Your first couple of paragraphs address this in a way that when speaking to the divided accountability of parents and children that it brings to mind the second commandment where it speaks of accountability being passed down to the third & fourth generations .. this subject has via these verses always intrigued me. What are your thoughts about what God said here as it pertains to generational will and accountability? Is this God's admonition to parents as to the vast importance of their role? I have always believed it was.
Does it also speak to the way that sin is handed from down one generation to the next if we do not succeed in winning the sin battle? The subject of free will in these verses would seem to be key.
 | "For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." |
Also what is your opinion as to how God's mercy would apply to the child of a parent who actually does ruin the child's will? This is another aspect of this subject that has much intrigue because it begs the question - how much self (will) is ours to keep considering that the goal is to be selfless and in the will of the Father? Where is narcissism in this equation? It would seem there is a place where sin becomes inbred, almost even inherited via this passage. Like the saying that one that does not slay his dragons passes them on to their children to slay.