Divine Judgment

The Lord Keeps People Out of Bondage

Divine judgment in Exodus 20:2 applied directly to the Israelites and applies indirectly to believers today. He can keep people out of the slavery of a rebellious mental attitude toward authority. He can keep people out of the slavery of drugs. Our Lord can keep people out of the slavery of marrying the wrong kind of man or woman. He can keep people out of the slavery of any situation of life. He does this through divine discipline intended to cause the believer to have a change of mind about their spiritual status and decide to name their sins to God the Father and thus be restored to fellowship.

““I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Exodus 20:2, NASB)

Religion causes slavery. Christianity establishes true freedom, true liberty, and true peace. Exodus 20:3-4.

““You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.” (Exodus 20:3-4, NASB)

God is said to be jealous in Exodus 20:5. This obvious anthropopathism is meant to convey in language of accommodation what God thinks. God is possessive of His children who all have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. We are His possessions.

Hatred of God by people along with indifference to Him goes in three or four generation family curse cycles. Four generations of remiss parents and rebellious offspring destroys a nation. This divine discipline on the nation is intended to preserve the human race.

““You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,” (Exodus 20:5, NASB)

For those that love God and obey His commandments, He shows lovingkindness. This is God’s grace toward mankind. How does God manufacture His grace? Out of His own character. Exodus 20:6.

“but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Exodus 20:6, NASB)

In Exodus 34:6, the Lord passed by before Moses and proclaimed (shouted) at Moses. God shouted about His character toward mankind.

“Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;” (Exodus 34:6, NASB)

In Exodus 34:7, God “keeps lovingkindness for thousands” means that God preserves grace for thousands of generations. How? He “forgives iniquity, transgression and sin” which refers to the Cross. This also refers to the believer’s known sins cited during confession of sin. Here, even unknown sins are taken care of when the Father cleanses the believer from all unrighteousness.

“who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”“ (Exodus 34:7, NASB)

God will not let the guilty go unpunished. This refers to the unpardonable sin or the sin of rejection of Jesus Christ as their Savior. If an individual does not utilize God’s grace, they cannot be cleared, so they remain an unbeliever.

The Four Generation Curse

Exodus 34:7 also means that each generation must stand on their own feet. God never punishes the children for the sins of the parents, but parents affect their children’s response to God. The only way to reverse the Four Generation Curse is for more people to become grace-oriented believers. This will deliver any nation. Prov. 14:34. See category on The Four Generation Curse.

“Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34, NASB)

Parental Objectivity

Parents must be objective in their training of children. Deut. 21:15-17.

““If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved, then it shall be in the day he wills what he has to his sons, he cannot make the son of the loved the firstborn before the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn. “But he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; to him belongs the right of the firstborn.” (Deuteronomy 21:15-17, NASB)

In the Old Testament under the Mosaic Law, any child in the Nation of Israel deemed so implacably rebellious and stubborn that the parents were unable to reign him or her in, the Mosaic Law (the laws governing the nation of Israel at that time) provided a means to legally deal with such children to protect the society and nation. In such cases, the child was executed by stoning under the governmental authority of that nation. This was a case for capital punishment for children in that country and under the laws of that country. Deut. 21:18-21

““If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them, then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown. “They shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ “Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear of it and fear.” (Deuteronomy 21:18-21, NASB)

This is a tough passage of Scripture, but it provides God’s viewpoint regarding persistent and intransigent rebellion against the divinely-sanctioned authority of parents while still a child – that is, under the age of legal adulthood for that nation.

In this passage, the setting is very clear and parental discipline doesn’t do the job. The child is brought to the elders or governmental authority where they go through the proper court system. The charges are; stubbornness, unrelenting rebellion, gluttony, and drunkenness while still a child and in spite of their parents’ attempts to control such behavior.

Why capital punishment? To protect the next generations of the nation. If not corrected in a nation, wide-spread rebellion to authority and law causes a national mental attitude of lawlessness which will destroy the nation. The solution is salvation and growth in Bible doctrine. Deut. 6:4-9.

““Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons 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 up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, NASB)

In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, “The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” means God is one in essence. “Love the Lord” means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. “With all your heart” of the buildup of a frame of reference from Bible doctrine in the soul. “All your soul” is the edification complex in the soul. “All your might” means a mental attitude positive to the Word. This passage, in the piel stem of the Hebrew, tells parents to habitually teach or inculcate their children and talk to them all the time to impart to them Bible doctrine. The use of visual aids is also taught here to drive the doctrinal points home in their minds and souls. With positive volition, the result will be Bible doctrine applied to the situations of life from the right lobe of the soul. Deut. 6:17; Deut. 7:9-11.

““You should diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you.” (Deuteronomy 6:17, NASB)

““Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. “Therefore, you shall keep the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them.” (Deuteronomy 7:9-11, NASB)

God has always been faithful and always keeps His promises and covenants with mankind. However, for those who hate God, divine judgment always results. What is your response - Bible doctrine or divine discipline?

