The following quote is taken from evilbible.com:
"God
Will Kill the Children of Sinners - "If even then you remain hostile
toward me and refuse to obey, I will inflict you with seven more disasters for
your sins. I will release wild animals that will kill your children and
destroy your cattle, so your numbers will dwindle and your roads will be
deserted." (Leviticus 26:21-22 NLT)
These
verses are part of a longer passage concerning God's covenant with the nation
of Israel. You can read the entire
chapter here:
Leviticus
is a book of laws set down for the Israelites to follow, made after the
covenant established between God and the Israelites after he had set them free
from slavery in Egypt. To understand
what's going on in this passage, it would help to explain what a covenant is,
and what it entails.
Dictionary.com
defines "covenant" as "an agreement, usually formal, between two
or more persons to do or not do something specified" [1]. In the case of the covenant between God and
the Israelites, he freed them from slavery and promised them rewards,
protection, and a land of their own, in exchange for their faithfulness to him
and their obedience to his commands. In
light of the Israelites' former life in Egypt, where they were oppressed with
hard labor (Exodus 1:11-14), and where the Pharaoh ordered their infant sons to
be killed (Exodus 1:22), an agreement with God in exchange for freedom was an
infinitely better arrangement.
In
the beginning of Leviticus 26, God detailed the rewards that he would give the
Israelites for obedience: rain, plentiful crops, peace, protection, fertility
and his presence among them (Leviticus 26:3-13). If they did not keep their end of the
bargain, he would not grant them the rewards; indeed, they would be punished
for breaking the covenant that enabled them to live a life of freedom from
oppression.
Unfortunately,
this meant that hostility towards God and disobedience to his commandments
would result in his removal of protection; they would be overtaken by other
nations, and wild animals. One question
often raised is this: if each person is punished for their own sins, and
children are not punished for their parents' sins (Ezekiel 18:20), then why
would their children be killed by wild animals?
What we need to consider here is that if a family or nation practiced
sins such as idolatry that were forbidden by the covenant and taught their
children to do the same, their children would most likely follow the practices
of their parents and be ensnared by the same sin, generation after
generation.
Conditions
would not stay this way, however, if the people repented and turned back to
God. When people turn away from their sins
and turn to God, he responds graciously to them. “'But if they will confess their sins and the
sins of their ancestors—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me,
which
made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their
enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their
sin, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my
covenant with Abraham...I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy
them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the LORD their God" (Leviticus
26:40-42, 44, NIV).
Today,
we have a new covenant, one that God promised not only for Israel and Judah,
but for people of all nations (Jeremiah 31:31-34). This is the new covenant of faith in Jesus
Christ for the atonement of sins, making us right with God. "And he took bread, gave thanks and
broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body
given for you; do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, after the
supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new
covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you'" (Luke 22:19-20, NIV;
see also Hebrews chapter 8).
References
[1] "Covenant", Dictionary.com
