Section Nine

Punishment and

Forgiveness

Leviticus records some ‘decrees, laws and regulations’ that God establishes at Mount Sinai between himself and the Israelites using Moses. Some rewards for obedience are detailed. Included in these punishments, God says that some will ‘waste away’ in the lands of their enemies for two reasons: 1. Their own sins 2. The sins of their ancestors However, there is then a promise that God will forgive them if they confess the sins of both themselves and of their ancestors. Even then, God promises that they will not be wiped out completely so that they always have a chance to be a part of the covenant. Jeremiah is instructed by God to buy a field. This he does, and then prays. In this he says that God shows love to thousands, but punishes children for the sins of their parents. When God then speaks to Jeremiah, he says that punishment is only coming because generation after generation had refused to listen. When Jeremiah is told by God to tell the land of an impending disaster, God also instructs Jeremiah in what to say when he asked the question as to why the disaster was coming. Jeremiah is told to tell them that the disaster is coming because the people’s ancestors followed other gods. However, God also says that the people are behaving even worse than their ancestors. Their stubbornness is as much to blame as what their ancestors did.