The Soul That Sins

When life gets difficult, God goes on trial. Why is this happening? Where is God when it hurts? What is the point of this suffering? Why is life so unfair?

That is the issue at stake in Ezekiel 18. During their early years in exile, the people of Israel started to question God’s fairness. If the nation sinned in the past, why should the children of that nation suffer in exile for 70 years?

Chapter 18 opens with God asking them about a proverb they invented about children suffering for the sins of their fathers.

Ezekiel 18:2–4 (ESV) “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? 3 As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. 4 Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.

Every generation has this sort of question. Why should I suffer because of the poor choices of those before me? America has had this very question about itself in the last decade and thought the present generation was at fault for the sins of those during segregation or slavery. Some could even look at the evil of human history and determine that God was not even there. After all, how could a loving God allow such intolerable evil?

God enters the discussion with a simple statement first:

Ezekiel 18:3-4 (ESV) As I live, declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.

Each person will be responsible for their own sins. Good idea, right? But how does that play out in terms of intergenerational fault and effect? God outlines that in the rest of the chapter. The one who acts righteously will live. But the one who acts wickedly will die. 

Then God addresses their complaint with the simple equation applied to their predicament. No matter what sort of family you come from or what your parents did, your actions have the capacity to turn it all around for good or evil. 

Ezekiel 18:14–18 (ESV) Now suppose this man fathers a son who sees all the sins that his father has done; he sees, and does not do likewise: he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, does not oppress anyone, exacts no pledge, commits no robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, withholds his hand from iniquity, takes no interest or profit, obeys my rules, and walks in my statutes; he shall not die for his father’s iniquity; he shall surely live. As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people, behold, he shall die for his iniquity.

So that the younger generation, dealing with the fallout of their fathers' faithless idolatry, will determine their destiny by trusting the Lord and living according to His ways. 

Not only that! Those under judgment will see the faithfulness of God poured out in mercy upon them should they repent and do what is right. 

Ezekiel 18:21 (ESV) But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

In other words, each person will be responsible and receive just recompense for their own actions. Period. A message the exiled generation no doubt needed to hear. They may have found themselves in a strange land because of the previous generation’s failure, but they could and would thrive in that land should they obey the Lord. The lives of Daniel and his three friends bear that out. You could also make the case for Esther and Mordecai. 

But the real issue was this: The people of Israel were at fault, not God. 

Ezekiel 18:25-28 (ESV) Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

What God is reminding Israel is simply this: Their troubles were caused by sin, not by some unfairness from heaven. How we need to remember that in our day. Wars are caused by men, not angels. Crime, indescendency, immorality and idolatry hurt humans and come from the human heart. God is the righteous judge who will not let unjust actions produce just results. The nation needed to turn to Him and repent. Then they would live.