Ezekiel 18:4
"Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the
father, so also the soul of the son is mine:
the soul that sinneth, it shall die."
One of the distinctive features of the book of Ezekiel is the pointing out of responsibility. (Ezek. Chap. 3, 14, 18 and 33). Notice that in this passage the Lord was setting aside an old proverb in Israel, (Jer. 31:29-30; Lam. 5:7) and replacing with one of His own: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." During the Old Testament times the people were treated as a national unit and their material existence and prosperity was often affected by the sins of the minority. "But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel," (Josh. 7:1).
However; God was just when He spoke of "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, (Ex. 20:5). But this passage, looks beyond material ramifications, and considers the eternal results of sin.. We see this by the use of the term "Soul" and the command to "make you a new heart and a new spirit:" (Ezek. 18:31)
Many righteous people were going to die in the siege and many would be carried to Babylon as Ezekiel and Daniel were. My Friends, what God wanted was for His people to understand the ultimate fate of each person would be determined by his or her individual relationship with Him. And that my friends has never changed since the beginning of time.
Amen!
Reading: (Ezek. 18:1-32)
(Highlighted Scripture)
Ref: (HG SB)
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry
Thank you for explaining that! It has often bothered me that our ancestors could have passed their sins onto us and it did not make sense. Although i know some evil perpetrated on the innocent has led to evil shadow cast on the victim. Robin and i talked about it once and shared with each other. Today i undersyand we are all tempted by Satan but we can be strong and resist just as Jesus showed us with his own example during His temptings as a man in this world.
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