Collective sin affects me… the sins of a generation has consequence. Your sin affects me and you’re not even touching me. The dangerous affects of generational sin.
Have you ever heard anyone say something along these lines?
“It’s okay to do (fill in the blank), if you don’t hurt anyone else.”
“It’s okay, I’m not hurting anyone else.”
“I’m not hurting anyone, what’s the problem? We should be free to do this, that or the other thing.”
Such statements are far too common in this generation, it’s sad. Fundamentally, such ideas fly in the face of the Bible. How you might be asking?
Jesus gave us two commandments that embody all the commandments of the Bible.
30 ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This [is] the first commandment. 31 “And the second, like [it, is] this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” – Mark 12:30-31 NKJV
Notice the second commandment: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Now if we love someone, it would suggest we do him or her no harm. Notice how we are to love our neighbor, as our self. The 2nd commandment would insinuate that we would understand how to rightly love our self. It is implied that we would do no harm to ourselves.
A couple topics where people use such statements are in the legalization of drug use and any “open” sexual relationship. These are only a couple examples of rebellion to the Lord. God provided the Bible, His Word because He loves humans. He wants us to experience His pure definition of love, that does no harm to others and ourselves. People often want to justify various actions and come up with statements that sound really good. Sadly, there are consequences to such actions that do in fact affect those around you – friend and stranger alike. People involved in any kind of sin that seemingly does not affect anyone else, does in fact impact all of society adversely.
“What do you mean? How does smoking marijuana or fornicating affect all of society adversely?”
Here’s an example of how collective sin affects others and brings consequence upon an entire nation, even those who did nothing wrong. In the book of Numbers Moses sends 12 spies into the Promiseland to spy it out and bring a report back as to what is currently taking place in the land of Canaan. Let’s take a closer look…
26 Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this [is] its fruit. 28 “Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land [are] strong; the cities [are] fortified [and] very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 “The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they [are] stronger than we.” 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies [is] a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it [are] men of [great] stature. 33 “There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” Numbers 13:26-33 NKJV
1 So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 “Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. 6 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, [who were] among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out [is] an exceedingly good land. 8 “If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ 9 “Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they [are] our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD [is] with us. Do not fear them.” 10 And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel. 11 Then the LORD said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them? 12 “I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
13 And Moses said to the LORD: “Then the Egyptians will hear [it], for by Your might You brought these people up from among them, 14 “and they will tell [it] to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, LORD, [are] among these people; that You, LORD, are seen face to face and Your cloud stands above them, and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 “Now [if] You kill these people as one man, then the nations which have heard of Your fame will speak, saying, 16 ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He killed them in the wilderness.’ 17 “And now, I pray, let the power of my Lord be great, just as You have spoken, saying, 18 ‘The LORD is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth [generation].’ 19 “Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray, according to the greatness of Your mercy, just as You have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
20 Then the LORD said: “I have pardoned, according to your word; 21 “but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD– 22 “because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, 23 “they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. 24 “But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.
25 “Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley; tomorrow turn and move out into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.” 26 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 27 “How long [shall I bear with] this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me.
28 “Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the LORD, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: 29 ‘The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. 30 ‘Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. 31 ‘But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. 32 ‘But [as for] you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness.
33 ‘And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. 34 ‘According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, [namely] forty years, and you shall know My rejection. 35 ‘I the LORD have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die.’ ”
36 Now the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation complain against him by bringing a bad report of the land, 37 those very men who brought the evil report about the land, died by the plague before the LORD. 38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive, of the men who went to spy out the land. 39 Then Moses told these words to all the children of Israel, and the people mourned greatly. 40 And they rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain, saying, “Here we are, and we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised, for we have sinned!” 41 And Moses said, “Now why do you transgress the command of the LORD? For this will not succeed. 42 “Do not go up, lest you be defeated by your enemies, for the LORD [is] not among you. 43 “For the Amalekites and the Canaanites [are] there before you, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned away from the LORD, the LORD will not be with you.” 44 But they presumed to go up to the mountaintop. Nevertheless, neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and attacked them, and drove them back as far as Hormah. – Numbers 14:1-45 NKJV
There’s so much going on in these two chapters. Read this passage two or three times perhaps to really let what’s transpiring sink in.
The children of Israel sinned in several ways:
1. They complained
2. They rebelled
3. They feared
4. They communicated unbelief
5. They put God to the test 10 times
Amazing! God delivered Israel out of the hands of the Egyptians by parting the Red Sea. They lacked the faith in God that He will also make good on His promise to give them the land flowing with milk and honey.
I wonder how often we do this in our own lives? God has big promises for us, but we complain, doubt and get scared – rather than believing in faith that He is BIG and can handle it.
God wanted to completely wipe this people out, but Moses interceded on behalf of the people. The Lord responded to Moses’ prayer and chose not to wipe them all out. Yet because of the collective sin everyone was punished. The 10 spies who gave a bad report were killed with a plague seemingly immediately. The rest of the congregation of the age 20 and older were set to wander the wilderness a year for every day they spied out the land – dyeing sometime within that 40 year window failing to enter the Promise Land.
Joshua and Caleb, did nothing wrong. These two were still punished for the sin of the collective group of Israel. Rather than entering right into the Promise Land, these two had to serve a “prison sentence” of sorts wandering 40 years in the wilderness. Joshua and Caleb were not killed, as all their peers. Bummer, it’s not a fun thing to receive a guilty sentence and be completely innocent.
The story of spying out the land is one example of how individual sin affects the collective group. Different types of sin bring about different types of punishment. As the sin of the collective grows, so does the punishment and judgment.
These statements are deceptive lies from the pit of hell.
“It’s okay to do (fill in the blank), if you don’t hurt anyone else.”
“It’s okay, I’m not hurting anyone else.”
“I’m not hurting anyone, what’s the problem? We should be free to do this, that or the other thing.”
The truth is, it’s not okay to participate in sin of any kind. The truth is those who are participating in sin are not only hurting themselves, but also hurting those who are innocent. It will harm you and does offer consequence to those around you. Even a sin that becomes “legalized” through civil law – if it goes against the Word of God, there will be punishment and consequence. For those participating in sin, such actions will directly and adversely affect those who are not guilty of participating in a particular sin.
Conversely, collective righteousness brings about the blessing of the Lord. If the collective group is living righteously, then there’s no 40 year sentence to the wilderness, there’s no death. Simply believe God and enter into the Promise Land now. Receive all His benefits and blessings today! His hand will bring forth prosperity of soul in all of life. Let’s pursue His life through obedience to His Word because that’s how we express our love to Him and to each other.
Deuteronomy paints a picture of this reality.
1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: 3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. 4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock–the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. 5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. 7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. … 9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in obedience to him. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. … 12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them. – Deuteronomy 28:1-7, 9-10, 12-14 NIV
Here’s a couple verses about how to love others and what love looks like:
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. – John 14:15 NKJV
44 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, – Matthew 5:44 NKJV
4 Love suffers long [and] is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NKJV
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV
