The commentary on Ezekiel 18 discusses the principle of individual responsibility in relation to sin and punishment, rejecting the notion that children suffer for their parents' sins. It emphasizes that every soul belongs to God and will be judged for its own actions, not those of their ancestors. The chapter calls for personal repentance as the means to attain life and righteousness, affirming that God's justice is to hold each person accountable for their own sins.

1. EZEKIEL 18 COMMENTARY
Edited by Glenn Pease
The One Who Sins Will Die
1 The word of the Lord came to me:
BARNES, "The last verse of Ezek. 17 gives occasion for a declaration of the principle
upon which God’s providential dispensations proceed, namely, that every individual
shall be equitably dealt with - a principle that precludes the children from either
presuming on the father’s merits or despairing on account of the father’s guilt. This
chapter is an enlargement of Jer_31:29, and sets forth fully the doctrine of individual
responsibility.
GILL, "And the word of the Lord came unto me again, saying. The word of
prophecy from the Lord, as the Targum; and its being mentioned is coming from the
Lord is to give it weight and authority. This is a distinct sermon or prophecy from the
former, and was sent and delivered out at another time.
HENRY 1-2, "Evil manners, we say, beget good laws; and in like manner sometimes
unjust reflections occasion just vindications; evil proverbs beget good prophecies. Here
is,
I. An evil proverb commonly used by the Jews in their captivity. We had one before
(Eze_12:22) and a reply to it; here we have another. That sets God's justice at defiance:
“The days are prolonged and every vision fails; the threatenings are a jest.” This
charges him with injustice, as if the judgments executed were a wrong: “You use this
proverb concerning the land of Israel, now that it is laid waste by the judgments of God,
saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge; we
are punished for the sins of our ancestors, which is as great an absurdity in the divine
regimen as if the children should have their teeth set on edge, or stupefied, by the
fathers' eating sour grapes, whereas, in the order of natural causes, if men eat or drink
any thing amiss, they only themselves shall suffer by it.” Now, 1. It must be owned that
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2. there was some occasion given for this proverb. God had often said that he would visit
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, especially the sin of idolatry, intending
thereby to express the evil of sin, of that sin, his detestation of it, and just indignation
against it, and the heavy punishments he would bring upon idolaters, that parents might
be restrained from sin by their affection to their children and that children might not be
drawn to sin by their reverence for their parents. He had likewise often declared by his
prophets that in bringing the present ruin upon Judah and Jerusalem he had an eye to
the sins of Manasseh and other preceding kings; for, looking upon the nation as a body
politic, and punishing them with national judgments for national sins, and admitting the
maxim in our law that a corporation never dies, reckoning with them now for the
iniquities of former ages was but like making a man, when he is old, to possess the
iniquities of his youth, Job_13:26. And there is no unrighteousness with God in doing
so. But, 2. They intended it as a reflection upon God, and an impeachment of his equity
in his proceedings against them. Thus far that is right which is implied in this proverbial
saying, That those who are guilty of wilful sin eat sour grapes; they do that which they
will feel from, sooner or later. The grapes may look well enough in the temptation, but
they will be bitter as bitterness itself in the reflection. They will set the sinner's teeth on
edge. When conscience is awake, and sets the sin in order before them, it will spoil the
relish of their comforts as when the teeth are set on edge. But they suggest it as
unreasonable that the children should smart for the fathers' folly and feel the pain of
that which they never tasted the pleasure of, and that God was unrighteous in thus
taking vengeance and could not justify it. See how wicked the reflection is, how daring
the impudence; yet see how witty it is, and how sly the comparison. Many that are
impious in their jeers are ingenious in their jests; and thus the malice of hell against God
and religion is insinuated and propagated. It is here put into a proverb, and that proverb
used, commonly used; they had it up ever and anon. And, though it had plainly a
blasphemous meaning, yet they sheltered themselves under the similitude from the
imputation of downright blasphemy. Now by this it appears that they were unhumbled
under the rod, for, instead of condemning themselves and justifying God, they
condemned him and justified themselves; but woe to him that thus strives with his
Maker.
II. A just reproof of, and reply to, this proverb: What mean you by using it? That is the
reproof. “Do you intend hereby to try it out with God? Or can you think any other than
that you will hereby provoke him to be angry with you will he has consumed you? Is
this the way to reconcile yourselves to him and make your peace with him?” The reply
follows, in which God tells them,
JAMISON, "Eze_18:1-32. The parable of the sour grapes reproved.
Vindication of God’s moral government as to His retributive righteousness from the
Jewish imputation of injustice, as if they were suffering, not for their own sin, but for
that of their fathers. As in the seventeenth chapter he foretold Messiah’s happy reign in
Jerusalem, so now he warns them that its blessings can be theirs only upon their
individually turning to righteousness.
K&D 1-4, "In the word of God contained in this chapter, the delusion that God visits
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3. the sins of fathers upon innocent children is overthrown, and the truth is clearly set
forth that every man bears the guilt and punishment of his own sins (Eze_18:1-4). The
righteous lives through his righteousness (Eze_18:5-9), but cannot save his wicked son
thereby (Eze_18:10-13); whilst the son who avoids the sins and wickedness of his father,
will live through his own righteousness (Eze_18:14-20). The man who repents and
avoids sin is not even charged with his own sin; and, on the other hand, the man who
forsakes the way of righteousness, and gives himself up to unrighteousness, will not be
protected from death even by his own former righteousness (Eze_18:21-29). Thus will
God judge every man according to his way; and it is only by repentance that Israel itself
can live (Eze_18:30-32). The exposition of these truths is closely connected with the
substance and design of the preceding and following prophecies. In the earlier words of
God, Ezekiel had taken from rebellious Israel every support of false confidence in the
preservation of the kingdom from destruction. But as an impenitent sinner, even when
he can no longer evade the punishment of his sins, endeavours as much as possible to
transfer the guilt from himself to others, and comforts himself with the thought that he
has to suffer for sins that other shave committed, and hardens himself against the
chastisement of God through such false consolation as this; so even among the people of
Israel, when the divine judgments burst upon them, the delusion arose that the existing
generation had to suffer for the fathers' sins. If, then, the judgment were ever to bear the
fruit of Israel's conversion and renovation, which God designed, the impenitent
generation must be deprived even of this pretext for covering over its sins and quieting
its conscience, by the demonstration of the justice which characterized the government
of God in His kingdom.
The proverb and the word of God. - Eze_18:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me,
saying, Eze_18:2. Why do you use this proverb in the land of Israel, saying, Fathers eat
sour grapes, and the sons' teeth are set on edge. Eze_18:3. As I live, is the saying of the
Lord Jehovah, this proverb shall not be used any more in Israel. Eze_18:4. Behold, all
souls are mine; as the father's soul, so also the soul of the son, - they are mine; the soul
which sinneth, it shall die. - On Eze_18:2 compare Eze_12:22. ‫ם‬ ֶ‫כ‬ ָ‫ה־לּ‬ ַ‫,מ‬ what is to you,
what are you thinking of, that...? is a question of amazement. ‫ת‬ ַ‫מ‬ ְ‫ד‬ ֵ‫ל־א‬ַ‫ע‬ , in the land of
Israel (Eze_12:22), not “concerning the land of Israel,” as Hävernick assumes. The
proverb was not, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes,” for we have not ‫לוּ‬ ְ‫כ‬ ָ‫,א‬ as in Jer_
31:29, but ‫לוּ‬ ְ‫ֹאכ‬‫,י‬ they eat, are accustomed to eat, and ‫ת‬ ‫ב‬ ָ‫א‬ has no article, because it
applies to all who eat sour grapes. Bōsĕr, unripe, sour grapes, like bēsĕr in Job 16:33 (see
the comm. in loc.). The meaning of the proverb is self-evident. 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. The
same proverb is quoted in Jer_31:29-30, and there also it is condemned as an error. The
origin of such a proverb is easily to be accounted for from the inclination of the natural
man to transfer to others the guilt which has brought suffering upon himself, more
especially as the law teaches that the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children
(Exo_20:5), and the prophets announce that the Lord would put away Judah from
before His face on account of the sins of Manasseh (2Ki_24:3; Jer_15:4), while Jeremiah
complains in Lam_5:7 that the people are bearing the fathers' sins. Nevertheless the
proverb contained a most dangerous and fatal error, for which the teaching of the law
concerning the visitation of the sins of the fathers, etc., was not accountable, and which
Jeremiah, who expressly mentions the doctrine of the law (Jer_32:18), condemns as
strongly as Ezekiel. God will visit the sins of the fathers upon the children who hate Him,
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4. 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. The
proverb, on the other hand, teaches that the children would have to atone for their
fathers' sins without any culpability of their own. How remote such a perversion of the
truth as to the transmission of sins and their consequences, viz., their punishment, was
from the law of Moses, is evident from the express command in Deu_24:16, that the
children were not to be put to death with the fathers for the sins which the latter had
committed, but that every one was to die for his own sin. What God here enjoins upon
the judicial authorities must apply to the infliction of his own judgments. Consequently
what Ezekiel says in the following verses in opposition to the delusion, which this
proverb helped to spread abroad, is simply a commentary upon the words, “every one
shall die for his own sin,” and not a correction of the law, which is the interpretation that
many have put upon these prophetic utterances of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. In Eze_18:3,
the Lord declares with an oath that this proverb shall not be used any more. The
apodosis to '‫ם‬ ִ‫א‬ ‫ֶה‬‫י‬ ְ‫ה‬ִ‫י‬ ‫,וגו‬ which is not expressed, would be an imprecation, so that the
oath contains a solemn prohibition. God will take care that this proverb shall not be used
any more in Israel, not so much by the fact that He will not give them any further
occasion to make use of it, as by the way in which He will convince them, through the
judgments which He sends, of the justice of His ways. The following is Calvin's
admirable paraphrase: “I will soon deprive you of this boasting of yours; for your
iniquity shall be made manifest, so that all the world may see that you are but enduring
just punishment, which you yourselves have deserved, and that you cannot cast it upon
your fathers, as you have hitherto attempted to do.” At the same time, this only gives one
side; we must also add the other, which is brought out so prominently in Jer_31:29.,
namely, that after the judgment God will manifest His grace so gloriously in the
forgiveness of sins, that those who are forgiven will fully recognise the justice of the
judgments inflicted. Experience of the love and compassion of the Lord, manifesting
itself in the forgiveness of sin, bows down the heart so deeply that the pardoned sinner
has no longer any doubt of the justice of the judgments of God. “In Israel” is added, to
show that such a proverb is opposed to the dignity of Israel. In Eze_18:4, the reason
assigned fore the declaration thus solemnly confirmed by an oath commences with a
general thought which contains the thesis for further discussion. All souls are mine, the
soul of the father as well as that of the son, saith the Lord. In these words, as Calvin has
well said, “God does not merely vindicate His government or His authority, but shows
that He is moved with paternal affection towards the whole of the human race which He
created and formed.” There is no necessity for God to punish the one for the other, the
son for the father, say because of the possibility that the guilty person might evade Him;
and as the Father of all, He cannot treat the one in a different manner from the other,
but can only punish the one by whom punishment has been deserved. The soul that
sinneth shall die. ‫שׁ‬ֶ‫ֶפ‬‫נּ‬ ַ‫ה‬ is used here, as in many other passages, for “man,” and ‫מוּת‬ is
equivalent to suffering death as a punishment. “Death” is used to denote the complete
destruction with which transgressors are threatened by the law, as in Deu_30:15
(compare Jer_21:8; Pro_11:10). This sentence is explained in the verses which follow
(vv. 5-20).
