In this paper we prove a commutative algebraic extension of a generalized Skolem–Mahler– Lech theorem. Let
$A$ be a finitely generated commutative
$K$–algebra over a field of characteristic 0, and let
$\sigma$ be a
$K$–algebra automorphism of
$A$. Given ideals
$I$ and
$J$ of
$A$, we show that the set
$S$ of integers
$m$ such that
${{\sigma }^{m}}(I)\,\supseteq \,J$ is a finite union of complete doubly infinite arithmetic progressions in
$m$, up to the addition of a finite set. Alternatively, this result states that for an affine scheme
$X$ of finite type over
$K$, an automorphism
$\sigma \,\in \,\text{Au}{{\text{t}}_{k}}(X)$, and
$Y$ and
$Z$ any two closed subschemes of
$X$, the set of integers
$m$ with
${{\sigma }^{m}}(Z)\,\subseteq \,Y$ is as above. We present examples showing that this result may fail to hold if the affine scheme
$X$ is not of finite type, or if
$X$ is of finite type but the field
$K$ has positive characteristic.