Turn and Live: God’s Justice and Our Responsibility

Turn and Live: God’s Justice and Our Responsibility

Ezekiel 18:1-32

Main Idea: The only sin God holds against us is our own, but in His graciousness, He calls us to turn from sin and live.

Sometimes we find ourselves in situations because of the choices of others. When I was in fifth grade, there was a teacher who did not want me in her classroom solely because of my father’s reputation. My closest friends were in her class, but I was not. She did not want to deal with my father’s craziness. Speaking of his craziness, when I was in sixth grade, my father showed poor sportsmanship and was asked to no longer coach our basketball team. As a result, he forced me to quit and miss the second half of the season. I’m certain this is where my future NBA career was derailed.

My situations are mild in comparison to some who suffer greatly because of the decisions of others. There are babies who are born with birth defects because their mother could not stop drinking or using drugs while pregnant. There are Christians whose bodies are mutilated or scarred because this is how their audience responded to their witness of Christ. There are children who will cry themselves to sleep tonight because a parent has walked out on their family. Certainly there are times we suffer because of the decisions of others, but I find most of the consequences I deal with are because of my own decisions.

In Ezekiel 18 the prophet’s generation believes they are suffering because of the sins of their fathers and grandfathers. They do not believe they deserve the situation they are in, and they do not think it will change. Above all, they accuse God of injustice. He, however, will confront their fatalistic worldview by calling them to acknowledge their own sin and to turn from it. In turning they will find life.

Both presently and eternally, sin is a matter of life and death. The words “live/life” or “death/die” are used more than 28 times in this text. The repetition reveals the emphasis. Despite all His people had done, God’s desire was still for them (and us) to own their sin, turn from it, and find life in Christ. As much as we want to blame others, no one has ever made us choose sin. The world, the flesh, and the Devil may load the gun of temptation, but we pull the trigger. The first person we should blame for the consequences we often find ourselves in is often the last person we hold responsible. Ezekiel 18 is a call to acknowledge our sin and accept God’s call to repent and live.

Good News: God Will Not Hold the Sins of

Anyone Else Against Us

Ezekiel 18:1-20

On his desk in the Oval Office, President Truman had a sign with these words written on it: The buck stops here. Sometimes I wonder if anyone in Washington, DC, knows where that sign went. But I digress. From our first journey into sin, humankind has been an expert at blaming everyone else for our sin. Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, and all who have come behind them have been gifted in shifting responsibility. God’s people in the time of Ezekiel were no different.

Based on their circumstances, the people of God adopted a fatalistic worldview. They shared this proverb with one another: “The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” Though He knows the answer, God wants Ezekiel to ask His people what they mean by the proverb. Ezekiel’s contemporary, Jeremiah, recorded exactly what they meant: “Our fathers sinned; they no longer exist, but we bear their punishment” (Lam 5:7). Ezekiel’s peers were blaming their ancestors (and God) for the discipline they were receiving. In essence, their accounts were being debited because of checks written by their fathers.

Beneath their proverb was a conviction of fatalism. Block contends their mind-set was, “This is the way the universe operates. There is an inevitable and uncontrollable determinism. This is how things are; one can do nothing to change it” (Ezekiel 1–24, 560). If they were indeed thinking along these lines, it means they believed God did not care about them, or if He did, He was too weak to change anything. Perhaps they felt things were this way because God’s ways lack fairness (18:25). Instead of punishing those who committed treason against God, He punishes their children, or so they thought.

You cannot accuse God of wrongdoing and think He will not notice. The Lord has a response for their proverb. He tells them, “You will no longer use this proverb in Israel.” He will silence their popular saying and worldview because it is wrong. He declares, “Look, every life belongs to Me. The life of the father is like the life of the son—both belong to Me. The person who sins is the one who will die.” In essence God informs them He owns every life and holds each accountable for that person’s own actions. No random laws of the cosmos are in operation but only His laws, and He is just.

