Our role as parents is to teach the Bible to our children diligently and accurately.
The Bible says that if you follow the false philosophies of your father/forefathers, you will duplicate their actions and inherit unknown sin, called iniquity. This is how a father passes on iniquity to his son and how that son pays for the sins of his father/forefather. This vicious cycle continues from generation to generation even today. This has been the reason why the Children of Israel have fallen away from God and why Christians today are not seeing the power of God in their families.
Through Jesus, however, the cycle can be broken! If you condemn your forefathers’ and parents’ wrongful beliefs and declare Jesus’ beliefs as the truth, you will not bear their iniquities. This is discerned by comparing your parents’/ancestors' views (especially if they consider themselves to be Christian), to the teachings of Jesus. If they do not match, you no longer follow your parents’ ways.
King Hezekiah tells the people of Judah in 2 Chronicles 29:6-7
“Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him.”
The Bible gives examples of fathers who diligently and accurately taught their sons according to God, and how the parent was considered righteous. We are also given examples of parents who did not dutifully bring up their sons in the way of the Lord, and they were held responsible for the sins of their sons.
The prophet Ezekiel gives us examples of how iniquity can be passed on from father (or forefather) to son and vice versa.
Ezekiel 18:5 & 9 - 5Now suppose a man is righteous and does what is just and right...9He follows My statutes and faithfully keeps My ordinances.
That man is righteous; surely he will live,’ declares the Lord GOD.
This means that a man with no iniquity is righteous and will have eternal life!
For example, Samuel followed God’s precepts and statutes concerning parenting which can be found in many scriptures such as:
Proverbs 13:24 “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.”
Deuteronomy 6:7 “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
Deuteronomy 11:19 “You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
The first step is to rid yourself of the iniquity you inherited from others by declaring your parents/ancestors/forefathers' ways as wrong. Next, once you have accepted the teachings of Jesus' (without compromise or manipulation, which will lead back to sin/iniquity once again), you can teach your children in the same way.
If your children also believe and accept Jesus' teachings (also without compromise or manipulation), they will also have broken the chain of iniquity and be considered righteous before God.
For example, Samuel's sons did not honor God. Samuel’s sons disappoint. Despite Samuel’s efforts, they did not follow Samuel’s teachings or his example.
1 Samuel 8:1 to 3 – When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. 2The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba. 3But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside toward dishonest gain, accepting bribes and perverting justice.
Their actions, however, did not affect Samuel’s righteousness or his standing in the eyes of the Lord. This is because Samuel followed the precepts and statutes of God by diligently and accurately teaching his children God’s commandments, precepts and statutes.
God’s idea of a righteous father is one who knows the meaning of the scriptures and how to keep the commandments. He accurately teaches them to his son. A righteous father does not lack diligence and persistence in teaching his son as it mentions in the following two scriptures:
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says “and these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
It would have to be the child, who after being diligently and accurately taught the word of God by his father, chooses not to obey it. In this instance, the son would be considered a blasphemer of the Holy Spirit and his blood would be on his own head. The father will remain blameless before the Lord.
This kind of son will be punished for his blasphemy. The son’s blasphemy will not affect the righteous father’s salvation since the father did not believe in the same way his son did. The father, being righteous, did not teach him these evil ways. Instead, he taught his son the word of God with diligence and accuracy but the son disobeyed.
In the case of Eli and his sons, the outcome was very different. Although Eli was a priest in Israel, he did not disciple nor diligently and accurately teach his children. When his children sinned against God, both Eli and his sons were punished.
In its essence, the actual sin of blasphemy is passed down by teaching future generations a compromised, twisted version of the word of God, rather than a specific action a forefather committed.
So if you want to be Godly parents, teach your children the Bible diligently and accurately according to Jesus' teachings. Not the teachings of your forefathers, or your church denomination or pastor. They must receive Jesus' teachings without compromise and manipulation.
What challenges do you face as Christian parents?