CALVIN, “We may collect from this rebuke that the Jews were perverse
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5. interpreters of the best teaching; yea, they purposely reviled the Prophet’s
expression, and drew it to a contrary meaning. For it, is far commoner than it ought
to be among unbelievers, always to take occasion of turning backwards, twisting,
distorting, and tearing the teaching of heaven. And at this time we see this
impudence increasing greatly in the world. For the world is full of buffoons and
other deceivers, who wickedly sport with God, and seek material for joking from the
law and the gospel: and so also it appears to have been in the Prophet’s time; for
although they listened to the wrath of God hanging over them, they did not cease to
provoke him, and that too for many years. And not only were their own iniquities
set forth against them, but also those of their fathers: hence the occasion for cavil
when they heard — For so many ages you do not cease your warfare against God:
he has borne with you patiently unto this day. Do you think that you can carry on
your audacity with impunity? God wished hitherto to tame you by his forbearance;
but your obstinacy is not to be subdued. Since, therefore, not only for one or two
generations, but for four and five, your obstinacy has wrestled with God’s goodness,
he cannot any longer pardon you. Since the prophets thus gathered up the iniquities
of their fathers, impious men scattered abroad their witticisms — then we are to pay
the penalty of our fathers’ sins: they provoked God, but we suffer the punishment
which they deserved. The Prophet now convinces them of this unfairness, and shows
that they had no reason for transferring their faults to others, or to thrust them
away from themselves, since God was just in taking vengeance on them. We know
that men willingly shuffle so as to free themselves from blame, and then afterwards
accuse God of cruel injustice. It is true, indeed, that they are held in such constraint
by their own consciences that they are compelled, whether they will or not, to feel
that they are suffering punishment justly; but afterwards they become refractory,
and suffocate their conscience, and strive pettishly with God. Hence these words —
Though guiltless of your fathers’ crimes,
Roman, ‘tis thine to latest times
The vengeance of the gods to bear,
Till you their awful domes repair.
Horace, lib. 3, Od. 6, as translated by Francis.
Since so many crimes were rife at Rome, why does that trifler say that the men of his
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6. own age were undeservedly paying the penalty due by their ancestors? But, as I
have said, this is the testimony of a corrupt nature, because we desire to throw off
the blame as far from ourselves as we possibly can. Hence we begin to strive with
God, and to rebel against his judgments. And hence this destruction is the more
useful to us, since it is proposed as a remedy for a disease by far too common.
Whatever the meaning is, this sentiment came into common use like a proverb —
that the children’s teeth were set on edge, because their fathers had eaten sour
grapes. By these allegorical words they wished to free themselves from blame, as if
God was unjustly charging the wickedness of their fathers against them. For to eat
the sour grape or wild grape has the same meaning as to set the teeth on edge; for
we know this to be the effect of acidity. If any one eats a sour grape, his teeth will
suffer from its unripeness. To eat then is to cause this effect on the teeth — referring
to sin: for they said that their own teeth suffered, not through their own eating the
sour grapes, but through its flowing down from their fathers. On the whole, they
wished to contend with God, as if he were afflicting the innocent, and that, too,
under the fallacious pretext which I have mentioned, as God announced that he
would avenge the wickedness which had been perpetrated in former ages.
COFFMAN, "Verse 1
INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY
This chapter is rather brief, but it is artificially expanded in length by the many
repetitions of the points of identification which differentiate between the wicked
man and the righteous man.
The Israelites to whom this chapter was addressed were using a false proverb in the
vain hope of justifying themselves, namely, `The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and
the children's teeth are set on edge'!
"The Captivity generation, overlooking the fact that they were even worse than
their fathers, were now trying to lay the blame for their woes on the sins of their
fathers. The burden of this chapter is that God judges every man upon the basis of
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7. his individual and personal conduct. It ends with a passionate appeal for the wicked
to repent (vv. 30-32)."[1]
This is not the only chapter in which Ezekiel deals with this same subject. "He also
did so in Ezekiel 3:16-21; 14:12-20; 33:1-20."[2] Of course it was not a new idea at
all; see Deuteronomy 24:16, and 2 Kings 14:6. "Also, this chapter is an enlargement
upon Jeremiah 31:29, and sets forth fully the doctrine of individual
responsibility."[3]
Ezekiel 18:1-4
"The word of Jehovah came unto me again, saying, What mean ye, that ye use this
proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, ye shall
not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. 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."