Historical Examples of Judgment

History records that whole generations of young people have been wiped out. Why? For example, in 70 AD, when the Jews went under the Fifth Cycle of Discipline, 1.9 million Jews died in a 90-day period. A high percentage of these Jews were young people, possibly 500,000 of them. Why did they die?

Likewise in World War II, of the 6 million Jews who died, again a certain percentage of these were young people. Actually, a whole generation of German Jews were wiped out. Why? Gentile nations including Russia, Germany, France, and China have had large numbers of young people die. Why? Could it happen in the USA? Could a generation of young people die? The answer is yes. Wide-spread rebellion to authority and law causes a national mental attitude of lawlessness. To protect the human race, divine judgment often has to be meted out.

Proverbs 29:1 tells us why people die in the above manner. This verse was written to the youth of that day. “After much reproof” means being warned often and not heeding those warnings, thus putting a believer under both spiritual and societal discipline. They are continuing in rebellion against all authority in their negative volition. 2 Tim. 3:16.

“A man who hardens his neck after much reproof Will suddenly be broken beyond remedy.” (Proverbs 29:1, NASB)

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;” (2 Timothy 3:16, NASB)

Compare Proverbs 30:11, Proverbs 30:17, Matthew 15:4, and Ephesians 6:1-3.

“There is a kind of man who curses his father And does not bless his mother.” (Proverbs 30:11, NASB)

“The eye that mocks a father And scorns a mother, The ravens of the valley will pick it out, And the young eagles will eat it.” (Proverbs 30:17, NASB)

““For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’” (Matthew 15:4, NASB)

“Hardens his neck” in Proverbs 29:1 is a term for scar tissue of the soul. He hardens his neck, he tells authority to go jump in the lake and keeps on doing his thing. This is also applicable to an unbeliever who dies in his sins because of his rebellion against authority.

“Will suddenly be broken” in Proverbs 29:1 means to “break in pieces” and is an idiom for death or severe permanent injury. For the believer, this is removal through the sin unto death. For the unbeliever this is dying in their sins. 1 John 5:16; Acts 7:51; Prov. 6:15; 2 Chron. 36:16.

“If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should make request for this.” (1 John 5:16, NASB)

““You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did.” (Acts 7:51, NASB)

“Therefore his calamity will come suddenly; Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.” (Proverbs 6:15, NASB)

“but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy.” (2 Chronicles 36:16, NASB)

Consider the Two Ages of Accountability

The first age of accountability is a spiritual one. Here, the child reaches a point in mental development where he or she becomes aware of God’s existence or God consciousness. This can be as early as three years of age but usually not later than twelve. When any member of the human race reaches this level of understanding and desires a relationship with God, then God will provide the Gospel to them and allow them to choose whether to accept or reject the work and person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (Romans 1:20-21, NASB)

The second age of accountability is both a legal and a spiritual one. Here, the child reaches a chronological age where according to the laws where they live, he or she becomes an adult and inherits the freedoms and responsibilities afforded adults in that nation. This age varies from nation to nation and is about 18 years to 21 years of age. For some countries today like China, it is 16 years if they are earning a living.

However, in Old Testament Israel, at 20 years of age, they had to start making contributions to the Lord in their spiritual worship. Up until the age of 20, their parents were responsible for their children’s spiritual worship. Exodus 30:14.

““Everyone who is numbered, from twenty years old and over, shall give the contribution to the LORD.” (Exodus 30:14, NASB)

Parents are perfectly within their rights to require their children to go to Bible class. This is enforced humility. The children may not like it, but if they are going to amount to anything, they must learn Bible doctrine and learn authority orientation. After their children reach legal adulthood, they are now responsible for their spiritual status before God. They should be spiritually self-sufficient by this time and able to stand on their own two spiritual feet.

In addition, adult males at age 20 in Israel had a military commitment. Num. 1:3.

“from twenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall number them by their armies.” (Numbers 1:3, NASB)

For the nation of Israel in the desert, because the adults had continued in their negative volition for so long, God meted out His divine discipline on them in Numbers 14:29-30. Only two adults (age 20 and upward) would enter the Land promised to Israel – Caleb and Joshua. All of the rest would die the sin unto death in the desert over the coming years.

“your corpses will fall in this wilderness, even all your numbered men, according to your complete number from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against Me. ‘Surely you shall not come into the land in which I swore to settle you, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.” (Numbers 14:29-30, NASB)

Your longevity depends on your mental attitude toward your parents and thus to God, His word, your pastor and so on. This mental attitude of authority orientation in children is evident in how they behave around their parents and how they behave while in prep school and later in Bible class. Matt. 15:4, Eph. 6:1-4. See category on Authority Orientation.

““For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’” (Matthew 15:4, NASB)

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:1-4, NASB)