands of the Father. God shall be all in all.

Therefore, Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, unto the ages of ages. Amen.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Dan Perez]

Thanks, I'm relieved to know this. I was thinking I might be partially responsible for what my grandfather did or what my dad did. My dad was the most angry person I ever knew but he started turning it around for the better in his last years. He was much like his dad I'm told. I don't remember his dad but I was told what he did & I saw a clipping of the newspaper article.

And there is just one interesting thing about Num 14:18 , the KJV show that word GENERATION was ADDED and not in the

HEBREW TEXT >

dan p

 

[Rose_bud]

Numbers 14:18​

18 ‘The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’​

​

"visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation." ? I don't know what that means. It matters because I'm 2nd generation of someone who murdered 2 people then himself. ​

The phrase to the third and the fourth is considered a Hebraic idiom... it emphasizes the severe ramifications or as others pointed out, consequences of sin. However, it is juxtaposed with God's amazing love, His patience and longsuffering, His boundless mercy and grace.

Gods mercy is balanced with His justice. He demonstrates his faithfulness to sinners but also holds them accountable for their actions. But His grace far outweighs the consequences of our actions. The consequences is severe (as an expression (two to three) but His love as an expression (thousands) Deuteronomy 5:9-10.

It is to this character of God that the ancients appealed, His justice but also His mercy.

Notice as this passage continues, the parents rebellion results in their death in the wilderness. As God exacts judgement because of the parents rebellion, the children are spared, as part of a community they too suffer as they endure the wilderness as shepherds. However, the children will enjoy the benefit of the Promised land after forty years (Numbers 14:31-32).
Yet God graciously empowers the children to endure the parents failure, extending to them the same promises. They are given the same opportunity to demonstrate their faithfulness under Joshuas leadership. The lives of the parents become a cautionary example. Not to repeat the same mistakes of the parents but to trust in His faithfulness and reciprocate that faithfulness.

 

[ChristinaL]

Numbers 14:18​

18 ‘The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.’​

​

"visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation." ? I don't know what that means. It matters because I'm 2nd generation of someone who murdered 2 people then himself. ​

Basically it means like father like son. The son will inherit the wicked nature of the father and that family line will thus perish very quickly. Now this doesnt obviously apply to every family however