Ezekiel 18:21–24

This deserves careful weighing. At the captivity God acts on the complaining of His people. He stops dealing with them any longer on the ground of Exodus 34:6-7. From now on He would take them on their own terms. They complained that it was hard to suffer for their fathers' failures. So He would now give them what they themselves deserved. It is clear that a sinner must suffer for sin. He may question the justice of paying the penalty for a parent's evil. But he cannot deny that he deserves punishment for his own.

The individual would be dealt with by God according to his own conduct. It is not a question of what their fathers had been. Their own iniquities demanded and would bring on God's judgment... yet where repentance was clear, God would pardon, for He had no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23). Keep in mind that this speaks of judgment in this life: physical death, because of sin now. It gives us no teaching about the eternal judgment of sin, which Scripture teaches elsewhere.

In either case, the judgment must be according to the end of the trial. God does not remember former sin or former righteousness. Past sin will not spoil the present righteousness a man has turned to. Past righteousness will not cancel present sin either.

This declares a way of salvation, too — not simply a righteousness that needs none. It speaks of the wicked man — the man the name already fits, and who as such needs salvation. God announces forgiveness of sins for him... So God pledges His mercy to a returning soul. And of course He must mean it in all sincerity and truth, or it could not come from Him.

God would pardon the repenting sinner. For He has no pleasure in the sinner's death. The government of Israel on earth is still the subject. Everyone shall be judged according to his ways.

It was a further test — a milder one — to prove whether it was in man's heart or will to turn to God, and serve and obey Him. It was as though God said, I will not enforce the claims of My law to the letter. It claims unbroken and universal obedience. That you have utterly failed to render, and the law knows nothing of repentance. But now I give you an opportunity to begin again... It was a fair offer: wipe out all the past and begin again. And God made this offer, remember, to people who were complaining that their destinies were not in their own hands.

Yet this is not the salvation which we find in Christ. Its condition is not faith in Him but works: to get it, a man must have a righteousness that comes by works. Faith and works are two principles that cannot be joined. So it will not do to say that faith in Christ is present here even though the verse does not mention it.

This deserves careful thought. At the captivity God acts on the murmuring of His people. He ends the way He had governed them under Exodus 34:6-7. From now on He would take them on their own terms. They complained about suffering for their fathers' failures, so He would now give them what they themselves deserved. Clearly a sinner must suffer for sin. And if a man challenges the justice of paying the penalty for a parent's evil, he cannot deny that he ought to be punished for his own.

In either case, the judgment must follow how the trial ends. Neither former sin nor former righteousness can be remembered. That is, past sin will not make the present righteousness a man has turned to worthless. And past righteousness will not cancel his present sin. We must remember through all this that God is not speaking of the final account in eternity. He is speaking of a man entering now into His favour, or coming now under His judgment, in the way He governs.

The individual would be dealt with by God 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 on them. Long before, God had threatened to visit the sins of the fathers on the children (see Ex. 34:7). Now He sets that principle aside. Each man was guilty in himself, and as such would be judged. Still, where a man showed repentance, God would pardon, for He had no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23). Keep in mind that this speaks of judgment in this life — physical death, because of sin now. It teaches us nothing about the eternal judgment of sin, which is taught elsewhere.

This is the voice of God through the prophet Ezekiel, and every word of God will stand. He declares a way of salvation, too — not simply a righteousness that needs none. He speaks of the wicked man, the man who can already be called that, and who therefore needs salvation. God announces forgiveness of sins for him... So the mercy of God is pledged to a returning soul: and, of course, one must say, in all sincerity and truth, or it could not be from Him.

Yet this is not the salvation we find in Christ. Its condition is not faith in Him but works. To get it, a man must have a righteousness that comes from works. Faith and works are two principles that cannot be joined. So it will not do to say that faith in Christ, though not named here, must still be present.

This is not pure law. It is law softened and tempered by mercy, giving man, who has failed, the means of self-recovery — if self-recovery were possible. But it was not possible for them, and is not possible for anyone.

We must also remember that in a case like David's sin, the sin might still have to be remembered, as far as outward experience goes, even when it had been forgiven and the soul was once more in the unclouded favour of God... He must maintain His character, and show that He cannot pass over evil in the lives of His own people just because they are His. So the sword was never to depart from David's house.

Ezekiel 18 contains an important principle of the dealings of God, revealed at that time. God would judge the individual according to his own conduct. The wicked nation was judged as such, and not, in fact, for the sin of the fathers... 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.

