My Fathers Iniquity

My Fathers Iniquity


This is just a working definition of three words for the purposes of telling my story and explaining my theory.

Sin has been described as an archer missing his target and that’s a pretty good definition. Biblically speaking, anything that falls short of giving God glory is a sin. Transgression and Iniquity are types of sin.

Sin is missing the target; transgression is missing on purpose and Iniquity, in my opinion, Iniquity is when the archer has such bad form that he shoots his kids on accident.

There is a seen in an old movie, where a young boy was counting the seconds between the flash of light and the sound of thunder. Because light travels faster than sound, the boy could tell if the storm was moving closer or father away by counting the time between the flash and sound of the thunder. In the movie, the storm was very violent and moving so close that the flash of the lightning and sound of the thunder became instantaneous…. The boy was terrified. I used to lie in bed and count the time between the PsssT sounds of beer cans being opened for the same reason. That was Iniquity on my father’s part.

King Solomon implored his son “….with all thy getting get understanding.” That’s what I am trying to do. Maybe understanding is healing? Healing would be great but not wounding the people that I love would be amazing!


I think, before you can understand iniquity you have to understand anxiety.

I had always herd of anxiety but I thought it was something that weak people used as an excuse for moral shortcomings like anger or selfishness. I was wrong of Corse, just telling you what I thought.

So this is what I have come to understand about anxiety:

Anxiety is no more moral or immoral than gravity. Gravity affects the physical universe, it’s stronger in some places than others but it’s always a factor. Even in what we call the “zero gravity” of outer space, you may be able to float around inside the space shuttle but it’s the steady pull of gravity that keeps the shuttle and the planets in orbit. Like gravity, anxiety is always a factor. Sometimes it’s an irresistible force compelling you to make a decision, good or bad, and at other times it may be that unperceivable pull that moves you through time and space but , I now believe, it’s always a factor.

I believe it was anxiety that compelled Eve…. She could have chosen to talk to Adam or God about her anxiety, she could have simply chosen to say no, but she chose to lust/desire the fruit (James 1:15) and THEN she chose to sin (transgress). My theory is that anxiety is that feeling that something isn’t right. Eve felt that something wasn’t right and she made choices. God felt something wasn’t right (anxiety) and He sent His only begotten son. The bible is full of stories of anxiety and choices. Sometimes the choice was to do good (righteousness) and sometimes the choice was to do wrong (sin).

My dad dealt with anxiety with alcohol, anger and violence. He had issues from his father’s anxiety and iniquity and I have them from mine. My iniquity is the polar opposite of my fathers but its iniquity all the same.

The dictionaries define iniquity as unjust, not equal, out of balance etc. Iniquity can over react or underreact. I spent my life thinking that almost all anger was a moral shortcoming because my father’s anger was, so I avoided anger all together. That was iniquity. I could have just as easily been ruled by anger but that would have also been iniquity or I could have taken a more balanced approach and that would have been righteousness.

I had lived life as a peace keeper and that was iniquity. A peace keeper will sacrifice most anything, including truth, on the idolatrous alter of peace but Jesus said “Blessed are the peace makers” A peace maker is someone who will confront iniquity and bring it out into the light to be dealt with and MAKE a true and lasting peace. I’m trying to be a peace maker.


But anyway, I’m trying. The peace maker in me understands that it’s not all my father’s doing, I had a mother who could have stopped it at any moment. I named this this my father’s iniquity because included in the Ten Commandments chapter God talked about the iniquities of the fathers: “…. 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.”


I think that God is saying: the parents pass along the issues that made them sin and the kids do the same and it’s relevant to the Ten Commandments for that reason.

So what’s the answer?

Love God and keep His commandments

“5 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;

6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”


As Turan Wells says “Hard truth and ridicules grace”


“6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD [men] depart from evil.”



And the grace of God


For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

12Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

14Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

 

Thank you for your response Aaron! that's exactly what I was looking for. I'm trying to flesh this out in an understandable way and your response helps.

I can certainly understand your defining anxiety as fear. I think that's probably the most common definition for sure but what I'm trying to express is my thought that perhaps fear is only one possible response to anxiety. My thought is that, for example, in Gen 2:18 when God said " it is not good that the man should be alone....." that, feeling that something is not good, is at the very root of what anxiety is, in my opinion. In Gen 2:18 God identified the cause for his anxiety; the man was alone and it was not good. God then did the Godly thing, the good thing, He made Eve. Adam and Eve felt anxiety and tried to fix it by hiding and with fig leaves....In Gen 4 , Cain felt anxiety and he chose to respond with anger, depression and eventually murder.

Adam chose iniquity when he realized that he was naked and Cain chose iniquity in chapter 4.... God visited the iniquity.

I sure didn't mean to suggest that God transferred Adam's sin to Cain and I will try to be more clear on that in the future.

Maybe there is a better word, than anxiety, for that feeling that something is not good?

Actually, now that I think about it, I guess I should say that although Cain's anger and fallen countenance were iniquity, not all anger and sorrow are iniquity.... just look at Jesus, He certainly felt and expressed anger and sorrow but he did well (Gen 4:7) .... Jesus didn't "miss the mark" and it was glory to God in the highest.

I don't have iron sharpening friends close at hand and I would be very interested in hearing more thoughts and thank you for your time.

God bless, Larry