Ezekiel 18:1–6

This chapter and the next close a section of the prophecy. That section follows up the opening vision of the glory of God departing from Jerusalem, after His providential use of Nebuchadnezzar. It is a moral judgment. It proves the need of an outward judgment, in which they would know that the One who speaks and acts is Jehovah.

Notice that they were using this proverb in the land of Israel — the land God gave them, a land that was truly "a good land," a land He had brought them into by wonderful miracles… In this good land they could speak of "sour grapes" which their fathers had eaten, setting their children's teeth on edge through no failure of their own! … All the more, because these people are the objects of His love, for whom He has shown Himself mighty, must He silence this talk forever.

At the captivity God acts on the murmuring of His people. He ends any further governmental dealings on the ground of Exodus 34:6-7. From now on He would take them on their own terms. They complained of the hardship of suffering for the failings of their fathers, so He would now give them what they themselves deserved. It is clear that a sinner must suffer for sin. If he challenges the justice of paying the penalty of a parent's evil, he cannot deny that he ought to be punished for his own.

Ezekiel 18 contains an important principle of God's dealings, unfolded at that time. God would judge the individual according to his own conduct… But now, in His land of Israel, He set aside the principle of government laid down in Exodus 34:7. Souls belong to Jehovah one by one, and each would bear the judgment of its own sins. God would pardon the repenting sinner. For He has no pleasure in the sinner's death.

The chapter replaces the Jewish principle of government, that the "children should die for their fathers' sins," with the declaration that "each should die for his own." From other teaching of the Holy Scriptures we may know, and do know, the terrible effect of a man's dying in his sins. But that is not directly the subject here… It is the government of Jehovah which is the subject of the chapter.

It is "the soul that sins" that dies, true; but what is the soul in this Old Testament language? Just the person himself, the man God made "a living soul." … All this fits the whole character of Ezekiel's prophecy. That prophecy looks at the world, and at God's judgment of the nations as nations and of Israel as a nation. God carries out that judgment by special instruments — here by Nebuchadnezzar. Eternal judgment is entirely out of the question. It is not Nebuchadnezzar who inflicts eternal penalty.

The statement of the chapter is very full, and God's earnestness about it is easy to see. It is not a small matter to Him what man, the creature He has made, may make of Him. He is saying here, as in the opening words of another prophet: "Come, let us reason together"… Man's arguments are only those of unbelief, of self-ignorance. Whoever does not know God, we may be sure, does not know himself to begin with.

Israel complained that they were in trouble and cut off because of their fathers' sins. The fathers had eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth were set on edge. Such was the law: the son bore his father's guilt, and the father's guilt fell on the children. This was to stop. The soul of the father belonged to Jehovah, and so did the soul of the son. The soul that sinned would die.

Notice where they were using this proverb: in the land of Israel, the land God gave them, the land that was truly "a good land." He had brought them into it by the most wonderful miracles... In this good land they could talk of the "sour grapes" their fathers had eaten, and of their own teeth set on edge through no fault of their own!

He Himself has assured us that He visits "the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation." But He adds words that are needed to stop it being misread: "of those who hate Me." Israel took up their proverb from just such a misreading, and elsewhere the Lord condemns that proverb in the strongest terms... He not only says it, but swears it: they will have no reason to use such a proverb.

They allow the wickedness of earlier generations — which is not as hard to confess as one's own — and so they admit that their fathers ate the sour grapes, but not themselves. But the commandment says something quite different. Those who love God and keep His commandments have in it a definite promise of mercy, so they could not come under a contradictory law of inheriting their father's sins.

At the captivity God acts on the murmuring of His people. He ends any further government dealings with them on the ground of Exodus 34:6-7. From now on He would take them on their own terms. They complained of the hardship of suffering for their fathers' wrongdoing, so He would now give them what they themselves deserved. Clearly a sinner must suffer for sin. If he questions the justice of paying for a parent's evil, he cannot deny that he should be punished for his own.

