Individual Responsibility For Sin

INTRO

Chapter 18 is another prophecy for the exiles in Babylon. Today we’ll look at the question of consequences—do we suffer consequences because of the actions of our parents or ancestors or because of our own actions? Ezekiel told the people to stop living in the past and to take responsibility for their own sin. He used the terms live or alive 13 times and the terms die or dead 14 times. McGee points out these words are used to express the idea that “life and death are set before Israel.”¹

TEACHING

Ezekiel 18:1-4: God asked Ezekiel why the people were using the proverb, “The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge,” concerning the nation of Israel (vv. 1-2). In Jeremiah the Lord declared, “In those days, it will never again be said: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ Rather, each will die for his own wrongdoing. Anyone who eats sour grapes—his own teeth will be set on edge” (Jeremiah 31:29-30).

MacArthur writes, “God had foretold national punishment, but the basis for it was individual sin.”² Ezekiel basically said, “Don’t use this line any longer! Don’t play the victim card.” God emphasized that every life belonged to Him, and only the guilty person would die (v. 4). Every person sins (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23), and every person who sins dies (Ezekiel 18:4; Romans 6:23). MacArthur states, “God played no favorites, but was fair in holding each person accountable for his own sin.”³

Ezekiel 18:5-18: Wiersbe summarizes these verses as, “You can’t blame your ancestors.”⁴ Ezekiel told of a just father and an unjust son in verses 5-13. The just father did not worship idols and kept God’s laws and statutes (vv. 5-8). Wiersbe points out that Ezekiel listed eight negatives the father did not do and eight positives that he did do.⁵ The father was a faithful, righteous man, and he would live (v. 9).

However the just father had an unjust, violent son who shed blood and had many wrongdoings. He did everything his father had chosen not to do, even partaking in idol worship and ignoring all of God’s laws and statutes (vv. 10-12). This unjust son would not live because he had committed detestable acts (v. 13).

In verses 14-15, Ezekiel explained the unjust son became a father, and he had a just son. The son (the grandson of the just father) saw the unjust actions his father committed and chose not to do them (v. 14). The son broke the cycle of sin that his father started. He did not worship idols, and he chose to keep God’s laws and statutes (vv. 15-18). Here’s an example: King Hezekiah was a godly ruler, but his son Manasseh was evil. Manasseh’s son Amon was evil, but his son Josiah was godly (Matthew 1:10-11).

Ezekiel 18:19-24: Wiersbe summarizes these verses as, “You can blame yourselves.”⁶ Ezekiel used the younger son to restate that there is personal responsibility for sin (v. 19). Ezekiel stressed that although everyone is responsible for his or her sin, if the wicked person turns from his sin and keeps God’s laws, living righteously, he will live and not die (v. 20-21). “None of the transgressions he has committed will be held against him. He will live because of the righteousness he has practiced” (v. 22). That means Manasseh and Amon, despite the horrible things they did, could have turned to the Lord in repentance and lived.

God wanted the exiles to learn from the past. Verse 23 says God emphasized that He takes no delight when someone turns away from Him but takes pleasure when someone turns back to Him and lives (1 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9).

But when a righteous person turns from God, committing detestable acts like the wicked, without returning to God, he will not live. In fact nothing the person did in righteousness will even be remembered (v. 24). In the Old Testament God did not weigh good versus bad, because there was no reason to stay in unrighteousness. MacArthur states, “His former apparent righteousness was not genuine, and God did not remember it as a valid expression of faith.”⁷

Ezekiel 18:25-32: Wiersbe summarizes these verses as, “You cannot blame the Lord.”⁸ Apparently the people were saying that God wasn’t fair. God asked them if it wasn’t their ways that were unfair (v. 25). They were the ones who had been righteous and yet chose to turn to sin. Therefore, since they were guilty, they would be punished and die (v. 26). But if they turned from their wickedness and returned to God they would live (v. 27). Ezekiel explained that while in exile they had time to think through their lives and repent (v. 28). Verse 29 repeats verse 25 for emphasis.

Constable explains that, in verses 30-32, God made an appeal for “His people to turn from their transgressions of His law so their sins would not prove to be what tripped them up as they journeyed through life.”⁹ God told them they needed to get a new heart and a new spirit (vv. 30-31). God didn’t want His people to die.

CLOSING

Ezekiel was talking about how to get out of bondage. The only way to get out of bondage is through a new spirit. Ezekiel 36:26 states, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” The only way for that to happen is through the New David—Jesus Christ.