Ezekiel 18:1-32

Ezekiel: ‘They shall know that I am God’

The *Sin of Judah and the Judgement of God

Ezekiel Chapter s 1 to 24

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 18

• In this chapter, the *Lord explains that each person is responsible for his own *sin.

Each person is responsible to God – Ezekiel 18:1-32

v1 The *LORD spoke to me again. v2 ‘People say this about the country called *Israel: “The fathers eat the sour *grapes. But the children get the sour taste.” What the people mean by this is not right.

v3 I am the God who lives. And this is what the *LORD your King says. You will not say this thing in *Israel again. v4 Every person who lives belongs to me. The life of the father and the life of the child are mine. The person who *sins will die.

v5 Suppose that a person is good. And that person does what is fair and right.

v6 He does not eat at the mountain places of *worship. He does not go to the false gods of *Israel for help. He does not have sex with the wife of his neighbour. He does not have sex with a woman during the time of the month when she bleeds.

v7 He does not cheat or rob anyone. He gives back what he received as a promise for a loan. He does not steal from other people. He gives his bread to hungry people. And he gives clothes to people who have none.

v8 He does not lend money to get increase or profit. He is careful not to do wrong deeds. He always does what is right and fair to all people.

v9 He lives by my rules and he obeys my laws. The person who does these things is good. That person will live, says the *LORD your King.

v10 But suppose that this person has a son. And that son robs and murders. Or perhaps that son does any of these other things. v11 (But the father has done none of these things).

This son eats at the mountain places of *worship. He has sex with the wife of his neighbour.

v12 He cheats poor people, and he robs people. He does not give back what he received as a promise for a loan. He goes to the false gods for help. He does disgusting things that I hate.

v13 He lends money for increase and high profits. Will this son live? No, he will not live. He has done all these terrible things. Therefore, he will die and it is his own fault.

v14 Now, suppose that this son himself has a son. That son sees all the *sins of his father. He sees them but he does not do any of them.

v15 He does not eat at the mountain places of *worship. He does not go to the false gods of *Israel for help. He does not have sex with the wife of his neighbour.

v16 He never cheats or robs anyone. He does not keep what he received as a promise for a loan. And he gives his bread to hungry people. He gives clothes to those who have none.

v17 He is careful not to *sin. And he does not take too much increase or profit. He obeys my laws and he lives by my rules. He will not die for the *sins of his father. He will certainly live. v18 However, his father will die because of his own *sins. He cheated and robbed even his closest relatives. He did not do what was right among his people.

v19 But you ask, “Why do you not punish the son for the *sins of the father?” The son has done what is fair and right. He obeys all my rules. Therefore, he will live. v20 The person who *sins will die. I will not punish a child for the *sins of the parent. Neither will I punish the parent for the *sins of the child. I will reward good people for the good things that they do. And I will punish wicked people for the bad things that they do.

v21 But suppose that wicked people change their way of life. They *turn away from all the *sins that they have done. They now obey all my laws. They do what is fair and right. They shall live and not die. v22 I will not remember against them all the *sins that they have done. Because their deeds are right, they will live. v23 I do not want wicked people to die, says the *LORD your King. Rather I want them to stop their bad ways so that they will live.

v24 But suppose that good people stop doing good things. And they do what is wrong. They do the same disgusting things as the wicked people do. They will not live. I will not remember for them any of the good things that they have done. They have not been loyal to me. Because of their *sin, they will die.

v25 However, you say, “What the *Lord does is not fair.” *Israelites, listen to me! What I do is fair. What you do – that is not fair. v26 Perhaps good people stop doing good things and they do bad things. Then they will die because of it. They will die because of their *sins. v27 Perhaps wicked people stop their wicked behaviour. Then they do what is fair and right. They will save their lives. v28 They thought about it and they stopped doing those *sins. Because of this, they will live and not die. v29 Still the *Israelites say, “What the *Lord does is not fair.” *Israelites, listen to me! What I do is fair. What you do – that is not fair.

v30 Therefore, *Israelites, I will be your judge, says the *LORD your King. I will reward those who have done good things. I will punish those who have done bad things. So, *turn from your wicked ways. Then *sin will not *destroy you. v31 Give up all the *sins that you have done. Get a new heart. Change the way that you think. It seems as if you, *Israelites, want to die. v32 But I do not want anyone to die, says the *LORD your King. So, change your hearts and lives so that you may live.’

Verses 1-4 ‘The fathers eat sour *grapes. But the children get the sour taste.’ This is what the people said. By it, they meant that they were the children. And they suffered because of what their fathers did. The problems that they had were not their fault. They were not to blame. They were *exiles from the country of Judah because of what their fathers did.

The law says that the *sins of the fathers would affect the children. Those *sins would affect the grandchildren and their children as well (Exodus 20:5). The principle refers to those who hate God. It happens when the children copy their parents’ wicked behaviour. But many *exiles were referring to this rule for a different reason. These *exiles were using this rule to avoid blame. But each person is to blame for his own *sins. A child could choose not to copy his father’s behaviour.