The mouth of Israel is closed. Their murmurs were only quibbles. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? ... It is always so. Those who find fault with the Lord's ways, whether in mercy or in judgment, have never seen themselves in His light.

It replaces the Jewish principle of government, that the "children should die for their fathers' sins," with the declaration that "each should die for his own." From other teaching in the Holy Scriptures we know the terrible result of a man dying in his sins. But that is not the subject here. If it were, a son's soul would have been lost under the law for his father's sins, and that is monstrous.

It was in this good land that they could talk about the "sour grapes" their fathers had eaten. And their own children's teeth were set on edge through no fault of their own! These people are the ones He loves. He has shown Himself mighty for them. All the more, then, must He silence this talk forever: "As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel."

The second commandment of the law is what is in question here. That is what gave a seeming excuse for the saying itself. For God had declared that He was "a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." The resentful thought of those caught up in the nation's present troubles seems clear. They felt the third and fourth generations were suffering for faults that were in no way their own. They admit the wickedness of earlier generations, which is not so hard to confess as one's own. So they agree that their fathers ate the sour grapes, but not themselves. But the commandment says something quite different. Those who love God and keep His commandments have in it a definite promise of mercy. So they could not fall under the opposite rule of inheriting their father's sins.

Israel's statute book had already said this plainly: "Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin." (Deut. 24:16.) Long after this, the children of Israel were twisting the words of the law itself in the same way. In Ezekiel 18 God restates the principle of Deuteronomy, to vindicate the righteousness of His ways.

At the captivity God acts on the murmuring of His people. He ends any further dealings with them on the governing principle of Exodus 34:6-7. From now on He would take them on their own terms. They complained of the hardship of suffering for the failures of their fathers. So He would now give them what they themselves deserved. A sinner must suffer for sin. If he challenges the justice of paying for a parent's evil, he cannot deny that he deserves punishment for his own. All were God's, the souls of fathers and of sons alike; and the sinner must die. There was no relief or escape on any such pretext.

Another important thing to notice here is the misuse of the word "die." As spiritual people we may be quite right to see that men can be dead while they live. We can be dead in sin towards God while still alive. The judgment of death means being cut off from God, while the gift of life brings us, in principle, into blessedness with Him. But dying in its plain sense is never applied to the soul. Good people with good intentions constantly quote Ezekiel 18 for this. But it speaks only of death in this world — present judgment here; not for a father's sins, but for our own.

God tested them on their own ground, with the same result of ruin because of their evil. How much better then to repent than to complain and murmur! Complaint only makes the evil worse and brings certain vengeance on such mounting rebellion against God.

In this good land they could speak of the "sour grapes" their fathers ate, and of children's teeth set on edge through no fault of their own! These people are the objects of His love, and He has shown Himself mighty for them. All the more must He silence this talk forever... You can see His heart in the answer: "Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine."

We must remember that God brought Israel into a special relationship with Himself as Creator... So, if God says to Pharaoh, "Israel is my son, my firstborn," a firstborn son implies there are other sons. And if there is a special promise to Abraham and to his offspring, that promise takes others in as well — indirectly, but just as truly: "In you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed."

Using "soul" for a person is common today. I say, "It is a town of fifteen thousand souls." Who misunderstands me? Israel complained that they were in trouble and cut off for their fathers' sins... As the soul of the father, so the soul of the son was Jehovah's. The soul that sinned would die.

He would now give them what they deserved. It is evident that a sinner must suffer for sin; and if he challenges the justice of paying the penalty of a parent's evil, he cannot deny that he ought to be punished for his own. All were God's, alike the souls of fathers and of sons; and the sinner must die. There was no relief or escape on any such pretext.

God would deal with each person according to his own conduct. It is not a question of what their fathers had been. Their own sins called for God's judgment, and would bring it. Long before, God had threatened to visit "the iniquities of the fathers upon the children" (Ex. 34:7). That principle is now set aside. Each was guilty on his own, and would be judged as such. Still, where they showed repentance, God would pardon, for He had no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23). Keep in mind that what is spoken of here is temporal judgment — physical death, because of sin now. It gives us no teaching about the eternal judgment of sin, which is taught elsewhere.

