Fourth Generation
By Hunter Grills
February 10, 2026
Exodus 34:6-7 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
In Exodus 34, we see Moses conversing with the Lord. Moses had broken the original tables of stone and is now going up to Mount Sinai to receive another set like the first. (This is a beautiful example of the doctrine of preservation of God’s Word.)
The Bible tells us in verses 6 & 7, that the LORD passed before him, and proclaimed Who He is in His very Being. These two verses speak of Gods mercy, grace, longsuffering, and truth. Verse 7 goes into declaring the fruit of iniquity being passed down through generations. We know this because we have the sin nature passed down from Adam as an example.
In the New Testament, we see an example of the fruit of righteousness being sown through four generations. In 2 Timothy 2:1-2, the Bible says “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. [2] And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”
Notice that Paul is speaking to Timothy about the things he had told him to be passed on to other men. Those men are then to teach others also. Here are four generations of sinners being redeemed through God’s mercy, grace, longsuffering, and truth.
In the Lighthouse Children’s Homes, our desire is to rescue children with the truth of the glorious gospel of Christ with the prayer that multiple generations may be reached from each child that is rescued from this evil world.
Psalm 22:30-31 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
Reflection—Plant a seed. Watch it grow.