Exodus chapters 20-33

1. Exodus chapters 20-33 Punishing to the 3rd and 4th generation

2. “Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the LORD your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 20:5 GNB)

3. “Then Moses requested, ‘Please, let me see the dazzling light of your presence.’ The LORD answered, ‘I will make all my splendor pass before you and in your presence I will pronounce my sacred name.’” (Exodus 33:18-19 GNB)

4. “The LORD came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and pronounced his holy name, the LORD. The LORD then passed in front of him and called out, ‘I, the LORD, am a God who is full of compassion and pity, who is not easily angered and who shows great love and faithfulness. I keep my promise for thousands of generations and forgive evil and sin…” (Exodus 34:5-7 GNB)

5. “…but I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.” (Exodus 34:7 GNB)

6. The command to punish to the 3rd and 4th generation is “contrary to every principle of moral judgment.“

7. “The LORD spoke to me and said, ‘What is this proverb people keep repeating in the land of Israel? 'The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' ‘As surely as I am the living God,’ says the Sovereign LORD, ‘you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more.’” (Ezekiel 18:1-3 GNB)

9. “Suppose there is a truly good man, righteous and honest. He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife or have intercourse with a woman during her period. He doesn't cheat or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security; he feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. He doesn't lend money for profit. He refuses to do evil and gives an honest decision in any dispute. Such a man obeys my commands and carefully keeps my laws. He is righteous, and he will live,’ says the Sovereign LORD.” (Ezekiel 18:5-9 GNB)

10. “Then suppose this man has a son who robs and kills, who does any of these things that the father never did. He eats sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines and seduces other men's wives. He cheats the poor, he robs, he keeps what a borrower gives him as security. He goes to pagan shrines, worships disgusting idols, and lends money for profit. Will he live? No, he will not. He has done all these disgusting things, and so he will die. He will be to blame for his own death.” (Ezekiel 18:10-13 GNB)

11. “Now suppose this second man has a son. He sees all the sins his father practiced, but does not follow his example. He doesn’t worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn’t seduce another man’s wife or oppress anyone or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security. He feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. He refuses to do evil and doesn’t lend money for profit. He keeps my laws and obeys my commands. He will not die because of his father’s sins, but he will certainly live.” (Ezekiel 18:14-17 GNB)

12. “His father, on the other hand, cheated and robbed and always did evil to everyone. And so he died because of the sins he himself had committed. But you ask, 'Why shouldn't the son suffer because of his father’s sins?' The answer is that the son did what was right and good. He kept my laws and followed them carefully, and so he will certainly live. It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father’s sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do.” (Ezekiel 18:18-20 GNB)*

14. “If a man takes a second wife he must continue to give his first wife the same amount of food and clothing and the same rights that she had before.” (Exodus 21:10, GNB)

15. “Some Pharisees came and tried to trap Him with this question: ‘Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?’ ‘Haven’t you read the Scriptures?’ Jesus replied. ‘They record that from the beginning 'God made them male and female.' And He said, 'This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.' Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.’ ‘Then why did Moses say in the law that a man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away?’ they asked.

16. Jesus replied, ‘Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended.’” (Matthew 19:3-8, NLT)

17. “The people of Israel are as stubborn as mules. How can I feed them like lambs in a meadow?” (Hosea 4:16, GNB)

18. How does God punish? • God’s wrath • God’s justice • Destructive OT stories • The Cross • Final end of sin and sinners

19. Godscharacter.com

21. “Esau and Jacob were brothers, but I have loved Jacob and his descendants, and have hated Esau and his descendants.’” (Malachi 1:2-3 – GN) • “The LORD says, ‘The people I love are doing evil things.’” (Jeremiah 11:15 – GNB)

22. Oriental Hyperbole • “Hyperbole is rhetorical exaggeration that is not intended to be taken literally and that produces emphasis in serious literature… • “verbal extravagance” • “to make a striking contrast” • “emphasis on the extremes”

23. Oriental Hyperbole • “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26 – NKJV) • “If you want to be My disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:26 NLT)

24. God’s wrath • “My anger will flame up like fire and burn everything on earth. It will reach to the world below and consume the roots of the mountains. I will bring on them endless disasters and use all my arrows against them.” (Deuteronomy 32:22,23 – GN) • “They fail to see why they were defeated; they cannot understand what happened. Why were a thousand defeated by one, and ten thousand by only two? The Lord, their God, had abandoned them; their mighty God had given them up” (Deuteronomy 32:29,30 – GN)

