Numbers 14:18 –
‘The LORD is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.’
These are some powerful words from the Lord and they cut incredibly deep into our conscious. This one we need to look at in detail to fully understand the significance. First the Lord is slow to anger, but when He gets angry it’s big. As you read this chapter His initial punishment is very extreme, and Moses intercedes for the people. We need to be slow to anger, when that initial rush hits our impulse should be to arrest it and not throw the fickle middle finger!
Next we see God’s unfailing love. In looking at His anger, we see it’s all based out of love. As you two grow I see others in your age group doing the exact same things and it doesn’t faze me, but you I get angry. Why is that? It’s my unfailing love for you and only wanting the absolute best for you. The “love” I feel for you is the same God feels for His children, hence the anger for something that on the surface seems like no big deal.
Now we see God’s handling of sin, and this is where it gets refreshing and spooky at the same time. We are forgiven of all sin, especially now with the sacrifice of Jesus, but we are not excused from our sins. There is a huge difference here; forgiveness and punishment are two different things. I notice this often, where God will forgive me of something but I will still have to do the time. You can’t go off and invoking 1st John 1:9 and expect never to “pay” for your sins.
Finally the most disturbing thing is the last bit. The sins of the parents lay upon our children. That is terrifying since I would never want my transgressions to affect you. Now if you think about it our initial “sin” has formed you children both physically and mentally. Interestingly the way you deal with relationships is different, but appears to be a direct result of our talking sex before marriage lightly. If you want a great Biblical example of the sins of the parents look at David’s family. He sinned and although forgiven, the backlash of his affair/murder went on for generations. As you see, this verse is a significant one in the grand scheme of life and should be read over and over.