God declares that each person belongs to him. The father is his and the child is his. And each one is responsible to God for his own *sins. A person dies because of his own *sins and not because of the *sins of another person.

Jeremiah was living in Jerusalem when Ezekiel received this message from the *Lord. The people in Jerusalem were also saying the same thing (Jeremiah 31:29).

Verses 5-9 Ezekiel now writes about a good father (verses 5-9). Then he writes about a bad son (verses 10-13) and a good grandson (verses 14-18). He may have been thinking about three kings of Judah. Hezekiah was a good man who loved the *Lord. His son Manasseh was a wicked man who did not trust in the *Lord. The grandson, Josiah, did what was right. And he served the *Lord.

Here is the man that God considers to be good.

• This man does not pray to other gods. He does not serve them or eat at their *altars. He serves and *worships only the *Lord.

• He does not have sex with any woman, apart from his own wife – Deuteronomy 5:18. He does not have sex with a woman during her monthly period (time of blood) – Leviticus 18:19.
• He always does good things for other people. He does not cheat or rob them. He gives to those who need his help. He does not try to make unfair profits from people who are weak or poor.
• He is always kind and fair. He will lend money to other people and he will not take any profit from them. This was a rule in *Israel (Exodus 22:25). But the law allowed *Israelites to take profit from foreigners.
• This man lives by the laws of Moses and he trusts in God.

No person is perfect, but this man has a right attitude to God and to other people.

Verses 10-13 Here Ezekiel talks about the bad son of a good father. The son does all those things that his father did not do. He uses people who are weak and poor in order to make himself rich. He robs people and he is guilty of murder and of wrong sex. He eats at the *altars of the false gods. He turns to them and he turns away from the real God.

This son will not live. The good deeds of his father will not save him. He will surely die for his own *sins.

Verses 14-18 This does not mean that a bad man will have bad sons. King Manasseh was a bad person but Josiah his son was a good person.

The good son sees the bad things that his father does. But he does not imitate his father. He knows what is right. And he knows what is wrong. He chooses to do what is right.

The good son does not *worship the false gods. He does not have sex with other women. He cares about other people and he is kind to them.

His father will die for his own *sins. But the son will not die for the father’s *sins. This son will live.

Verses 19-20 God orders people to behave in the manner that pleases him. The person who does so will live. But the person who does not live in this way will die. Each person is responsible for his own life. The person who *sins will die for his *sins. He will not die for the *sins of his parent or his child.

Verses 21-23 Sometimes people do change the way that they live. A bad person may *turn from his *sins. He does what is right. He obeys God. Then God will not count those *sins against that person. Now he lives as God orders. So, that person will not die.

God does not want anyone to die. His desire is that they should *repent. He wants them to *turn to him for life (2 Peter 3:9).

People can choose to change. Their past *sins need not rule their future. They can have a new life with God.

Verse 24 A person could change his good behaviour. He could choose to do what is wrong. The good things that he has done will not save him. He has not been loyal to the demands of God. That person will die because of his *sins.

Verses 25-29 Many *Israelites thought that they were good people. Abraham was their *ancestor and therefore God would show his kindness to them. (See John 8:33-41.) They even supposed that their own behaviour did not matter. Who they were was the important thing. So, the *Lord was not fair when he punished them. That is what they thought.

But they were wrong. God will be the judge of what we have done. Each of us is responsible for what we do.

Those who do bad things will die because of it. That is fair. Those who do good things will live because of it. That is fair. But people can change. If the wicked man becomes a good man, he will save his life. If a good man becomes a wicked man, he will lose his life. God is fair in what he does.

Verses 30-32 God will be the judge of all people. But God does not want anyone to die. So, he appeals to these *exiles. They must *repent of their *sin or they will die. There must be a real change in their attitudes. They must have a complete change of heart.

Ezekiel does not teach that we can achieve *eternal life by our own efforts. No person can earn that life (Ephesians 2:8-9). God gives *eternal life to those who trust in Jesus. They *repent of their *sin and God forgives them.

sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
Israel ~ Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel. Israel became the name of the northern nation when it separated from Judah. However, Ezekiel sometimes uses the word ‘Israel’ to refer to Judah.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
grapes ~ fruit of a vine (a climbing plant). You can make grapes into wine.
vine ~ a plant on which grapes grow.
worship ~ an act to give honour to God (or to a false god). When people praise and thank God.
turn ~ to change your behaviour, your friends, or your God; or, to carry out actions in order to oppose someone.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
destroy ~ to carry out the most severe punishment possible; to cause someone to suffer; to kill everyone in a nation.
exile ~ When people have to live in a foreign country they are in exile. Such a person is called an exile.
altar ~ the special table where people burn animals or offer other gifts to God or to false gods.
repent ~ to change the mind; to turn away from sin and turn to God.
turn ~ to change your behaviour, your friends, or your God; or, to carry out actions in order to oppose someone.
sin ~ Sin means the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. People are called sinners because of their sins.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.'eternal life ~ the life with God that will never end.