To further explain how wrong their thinking is, the Lord provides them with three case studies about a father, his son, and his grandson (18:5-17). In the first example God describes a man who “follows my statutes and keeps My ordinances, acting faithfully. Such a person is righteous; he will certainly live.” In the second example the man’s son is described as violent and who sheds blood, though the father did none of these things. According to the Lord, the man’s son will not live because unlike the father he chose to commit detestable acts. His blood will be on him. In the third example the righteous man’s grandson sees all the sins his father committed and chooses not to do likewise. Like his grandfather the grandson practices the Lord’s ordinances and follows His statutes. He will not die for his father’s iniquity. He will certainly live.

In coming to the conclusion of the three case studies, God wants to drive the point home clearly. In contrast to their popular proverb, God informs Ezekiel’s generation each person is held accountable for that person’s own sin. Of course, they should have known this already because God has been saying the same thing all along. Because He does not change, neither does His message. In Deuteronomy 24:16 He informed His people, “Fathers are not to be put to death for their children or children for their fathers; each person will be put to death for his own sin.” God was also repeating the same message in the exile’s generation through Jeremiah: “In those days, it will never again be said: The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. Rather, each will die for his own wrongdoing. Anyone who eats sour grapes—his own teeth will be set on edge” (Jer 31:29-30).

Since none of Ezekiel’s audience quoted Deuteronomy 24:16, it’s doubtful the word of the Lord was at the forefront of their minds, but had it been, one might have asked, “What about Exodus 34:7?” In proclaiming Himself to Moses, the Lord revealed, “He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation” (Exod 34:7). At first glance this verse appears to justify the claims Israel was bringing against the Lord. Exodus 20:5, however, provides some clarification. In this verse the Lord addresses the idolatry of His people and says, “You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me” (Exod 20:5, emphasis added). The key to interpretation and reconciliation with the other Scripture passages is the last phrase. What Ezekiel portrays is a son who sees his father’s sins and avoids them, while Exodus has in view sons and grandsons who embrace the sins they have seen and who follow the same pattern.

Both passages in Exodus and Ezekiel affirm the same truth. The only innocent son God has ever punished is His own Son when He laid our guilt on Christ. In all other cases any children that turn from the sinful practices of their parents and obey God will not be punished for what their moms and dads do. Likewise, any children that continue in the rebellious footsteps of their fathers should expect the same punishment.

The case studies the Lord provides in Ezekiel 18 can also teach us additional truths. First, a wicked son cannot be rescued by the righteousness of his father. In the examples the Lord gave, none of the father’s obedience and righteousness was credited to the account of the son. For all of us, the only One who can pass righteousness to us is Christ. In all other cases the righteous deeds of a parent will not be credited to the account of the child.

Second, just because a father chooses wickedness and rebellion toward God does not mean his children have to walk in the same path. For those of us who have had an ungodly parent, the example given in the third case study should give us hope. The grandson sees what his father did and chooses to walk in the path of his grandfather instead. Josiah is one of the greatest examples of breaking the cycle of sin that is handed down from parents (2 Kgs 22:1-2). His father and grandfather were evil kings, but Josiah chose another example to follow—David. Just because our parents may have rejected the ways of the Lord does not mean we are doomed to the same path.

Third, righteousness is more evidenced by practice than profession. With both the man and the grandson, righteousness was not talk but deed. They did things such as give their bread to the hungry and cover the naked with clothing (18:7,16). They refused to oppress others and treated their neighbor’s wife with purity (vv. 6-7,15-16). None of these acts earned righteousness but evidenced it. They followed the Lord’s statutes and ordinances, and righteousness was revealed.

Fourth, when the Lord disciplines us, we should not look for anyone else to blame but ourselves. Ezekiel’s generation wanted to know why they were suffering. They know now their exile is not because God is unjust or because He laid on them the sins of their parents. It was time for Israel to stop blaming others and accept responsibility for their own actions. We should too. As a pastor I frequently meet people who cannot get over some aspect of their past. Though we may blame certain circumstances on our fathers, we cannot blame our sins on them. We alone make our choices, and we alone will be held accountable for them.

