2021 and The Visitation of Iniquity

 For I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation of those that hate me, and showing mercy to thousands of those that love Me and keep My commandments. Deuteronomy 5:8-10 

Today, a generation is generally considered to be 20 to 30 years. Let's take the average and call a generation 25 years. Let's also use the "fourth generation" from the Bible verse above. Now we have a reasonable argument that the iniquities of one generation are visited upon their offspring for the next 100 years (4x25).

A Century Ago

What was happening in the United States 100 years ago, in the years between 1910 to 1920? There was anarchy and rioting that led to injuries and deaths. Identity politics ruled the day. There was tremendous class-envy. The lower classes were rebelling against the wealthy class. Labor hated capital. Capital derided labor for not realizing that they had a good thing in capitalism. Socialism was on the rise, seen by the downtrodden as a panacea for all sorts of social ills and injustices, and by the middle and upper classes as a threat to the American way of life and to the very existence of the nation itself. And 100 years ago our nation was tested by a devastating influenza pandemic. 

Today

So where are we today, 100 years later? Identity politics continue to rule the day. Class envy has never been greater. Labor still hates capital and demands equity and diversity; where once it demanded control of industry by unions and workers, now it demands control by government. Socialism has slowly but surely eroded the foundations of our Republic for the past 100 years, to the point that former President Donald Trump was proved demonstrably wrong by the 2020 election when he forcefully declared that America would never be a Socialist country. The platform and plans of the Biden administration are nothing if not Socialist. We have anarchy in the streets, responsible for hundreds of deaths and hundreds of millions of dollars' destruction of property. One hundred years ago the anarchists were radical union members. Today's anarchists are radical Statists. And today our nation is tested by a devastating influenza pandemic. We are no better, and arguably worse off than we were 100 years ago in all aspects of our lives except, perhaps, economically.

Iniquity

What, then, was the "iniquity of the fathers" that God visited upon the third and fourth generations? It was idolatry; hating God. It is interesting to note that the citizenry of the United States began a decided and precipitous drift away from Christianity and a Christian worldview in the late 1800's and early 1900's, a drift that has lasted at least 100 years and has culminated in a country arguably more divided in 2021 than we were during the Civil War. For the vast majority of Americans either actively hate God or consciously ignore Him.

Trending

One hundred years ago, there was a growing disinterest in God and a growing reliance upon Big Government. While there have been ups and downs in that progression, the trend line for the past century has been ever toward a reliance upon big government and away from loving God, with a steep incline in the past 50 years. That should not be surprising, as idolatry is the default setting for Mankind. 

Greatest Generation or Fourth Generation?

The generation that fought World War II has been called the Greatest Generation. I disagree. The Greatest Generation, in my mind, was the generation that brought Christianity to our shores. The worst generation is the one defined by today's 20-30 year-olds, those unfortunate enough to embody the cumulative iniquity that has been visited upon this country for the past four generations. They have become resident experts in iniquity, the heroes of nothing but their own conscious woke-ness. Those of the preceding three generations have not escaped the visitation of iniquity, by any means, but they are not so affected by it in terms of degree as the current generation.

Hope?

The Good News--The Gospel Truth-- is that God does not visit Iniquity upon His people, upon His Church . . . upon "those that love Me and keep My commandments." Indeed, in the midst of Iniquity He shows mercy to them. Today, the United States is drowning in a sea of iniquity, but in His sovereign power and mercy God keeps those who are His out of the flood waters.