God, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of them that hate me, and showing mercy to thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.” This is a much misunderstood passage. God does not arbitrarily choose to force a punishment upon an innocent child whose father ignorantly or viciously violated law any more than he breaks the leg or neck of a man who accidentally or with suicidal intent falls from the top of a building. God has wisely placed all men under a variety of laws. The laws are all planned for man’s good. If we keep all law, we develop manhood and womanhood. By the agency of heredity we transmit to our children the possibility of manhood and womanhood superior to that which we inherited. If we constantly violate law, we acquire physical, mental and moral degeneracy and transmit to our posterity defective conditions. In this way God has planned for each succeeding generation to become superior to the preceding one.
The statement is made that the iniquities of fathers are visited upon their children unto the third and fourth generations, and that “righteousness” is shown unto “thousands of them” (generations).