"This false proverb, untrue on the face of it, was singularly inapplicable by Israel in
their situation, because they were by no means innocent of wrong doing, being, in
fact, actually worse than their fathers."[4]
In response to Israel's use of this evil proverb, God swore with a mighty oath, that
he would stop their use of it at once, because it reflected against the justice of God
Himself.
"Evidently, the people thought that they were paying for sins of Manasseh, because
nearly everyone in that generation believed that the sins of the fathers could actually
be visited upon their children. There was a note of self-acquittal here, also, fatalism,
despair, and a what's the use? attitude, what avails the moral struggle? Deeper still,
there was a question of God's justice."[5]
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8. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die ..." (Ezekiel 18:4). A number of scholars like to
emphasize their allegation that, "eternal death" is not mentioned here, only physical
death; but we believe more is intended. As Leath put it, "What is meant here is the
separation of the soul from its life-source, the Spirit of God (Deuteronomy 30:25;
Jeremiah 21:8; and Proverbs 11:19)."[6] Pearson also agreed in this, saying, "The
word `die' is used in both a literal and an eschatological sense. 'To live' is to enter
into the perfect kingdom of the Lord (which was at that time in the future); and `to
die,' is to have no share in it."[7]
PETT, "Introduction
Chapter 18 Every Man Is Responsible For His Own Sin.
Ezekiel now outlines the behaviour of the righteous and the wicked in terms of three
generations in one family, a righteous man and a wicked son, followed by a
righteous grandson. The point behind this is to stress individual responsibility. Each
will be judged in accordance with his response to God’s revealed will through the
Scriptures. At this time this would include the Law of Moses and the early prophets.
He also stresses the dangers of turning away from God and the opportunity for
repentance and forgiveness always available. He finishes with a call to such
repentance, a change of heart and spirit.
Verse 1
‘The word of Yahweh came to me again saying.’
The prophet is still bound by his oath of dumbness but has again received a word
from Yahweh to pass on.
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9. PULPIT, "Ezekiel 18:1, Ezekiel 18:2
What mean ye, that ye use this proverb, etc.? Another and entirely different section
opens, and we see at once from what it started. Ezekiel had heard from the lips of
his countrymen, and had seen its working in their hearts, the proverb with which
they blunted their sense of personal responsibility. They had to bear the punishment
of sins which they had not committed. The sins of the fathers were visited, as in
Exodus 20:5; Exodus 34:7; Le 26:39, 40; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9, upon
the third and fourth generations. Manasseh and his people had sinned, and Josiah
and his descendants and their contemporaries had to suffer for it. The thought was
familiar enough, and the general law of the passages above referred to was
afterwards applied, as with authority, to what was then passing (2 Kings 23:26; 2
Kings 24:3). Even Jeremiah recognized it in Lamentations 5:7 and Jeremiah 15:4,
and was content to look, for a reversal of the proverb, to the distant Messianic time
of the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:29-31). The plea with which Ezekiel had to deal
was therefore one which seemed to rest on the basis of a Divine authority. And that
authority was confirmed by the induction of a wide experience. Every preacher of
righteousness in every age has to warn the evil doer that he is working evil for
generations yet unborn, to whom he transmits his own tendencies, the evil of his
own influence and example. It is well that he can balance that thought with the
belief that good also may work in the future with a yet wider range and mightier
power (Exodus 20:5). Authority and experience alike might seem to favour the plea
that the fathers had eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth were set on edge.
Ezekiel was led, however, to feel that there was a latent falsehood in the plea. In the
depth of his consciousness there was the witness that every man was personally
responsible for the things that he did, that the eternal righteousness of God would
not ultimately punish the innocent for the guilty, he had to work out, according to
the light given him, his vindication of the ways of God to man, to sketch at least the
outlines of a theodicy. Did he, in doing this, come forward as a prophet, correcting
and setting aside the teaching of the Law? At first, and on a surface view, he might
seem to do so. But it was with him as it was afterwards with St. Paul He "established
the Law" in the very teaching which seemed to contradict it. He does not deny (it
would have been idle to do so) that the sins of the fathers are visited upon the
children, i.e. affect those children for evil. What he does is to define the limits of that
law. And he may have found his starting point in that very book which, for him and
his generation, was the great embodiment of the Law as a whole. If men were
forbidden, as in Deuteronomy 24:16, to put the children to death for the sins of the
fathers; if that was to be the rule of human justice,—the justice of God could not be
9

10. less equitable than the rule which he prescribed for his creatures. It is not without
interest to note the parallelism between Ezekiel and the Greek poet who was likest
to him, as in his genius, so also in the courage with which he faced the problems of
the universe. AEschylus also recognizes that there is a righteous order in the
seeming anomalies of history. Men might say, in their proverbs, that prosperity as
such provoked the wrath of the gods, and brought on the downfall of a "woe
insatiable;" and then he adds—
"But I, apart from all,
Hold this my creed alone."
And that creed is that punishment comes only when the children reproduce the
impious recklessness of their fathers. "Justice shines brightly in the dwellings of
those who love the right, and rule their life by law." Into the deeper problem raised
by the modern thought of inherited tendencies developed by the environment, which
itself originates in the past, it was not given to Ezekiel or AEschylus to enter.
