The sins of our fathers and Shavuot

We are commanded to make a proclamation on Shavuot.

This is what each of us are to do on this day! We are to call out to Abba YHVH, confessing our iniquity and the iniquity of our fathers, our covenantal unfaithfulness. But it should not stop there! We are also to proclaim the good tidings of His salvation from this day forward! We are to proclaim His goodness, His forgiveness and His deeds over all the earth! Thanking Him for the forgiveness He gives us through Y’shua our Redeemer!

We have touched on this proclamation in our previous post. In this study, we are going to focus on the iniquity of our fathers. The punishment thereof would, according to Scripture, be visited on the third and the fourth generation, unless there is repentance. Only true repentance from the heart can stop these curses.

What is iniquity?

The definition of iniquity in short is sin, guilt and punishment. We see from the Scriptures that the iniquity of the fathers will continue through the generations. This iniquity is the transgression of YHVH’s commandments, also defined as unrighteousness. This punishment for unrighteousness will be visited on the third and the fourth generation, unless there is repentance. Only true repentance from the heart can stop this punishment or curse. We and our forefathers have transgressed YHVH’s commandments. If we go and study our heritage, we shall see that our forefathers were not only lawless, but they served many idols. We can break those curses! How do we do that? These curses can only be broken through sincere repentance. We shall endeavor in this study to answer a few questions:

• What is “the sins of our fathers”?
• Should we confess the sins of our fathers?
• How are we to confess the sins of our fathers?
• If we confess our sins and the sins of our fathers – do we need to go into the detail thereof?

Iniquity

What is “the sins of our fathers”?

The “fathers” can, in my opinion, be seen in two different ways. It can be seen in a personal frame of reference, meaning my direct family relations, and it can be seen in a general context meaning the sins of the nation. Both are applicable. I see repentance starting with personal repentance and then expanding to a broader intercessory level (national repentance).

The “sins of our fathers” is, in my opinion, covenantal unfaithfulness. In order to better understand this, we must understand how a covenant was made and what it consisted of. The passage from Ex 20:2 up to Ex 24:11 describes the covenant between YHVH and Israel. This is also known as the Suzerain-Vassal treaty pattern of the ancient near east. To read more about this you can read our previous article: Introduction to Covenants -Covenants (Part 1)

The covenant consisted of the following:

• the introduction of who was making the covenant (Ex 20:2)(Preamble)
• list of the deeds already performed (prologue) (Ex 20:2)
• the conditions or the terms to be upheld
• the rewards
• the punishments
• the reading of the covenant (Ex 24:7)
• the covenantal meal (Ex 24:9-11)

It is also here that the phrase “iniquity of the fathers” was first mentioned (Ex 20:5). The “iniquity of the fathers” or covenantal unfaithfulness is nothing else than disobedience or rebellion against the conditions or terms of the covenant. The father’s disobedience will result in the misleading of his family. That is why YHVH spoke about the iniquity of the father being visited on the third and the fourth generation. How can this be?

One of the roles of the father is to teach his children about the deeds of YHVH and to be obedient to Him (Deut 11:19; Prov 22:6). When a father fails to do that, he leads his family, even to future generations, into iniquity or sin. The unknown prophet Asaph has written about it in Psalm 78:5-8.

Psalm 78:5–8
⁵ For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they should teach them to their children, ⁶ That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children, ⁷ That they should put their confidence in Elohim And not forget the works of Elohim, But keep His commandments, ⁸ And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to Elohim.

These misled fathers will mislead their children resulting in their disobedience and subsequent punishment.

To put it plainly: the iniquity of the fathers is covenantal unfaithfulness, which is nothing else than transgression of the commandments. This transgression of the commandments will result in punishment. The transgression of the covenant will thus not result in the annulment of the covenant, but in punishment. These punishments are in place to bring the transgressor back into covenant relationship.

We can prove this further by looking at the context of other scriptures where this phrase is used.

The phrase “iniquity of the fathers” is mentioned a second time after the “golden calf” incident (Ex 34:6-7). YHVH wanted to destroy Israel because of their sin, but Moses interceded on behalf of the people, which resulted in their transgression being pardoned. The covenant was renewed, and the same commandments were re-written on stone tablets. So we see the phrase “iniquity of the fathers” used yet again in the context of covenantal unfaithfulness.

Exodus 34:6–7
⁶ Then YHVH passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “YHVH, YHVH Elohim, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; ⁷ 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.”

