The Lord Does Not Contradict Himself

The Lord does not contradict Himself. If something appears to be contradictory its because we lack understanding.. and all we have to do is ask Him to explain it. And He will. So do not be led astray by the false assumptions and interpretations of those that lack understanding.

There are a couple verses that people take out of context:

(Exodus 34:6-7)-- And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

(Ezekiel 18:20)-- The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

These two verses appear to be contradictory but they’re not. Exodus is just a warning which in plain English says: I am a merciful God. I am patient and longsuffering toward you. I will forgive you repeatedly but take heed. Sins are passed down to our children and loved ones. This is the law of genetics. We are responsible for our family and those we love. To teach them right from wrong. And they are a part of us. They often turn out just like us. We are the most like those we are closest to. And this is not a punishment. It’s the way we are. Our loved ones are a part of us. They have our genes. Therefore, evil people often result from other evil people. So that is why the iniquity of the fathers is often passed down.

And Ezekiel is pretty straight forward. It says God will not PUNISH the children for the sins of the father. This means that if the father rapes a woman then his son will not be punished for what he did and likewise if the son engages in an act of violence his father will not be punished for it.

The verses that state something similar to the verse in Exodus that I addressed above have also been taken out of context. Apparently, He has had this problem with people misinterpreting these verses for a long time considering He specifically addresses it in Ezekiel 18: 1-32.

These verses are assuming that these generations "continue" in sin. That is important to note because these verses are NOT implying that the successive generations are punished for their fathers sins *when they are innocent.* They are implying that they are punished for the sins of the father because they continue to practice them. And He is warning us that He is fervent (some of the verses use the word jealous but that’s not a favorable translation of the Hebrew/Greek; the Hebrew word referred more to zeal and ardor) for us to turn from our ways so He will not withhold judgment if we "continue" in our fathers sins but if we turn from our ways He will show us mercy--

So the verse states:

Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto 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].

And shewing mercy unto thousands ** [of them that love me] and keep my commandments.

Note the last few words in the first verse... it says 'of them that hate me'

and

Note the verse that follows which states... and 'shewing mercy' unto thousands 'of them that love me' and keep my commandments.

We are too quick to judge our own father and when we read the lies and misinterpretations of others it gives us a distorted view of Him. If we could clear that from our minds and truly seek Him and His presence we would not have any problem interpreting the verses correctly.

When you read the bible read the Authorized King James Version or the NKJV.

And study Hebrew and Greek.
Use a concordance to reveal the original meaning as languages change over time and translated words are translated subject to the translators interpretation.

There is a verse in Exodus in which God warns against striking his indentured servant and killing him. He warned against this to PROTECT the servant.

This means that a man is NOT to beat his servant to death. But if the servant was injured by the owner and able to recover then he will not be avenged due to the fact that he and the servant had an agreement in which the man was over the servant for a set amount of time. And God gave us free will. So He doesn’t like to violate it.

This verse does not imply that God agreed with the man striking his servant. It just means that He was merciful to the man by not giving him a harsher punishment.

But they like to argue that God was wrong. So I guess they are saying that God should have been harder on those in the Old Testament which is sort of contradictory considering they argue that He is cruel for doing that in other passages.

Many do not understand the difference between indentured servitude and traditional slavery. The impoverished voluntarily chose to become servants to more affluent families as a means of support, and this is not the same as traditional slavery.

God DID NOT condone traditional slavery:

Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine.

1 Timothy 1: 8-11

1. Enslavers-- That is, those who take a person captive in order to sell him into slavery.

There is another in which the verse states that if a man takes an unbetrothed woman’s virginity he must marry her for life. This is beneficial to the woman because she was defiled and thus disgraced in that her reputation would have been destroyed had he not taken her as wife. This is the verse:

If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her [takes hold of her or entices her], and lie with her, *and they be found*; then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.

Deuteronomy 22: 25-27

...

I’m losing my mind that was Deuteronomy 22: 28-29.

Not Deuteronomy 22: 25-27?

Deuteronomy 22: 25-27 states this:

But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man *force her*, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die: But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbour, and slayeth him, even so is this matter: For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.

Wow that’s a harsh punishment, eh? Guess God doesn't like rape.

[Deuteronomy 22: 28-29 is not addressing rape as it does not say that the man forced her as the previous verse did--
rather it says that he lay hold on her or enticed her to lie with him and they were found...

....
notice the verse states 'and they be found' ...
such wording would imply that the act was consensual].

Regarding the above passage with respect to indentured servants, if God rendered judgment in the Old Testament it was hardly light because Christ had not yet atoned for our sins, and we didn’t have prisons so most of the time the death penalty was invoked in order to 'put away the evil' from the people.

However, one could attempt to bargain and pay retribution in most cases. The only exception is with first degree murder.

But my point is, due to the fact that there were no prisons, God wouldn’t have said, whoever strikes his servant is charged with abuse and thus sentenced to six months in prison... so therefore God would had to have sentenced him to a much more extreme punishment had he decided to avenge him…. which is inordinate.

Most of the time, verses are taken out of context because they are taken out of context. Meaning, people will cite a verse without including the previous verse or the verse that follows and deliberately make accusations toward God when there is NO FAULT IN HIM and such would have been clear if they had included the entire passage. And GOD HATES IT. And they have done this with SEVERAL verses. And it hurts God. Because they are making Him out to be the opposite of what He is. He LOVES us. And He PROTECTS us. And He is our ONLY protection from the enemy. Yet Satan has brainwashed HIS children into believing that He is evil when He is the complete opposite. They are confusing Him with Satan. And it breaks His heart.

Please do not turn away. Do not listen to the lies of others. Believe the truth. Your father loves you. And He would never harm you.