The God who will not Share His Glory
- Pastor Mark Wells
- Nov 23
- 2 min read
You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Exodus 20:5
Many will look at this verse and say God is unfair. How can He hold the father’s sin against his great-great-grandchildren? The truth is, He does not. The Prophet Ezekiel writes, “The soul who sins will die. The son will not bear the iniquity of the father, nor will the father bear the iniquity of the son;” (Ezekiel 18:20). So, wait, is Moses wrong or is Ezekiel wrong? The answer is neither.When Exodus describes God as “a jealous God,” it’s not petty envy — it’s holy zeal for His people’s exclusive devotion. God’s jealousy comes from His covenant love; He will not tolerate idols that enslave His people’s hearts. His jealousy protects His glory and our well-being.
Exodus 20:5 doesn’t mean that God holds innocent children guilty for their parents’ sins. Instead, it shows that sin has ripple effects. When parents reject God, they often lead their children to do the same. The “visiting” of iniquity describes the tragic consequences of learned rebellion, not a transfer of guilt. In other words, sin has consequences for those who did not commit that sin.
John Macarthur explains it this way, “What this says is when you have a corrupt generation, it will take three or four generations with the best conditions to change that. So here it is: you’re not going to fix it; don’t try. Neither will your children, neither will your grandchildren, and probably neither will your great-grandchildren. This is your world, and their world, and the next world, and the next world. And it may be the last one; Jesus may come. But you’re not going to change it, so stop trying. You can’t change it politically, can’t change it financially, it’s how it is.”
So, what do we do? You love God, you love your neighbor (even your enemies), you love fellow believers. How do we show love to our enemies? Your enemy, your neighbors, they are your mission field. God did not save you to save this world. He called you to be His ambassador in a kingdom that is not our home. The world will hate you for belonging to Christ, but we must respond by sharing the truth of the Gospel.
John MacArthur, in his sermon, Hope For A Doomed Nation, said, “Your enemy is your mission field. Your enemy is your mission field. The world of enemies was God’s mission field. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Don’t hate the enemy; love the enemy as God loves the enemy and sent His Son for their salvation.”
Your Shepherd,
Pastor Mark
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