BI 1-3, "What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying,
The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?
Sins of fathers visited on their children only in this world
“The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” The
declaration of God, in the second commandment, that He would visit the sins of the
fathers upon the children, for three or four generations, had been translated into this
quaint proverb. Manasseh and they which were seduced by him to wickedness, greater
than that of the Amorites, have been long dead; why, they still argued, why should we be
punished for their sins? Surely the ways of God are unequal in this thing, that the
children’s teeth should be set on edge by the sour grapes which not they, but their
fathers have eaten; and that a man’s sins should be visited upon his innocent posterity.
Ezekiel’s answer is two fold.
1. “What mean ye to use this proverb?” Ye, who have been at no pains to reform
yourselves, and by such reformation avert the woes and the captivity denounced
against your country for the sins of Manasseh, and those of his people; ye can with
no reason complain, who are no better than they. What mean ye, saith the prophet,
“that ye use this proverb? For have not ye, and your fathers, yes, both your fathers
and ye also, have rebelled against the Lord?”
2. However, he tells them that they shall not have occasion to use this proverb any
10

11. more in Israel. Concerning the meaning of this declaration there is some diversity of
opinion. The most probable opinion is, that Ezekiel speaks of the times that were
coming, when the doctrine of a future state should be generally entertained, and of
the punishments which will be awarded in that state, to every individual, for his own
sins and no other, according to their proper malignity. “The soul that sinneth, it shall
die,” it only shall perish everlastingly. The prophet might also mean, that the great
cause of men’s sins being visited upon their posterity, so far as that punishment was
the consequence of a special providence, was shortly to cease from among his people.
That sin was the sin of idolatry. Of so many of the children of the captivity as were
incapable of being reclaimed by the punishments all of them now suffered, the end
would be, that they should die, by the sword, the plague, or famine, or, at all events,
die in captivity, while those of the better sort, who were weaned from the practice of
this great offence, should see their native land again, build again the wails of their
city, and, whatever their other offences might be, should offend God no more by
idolatry.
3. But the declaration of the text, that there should be no more occasion to use this
proverb, may mean, that the times were coming, the times of the Messiah, when the
old system of laws and ordinances should be superseded, the temporal sanctions of
the law of Moses be forgotten and lost, in the thought of the everlasting rewards and
punishments of a future state; concerning which punishments, if Ezekiel is, as we
believe, speaking of them, he declares that the son shall not bear the iniquity of the
father. Each man, in that state, shall suffer only for his own sins. “The soul that
sinneth, it shall die.” It is not natural death that is meant. Both the bad and the good
suffer that. It is what is called in Revelation, “the second death,” eternal misery after
death, of which it is declared, that the carnally minded shall suffer it, and the
righteous and the good never taste it.
4. Undoubtedly, there is a sense in which it will never cease to be true, that the son
shall suffer for the sins of the father. The effects of every man’s sins, as regards this
world, are felt by his family, both while he fives and often long after.
Lessons—
1. The evidence, brought daily before our eyes, how severely the misconduct of
parents is wont to be felt by their children, should reconcile us to the declarations of
Scripture upon the subject.
2. The knowledge of this should be an availing consideration to deter us from evil
courses, and show us the exceeding sinfulness, the madness also, and folly of sin;
that by giving way to it we not only become enemies to our own souls, but cruel
enemies to those whom we most love.
3. If we are ourselves suffering through the misconduct of those who have gone
before us, let us by no means tread in their steps; let them be a warning to us, and
not an example, and let us be very careful that we do not, by imitating their bad
example, lose our own souls, which can only be through our own fault. (A. Gibson,
M. A.)
The entail of suffering
I. The fact is indisputable. Men are liable to an entail of suffering. The Divine law asserts
11

12. it (Exo_20:5). Compare with this the awful malediction of Christ (Mat_23:35). The
teachings of sacred Scripture harmonise entirely with those of experience on this point.
Not so surely will a father’s inheritance descend to his sons as his physical
characteristics. Hence hereditary diseases. How many of these were originally the result
of violations of the Divine laws, natural or moral, needs not to be shown. And so
mysterious are the relations which bind together succeeding generations that, in many
cases, both the mental and moral characteristics are seen to be transmitted. The evil
tempers we have indulged reappear in our offspring to torture them; and when they are
evil, it may be said, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes,” etc.
II. The procedure may be vindicated. We may confidently assert that this procedure
cannot be shown to be unjust. Man is a sinner. “We are a seed of evil-doers; children that
are corrupters.” We are therefore liable to punishment. The only question which, as
sinners, we have a right to entertain respects the degree of our punishment. Does our
punishment, in the entailed evils of which we have spoken, surpass our guilt? If not, we
have no right to complain. But this procedure may be vindicated, moreover, by a
reference to its adaptation to the great end of God’s moral government of mankind. That
end may be simply stated to be the repression of moral evil. To secure this end, he
appeals to us in every possible form, and by every conceivable motive. What more likely
to deter a man from vicious indulgence than the thought that it may taint the blood,
paralyse the limbs, and cloud the skies, of those who ought to inherit the reward and
perpetuate the blessing of his own virtues? And what more humiliating to a parent than
to see the very faults which have disgraced and plagued himself reproduced in the
children of his fondest love?