In Numbers, Moses repeated the words spoken by YHVH in Exodus 34. This is after the spies reported back from Canaan. Israel rebelled in unbelief against YHVH. YHVH wanted to destroy them in His wrath but Moses, by proclaiming these words, reminded YHVH of the covenant. Moses, once again repented on behalf of the people and YHVH pardoned their sin (Num 14:20).

Numbers 14:18
¹⁸ ‘YHVH is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’

The passage underneath is a repetition of the commandments given in Exodus, in the context of the covenant.

Deuteronomy 5:9–10
⁹ ‘You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, YHVH your Elohim, am a jealous Elohim, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, ¹⁰ but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

The passages in Isaiah and Jeremiah also refer in context to the transgression of the commandments which are the terms of the covenant.

Isaiah 65:6–7
⁶ “Behold, it is written before Me, I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will even repay into their bosom, ⁷ Both their own iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together,” says YHVH. “Because they have burned incense on the mountains And scorned Me on the hills, Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”

Jeremiah 32:18
¹⁸ who shows lovingkindness to thousands, but repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O great and mighty Elohim. YHVH of hosts is His name;

Every one dies for his own sin

There seems to be some inconsistency when studying some other passages on sin and punishment. It is understood from four other passages that every man will be punished for his own sin. A son will not be punished for the transgression of his father and vice versa. (Deut 24:16; 2 Kings 14:6; 2 Chron 25:4; Ezek 18:19-20). However, understanding the context explains this supposed inconsistency. These four passages have a judicial context. They are dealing in the legal aspect within the Court system. There is therefor no inconsistency.

What are the punishments of the sins of the fathers?

The punishment for covenantal unfaithfulness is laid out in detail in Lev 26:14-40.

Asaph, wrote a beautiful psalm that explains the cycle of sin and punishment of Israel. He goes through the history of Israel and shows us how they sin, are punished, then return, just to fall into sin again. He often has to go to the extreme of killing some of them before they would listen.

Psalm 78:34–35
³⁴ When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for Elohim; ³⁵ And they remembered that Elohim was their rock, And the Most High Elohim their Redeemer.

You see the punishments in Leviticus 26 progressing from terror, famine, plaques, war to captivity. All these done by a loving Father to discipline His children in order to bring them back into relationship with Him.

If you want to read more about these punishments and their relevance in our time, you can read “If you will not return to me” and “If you can’t hear the drums of war you must be deaf”

Why are we to confess the sins of our fathers?

What is the purpose of confession of sin?

Jeremiah 16:10–12
¹⁰ “Now when you tell this people all these words, they will say to you, ‘For what reason has YHVH declared all this great calamity against us? And what is our iniquity, or what is our sin which we have committed against YHVH our Elohim?’ ¹¹ “Then you are to say to them, ‘It is because your forefathers have forsaken Me,’ declares YHVH, ‘and have followed other gods and served them and bowed down to them; but Me they have forsaken and have not kept My law. ¹² ‘You too have done evil, even more than your forefathers; for behold, you are each one walking according to the stubbornness of his own evil heart, without listening to Me.

Confession of sin is done in order to gain forgiveness and to restore a broken relationship. It is about making restitution, not only for our iniquity, but also for the sins of our fathers in order to break the curses which are upon us. Our repentance will restore our relationship with YHVH, and He will remember His covenant with us – His people. This repentance will lead to physical (Joel 2:19-27) and spiritual restoration (Joel 2:28-29). I see what was prophesied in Joel chapter 2 as a prophecy that has in part been fulfilled, but also as a prophecy that is being fulfilled at present and that will in the time of the end be fulfilled to completion. (We have gone into some detail on the grammatical tense used in Joel 2 in “How to identify strange doctrine?

The passages underneath explain this process of restoration very well.

Leviticus 26:39–46
³⁹ ‘So those of you who may be left will rot away because of their iniquity in the lands of your enemies; and also because of the iniquities of their forefathers they will rot away with them. ⁴⁰‘If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me— ⁴¹ I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies—or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled so that they then make amends for their iniquity, ⁴²then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well, and I will remember the land.⁴³ ‘For the land will be abandoned by them, and will make up for its sabbaths while it is made desolate without them. They, meanwhile, will be making amends for their iniquity, because they rejected My ordinances and their soul abhorred My statutes. ⁴⁴ ‘Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am YYHVH their Elohim. ⁴⁵ ‘But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their Elohim. I am YHVH.’ ” ⁴⁶ These are the statutes and ordinances and laws which YHVH established between Himself and the sons of Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai.

