Who Gets Punished for Who's Sins

2 Chronicles 25

[Amaziah] did what was right in the eyes of the LORD... he did not put their children to death, but acted in accordance with what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor children be put to death for their parents; each will die for their own sin.” [ref. Deuteronomy 24:16]

And yet in Exodus 34:

⁶ And [the Lord] passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, ⁷ maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

 And Numbers 14:18

The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.

So the Deuteronomy rule makes sense and seems fair enough. The other two do not. But God is just. What gives?

I suppose the implication with the Exodus and Numbers quotes is that there may be consequences to sin that have a lasting impact on your family. And that's probably how most Christians (and maybe Jews) would rationalize it. However, that's reading a good bit between the lines that may not be there because that's not really what it says. It reads as an active thing that God does - he punishes - not a passive thing in that he allows the consequences to perpetuate.

Thoughts?

Will God Forsake Us, Or Not

2 Chronicles 15

¹The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. ² He went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you...”

Deuteronomy 31

¹ Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: ² “...⁶ Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Hebrews 13 also quotes that verse from Deuteronomy (for a new testament ref.).

Not sure what to make of this seeming contradiction. But I feel like these sorts of problem verses typically get ignored and swept under the rug by Christians. I'm just thinking, really? Does nobody read this stuff and have problems with it? Where's the discussion? Why does there appear to be discord in the message here?

The Holy Grail

I just so happened to be watching another show on the Knights Templar and the Freemasons and they claim that Christopher Columbus was not the first person to settle/find the Americas. It was the Knights Templars looking for a safe place to hide the Holy Grail. There was alot of info I am trying to research but their claim is that the Holy Grail is actually hidden somewhere on this continent. I will see what I can find out and post more later.

Sodom and Gomorah revisisted

I recently watched a documentary on the events of Sodom and Gomorrah as they may be related to the Kofels Impact.
A planisphere dating back to 700 BC was found in 1850 by an archaeologist in the library of a royal palace in Nivea that is now known as Iraq. The tablet is said to be an astronomical observation of the fall of an asteroid which took place in 3123 BC. The recorded projection of the asteroid is amazingly accurate, within 1 degree. The projection puts the asteroid in the path of Kofels, Austria. The recorded observation suggests that the asteroid is one that orbits close to the earth and was 1 kilometer in diameter. The angle of decent had it striking the mountain of Gamskogel causing it to explode and the fireball created damage to the Kofels valley which is observed by modern geologists. The resulting plume of the asteroid would have been about 400 degrees Fahrenheit, enough to ignite and disintegrate everything in it's path, which would have been the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah. The resulting impact would have also caused widespread changes in climates as suggested by northern Africa was once a lush tropical environment that turned into desert.
I believe the show is still running an NatGeo if you are interested.

Satan

1 Chronicles 21:1 - This seems to me the first mention of the name Satan. It took me by surprise because he hasn't been part of the conversation since early in Genesis as far as I recall. Am I forgetting something?

And, yes, I realize I have fallen very far behind in my reading at this point. But I'm at least continuing.