The individual would be dealt with by God according to his own conduct... Each one was guilty, and each would be judged. Still, where repentance appeared, God would pardon, for He had no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23). Keep in mind that He speaks here of temporal judgment, physical death, because of sin now. It gives us no teaching about the eternal judgment of sin, which is taught elsewhere.

Those who find fault with the ways of the Lord in mercy or in judgment have never seen themselves in His light... The call here is a call to conscience. It is not the call of grace, where God promises to give them a new heart and put a new spirit within them (Ezek. 36)...

It is not because judgment is His delight... "Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?" If God pleaded like this with Israel long ago, we may be sure He is no more willing to execute judgment now... Where He foretells those judgments in the most solemn terms, He speaks of rising up to do His work — His strange work — and to bring about His act, His strange act.

The death of Christ for the world shows us that infinite goodness which men have to tear themselves away from — the goodness He swore by when He said He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from his way and live... Men die because of their own will, not of God's will; yet they die. And men crudely ask of God's omnipotence why He cannot convert them all. But His other attributes must set limits even to omnipotence.

Since God has said: "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?" (Ezek. 18:23). Has He not also told us that He "desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth"? (1 Tim. 2:4)... But over against my sins God has set Christ's one offering. What matchless grace! The costly sacrifice of Calvary has made it possible for God to take every humble and contrite sinner to His heart for ever. The foulest sinner may be pardoned and cleansed by virtue of the Saviour's precious blood.

But the words of the prophet rang in his soul like a death-knell, reached (at least) his natural conscience, and produced a passing repentance... Who can measure the depths of the patience and the mercy of the Lord! "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?" ... And so, even though this was only a passing humbling, God put off the judgment on Ahab's house until his son's days — though He carried out the personal judgment on Ahab himself and on Jezebel to the letter. Here we are in the sphere of God's government on earth. There was a day of grace even for Ahab.

Ezekiel 18 contains an important principle of God's dealings, made clear at that time. God would judge each person according to his own conduct. He judged the wicked nation as a wicked nation. In fact, He did not judge it for the guilt of the fathers. The people's own present sins made the judgment their fathers had deserved fit their actions too... The government of Israel on earth is still the subject. God will judge everyone according to his ways.

Supposing the wicked to turn from all his sins, or the righteous from his righteousness, what then? Each must bear his own burden, of the Spirit reaping the blessed and suited results, of the flesh corresponding corruption.

Notice that everything before us here belongs to God's outward, visible government. It stands out clearly and fits well in Ezekiel's prophecy. So the death threatened to the wicked is not simply the death we all live under. Nor is it, as people commonly suppose, eternal death as the doom of every unrepentant soul. It is a removal from the earth, under the government of God. That government even now works blessing for the upright who walk with Him, as the apostle also tells us: godliness "holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."

First, then, the Lord speaks of His way with a righteous man — not righteous in an absolute sense, as already said, but marked out as such: "If a man is righteous and does what is just and right... if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel... walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully — he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord GOD." This completely overturned the proverb Israel was using. Their ancestry was not the question; each one was responsible for himself.

In either case, the judgment must go by the end of the trial. God does not remember former sin or former righteousness. Past sin will not make the righteousness a man has now turned to useless, and past righteousness will not cancel his present sin. Remember through all of this: the subject is not the final account in eternity. It is entering now into God's favor, or coming now under His judgment, in His government.

So if even a man who had been righteous trusted in that past righteousness and gave himself up to wickedness, God could remember none of his righteous deeds. He would surely die in the wrong he had done. But the greater emphasis falls on the mercy waiting for even the worst and vilest person who turns to God.

Scripture sums up Rehoboam's life in the words, "he did evil." But did he not walk wisely during the first three years of his reign? Yes, but the prophet says, "When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness... None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered." His wise days go unmentioned, and God's judgment on him is "he did evil."

It shows a sad lack of spiritual understanding to bring in such passages of Scripture as bearing in any way on the final perseverance of Christ's members. These, and countless other scriptures in the Old Testament, and similar passages in the New Testament, open up the very important subject of God's moral government. To be only a subject of God's government is one thing. To be a subject of His unchangeable grace is another. We should never confuse the two.

Carefully distinguish between the Old Covenant which demanded righteousness, and the New which bestows God's righteousness. See John 1:17; Rom. 3:10, 19-24; Rom. 9:30-32; Rom. 10:2-4.