'The Lord 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.'A wonderful statement of God's nature. First off, it places his mercy. He will not act capricously, or run out of patience. He will not condemn us at our first mistakes, or even subsequent ones. He will, however, still judge us for our failures, and that judgment is part of our inheritance.
At the same time, this verse explains the problem many have with God. How can He both forgive iniquity, yet in the same breath punish someone's great-great-grandchildren for it? How can he be abundant in lovingkindness, but not clear the guilty? The way I tend to answer this is that we are given the chance to repent and change our ways, and if we do God will forgive us our mistakes. However, if we do not, then we have chosen our own fates, and He is simply giving us what we have asked for.
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