Does the principle of restitution apply to bloodshed sins in the family
You asked: “Does the principle of restitution apply to bloodshed sins in the family with generations having to atone on behalf of the guilty party to settle on their behalf. Will such sin have impact on younger generations if no reconciliation and settlement is made?”
Answer:
Thank you for your question about guilt for sins of bloodshed, in a family and atoning reconciliation by other generations. I do not often get someone asking this question, but it is one I am familiar with.
You have to look at this from three different perspectives.
How does God see this, how do other people in your community view this, and how do you view this?
In those three contexts, you need to consider who is responsible for the guilt of sins, and then who suffers the consequences of those sins. These are two different matters.
The Prophet Ezekiel addresses this matter head-on in the 18th Chapter of his prophecy.
In Chapter 18:4 God begins to explain man’s accountability. He says, “All souls are mine.” He created all men, and the relationship is that of the Heavenly Father to each person he created. So each person is accountable to God for his actions. God says the soul of the father, and that of the son, are each individually accountable to God for the sin they commit.
“The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, ‘What mean ye that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?’ As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. 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.” Ezekiel 18:1-4
So the first perspective is that of God, who sees a person sin, and holds that person accountable. Later in the chapter this is made even clearer:
“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. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.” Ezekiel 18:20-22
Clearly the children are not accountable to God for what the father or mother did. When you read the Ten Commandments, in Exodus 20:5 we read:
“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me”
Here God warns us, not to follow our father, when he sins. If the father does wrong, there is a tendency for the children to think, ‘That is OK, so I can do that too!’ God says if they break the law against idolatry, they will pay the same penalty as the father. Notice the verse ends with the words, ‘of those that hate me’.
You ask, “Will such sin have impact on younger generations if no reconciliation and settlement is made?”
The consequences may be that the family of the person killed, may bear a grudge against the children and family of the killer. That could put the children in danger, but the law and God’s law protects the innocent from what the father did.
In the light of the general teaching of Scripture, there is no requirement for settlement. Forgiveness by the injured party, is theirs to ‘Give’ if they will, but there is nothing more required of the descendants of the person who sinned.
I close with the reminder, that Jesus died on the cross for all sin, and any sinner may find cleansing and forgiveness, when they call on the name of the Lord (Romans 10:13).
Have you called on the name of the Lord? If so then you are forgiven and cleansed. If not, you can do this right now, just turn to Jesus, and ask for this gift of forgiveness.
© 2015 J. Cole-Rous