Bad News: God Will Hold Us Accountable for Our Sins, and Just One of Them Is Worthy of the Full Measure of His Wrath

Ezekiel 18:21-29

The Lord’s kindness leads us to repentance (Rom 2:4). To be led by the Lord to acknowledge our sins and to turn from them is a grace to us. In the initial moments of conviction, we may not view our experience as a period of grace, but anytime the Lord does not leave us in our sin, it is nothing but grace. The very reason Israel is thinking and processing sin is because they have been disciplined. Their problem was they were thinking on the sins of their fathers and not their own. God, however, is about to change this practice.

The people of Judah did not just need to be rescued from Babylon; they needed to be rescued from their sin. Block notes, “One’s appreciation for grace is directly proportional to one’s consciousness of sin. A prophet does no one a favor by promoting a sense of well being when one is governed by the law of sin and death” (Block, Ezekiel 1–24, 590). If what they heard from the Lord in Ezekiel 18:5-20 was true, then what they claimed in Ezekiel 18:2 was false. If God deals justly with each generation, then they too must be guilty. And they were (20:30-32). Their parents had certainly committed sin (20:4-29), but their generation continued to defile themselves by practicing idolatry (20:31). Something bad was not happening to a people who were good. No, God was using something bad to discipline people who were bad, ultimately to produce a good result. God disciplines His people for the purpose of repentance and restoration and not for ruin.

To help Israel understand their accountability for their actions, the Lord provides Ezekiel with two more examples. In the first example a wicked person turns from his sins, follows the Lord’s way, and lives (18:21-23). In the second example a righteous person turns from the Lord’s ways, practices iniquity, and faces death (v. 24). In one example there is a person who has turned from sin and in the other example, a person who has turned to it.

What can we learn from the examples? First, we do not have to stay the way we are. What a great word of hope! Those who have walked in wickedness can be counted among the righteous. Just because Israel walked in idolatry up to that point did not mean they had to continue in it. Ezekiel’s generation could recognize their sin and repent of it. In the New Testament there are real-life examples of what Ezekiel was telling them. For instance, there were the tax collectors, Matthew and Zacchaeus, who turned from their practices and followed Christ. There was also Paul, who went from persecuting the people of God to pastoring them. The Lord’s grace can bring true and lasting change in our lives.

Second, past righteousness never covers present sin. The second example is one the church crowd might want to give special attention. We cannot live in obedience to God the first portion of our life and then use that as a righteous slush fund to spend our credits on disobedience. Faith is demonstrated in a consistently godly life. With regard to righteousness, there is no time like the present. Is there current evidence of the fruit of the Spirit? Are we growing today as a disciple in Christ? As much as Ezekiel was to exhort the wicked to turn from their ways, he was also to encourage the righteous to continue in theirs.

I fear in my denomination eternal security has been emphasized far more than the call to persevere in Christ. The concept of New Testament conversion is not “I’m saved, so now I can do what I want,” but “I’m saved, and for the first time I can do what He wants.” Some seem to think that as long as one confesses the “sinner’s prayer,” then it does not matter what happens with the rest of their lives. The second example provided to Ezekiel should serve as a reminder to us that righteousness is not merely to be professed once in our lives but practiced daily.

However much we may glean from the two examples God provided, Ezekiel’s audience did not like them. They said, “The Lord’s way isn’t fair.” They struggled to process what they were hearing from the Lord. How could one who was wicked not be punished, and how could one who walked in righteousness face punishment? God cut to the heart of Israel by saying the issue was not His own fairness but theirs (vv. 25,29). God is not being arbitrary or unpredictable. He is punishing the one who turns to sin and forgiving the one who turns away from it, and He will do the same for the exiles (v. 30). For Israel to want Him to do otherwise reveals they are in no position to declare what is fair and what is not.

