Here are the two verses cited as evidence for this alleged contradiction:
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(Isa 14:21 NKJV) Prepare slaughter for his children Because of the iniquity of their fathers, Lest they rise up and possess the land, And fill the face of the world with cities." |
(Deu 24:16 NKJV) "Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin. |
God, as creator, has the right and burden of judgment. He holds in his hand, this right, and the statement of Isaiah (14:21) is a statement of God's judgment.
(Isa 14:21-22 NKJV) Prepare slaughter for his children Because of the iniquity of their fathers, Lest they rise up and possess the land, And fill the face of the world with cities." {22} "For I will rise up against them," says the LORD of hosts, "And cut off from Babylon the name and remnant, And offspring and posterity," says the LORD.
God does execute judgment, but is longsuffering, and merciful, and looks for repentance that he may turn away from judgment.
(Jer 18:7-8 NKJV) "The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, {8} "if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.
The story of Jonah is a case where God sent his prophet warning of destruction, but when the people repented, God relented from the disaster that he had planned.
In times of national judgment, the children will often suffer consequences because of the actions of their fathers, just as children of an alcoholic parent will often suffer because of the choices that the father makes. However, in these cases, God warns of judgment, and seeks to turn the children away from the mistakes of the fathers.
It is this longsuffering nature of God, that caused Him to say concerning the Amorites, that (Gen 15:16 NKJV) "... in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."
When a nation is judged by God, it is usually a matter of persistence. When God judged Israel (the Northern kingdom), the judgment recognized that the people persisted in the ways of their fathers.
(2 Ki 15:9 KJV) And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.
Likewise Stephen spoke about the Jewish nation which rejected the Messiah in this manner:
(Acts 7:51-52 NKJV) "You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. {52} "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,
It is this persistence of a people in wickedness, that draws the wrath and judgment of God, and is the message behind the statement that God visits "the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation":
(Deu 5:9 NKJV) you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
(Jer 32:18 NKJV) 'You show lovingkindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them; the Great, the Mighty God, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
These are not statements concerning innocent children suffering judgment as guilty because their fathers sinned against God, but as the next statement of Deuteronomy shows (Deut. 5:10), God shows mercy toward those who love him and repent.
Deut 5:10 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
The message of Deuteronomy 5:9, is that God will punish those nations who persist in wickedness throughout generations, and so as the wickedness persists, God's judgment will also persist -- but this is for those who hate God. His mercy is reserved for those who love Him and keep His commandments.
Although children will often suffer consequences due to the actions of their fathers, God does not judge the children guilty because of the deed of their fathers.
God reacted with outrage to a charge by the children of Israel, who said "(Ezek 18:2 KJV) ... The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge", and set forth these principles clearly:
Ezek. 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. {5} But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, {6} he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD. ... {10} If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, ... shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him. {14} Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father's sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like, ... hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.{20} The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
As a part of the Mosaic Law, God laid down the principle that man had no right to take the life of children for the sins of the fathers:
(Deu 24:16 NKJV) "Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin.
Thus, as a matter of personal justice, each person was to be judged individually for his own sins. Thus, when Amaziah reigned, and sought to punish those who had murdered his father, he did not execute the children of the murderers because of this statement in the Law (2 Chron. 25:4).
This principle of the Law, is the same principle the God uses in judgment (see Ezekiel 18 above).
As a matter of personal judgment, each person shall be judged for his own sins. However, God judges among the nations, and children do suffer consequences (as do men and women) as part of the fall of nations. God has the right to make these kinds of judgments among the nations. As a matter of guilt, God has never judged children as guilty for the sins of their fathers, and in his law dictated that man should not make this kind of judgment either.
The statements proposed as contradictory by the skeptic are not in contradiction at all, but concern a difference between the judgments of man (as dictated by God) concerning matters of personal responsibility, and the consequences of the judgments of God among the nations.
-- David A. Duncan