As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
God swore by His own life that Israel would never again have occasion to use the proverb that children suffer for their fathers' sins. Every soul belongs to Him, the soul of the father and the soul of the son alike. Each person is accountable for his own sin, and the soul that sins shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father nor the father the iniquity of the son, but the righteousness of the righteous and the wickedness of the wicked rests upon each one himself. The just person who does what is lawful and right and lives by God's statutes shall surely live.
Such just living means refusing idolatry and oppression, dealing fairly, caring for the poor, and keeping God's statutes. Children who have reached years of accountability are responsible for their own actions and must cooperate with God in working out their own salvation. When parents command transgression of God's law, children must obey God first, yet without hating their parents. When underage children are compelled to do what plainly breaks God's commandments, the sin is charged to the parents who caused them to transgress.
The Lord speaks just the same whether people will hear or refuse to hear, and this calls for faithful work at all times and in all places. The verse brings messages of reproof and warning to the people of God, to mothers, to fathers, and to the children of Israel, so that they may not move blindly, and those who receive these messages with patience and a generous, teachable spirit will receive the Lord's blessing. The chapter upholds the duty to warn people who act against the light they have received, for they remain accountable for their course, and the Lord knows unjust acts and will judge oppression rather than justify it.
God swore by His own life that Israel would never again have occasion to use the proverb that children suffer for their fathers' sins. Every soul belongs to Him, the soul of the father and the soul of the son alike. Each person is accountable for his own sin, and the soul that sins shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father nor the father the iniquity of the son, but the righteousness of the righteous and the wickedness of the wicked rests upon each one himself. The just person who does what is lawful and right and lives by God's statutes shall surely live.
Such just living means refusing idolatry and oppression, dealing fairly, caring for the poor, and keeping God's statutes. Children who have reached years of accountability are responsible for their own actions and must cooperate with God in working out their own salvation. When parents command transgression of God's law, children must obey God first, yet without hating their parents. When underage children are compelled to do what plainly breaks God's commandments, the sin is charged to the parents who caused them to transgress.
The Lord speaks just the same whether people will hear or refuse to hear, and this calls for faithful work at all times and in all places. The verse brings messages of reproof and warning to the people of God, to mothers, to fathers, and to the children of Israel, so that they may not move blindly, and those who receive these messages with patience and a generous, teachable spirit will receive the Lord's blessing. The chapter upholds the duty to warn people who act against the light they have received, for they remain accountable for their course, and the Lord knows unjust acts and will judge oppression rather than justify it.