Exodus 20:5

Not bow down. This strikes at the outward honor given images in the ancient world. They were not looked upon as emblems, but as real and actual embodiments of deity. It was believed that the gods took up their abode in these images. Those who made them were not esteemed; they might even be despised. But their idolatrous handiwork was reverentially adored and worshiped.

A jealous God. God refuses to share His glory with idols (Isa. 42:8; 48:11). He declines the worship and service of a divided heart (Ex. 34:12-15; Deut. 4:23, 24; 6:14, 15; Joshua 24:15, 19, 20). Jesus Himself said, “No man can serve two masters” (Matt. 6:24).

Visiting the iniquity. This seeming threat has disturbed the minds of some who see in it the manifestation of a vengeful spirit. A distinction should be made, however, between the natural results of a sinful course of action, and punishment inflicted because of it (PP 306). God does not penalize one individual for the wrong deeds of another (Eze. 18:2-24). Each man stands before God, responsible only for his own acts. At the same time God does not interfere with the laws of heredity in such a way as to protect one generation from the misdeeds of its fathers, as that would be inconsistent with His character and His principles of dealing with men. It is only through these laws of heredity, which were of course ordained by the Creator in the beginning (see Gen. 1:21, 24, 25), that divine justice visits the “iniquity” of one generation upon the next.

No one can escape completely the consequences of dissipation, disease, profligacy, evil doing, ignorance, and bad habits handed down by preceding generations. The descendants of degraded idolaters and the offspring of evil and vicious men generally begin life under the handicap of physical and moral sin, and harvest the fruit of seed sown by their parents. Juvenile delinquency proves the truth of the second commandment. Environment also has a decided effect upon each rising generation. But since God is gracious and just, we may trust Him to deal fairly with each person, making due allowance for the disadvantages of birth, the inherited predispositions, and the influence of previous environment upon character. His justice and mercy require this (Ps. 87:6; Luke 12:47, 48; John 15:22; Acts 17:30; 2 Cor. 8:12). At the same time our aim is to be victorious over every inherited and cultivated tendency to evil (COL 315, 330, 331; DA 671).

God “visits,” or “appoints,” the results of iniquity, not vindictively, but to teach sinners that a wrong course of action inevitably brings unfortunate results.

Them that hate me. That is, those who, though they know God, refuse to serve Him. To set one’s affections upon false gods of any kind, to place one’s trust in anything besides the Lord, is to “hate” Him. Those who do so inevitably bring trouble and suffering not only upon themselves but also upon those who come after them. Those parents who think most of God, think most of their children. The use of the strong word “hate” is characteristically Oriental, expressing as it does the most intense disapproval. All a man need do to classify himself among those who “hate” God is to love Him less than he loves other persons or things (Luke 14:26; Rom. 9:13).