In Deuteronomy 24:16, God said “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.” This is an absolute law; and yet, God appeared to break this law regularly.

Surely the babes in Jericho couldn’t have committed sufficient sins to warrant the death penalty on their own; and yet, Joshua 6:17-21 shows that they killed everyone, young and old. Likewise the angels prophetically sent through Jerusalem in Ezekiel 9:5-6 were told to kill everyone without exception, parents with the children for the sins of the parents outlined in the previous chapter.

Israel killed Achan and all his house, children included, in Joshua 7:20-26, which God approved of (Joshua 8:1). In fact, God then sent them to Ai, to kill everyone (verses 24-26). Some might be comfortable believing that God is above His law, and can kill anyone He likes – I’m not – but even so, Joshua would not have been above the law. And yet he, too, killed young and old.

This is a severe contradiction in the Bible, for in Ezekiel 18, God lays out a series of examples, first a righteous man; then a wicked son; then his righteous son. The conclusion to these examples is in…

Ezekiel 18:19-20 Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. 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.

And yet…

2 Samuel 12:13-14 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, BECAUSE by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.

So not only does the father not die for his own sin – God being able to “put it away,” God kills his newborn son explicitly for his father’s sins in direct contradiction to His own laws! Why could God put away David’s sin, but not David’s-newborn-son’s-blame-for-his-father’s-sin?

Now I could dismiss this question with symbolism, saying that David’s son pictured Jesus, who died that he, David, could live; I could point out the seven days of his life and compare it to the seven thousand years of this plan; but that would be evasion. True though that might be, it doesn’t change the fact that God killed a child to pay for the sins of his father.

The answer, though it may not immediately be obvious, is in…

Deuteronomy 1:39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

At the time, God was cursing the survivors of the Exodus for their lack of faith, swearing that none of them would enter the Promised Land. That only those who at the time of this particular sin “had no knowledge between good and evil” would be allowed to enter.

This is a key scripture because it tells us that until a child is 20 years old (Numbers 32:11), in God’s eyes he “has no knowledge between good and evil.” Now obviously, that’s not true as we read it. Children aren’t idiots until they’re 20. I mean, they’re not that smart either, but that doesn’t magically change at 20!

But in God’s eyes they are not responsible for choosing good and evil until that day. Obviously this connects back to the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve were in a similar state of unresponsibility until they ate the forbidden fruit; at that point, by eating the fruit, they CHOSE to be responsible and bear their sins. At which point, an animal had to be killed to give them a covering for their sins.

Hebrews 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

This ability to discern good and evil isn’t in babies because it must be practiced; it must be taught by the parents, reinforced with correction, and exercised on their own. And when a child makes mistakes, it doesn’t repent to God; it repents to its parents. God doesn’t smite it with a rod, He commanded the parent to do that (Proverbs 22:15).

This means that if the child is a sinner before the age of 20, whom does God blame? The person whom He told to correct them! 1 Timothy 3:4-5, Deuteronomy 32:46-47.

Genesis 18:19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and THEY shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

So until a child is 20, God does not directly judge them. That’s why He gave them parents. There are exceptions, such as children who are devoted to God (Samuel, for example); orphans without close male relatives; and young women/widows in their father’s house; we can learn a lot from that last example, because the Bible explains the chain of responsibility very clearly in Numbers 30:3-15.

God does not hold a woman responsible for her vows IF her husband disallows it when he hears of it. Likewise, if she is unmarried or widowed, regardless of age, she’s not responsible IF she’s living with her father, and he hears of it and disallows it. But if she lives alone or is divorced, she is responsible (verse 9). Why the distinction?

Because a woman living in her husband’s house is living in HIS HOUSE. Likewise, her father’s house. But when she lives on her own, she lives in her OWN house, and is the head of that house unless and until she remarries. And as such, she is responsible for herself.

This principle of responsibility applies also to children. If a child vows, it must also be the same as a young woman’s vow; surely God cannot hold the word of a 6-year-old against him. But equally surely, his father must; he must teach his 6-year-old how serious it is, so that when he is on his own God won’t have to judge him!

But if a child’s sins are protected from God’s wrath by living in his father’s house, the reverse of that is that while he is a minor, the child is punished WITH that house for their sins. If a child sins, his father spanks him. But if his father sins, and God spanks the father with poverty, illness, or whatever, that child will inevitably feel the punishment with the parent!

In no other way can we justify God’s actions with Jericho, Ai, Achan, and David. At every point, for every sin, God must have someone to hold responsible. The head of the house, whoever that may be, is responsible for the sins of that house. This acts as a protection for those in the house, if the head of the house is righteous; or as damnation for the house, if the head of the house is like Achan.

Yet, according to the law God gave Moses, once a child reaches his age of responsibility, God expects him to choose good and evil for himself; and God judges him independently of his family. In some cases, like Ahab, his children all chose evil as well and were all wiped out. But in some cases, one or two adult sons were righteous. And this explains what happened with Korah’s children.

Numbers 16:27 So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.

Verse 32 (WEB) and the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who appertained to Korah, and all their goods.

Here, God killed “all the men that pertained to Korah!” Specifically including “little children.” And yet…

Numbers 26:9-11 …This is that Dathan and Abiram, which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they strove against the LORD: And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up together with Korah… Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not.

We saw, quite specifically, “little children” and “sons” of Korah being killed ten chapters ago; yet here, there were other sons of Korah who were NOT killed! Why not? It can only be because they were above the age of accountability, and did not join their father’s rebellion!

Ezekiel 18:14, 19 Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father’s sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like… [that] hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.

But this requires a child to be old enough to make this choice for himself, independent enough to stand apart from his family, and for him to be responsible in the eyes of God to make such a choice!

Isaiah 7:15-16 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For BEFORE the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.

Korah’s surviving children had known good and evil, and had chosen good. His younger children were judged under their father’s aegis, and dealt with part and parcel with the rest of the family, just as Korah’s wife (or wives) were dealt with according to the sins of the head of the house.

Matthew 18:25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

And sometimes, the punishment God levies on a man is not a price he pays himself – but a price he pays through losing his loved ones. Examples include Job (Job 1:12-19); Ezekiel (Ezekiel 24:15-18); and finally, the example that raised this question in the first place… David’s son. Is this unfair of God, to punish your family for your sins?

Romans 9:11-15 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

God is capable of looking on the hearts of children, and knowing whether they would be likely to be saved in this life or not; and if not, God is going to bring them back in the second resurrection, as David himself knew:

2 Samuel 19, 22-23 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead… And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

So if God gives you a child, God has the right to take it away again, as Job realized:

Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

The father has no right to complain that his house – not his legal-age sons, but a member of his house – is punished for the sins of the head of that house. A sinner doesn’t often get to chose the form his punishment takes – God chooses what He believes will teach us best, balanced against what’s best for all concerned.

And the child who receives the punishment for his father’s sin… has the same right to complain as the porcelain that was used for a toilet has to complain about the porcelain that was made into a punch bowl.

Maybe God chose the other porcelain for a punch bowl because it was slightly better quality; maybe not. This life is never completely fair, nor is it supposed to be. If it were, God wouldn’t have let Satan be the god of this world!

God never promised fairness in this life. But regardless of the opportunities, or lack thereof, that they had in this life, God will give both of them an equal chance to be a vessel to honor in the next life. That, He has promised.

Isaiah 65:20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.

This is the guarantee that God gives to the stillborn baby, to the unsaved barbarian, and to those children who find their teeth set on edge because of their father’s sins (verses 21-25). Then, all will find fairness.