Justice and Mercy through Generations

[WingedPaladin]

I was watching the movie "The Ten Commandments" starring Dougray Scott filmed in 2007. In it, Moses tells the Israelites that if they do not keep the commandments which God has given them, God will not only punish them, but their children and their children's children.

(I am still looking for the scripture where Moses actually says this.)

The movie portrays how Pharaoh commanded his men to kill all of the sons of the Israelites (Exodus 1:22) in attempt to prevent the prophesy of the downfall of Egypt. Later, to convince the Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to go free, the destroying angel takes the lives of the first born of the Egyptians. (Exodus 12:12,29) Many Egyptians who lost their sons to the God of Israel were boys themselves when the Pharaoh gave his order.

God also has mercy and blessings through generations such as the case with Abraham, that through his seed, all the nations of the world would be blessed. (Genesis 28:4,14, Acts 3:25)

Other scriptures reveal the same.

Deuteronomy 23:2-3,8
Daniel 4:3,34
Isaiah 34:10,17
Luke 1:50

Much of this blessing or cursing of generations is evident in the LDS scripture also.

2 Nephi 25:9,16,21-22
Doctrine & Covenants 56:20
D&C 69:8
D&C 98:28-30,37,46-48
D&C 124:50,52,56-59

There are many more scriptures I have not listed which talk about seed, children, generations being either blessed or cursed for the righteousness or wickedness of their fathers.

It is believed among Christians and Latter-Day Saints that because the Jews crucified Jesus Christ, exiled, tortured and killed the Apostles and early followers of Christ, that God allowed the Jews to be scattered, exiled, tortured and killed for many many generations as retribution.

Many may look at those scriptures and examples and think, "That's really not fair! Why should children suffer or be punished for having a sinful father, grandfather, or ancestor?"

I think Spiritual Fluids explain some of this continuous retribution. Also, I believe some of what children suffer is due to blessings which parents deny their children by teaching them falsely or by not allowing them to believe in or follow the ways of God.


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Although Joseph Smith himself and many of the saints were abolitionists, Brigham Young taught and believed that the slavery of the Africans in America was a result of the curse of Cain and of Ham and that the race would be the "servant of servants" (Genesis 9:25) as God decreed until the curse was removed. Blacks were denied the Holy Priesthood in the church from the time of Brigham Young until 1978 when Spencer W. Kimball and the Apostles declared (Official Declaration 2) they received a revelation from the Lord in the upper room of the Salt Lake Temple to extend the Priesthood to all worthy male members of the church regardless of race. This Priesthood limitation was a thorn in the side of the members and leaders of the church. Members were very much relieved and rejoiced when the Lord removed it. We believe God was working a mighty work in Africa to prepare the hearts of the people there for the blessings extended to them, for the anticipation and reception of the gospel there was enormous. In the 1970s, LDS Church headquarters received more letters from people in Africa asking for missionaries and materials than anywhere else in the world combined.

http://www.blacklds.org

Another interesting detail to note is that many Latter-Day Saints believe themselves to be descendants of Jacob/Israel - especially being of the tribe of Joseph and his sons Ephraim and Manasseh. (The dominant tribe of Israel each individual belongs to is revealed through a special priesthood blessing called the "Patriarchal Blessing." The Caucasian side of my family has been predominantly of the tribe of Ephraim while my Hawaiian side has been predominantly of the tribe of Manasseh. I have a cousin who was fathered by a Jewish man. Her blessing declared her to be of the tribe of Judah.) Because of the scattering of Israel, Latter-Day Saints believe that the seed of Abraham mingled among the Europeans which brought the blessings of Abraham to that continent and forward to America as Christopher Columbus and succeeding European colonies inhabited the West. Therefore is the possible irony that the African slavery and racism issue in America may be the flip side of Joseph and the children of Israel enslaved by the Egyptians.


Personally, I love both the Jews and people of African descent. I rejoice and tears come to my eyes when I see them receive the blessings of the Lord and achieve greatness and success. I think that the great degree of struggles and prejudices they have faced have set the stage for tremendous growth and greatness among them (ie. Martin Luther King, Jr.).

[Johnson]

The issue of fluids and children being affected by the deeds of past generations also works in the other direction as well.

Certainly we are individually responsible for our acts and deeds and intentions during our lives... and part of our makeup is indeed an amalgam of the complex cosmic stew of our past lives and the connections we have with those that came before us.

What is also amazing, is that if we are able to improve ourselves, even just a little bit, during our tenure here, that lifting of our fluids helps the fluids of our parents that came before us... wherever they may be.

(For clarity, I am speaking in terms of what we perceive time as being... that with having an actual "before" and "after"...)

And of course, the inverse is true... and so on, and so on, and so on....

[WingedPaladin]

Hearts of the Children

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."

(Malachi 4:5-6)

We believe this event happened on April 3, 1836 when Moses, Elias, and Elijah restored certain Priesthood keys or powers including the sealing power to bind families and generations together. Since this event, we have noticed a dramatic increase in record keeping and interest in genealogy around the world. The church has perhaps the largest database in the world.

http://www.familysearch.org

Latter-Day Saints perform ordinances in the temple such as baptism, receiving the holy ghost, and sealing married couples and families together for eternity in behalf of their ancestors and others who have gone before. We believe our work here improves their condition there by the grace of Jesus Christ on the other side should they choose to accept the ordinances we perform in their behalf.