Deuteronomy 30:1–6
¹ “So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where YHVH your Elohim has banished you, ² and you return to YHVH your Elohim and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, ³ then YHVH your Elohim will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where YHVH your Elohim has scattered you. ⁴ “If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there YHVH your Elohim will gather you, and from there He will bring you back. ⁵ “YHVH your Elohim will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. ⁶ “Moreover YHVH your Elohim will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love YHVH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.

How are we to confess the sins of our fathers?

The prophet Joel tells us how to confess our sin and so does Hosea, Nehemiah, Daniel and Asaph. It is about:

• returning with all our hearts, with fasting, weeping and mourning (Joel 2:12-14),
• we are to take words with us (Hosea 14:1-2),
• confessing our sins which we have sinned against YHVH (Neh 1:6),
• our sins and the sins of our fathers (Dan 9:5),
• asking for compassion and grace (Ps 79:8; Hos 14:2),
• reminding YHVH of His lovingkindness and His Word (Joel 2:13; Neh 1:8-10; Dan 9:4).

Reading each of these passages, will assist us in gaining greater understanding as to how we are to confess our sins and the sins of our fathers.

Joel 2:12–14
¹² “Yet even now,” declares YHVH, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; ¹³And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to YHVH your Elohim, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil. ¹⁴ Who knows whether He will not turn and relent And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a drink offering For the YHVH your Elohim?

Hosea 14:1–2
¹ Return, O Israel, to YHVH your Elohim, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity. ² Take words with you and return to YHVH. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips.

These words mentioned here are, in my opinion, sincere confession of our sins and the sins of our fathers. This confession is followed by a return to YHVH, which means being obedient to Him.

Nehemiah 1:3–10
³ They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.” ⁴ When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the Elohim of heaven. ⁵ I said, “I beseech You, O YHVH Elohim of heaven, the great and awesome Elohim, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, ⁶ let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father’s house have sinned.⁷“We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses.⁸ “Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; ⁹ but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’ ¹⁰ “They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand.

Nehemiah 9:2
² The descendants of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

Daniel 9:3–19
³ So I gave my attention to YHVH Elohim to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes. ⁴ I prayed to YHVH my Elohim and confessed and said, “Alas, O YHVH, the great and awesome Elohim, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,
⁵ we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. ⁶ “Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers and all the people of the land. ⁷ “Righteousness belongs to You, O YHVH, but to us open shame, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You. ⁸ “Open shame belongs to us, O YHVH, to our kings, our princes and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.
⁹ “To YHVH our Elohim belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him; ¹⁰ nor have we obeyed the voice of YHVH our Elohim, to walk in His teachings which He set before us through His servants the prophets. ¹¹ “Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of Elohim, for we have sinned against Him. ¹² “Thus He has confirmed His words which He had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem.
¹³ “As it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of YHVH our Elohim by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth.
¹⁴ “Therefore YHVH has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for YHVH  our Elohim is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done, but we have not obeyed His voice.
¹⁵ “And now, O YHVH our Elohim, who have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for Yourself, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have been wicked.
¹⁶ “O YHVH, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us. ¹⁷ “So now, our Elohim, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O YHVH, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.
¹⁸ “O my Elohim, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion.
¹⁹ “O YHVH, hear!
O YHVH, forgive!
O YHVH, listen and take action!
For Your own sake, O my Elohim, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

We can see from Daniel’s prayer of repentance two important aspects of our study.

• Firstly, he repented on behalf of himself and the nation for their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.
• Secondly, he did not name every iniquity, but we will go into more detail about that later.

Asaph has written twelve psalms. In Psalm 79 he writes of the partial destruction of the temple by the Egyptians under Shishak. Here are some interesting facts about Asaph (http://www.hfbcbiblestudy.org/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=481 ) He is witnessing the plundering of the Temple and he repents on behalf of the nation.

Psalm 79:8
⁸ Do not remember the iniquities of our forefathers against us; Let Your compassion come quickly to meet us, For we are brought very low.

If we confess our sins and the sins of our fathers – do we need to go into the detail thereof?

We have seen from Scripture how we are to repent of our sins, but do we have to confess every sin in detail?

How did Aaron -the High Priest- confess the sins of the nation?

Leviticus 16:21
²¹ “Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness.

Would it have been possible for Aaron to confess every sin of every person in detail?

