Lutheranism 101 - Part 18 - The Close of the Commandments

Well we finally made it! This is the last lesson on the Ten Commandments. Today we are talking about what we call the close of the commandments. Actually it comes between the First and Second Commandments in the book of Exodus. After God gives them the First Commandment he tells them what he is going to do if they keep or don't keep all the commandments. He says, "I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thouand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Notice God says he is a jealous God. Now most of the time we say jealousy is a bad thing, but that is not always true. Jealousy can be bad if it is over stupid things or if it is because of evil motives. Jealousy can be a be a good thing though. There is nothing wrong with a jealous husband or father. A person has a right to be possessive of their spouse and family they belong to him; he wants the best for them. A person should not be willing to share their spouse with another person. A person should not let their family be taken from them by another person. It is the same with God.
First of all God hates sin, he wants perfection and he knows that sin separates us from him. He does not want things or other gods getting between us and him anymore than a husband wants another man between him and his wife.
He says if that happens then he will punish those people. He is not going to put up with one of his disciples sinning with other gods. That person will no longer be his disciple.
Probably the most distrubing part of God's statement here is that he will punish the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate him. At first glance that just seems unfair and God himself says that he will not punish the son for the sins of the father in Ezekiel chapter 18. What God means here though is that if the children of unbelievers continue to sin like their ancestors he will punish them on earth for the sins of their ancestors as well as their own. We also see that many times people do suffer because of the sins of their parents. For instance children of alcoholics have a much greater chance of being alcoholics themselves. Children that grew up in abusive homes tend to be abusive as well. Children of unbelievers also usually end up being unbelievers as well. So sin tends to be passed down through the generations.
The good news is that God promises to bless a thousand generations of those who love him. This command reminds us of the fact that God has called us to pass our faith down to the next generation, that if we train a child in the way that he should go those lessons will stay with him through life.
God has a reason for threatening this punishment. He wants us to fear his anger and to live according to his commandments. He want us to come to faith in his Son and to receive his mercy and forgiveness.
The number one thing we have to remember about all of this is that we cannot keep any of these commandments perfectly. We are all sinners. We cannot be saved by obeying the law. Therefore we come to God in confession and ask for his forgiveness and trust that Jesus' death on the cross paid for all of our sins. Through our faith in Christ we have complete forgiveness and total salvation.

Here are some verses for you: Psalm 5:4-5; Isaiah 42:8; Ezekiel 6:9; James 4:12; Leviticus 26:18; Romans 6:23; Galatians 3:10-11; Ezekiel 18:20; 2 Kings 9:7-8; 10:11; 2 Chronicles 36:17-21; Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Matthew 10:28; 1 Timothy 4:8; Job 42:10-17; Leviticus 19:2; James 2:10; John 3:16; Romans 1:16; Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:13; Colossians 1:13-14

Later this week there will be a test over the 10 Commandments, so study up.

Pastor Fred