Bible Study HUGE Contradiction?

[tentex25]

There appears to be a huge contradiction in 2 Kings chapter 14.

2 Kings 14:6 - "Yet he did not put the sons of the assassins to death, in accordance with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses where the Lord commanded: 'Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sins.'"

This is what this passage states referring to the "Book of the Law of Moses." Now, the big question here is...is it not obvious that God punishes many people through the Old Testament for their fathers sins? Or am I just looking at it wrong?

 

[disruptor]

There are several places in the Bible where the Lord orders the destruction of the innocent for the sins of others, in contradiction to the Lord's teachings elsewhere. So you're not looking at it wrong.

Isa 14:21 Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.

1 Sa 15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

In my opinion, these passages must be seen in a wider Old Testament context. Some of the OT is polytheistic. Many of the Israelites were not worshippers of YHWH. Many of the OT tales have their origins in older, mainly Mesopotamian and Egyptian mythology. And some of these tales are of Satanic inspiration.

This is easily proved. The Hebrew word for GOD used in the Old Testament ('Elohim) is PLURAL, not singular. I believe this in itself should warn us that sometimes it is not our Lord, but someone else's who is speaking. Many of the contradictions in the Bible can be resolved by understanding this hidden polytheism (which the translators ignored).

For example, most Christians would agree that killing the first-born (Mat 2:16) is an act of Satanic wickedness.

Yet in Exodus 12:29-30 the LORD does just that:

Exo 12:29-30 And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that [was] in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for [there was] not a house where [there was] not one dead.

Therefore there are many passages in the OT (but never in the New Testament) where one needs to think carefully about who exactly is speaking. Both God and Satan are "lords". The believer has to use his faith in the One True Lord to allow him or her to see through the wiles of Satan and his minions, even when these wiles are found in the Bible itself.

 

[Georges]

Also another way to look at it......The children bear the fallout of the sins of the fathers....In other words the reprocussion of a father's sin can have effect for generations....are the children innocent (spiritually held accountable for the father's sin?) I think they are not held responsible for their father's sin although they may suffer the reprocussions of that sin...

another way to look at it....is it individually, or nationalistic?

 

[gingercat]

We are inheriting the sin of Adam and Eve; We cannot do anything about it. But we are not responsible for our parents' sins.

 

[belovedwolfofgod]

or the above are actually insane with their polytheism and whatnot...

look at who the Lord was speaking to in the passage in the book of the Law of Moses.

This same saying which comes from Deuteronomy 24:16 is also quoted in the verse you quoted and also in Ezekiel 18:20. In 18:2 the Lord asks Ezekial about this proverb that the Israelites are saying "Fathers have eaten green grapes, thus their children's teeth are on edge." which is basically the idea that children will pay for their fathers' foolishness. In verse 4 God says "For all lives are mine; the life of the father is like the life of the son, both are mine; only the one who sins shall die." Basically it deals with the sovereignty of God. He is speaking to men and saying that the persons lives are not theirs, but His own. Romans 9:21 says "does not the potter have a right over the clay." That and the way we regard death is not the way God regards it. If God destroys an innocent person's mortal life, they may very well receive immortal life upon the death of Christ, and therefore never really died in the eyes of God, so he was not lying when just a few verses later in Ezekial 18 He says that the virtuous man will live.

 

[Oscar3]

There appears to be a huge contradiction in 2 Kings chapter 14.

2 Kings 14:6 - "Yet he did not put the sons of the assassins to death, in accordance with what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses where the Lord commanded: 'Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sins.'"

This is what this passage states referring to the "Book of the Law of Moses." Now, the big question here is...is it not obvious that God punishes many people through the Old Testament for their fathers sins? Or am I just looking at it wrong?

I am no bible expert, but perhaps this will help
14:1–7 Amaziah’s reign, though good, lacked the excellence of David’s reign. It was more like his father’s (Joash) in that both failed to abolish the high places. One of Amaziah’s first acts was to kill the conspirators who had murdered his father (12:20, 21). However, he spared the children of these men, in obedience to Deuteronomy 24:16. Also, he led a brilliant campaign against Edom, killing ten thousand of its inhabitants and capturing the rock city of Selah (probably the same as Petra). Unfortunately, he brought back Edomite gods and began to worship them (2 Chron. 25:14).
MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments (2 Ki 14:1). Nashville: