Sins of their Fathers (5/10)

I'm taking a break from preparing a rather rushed sermon. Since I got here I have realized again and again that I am a new Christian. I realize the basics of my faith as sudden epiphanies, and find verses that challenge my core beliefs quite regularly. Because of this I'm becoming a bit paranoid, and I find verses in the Bible for every concept I include in a sermon or Bible study, no matter how much I normally take the concepts for granted. Sometimes I have had to admit that some of my ideas were extra-biblical, and not include them at all.
I'll upload a condensed version of the sermon on Sabbath afternoon. Basically I'm trying to show how God's anger does not contradict his love, and link passages where he sends plagues to such obviously caring acts as the ministry of Jesus.
Interestingly, I now have a new take on the verses where God says he will punish people for the sins of their parents to "the third and fourth generation". I have found the phrase in four places (Exodus 20:5, Exodus 34:7, Numbers 14:18, and Deuteronomy 5:9), and in two of those places it actually says "to the third and fourth generation of those that hate me", which puts an entirely different spin on the matter. This is combined with the statements of Ezekiel 20:

19 "Yet you ask, 'Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?' Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. 20 The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.

The conclusion seems very clear to me, especially when you consider the phrase "sins of their fathers" is used in other places to mean sins which both they and their fathers committed. I think that these verses show God's mercy, not any injustice. A logical interpretation seems to be that God was saying he would work with Israel (or people in general) for several generations before abandoning them to their chosen fate.

...So that's one confusing, contradictory and troubling verse off my mind. Only a few dozen more to go.

I have a video of the sunrise from this morning. I'm not going to write a post for it, so I'll just post it here so I can delete it off the camera.

Please pray that the sermon will go well, I'm really worried about this one.