III. The use of the proverb shall cease; not that Jehovah shall ever repeal this law, but
that the consistency of it with moral perfection being perceived, men shall cease to urge
that which shall afford them neither excuse nor ground of complaint.
1. An acquaintance with the rules which guide the Divine judgment of transgressors
shall prevent men from using this proverb.
2. The common relation which all men sustain to Him may well prevent us from
attributing iniquity to Him. “Behold, all souls are Mine,” etc.
3. The true spirit of penitence which a knowledge of His equity and His love excites
shall, in a similar manner, acquit Him. A deep sense of sin, and true contrition on
account of it, will not suffer men to cavil against God: then they meekly “accept the
punishment of their iniquity.”
4. If any darkness yet seem to hover around these truths, the dawn of the last day
shall assuredly dispel it; and friends and foes shall then unite—the former joyfully,
the latter inevitably—in the confession that “The ways of the Lord are equal.”
(Homilist.)
Heredity and responsibility
It is a well ascertained fact that not merely are the physical features of parents
reproduced often in their offspring, but likewise their moral and intellectual
characteristics. Genius runs in families. The son is frequently renowned for the same
accomplishment for which his father, and perhaps his grandfather, were renowned
before him. The same thing is true of moral defect. The vice to which the parent was the
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13. slave is the vice for which, in a multitude of cases, the child shows the most marked
propensity. This reproduction of parental characteristics in the children may, indeed, be
attributed to another cause than the principle of heredity; it may be attributed, and not
without reason, to the effect of example. Children are great imitators. But much as
example may have to do in the way of creating a likeness between parent and child, the
fact that such likeness exists where example has had no opportunity of working—as in
the case of the parent dying during the child’s infancy—proves that the likeness cannot
be the result of example alone. It is related in the life of the famous French philosopher
and mathematician, Pascal, that his father, also a great mathematician, being desirous of
educating his son for the Church, studiously kept out of his reach all books bearing upon
his own favourite study, and took other precautions to prevent his son forming a taste
for mathematics. But all his precautions were vain. Young Pascal engaged in the study in
secret, without any of the usual aids, and as a result, reproduced and solved most of the
propositions in the first book of Euclid, without, it is alleged, having ever had a copy of
Euclid in his hands. The particular bent of the father’s genius here descended to the son,
and found expression for itself in spite of all the efforts made to prevent such a result.
I. The reference is plainly to the sufferings which children have sometimes to endure in
consequence of the evil-doings of their parents. We may not perhaps be very deeply
affected, although we ought to be, by the thought that our wrong-doing causes suffering
to others in whom we have comparatively little interest. But when we consider that we
not only harm, by setting them an evil example, those whom we most deeply love, the
children whose presence now brightens our home, but may also harm, may be preparing
great suffering for children unborn, who may yet call us by the endearing name of
parent, we cannot help feeling what need, what great need there is, apart altogether from
the demands of morality as such, to live, for the sake of those whom we love most, and
from whom we would ward off every pain, upright and pure lives—careful alike of our
moral and spiritual health. Only in acting thus may we hope that, in as far as it rests with
us, our children shall not enter upon the conflict of life crippled, handicapped, and thus
have their prospect of victory immensely lessened. That good is perpetuated under this
law of heredity as well as evil ought to be remembered, or we might otherwise think it a
cruel law.
II. What bearing has the law upon our individual responsibility? Does it diminish or do
away with it? The Jews, at the time Ezekiel wrote, were in a very miserable state. The
nation was hastening to its doom. They were on the eve of that great catastrophe often
predicted—the destruction of Jerusalem—their pride and glory, and the captivity. With
this dismal prospect in view, and with present troubles pressing painfully upon them,
they would not see in their own behaviour any reason for their suffering. They tried to
make out that they were innocent children suffering solely for their fathers’ sins: “Our
fathers have eaten the sour grapes of idolatrous pleasures, and we are suffering the
consequences.” But although within certain limits it might be true they were suffering
for their fathers’ sins, it was also true that their own evil doings, their sins against light
and knowledge, were the main source of their sufferings. They could not divest
themselves of individual responsibility. All souls are God’s; as the soul of the father, so
also the soul of the son. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. He that hath withdrawn his
hand from iniquity, he is just, he shall surely live. It is further pointed out in the context
that a righteous son is not condemned for his father’s profligacy, any more than a
profligate son is saved by his father’s righteousness. “The son shall not bear the iniquity
of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of
the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.”
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14. The teaching here is clearly to the effect that it is our own acts, and not the acts of
another, that shall either justify or condemn us. And that is the teaching also of our
Lord: “By thy words shalt thou be justified, and by thy words shalt thou be condemned.”
Again, in the not uncommon fact that a bad father may have a good son, and a good
father a bad son, we have a conclusive proof that the law of heredity does not act in such
a way that its operation cannot be resisted. It can be resisted, and on the fact that it can
be resisted, and successfully resisted, rests our moral responsibility. It may be a hard
struggle, in some cases it will be an exceedingly hard struggle, but with God’s help it will
not be a vain one. Numberless instances are on record of men who have developed a
beautiful character under the most adverse circumstances, and this should encourage
everyone, however hard his lot, and however heavily handicapped he may be by
tendency or circumstance, to undertake the struggle and persevere therein. Stronger is
He that is for us than all they that are against us. Let us but trust Him—let us but look to
Jesus—and so fight. The victory will be sure. (N. M. Macfie, B. D.)
