If parents worship graven images, are children punished or not?

Question

I'm looking at Exodus 20:5 and Deuteronomy 5:9
(where the 10 commandments are defined)

(It looks like grandchildren and great-grandchildren would also be similarly punished.)

If the answer is "No", please tell me how I am misinterpreting this passage.

Answer 1

I personally don't believe that the Lord holds children accountable for the sins of their parents. When I looked up a few passages here is what I came up with:

In Exodus 32:33 it says:
"And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book."

In Deuteronomy 24:16 it says:
"The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin."

In Ezekiel 18:20 it says:
"...The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him."

Also, when I continued to read in Exodus, v. 6 talks about the mercy that the Lord bestows on those that love Him and keep his commandments. I think that v.5 discusses those that learn from their parents and continue to carry on the tradition of worshiping graven images as adults past the age of their own accountability. Deuteronomy verses were the same interpretation in my mind.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

If a child is abused by their parents, there is a good possibility that the parents were also abused and that the child will be an abuser when that child becomes a parent. We learn negative behavior from our parents. We have a free will not to become that which is negative but this can be very difficult. It is possible but difficult.
The graven images of the Old Testament were pagan gods. Families kept these images in the family and taught their children who taught their children ect.
Were they punished? Who knows? Perhaps the punishment was not experiencing the true God.

Answer 3

of course, god loves to punish the innocent. just read the bible for proof..

Answer 4

No