25. God’s wrath • “They will abandon me and worship the pagan gods of the land they are about to enter. When that happens, I will become angry with them; I will abandon them, and they will be destroyed. Many terrible disasters will come upon them, and then they will realize that these things are happening to them because I, their God, am no longer with them.’” (Deuteronomy 31:16-17 - GN)

27. Philistines

28. “They angered him with their heathen places of worship, and with their idols they made him furious. God was angry when he saw it, so he rejected his people completely. He abandoned his tent in Shiloh, the home where he had lived among us. He allowed our enemies to capture the Covenant Box, the symbol of his power and glory.” (Psalm 78:58-61 – GN)

29. Babylonian captivity

30. “I will fight against you with all my might, my anger, my wrath, and my fury. I will kill everyone living in this city; people and animals alike will die of a terrible disease…. • Anyone who stays in the city will be killed in war or by starvation or disease...It will be given over to the king of Babylonia, and he will burn it to the ground.” (Jeremiah 21:5,6,9-10 – GN)

31. “You have brought this on yourself by abandoning the LORD your God when he led you on his way… Your own wickedness will correct you, and your unfaithful ways will punish you. You should know and see how evil and bitter it is for you if you abandon the LORD your God...” (Jeremiah 2:17-19 – GN) • “Judah, you have brought this on yourself by the way you have lived and by the things you have done. Your sin has caused this suffering; it has stabbed you through the heart.” (Jeremiah 4:18 – GN)

32. “The LORD has abandoned his people like a lion that leaves its cave. The horrors of war and the LORD’s fierce anger have turned the country into a desert.” (Jeremiah 25:38 – GN) • “The LORD, the God of Israel, told me to go and say to King Zedekiah of Judah, ‘I, the LORD, will hand this city over to the king of Babylonia, and he will burn it down. (Jeremiah 34:2 – GN)

33. “You will feel my anger when I turn it loose on you like a blazing fire. And I will hand you over to brutal men, experts at destruction.” (Ezekiel 21:31 – GN) • “The king killed the young men of Judah even in the Temple. He had no mercy on anyone, young or old, man or woman, sick or healthy. God handed them all over to him.” (2 Chronicles 36:17 – GN)

34. “On the day of his anger he abandoned even his temple.” (Lamentations 2:1 – GN)

35. Assyrian captivity

36. “I will attack the people of Israel and Judah like a lion. I myself will tear them to pieces and then leave them. When I drag them off, no one will be able to save them. I will abandon my people until they have suffered enough for their sins and come looking for me. Perhaps in their suffering they will try to find me.” (Hosea 5:14,15 – GN)

37. “They insist on turning away from me. They will cry out because of the yoke that is on them, but not one will lift it from them. How can I give you up, Israel? How can I abandon you?” (Hosea 11:7,8 – GN)

38. The Romans destroy Jerusalem

39. “In this way they have brought to completion all the sins they have always committed. And now God’s anger has at last come down on them!” (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 – GN)

40. God’s anger is revealed from heaven against all the sin and evil of the people whose evil ways prevent the truth from being known. God punishes them, because what can be known about God is plain to them, for God himself made it plain.” (Romans 1:18,19 – GN)

41. “They say they are wise, but they are fools; instead of worshiping the immortal God, they worship images made to look like mortals or birds or animals or reptiles. And so God has given those people over to do the filthy things their hearts desire, and they do shameful things with each other. They exchange the truth about God for a lie; they worship and serve what God has created instead of the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever! Amen. Because they do this, God has given them over to shameful passions….Because those people refuse to keep in mind the true knowledge about God, he has given them over to corrupted minds, so that they do the things that they should not do.” (Romans 1:22-26,28 – GN)

42. Divine Jujitsu • “Way of yielding”

44. “For sin pays its wage---death.” (Romans 6:23 GNB)

45. “Because of our sins he was given over to die…” (Romans 4:25 – GN)

46. “He was hated and rejected; his life was filled with sorrow and terrible suffering. No one wanted to look at him. We despised him and said, ‘He is a nobody!’ He suffered and endured great pain for us, but we thought his suffering was punishment from God. He was wounded and crushed because of our sins; by taking our punishment, he made us completely well.” (Isaiah 53:1-5 – CEV)