Death never means the end of existence — never; not even the second death, for the second death is the lake of fire.

When it is a question of sin, as God measures it, death is the just penalty — and the only one, as far as life in this world goes. "The soul who sins shall die." But that severe sentence would carry every soul into eternal punishment. So God, who does not want the sinner to die, brings in the principle of substitution. He carries out judgment to the full on His own Son, making Him, who never knew sin, to be sin for us. Then He preaches peace and life by Jesus Christ.

First, then, the Lord speaks of His way with a righteous man. He does not mean a man who is righteous in an absolute sense, as already said, but a man marked out as righteous: "If a man is righteous and does what is just and right … he has walked in My statutes and kept My ordinances to deal faithfully; he is righteous; he shall surely live, says the Lord Jehovah." So this completely overturned the proverb Israel was using. There is no question about their ancestry; each one was responsible for himself; and this is the basic principle of all that follows.

This deserves careful thought. At the captivity God acts on the murmuring of His people. He ends any further government dealings on the ground of Exodus 34:6-7. From now on He would take them on their own terms. They complained of the hardship of suffering for the failings of their fathers, so He would now give them what they themselves deserved. Clearly a sinner must suffer for sin. And if he questions the justice of paying the penalty for a parent's evil, he cannot deny that he deserves punishment for his own.

God is speaking of the man who is righteous in character. That is what marks him off from the wicked, even though he, "the righteous," makes no claim to absolute righteousness. Yet he escapes the death spoken of here.

The first case is a man who is himself just and does judgment and justice, both toward God and toward his neighbour. He not only refuses impurity and unrighteousness. He also shows loving care to the distressed, refuses selfish advantage, keeps clear of iniquity, and maintains fairness between man and man, while walking in the divine statutes. Such a one shall surely live.

In verses 1-4 we find the false accusation against God and God's answer. Verses 5-9 then give the conditions of life: "The soul that sins, it shall die" (verse 4). But sinful man cannot meet these conditions for life and for being just. "Eternal life" is not in view in these verses. They are not conditions for securing "eternal life," but for escaping physical death in the judgment that was announced.

Ezekiel 18 contains an important principle of God's dealings, made known at that time. God would judge the individual according to his own conduct... The government of Israel on earth is still the subject. Every one shall be judged according to his ways.

In the first place, the Lord speaks of His way with a righteous man — not righteous in an absolute sense, as already said, but marked out as such... This completely overturned the proverb Israel was using. There is no question about their ancestry; each one was responsible for himself; and this is the basic principle of all that follows.

The high hills of the land God had now brought them into, and the trees that showed how fertile it was, became their places of idol worship. There they lifted up offerings that provoked Him, while claiming these were for Him... Their joyful drink-offerings became nothing but drunken parties in honour of their many gods. This worship in the high places had left its mark on the land, in the very names the places carried.

"These men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?"... God's set-apart people had defiled themselves... Whatever they looked like or claimed to be, they had "set up their idols in their heart." It was not a question of outside force or influence. The elders liked these detestable things; they ran after idols with secret greed.

The first case is a man who is himself just, and who does judgment and justice both toward God and toward his neighbour. He refuses impurity and unrighteousness. He also cares for those in distress, refuses selfish advantage, keeps away from iniquity, and maintains fairness between one man and another, while walking in God's statutes. Such a man shall surely live.

Ezekiel 18 sets out an important principle in God's dealings, made clear at that time. God would judge the individual according to his own conduct... But now, in His land of Israel, God set aside the rule of government given in Exodus 34:7. Each soul belonged to the Lord one by one, and each would bear the judgment of its own sins. God would pardon the repenting sinner. For He has no pleasure in the sinner's death.

It is not a question of what their fathers had been. Their own sins demanded and would bring on God's judgment... Still, where repentance was clear, God would pardon, for He had no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Keep in mind that what is spoken of here is temporal judgment — physical death, because of sin now. It teaches us nothing about the eternal judgment of sin. Scripture teaches that elsewhere.