Our fathers really messed up – and we're suffering because of it!
In our day, it's really tempting to read this in an individualistic way! “My parents really screwed up me!”
And certainly that can happen! Parents can ruin their kids lives!
But that isn't what the prayer of Nehemiah 9 is saying. When it says that “our fathers” sinned – it's not making a genetic connection to my particular parents. “Our fathers” refers to the whole of the people of Israel: whether my particular parents sinned is beside the point. By virtue of my participation in Israel now that means that I am the heir of Israel then – and so whether my particular parents sinned doesn't matter. As a part of this community, I have inherited the good, the bad, and the ugly that goes along with it.
Scripture regularly affirms the idea of corporate guilt – and particularly the idea that corporate misery is the result of corporate guilt...
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