The Lord is faithful to his word and he is looking for those that are also faithful. The Lord is righteous and just and is looking for those that will, in Ezekiel 18:5 do “righteousness and justice”. But even more than this, the Lord is looking to put an end to wickedness and oppression and injustice. And here, through the prophet, he decrees in Ezekiel 18:4 “The person sinning will die”. But it is the one that turns from wickedness, that is the Lords delight. Each and every person, each one of us has a choice to turn and choose Jesus Christ and to live in the power of the Holy Spirit until, as it says in Ephesians 4:13 “we all reach the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to a measure of the maturity of the fullness of Christ”.
He Gave His Hand in Pledge
Ezekiel 17:11–24
The kings of Israel have been making alliances with the nations around them and serving them. So, the Lord says in Ezekiel 17:12 “The king of Babylon will come to Jerusalem, and he will take its king and its officials, and he will bring them to himself, to Babylon”.
Now, the king left behind to rule in Jerusalem “gave his hand in pledge” in Ezekiel 17:18. But this same king in Ezekiel 17:15 “rebelled against him (Nebuchadnezzar) by sending his messengers to Egypt to give to him horses and a large army”.
So, the Lord goes on to say to this king in Jerusalem who pledged one day to Nebuchadnezzar and the next went to the King of Egypt breaking his pledge, to this king the Lord says in
Ezekiel 17:16 As I live,’ declares the Lord Yahweh, ‘surely in the place of the king who made him king, who despised his oath and who broke his covenant with him—in the midst of Babylon he will die.
If a Man is Righteous and Does Justice
Ezekiel 18:1–9
Again we hear a proverb of the land, in Ezekiel 18:2 ‘The fathers, they ate unripe fruit, and the teeth of the child became blunt’. But the Lord says in Ezekiel 18:3 “it will surely not any longer be appropriate for you to quote this proverb in Israel!”
Clearly there is a reaction by the Lord to this proverb, but this saying doesn’t have meaning for us. The explanation is that “The sour grapes which the fathers eat are the sins which they commit; the setting of the children’s teeth on edge is the consequence thereof, i.e., the suffering which the children have to endure (because of their fathers sins) … Nevertheless the proverb contained a most dangerous and fatal error … God will visit the sins of the fathers upon the children who hate Him, and who also walk in the footsteps of their fathers’ sins; but to those who love Him, and keep His commandments, He will show mercy to the thousandth generation”.1
Now, we can understand the response as the Lord says in Ezekiel 18:4 “The person sinning will die”. The children will not be punished for their parents transgressions, they will though, be held accountable personally, in Ezekiel 18:5 to do “righteousness and justice” and then, in Ezekiel 18:9 “certainly he will live”.
The Righteousness of the Righteous Shall be on Him
Ezekiel 18:10–20
Ezekiel, speaking the word of the Lord, lays out the life choices of every person. He began with the father that in Ezekiel 18:5 “is righteous and does justice” and in Ezekiel 18:9 “he will live”. Then goes to the son of this righteous man in Ezekiel 18:10 “a violent one” and in Ezekiel 18:12 “He oppresses the needy and the poor, and he commits robbery” and in Ezekiel 18:13 “Surely he will die! His blood will be on him”. But then he goes to another son in
Ezekiel 18:14 “And look! He has a son, and he sees all of the sin of his father that he did, and he sees it, but he does not do it”. For this son, in Ezekiel 18:17 “he does my regulations; he goes in my statutes. He will not die because of the guilt of his father; he will surely live!
Now he repeats from Ezekiel 18:4 and expands to decree also over the righteous in Ezekiel 18:20 “The righteousness of the righteous shall be on him; the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him”.
I Have No Pleasure in the Death of the Dying
Ezekiel 18:21–32
But he doesn’t stop with the example of sons that learn righteousness or evil from their fathers. He goes on to describe one that turns from wickedness in
Ezekiel 18:21 “But if the wicked returns from all of his sins that he has done and he keeps all of my statutes and he does justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die!”
The Lord says it isn’t how we start, it is how we finish in
Ezekiel 18:22 “All of his transgressions that he committed will not be remembered against him. Through his righteousness that he has done he shall live”.
And the Lord also says in
Ezekiel 18:24 And when the righteous turns from his righteousness, so that he does injustice … because of his infidelity that he displayed, and because of his sin that he committed. Through them he shall die.
Here we learn something about the nature of God. He asks a question in
Ezekiel 18:23 “Have I delight by any means in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord Yahweh, and not at his turning from his way, so that he lives?
And the answer is clearly, he has no delight in death, or in oppression, or in wickedness. But when someone turns to righteousness, that is his delight. It is when someone “does righteousness and justice” as he says in
Isaiah 58:6-14 “Is this not the fast I choose: to release the bonds of injustice …”
Or from the mouth of Jesus in
Luke 4:18–19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because of which he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to send out in freedom those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
Raise a Lament About the Leaders of Israel
Ezekiel 19:1–14
Study Verses
- Ezekiel 17:11–24 He Gave His Hand in Pledge
- Ezekiel 18:1–9 If a Man is Righteous and Does Justice
- Ezekiel 18:21–32 I Have No Pleasure in the Death of the Dying
Today’s Reading
- Ezekiel 17:11-24
- Ezekiel 18:1-32
- Ezekiel 19:1-14
References
- 1. Keil, C. F., & Delitzsch, F. (1996). Commentary on the Old Testament (Vol. 9, pp. 142–143). Peabody, MA: Hendrickson.