Heredity
Through the whole realm of living things there runs the great law of inheritance. All that
lives tends to repeat itself in the life of its offspring. The ant, for example, begins life not
only with the form and structure of its ancestry, but in full possession of all those
marvellous industrial instincts which today have passed into a proverb. The marvellous
sagacity of the sheep dog, which no amount of training would ever confer upon a poodle
or a fox terrier, comes to it by way of inheritance as part of its birthright. In similar
fashion old habits and curious antitheses tend to repeat themselves in like fashion, even
where the originating circumstances no longer remain. For example, we are told, by
those who know, that in menageries straw that has served as litter in the lion’s or the
tiger’s cage is useless for horses; the smell of it terrifies them, although countless equine
generations must have passed since their ancestors had any cause to fear attack from
feline foes. You must often have noticed a dog turning itself round three or four times
before it settles in front of the fire, but it is probably only doing what some savage and
remote ancestry did many generations ago when it trundled down the long grass of the
forest to make a lair for itself for the night. Everyone knows how the peculiar cast of
features that we term Jewish tends to reappear in generation after generation. The
vagabondism of the gipsy, again, is in his blood, and he cannot help it. It is said that on
one occasion the Austrian Government started a regiment of gipsies, but on the first
encounter they ran away, A hundred mental and physical characteristics run in families,
and so we have the aquiline nose of the Bourbons, the insolent pride of the Guises, the
musical genius of the Bachs, and the scientific genius of the Darwins. Along the lines of
his being, physical, mental, and moral, man derives from the past. As an American
writer very happily and sagaciously puts it: “This body in which we journey across the
isthmus from one ocean to another is not a private carriage, but an omnibus,” and, be it
said, it is our ancestors who are fellow passengers. Yesterday is at work in today; today
will live again in tomorrow, and the deeds of the fathers, be they good or be they ill, are
visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Now, this doctrine of
heredity, as it is termed, is, to use a popular phrase, at the present moment very much in
the air. The novelist, the dramatist, the journalist, the educationalist, the moralist, the
theologian, and the social reformer have all made it their own, and are all of them ready
with this or that application of it to some aspect of our daily life. Now, it is impossible to
ignore the fact that the doctrine of heredity, as it is held and taught by some today,
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15. practically robs life of all moral significance. It is not merely that it conflicts with this or
that conclusion of morality; it cuts away the ground under the foot of all morality, and
makes the word itself to be meaningless. It is not merely that it takes this or that
doctrine of the Scriptures; it makes null and void the truths which the Scriptures, as it
were, assume as the base and groundwork of all. Taking for granted the facts of heredity
as I have illustrated them, how do these facts affect our ideas of moral responsibility? I
think the answer may be put in three-fold form: heredity may increase, heredity may
diminish, heredity can never destroy man’s responsibility. Heredity may increase a
man’s responsibility, for if it be true that we inherit evil from the past, it is not less true
that we inherit good; and if he is to be pitied and dealt tenderly with who, through no
fault of his own, enters upon a grievous heritage of woe, is not he to be visited with stern
condemnation who, reaping a rich harvest which other hands have sown, squanders his
inheritance in riotous living? But it may also diminish, for there are certain hereditary
vices, like drunkenness, for example, which are sometimes not only vices, but also
diseases; and just in so far as they are diseases as well as vices, so far do they call for our
pity rather than for our condemnation,—a fact, perhaps, that has not always had due
weight given to it by some of our sterner moralists. God asks not only where does a man
reach, but where does a man start. He counts not only the victories that men win, but the
odds in the face of which men fight, the moral effort that is needed; and many a time
when our poor blind eyes can only see the shame and disaster of seeming defeat, His
eyes have marked the ceaseless, if often thwarted, struggle to cast off the yoke and
bondage of evil. Heredity may increase, heredity may diminish, heredity ban never
destroy man’s responsibility, and it is just there that we join issue with so much that is
being said and so much more that is being implied at the present day. This idea of
heredity has so completely fascinated the minds of some, that to them man is nothing
more than a bundle of transmitted tendencies, the resultant of antecedent forces, a
projectile shot forth from the past, whose path he could calculate with mathematical
accuracy, did he but know the precise character and amount of the hereditary forces that
are at work in him. The unquestioned facts of heredity are emphasised to the exclusion
of all other facts as though in this, and this alone, were the key to the whole mystery of
the life of man. The prophet meets the complaints of the people with two words from the
mouth of God, “Behold, all souls are Mine,”—that is to say, every individual soul is
related to God. We are related to the past; that is the fact upon which those to whom
Ezekiel spoke laid all the emphasis, but we are also related to God. We derive from the
past, but that which we derive from the past is not the whole of us,—we derive also from
God. “As the soul of the father is Mine, so also the soul of the son is Mine.” Weighted as
we may be with sins which are not our own, we have each of us a moral life that is our
own, received direct from God. If upon the one side of me—if I may put it in that
awkward fashion—I am linked to a sinful human ancestry, and so rooted in Nature; on
the other side of me I stand in a Divine lineage, I am rooted in God. The second word of
the prophet follows from it as a natural corollary, “All souls are Mine; therefore, the soul
that sinneth, it shall die.” That is the charter of the individual soul. What does it mean?