How did David repent?

How did David repent of his sin? Throughout the psalms you find David repenting of his sin. Only once did he confess a particular sin (Ps 51:14), when he confessed his blood guiltiness. The other times he confessed his sin in general not referring to specific sin.

Psalm 25:11
¹¹ For Your name’s sake, O YHVH, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

Psalm 32:5
⁵ I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to YHVH”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.Selah.

Psalm 40:12
¹² For evils beyond number have surrounded me; My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see; They are more numerous than the hairs of my head, And my heart has failed me.

Psalm 38:4
⁴ For my iniquities are gone over my head; As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.

Psalm 38:18
¹⁸ For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.

Y’shua’s prayer

Y’shua when He taught His disciples to pray, gave them a model prayer to pray. Here we have a general confession of sin.

Matthew 6:15
¹² ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. ¹³ ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’ ¹⁴ “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ “But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

The thief on the cross next to Y’shua acknowledged that he is suffering justly and asked to be remembered by Y’shua when He came into His kingdom.

Luke 23:41–43
⁴¹ “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he was saying, “Y’shua, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” ⁴³ And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

The tax collector just asked for mercy to him, a sinner.

Luke 18:13
¹³ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘Elohim, be merciful to me, the sinner!’

I couldn’t find irrefutable evidence in the Scripture to prove that we have to confess every sin in detail to YHVH. I found two passages where a detailed confession was made.

Joshua 7:20–21
²⁰ So Achan answered Joshua and said, “Truly, I have sinned against YHVH, the Elohim of Israel, and this is what I did: ²¹ when I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it.”

In Psalm 51:14, David repents of his sin, and he uses the word “blood guiltiness”” to refer to his guilt in the death of Uriah Batsheba’s husband (Ps 26:9). Although we see some detail here, David did not go into every detail of his sin with Batsheba and his subsequent sin.

YHVH knows our sin and searches our hearts. He does not require all the gory details from us; He already knows it. Having said this, I do believe from experience that the Ruach will bring our sin to our remembrance in order for us to confess it before YHVH. This, I think is more for ourselves to know when we have sinned, and it will help us in the future when confronted with the accuser of the brethren, haSatan. He will remind us of our sin, but if we have confessed our sin, we can have confidence in the complete forgiveness through Y’shua.

Confessing our sins to one another

This is a bit of a sidetrack, but nonetheless, important. Do we have to confess our sins to one another?

We are taught to correct our brother in love and to forgive him when he repents. This is an example where the one who sinned indeed is to confess his sin to his brother, but I would think it will only apply if the sin was done against the brother, verse four alludes to that. It reads “if he sins against you seven times.”

Luke 17:3–4
³ “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴ “And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

The prodigal son confessed the sin he committed to his father when he returned (Luk 15:21). We know all the details of his sin from verse thirteen (Luk 15:13), however, he didn’t confess that much to his father.

Luke 15:21
²¹ “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

This passage in Numbers is about making restitution for sin committed against another person. The sin has, in my opinion, to be confessed in order to make restitution for it. The person who was sinned against would have known about it.

Numbers 5:6–8
⁶ “Speak to the sons of Israel, ‘When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against YHVH, and that person is guilty, ⁷ then he shall confess his sins which he has committed, and he shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it one-fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged. ⁸ ‘But if the man has no relative to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to YHVH for the priest, besides the ram of atonement, by which atonement is made for him.

It would seem to me, from the quoted passages, that a proper confession is required when we ask for forgiveness from a person we have wronged. Think logically about it. How meaningful is it to you if you have been wronged by someone, and they just say “sorry” without saying what they are apologizing for? Having said this, I don’t think you should ask for forgiveness from the person, if they are not aware of the sin committed against them. That could cause unnecessary hurt.

Every sin committed is a sin against YHVH, and you should first ask for His forgiveness. If you, afterwards feel convicted in your heart, then you can confess your sin to the person you wronged (if he wasn’t aware). If you were thinking badly or inappropriately of someone, would it be wise to go and confess that to them? Be sensitive to the Rauch’s leading.

David’s prayer of repentance

I want to close this article with King David’s prayer of repentance. We certainly can learn from him how to repent.

Psalm 51:1–13
¹ Be gracious to me, O Elohim, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. ² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. ⁴ Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge. ⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. ⁶ Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. ⁷ Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. ⁸ Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice. ⁹ Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities. ¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. ¹¹ Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. ¹³ Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners will be converted to You.