Ezekiel # 11

Ezekiel # 11

Having abundant life

Ezekiel 18:1 - 4 ¹The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, ²“What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge’? ³“As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. ⁴ “Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.

The people of Israel had developed a proverb. The proverb was probably derived from their interpretation of the Word of God through Moses and recorded in the book of Exodus.

Exodus 20:4 - 6 ⁴ “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; ⁵you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. 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, ⁶but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

The problem was that they took the word out of context and the proverb that they made was incorrect. What they said it meant was that God judged the children and grandchildren because of the sins of the grandfathers. This makes God unjust! In its context the scripture is saying that the worship of idols opens the door to demonic spirits, familiar spirits that can go from one generation to another and even bring on generational curses. The Word of God to the prophet moves from the cooperative judgment on Israel to the judgment of the individual and it does not concern eternal judgment but only that the results of sin is physical death. It is not only the word to Ezekiel but God brings the same word to others. It is an affront to God to accuse Him of injustice in judgment!

Jeremiah 31:27 - 30 ²⁷“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. ²⁸And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. ²⁹In those days they shall say no more: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ ³⁰But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

Lamentations 5:7 ⁷ Our fathers sinned and are no more, But we bear their iniquities.

Any person building a doctrine on Lamentations 5:7 had better check the context of the entire Word of God because God told Ezekiel and Jeremiah that Lamentations 5:7 is and incorrect statement. It is true to some extent that the fathers eat sour grapes and the children pay the penalty for the children of an alcoholic, or abusive, or slothful father surely suffer for it but the children do not carry the judgment of God because of the fathers.

Ezekiel 18:3 ³“As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.

The word “live” occurs in some form thirteen times in this chapter of the book and the word “die” fourteen times. At no time do they refer to eternal life or to eternal damnation. Life is used here in connection with this physical world and death is removal from it. The question is asked, can a righteous grandfather have an unrighteous son who has a righteous grandson? The answer is yes! Hezekiah, king of Judah’s, son Manasseh was an evil king who turned his back upon the God of his father. But, Josiah, Manasseh’s son; Hezekiah’s grandson, brought reform and godliness back into Judah. Can the righteousness of a parent be passed on to the children? No! But the tendency toward righteousness can. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob so the blessings of Abraham went to the third generation.

The Just Grandfather

Ezekiel 18:5 - 9 ⁵ But if a man is just And does what is lawful and right; ⁶ If he has not eaten on the mountains, Nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, Nor defiled his neighbor’s wife, Nor approached a woman during her impurity; ⁷ If he has not oppressed anyone, But has restored to the debtor his pledge; Has robbed no one by violence, But has given his bread to the hungry And covered the naked with clothing; ⁸ If he has not exacted usury Nor taken any increase, But has withdrawn his hand from iniquity And executed true judgment between man and man; ⁹ If he has walked in My statutes And kept My judgments faithfully— He is just; He shall surely live!” Says the Lord GOD.

· “Not eaten on the mountains” means to connect with immoral worship and idolatrous feasts. There was only one place to sacrifice to God.

Deuteronomy 12:1 - 7 ¹“These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. ²You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. ³And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. ⁴You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things. ⁵“But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. ⁶There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. ⁷And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

· “Nor defiled his neighbor’s wife.” He respected the marriage rights of other men.

Exodus 20:14 ¹⁴ “You shall not commit adultery.

· “Nor approached a woman during her impurity. He respects his wife.

Leviticus 15:19 - 24 ¹⁹‘If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. ²⁰Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean. ²¹Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ²²And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ²³If anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. ²⁴And if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

· “If he has not oppressed anyone, But has restored to the debtor his pledge.”

Exodus 22:25 - 27 ²⁵“If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest. ²⁶If you ever take your neighbor’s garment as a pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down. ²⁷For that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What will he sleep in? And it will be that when he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious.

· “Has robbed no one by violence”

Exodus 20:15 ¹⁵ “You shall not steal.

· “But has given his bread to the hungry And covered the naked with clothing;”

Isaiah 58:7 ⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

· “If he has not exacted usury Nor taken any increase”

Deuteronomy 23:19 - 20 ¹⁹“You shall not charge interest to your brother—interest on money or food or anything that is lent out at interest. ²⁰To a foreigner you may charge interest, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, that the Lord your God may bless you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess.

