Ezekiel 33:17

17 Then the sons of thy people shall say, The way of the Lord is not straight: but their way is the one that is not straight.

Ezekiel 33:17 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 33:17

Yet the children of thy people say
"Not my people"; for surely the children of God could never say what follows; and one would think that even no man could say it, after so much had been said by the Lord concerning the righteous and the wicked, and his dealings with them, which must appear to be just and right, good and gracious; and yet such were the atheism, the perverseness and peevishness of these people, they went on to say as they had done before: the way of the Lord is not equal:
is not according to the rules of justice and equity. The Targum is, ``the ways of the goodness of the Lord are not made plain (or exposed) unto us.'' The answer to which is, but, as for them, their way is not equal;
according to the rule of the divine word; as for God, his way and methods, both of providence and grace, were right and good; (See Gill on Ezekiel 18:25).

Ezekiel 33:17 In-Context

15 if the wicked restores the pledge, returns that which he had robbed, walks in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity he shall surely live; he shall not die.
16 None of his sins that he has committed shall be mentioned unto him. Has he lived according to judgment and righteousness? He shall surely live.
17 Then the sons of thy people shall say, The way of the Lord is not straight: but their way is the one that is not straight.
18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die thereby.
19 And when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does judgment and righteousness, he shall live thereby.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010