Greatest News: God Has Laid All of Our Sin on Christ that We Might Turn and Live

Ezekiel 18:30-32

As Ezekiel 18 comes to a close, one might expect the Lord to grow weary with His obstinate and ignorant people. If His fairness was what they questioned, then perhaps He should give them a full taste. He, however, has a better plan.

We are sinners born from sinners; therefore we should not be surprised by the Lord’s judgment but by His mercy. Judgment is deserved, but mercy is not. The fact the One we have rebelled from is the One who begs us to repent should not be lost on us. We should never cease to be amazed Ezekiel 18:30-32 is recorded in the Bible. After enduring their rebellion and their accusations, God offers His people (and us) grace and life instead of judgment.

God, the offended party, pleads with us, the offenders, to repent and turn from all our transgressions, so they will not be a stumbling block that causes our punishment. His desire is for us to throw off all the transgressions we have committed and get ourselves a new heart and a new spirit. He takes no pleasure in anyone’s death. As obstinate as His people have been in their sin, He is as steadfast in His love. To punish sin, God is being nothing but fair, but to forgive it, He is being nothing but gracious.

What Israel needed was a proper vision of God. Theirs was clearly flawed with thoughts of His weakness and injustice. What they learn is that He does punish the wicked, but He takes no pleasure in it. What they also learn is that their lives are precious to Him. He has stepped in and disciplined His people because if they continue on the path of sin it will lead to only one thing—death. He is pleading with them to turn from their rebellion and live.

In order for God to forgive, His people must repent and throw off all of their transgressions. What does it mean to repent? It means we turn from sin and from ourselves and turn to God. Repentance is not the same as remorse, which means we feel bad for a little while but then keep walking the same path. No, repentance involves not merely a momentary change but a fundamental one. We walk differently because we have been made different.

True repentance requires a new spirit and a new heart. From where will these come? God. He does for His people what we are incapable of doing for ourselves. He says,

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My statutes and carefully observe My ordinances. (36:26-27)

All that God expects from His people, He provides for them. The only way to “get” a new spirit and a new heart is to go to God.

Where exactly should one throw all of their transgressions? There is no other place but Christ. He alone has taken our sins upon Himself and paid the price for them. For those who repent, the only place God remembers our sin is at the cross of Christ. God’s offer of life to His people comes only through the death of His Son.

At the close of Ezekiel 18, I cannot help but wonder if we are as passionate with our pleading with sinners as God is. The last words in the chapter are, “Repent and live!” He is calling sinners to abandon the path of death and choose His path of life. Is this how we treat people who wound us? Do we seek their best though they have sought our harm? One of the clearest ways we can image God is to initiate reconciliation with those who have sinned against us. Instead of waiting for them to come to us, like God we should go to them.

God still appeals to sinners today to turn and live. His appeals are offered through us. Paul contends, “We are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, ‘Be reconciled to God’” (2 Cor 5:20). The pleading of Paul was the pleading of God, and it is the same through us. If any of our loved ones, coworkers, neighbors, or friends perish, may they do so only with our pleading ringing in their ears.

Reflect and Discuss

1. Why are we tempted at times to blame anyone but ourselves for our sin?
2. Has there ever been a time when you felt God was punishing you because of someone else’s sin?
3. Has there ever been a time others have had to deal with the consequences of your sin?
4. Have you ever considered God to be unfair? With regard to our sin, why should we desire grace rather than fairness from God?
5. When is a time God stepped in to “save you from yourself”? In what ways are you thankful He did?
6. Why do we not immediately embrace God’s discipline as a grace to us? How can we grow in this area?
7. When you see God, who is the offended party, initiating reconciliation and calling for the offenders to repent, in what ways do you want to praise Him?
8. How can we look like God when we initiate reconciliation with others?
9. Is there anyone who has wounded you that you do not want to initiate reconciliation with or to forgive? How can the Lord help you be like Him in this area?
10. Is God’s passionate call to sinners to repent being heard clearly through you? Why or why not?