· “And executed true judgment between man and man; ⁹ If he has walked in My statutes And kept My judgments faithfully— He is just”

Very high ethical standards for a grandfather in exile in a heathen land surrounded by a people without ethical law – but it is what God expected if they wanted to live a full and abundant life. I wonder what He expects of the Christian who is saved by grace but living in the midst of a Godless society?

The Ungodly son

Ezekiel 18:10 - 13 ¹⁰ “If he begets a son who is a robber Or a shedder of blood, Who does any of these things ¹¹ And does none of those duties, But has eaten on the mountains Or defiled his neighbor’s wife; ¹² If he has oppressed the poor and needy, Robbed by violence, Not restored the pledge, Lifted his eyes to the idols, Or committed abomination; ¹³ If he has exacted usury Or taken increase— Shall he then live? He shall not live! If he has done any of these abominations, He shall surely die; His blood shall be upon him.

This one did all the things from which his father abstained and gave himself to none of the charitable things his father did. Ezekiel paints a picture of a son diametrically opposite to his father in every ethical, moral, or humane issue. Is this possible? Ezekiel says, “yes” and then asks the question “can this man possibly claim the merits of his father’s life?” Should he have a prosperous, full, abundant life in exile? Should he even live? God’s answer is “no!” How then can Israel claim the blessings of Abraham based upon a natural relationship? They cannot!

John 8:37 - 59 ³⁷“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. ³⁸I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have ^£seen with your father.” ³⁹They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. ⁴⁰But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. ⁴¹You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.” ⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. ⁴³Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. ⁴⁴You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. ⁴⁵But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.” ⁴⁸Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” ⁴⁹Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. ⁵⁰And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. ⁵¹Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.” ⁵²Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’ ⁵³Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?” ⁵⁴Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is ^£your God. ⁵⁵Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. ⁵⁶Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” ⁵⁹Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple,^£ going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

The Godly Grandson

Ezekiel 18:14 - 18 ¹⁴ “If, however, he begets a son Who sees all the sins which his father has done, And considers but does not do likewise; ¹⁵ Who has not eaten on the mountains, Nor lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, Nor defiled his neighbor’s wife; ¹⁶ Has not oppressed anyone, Nor withheld a pledge, Nor robbed by violence, But has given his bread to the hungry And covered the naked with clothing; ¹⁷ Who has withdrawn his hand from ^£the poor And not received usury or increase, But has executed My judgments And walked in My statutes— He shall not die for the iniquity of his father; He shall surely live! ¹⁸ “As for his father, Because he cruelly oppressed, Robbed his brother by violence, And did what is not good among his people, Behold, he shall die for his iniquity.

There are times when a child sees the lifestyle of the father and rebels in a good way. The son sees the life style of the father and experiences the resultant pain created in the relationship and says I want none of it. Perhaps he has the influence of the Godly Grandfather, loves the Grandfather and wants to emulate that life. Would a good and just God punish the grandson for rebelling in a righteous way? The answer is NO! God cannot charge the misdeeds of one to the other.

The Misuse of God’s Word

The Jews in exile were using the proverb and the Word it was based upon to explain their problems. Surely, their fathers had sinned and they were being judged for those sins. If they were being judged for the sins of the fathers their repentance and return to God would do no good – so Ezekiel givers another example.

The Wicked man who changes

Ezekiel 18:21 - 24 ²¹“But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²²None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. ²³Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord GOD, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live? ²⁴“But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.

A man will live not for or because of his righteousness because his past does not determine his final condition. The man’s condition at the time of the moral judging that settles his condition. It is not God’s pleasure for the wicked to die but that he turn from his evil and live. But the sinful man says that is not fair. The fact remains that if God is not fair there is no moral universe, no ethical standard above man’s own and man always passes the blame on someone else even if it is his ancestors. “I’m this way because that is the way I was born!”

God always givers a way to return

Ezekiel 18:30 - 32 ³⁰“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord GOD. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. ³¹Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? ³²For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!”

It’s still God’s “Good News!” Receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and you will get a “new heart and spirit” and live!