SOUR GRAPES

SOUR GRAPES!

Jer 31:29-33

29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge.

30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.

31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Ex 20:4-6

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

The use of “sour grapes” in our current language and thinking is to scorn an unattainable goal or reward. If a man greatly longed for a choice place of employment and failed to secure the position he might say it was “sour grapes” anyway. In other words, the job would have been troublesome and burdensome and so he is now glad that he did not get the position. But that is not the meaning of the term in Jeremiah.

In Jeremiah the proverb sought to lay blame for God’s punishment of sin upon the parents. It is a “not my fault” statement which says that my father has sinned and I am punished! Jeremiah clearly outlines a new covenant in which individual responsibility would be the foundation of relationship with God. This is further corroborated by Exodus 20: 4-6 and again in Deuteronomy 5:9 and 10.

1. Parents do affect the future of their children! It is observable. I’ve seen it. Certain sins tend to be passed along to the children. The tendency toward indolence, for example, tends to produce lazy children who in turn produce slothful grandchildren. Liars tend to produce children who do not value the truth. The sexually impure have offspring that do not value proper intimacy. The chemically dependent sometimes give birth to children who are addicted at birth. It is a sad beginning to life.

Perhaps the most incapacitating tendency of parents is to simply indulge their children their every whim producing a generation that believes the world owes them certain things because they breathe. This has given rise to children who refuse to grow up and own responsibility for their own upkeep and actions. Adult children in their twenties and even into their forties move back home and putter around the house living off the efforts and income of a weary set of parents.

2. The New Covenant is built upon individualism! While my sin does exert pressures upon my children and others, the New Covenant severs the umbilicus and holds me personally responsible for my actions. Actually it has always been this way. While Exodus 20:5 seems to hold the children and grandchildren responsible for their parents’ sin, verse six explains that God shows mercy to those who keep His commandments. Certainly the New Testament offers salvation and relationship to “whosoever will.”

3. We must be aware of our influence! This is especially true of parents because our children learn even when we think we are not teaching. But it is also true of anyone who holds a position over another. We call it leadership. It is clearly stated in the following verse.

Prov 22:24-25

24 Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:

25 Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.

Dear Lord, help me to be aware of who I am leading and who I am following. AMEN