Ezekiel 18

 TURN (REPENT) AND LIVE

The Word of the Lord came to Ezekiel again and asked what this proverb meant:

The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?

Now the Lord said that they shall no longer use this excuse that the sins of the fathers were passed on to their posterity. Instead, "The soul who sins shall die."

If the son does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live. Also, if a wicked man turns from all sin he has committed and does what is lawful, he shall surely live; he shall not die. The Lord will remember none of his transgressions. 

However, if a righteous man turns away from doing what is lawful and commits iniquity, because of his unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, he shall die. 

And if the house of Israel says the way of the Lord is not fair, the Lord asked if the way of Israel is the one that is not fair. When the righteous man turns away from the Lord and commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of his sin that he chooses to commit. And when a wicked man turns away from sin and does what is right, he preserves himself. How is that unfair?

The Lord said He will judge Israel, every one according to his ways. Therefore, repent and turn from your transgression so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Receive a new heart and a new spirit. Why lose your life, when the Lord takes no pleasure at all that the wicked should die? 

Therefore, turn and live!

COMMENTARY 

Israel had been twisting scripture from Exodus 20:5, "...I am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." From it, they had the proverb that the "fathers ate the sour grapes and the children paid the penalty." 

However, God judges each individual according to his own decisions, as our choices have consequences. In this chapter, God is talking about life and death in this life, not eternal life. 

All souls belong to Him, but if consequences for sins by the father effect the son, it is because the son followed in the iniquity of the father. God judges every individual. Sometimes the father is righteous, but the son is wicked. God will judge the son, not the father. 

Each man is judged in this life for the way he lives his life, and he is judged accordingly in this life. That is why there are consequences for sin today. Every single person will stand before God to give an account for his life, and he will not be able to blame his parents or circumstances.  

Finally, God does not take pleasure in seeing anyone die. Remember, death was not in God's original plan for mankind. Death came through man because of his sin.