That it is never our past that condemns us, that a man’s past can be a man’s ruin only in
so far as he allies himself with it, and makes it his own. I repeat, we are related to the
past, therefore the facts of heredity cannot be denied, and must not be overlooked; but
that which we derive from the past is not the whole of us. We are also related to God,
and through that relationship the strength of the grace of God can come to us. And it is
that two-fold fact concerning every man that makes man a responsible being. He can
choose, he can take sides; and it is only when a man takes evil to be his good, when,
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16. barking the struggle altogether, he leaves evil in undisputed possession of the field, that
he stands condemned before God. Turning aside from the prophet for one closing
moment, I want you, looking beyond the prophet’s teaching, to gather confirmation of
his message. Look at the Bible. There is no book to make allowance for us all like this
Book; no place where earth’s failings have such kindly judgment given. “Our wills are
ours, we know not how.” We cannot sound the mysteries of our frame, but “Our wills are
ours to make them Thine.” The peace that follows righteousness, remorse after wrong-
doings, the honour that everywhere men pay to self-sacrifice, the kindling indignation
with which we listen to some story of base cunning and cruel wrong, the passionate thrill
that passes through the whole nation to its very centre when a deed is done for freedom
or a blow is struck for truth,—these things, which are among the most sacred and
splendid of human experience, and which, as Dr. Dale used to say, are as real as the
movements of the planets and as the ebb and flow of the tides—these things are only to
be explained if it be true that man is free to choose betwixt truth and falsehood, for the
good or evil side. So, in fact, with this. If a man is living in conscious rebellion against
God, the poor and paltry plea of the father’s sins will not avail. Oh yes, we may talk as we
will about sour grapes, and I know not what else besides, but when conscience has a man
by the throat he follows humbly in the footsteps of the Psalmist—“The guilt is mine, the
sin is mine before God.” If God’s angel has us by the hand and is drawing us away from
our bad evil selves, let us hear and answer to His call, and it may be that even yet by His
grace we shall be crowned. (G. Jackson, M. A.)
Individuality
There is scarcely a thing in the world which is well attested which can bring forward
more strong or more indisputable evidence than this truth which is incorporated in the
proverb. Every land, every race, every age, has seen its truth. The fathers are always
eating sour grapes, and the children’s teeth alas, are always being set on edge. Look, I
would ask, at your own life and your own experience. Here are men placed in divergent
circumstances in life. We often look round and see how true it is that a man is weighted
in the race of life by folly, by the extravagance of his father. A man, on the other hand,
toils on industriously, accumulates possessions for his children, and in doing so gives
them the advantage of the position which he has established. Or, take that other thing
we often speak of—that which we cannot help—the inheritance of our name. How true it
is that a man inheriting a good name is often carried away to a position far in advance of
what we may call his native worth, because the great flowing wave of his father’s success
carries him high up the beach of life; and how true, on the other hand—painfully true it
is, that, when a child inherits a disgraced name, he finds himself at once in the midst of a
world that is ready to close its doors upon him. Or, take that which is a stronger
illustration still—this law of hereditary descent which operates throughout the whole
world. What strange power is it that makes a man vacillate? How is it he cannot hold on
to the straight and true way of life? Or again, why is it this man is unable to cope with the
strain of life? Watch him, and see what hesitancies there are about his nature. See how
he starts; what strange apprehensions visit him that do not visit healthier organisations.
There you have in that strange nervous organisation the story of that which has been the
perilous fault of his ancestry: the overstrained life, the long hours, the eager toil, the
care, the anxiety, the worry that has worn into the father’s frame are reproduced here.
And that which is true with regard to personal history is true, also, with regard to
national history. Are we not bearing the weight of our fathers’ sins? Look on the
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17. difficulties which surround our own administration. See how hard it is for men exactly to
poise their legislation between leniency and justice. And understand that when we have
to deal with the wild, tumultuous dispositions of those people who entirely disbelieve in
our good intentions towards them we are, as it were, enduring the pain of our teeth
being set on edge because of the follies and the sins of past generations. Now, what is the
reason, then, that the prophet should take upon himself to denounce what is so
obviously true? A little reflection will show that it is not so strange as it at first sight
appears. He denounces its use because it is used in an untrue sense and for an unlawful
purpose. It is certainly true that when the fathers had eaten sour grapes the children’s
teeth were set on edge. All the past history of Israel showed it. These men to whom the
prophet wrote were themselves illustrations of it; they were exiles, and their exile and
their national disintegration was the result of their fathers’ sin. But it was quoted in a
wrong sense, it was quoted in the sense of trying to make people cast a shadow upon the
loving kindness of God; therefore the prophet takes up his parable against them. He
argues and expostulates, he shows that the sense in which it is used is an unfair and an
unjust sense; he says, “Look upon life; watch the man whose career has been good—one
who has been pure, who has been just, who has been generous—observe him. He is
under the care and protection of God. If his son,” he argues, “becomes a man of violence,
a man of impurity, a man who is full of the debaucheries and injustices of life, then,
indeed, upon that man will fall the shadow of his own sin; but if his son rises up, and
gazing upon the life of his grandfather, and gazing upon the life of his father, turns aside
from his own false ways, then upon such a man will dawn the brightness of God’s
favour.” “The soul that sinneth shall die.” The son shall not bear in that sense the
iniquity of the father. It is true he must inherit the disadvantages which are handed
down to him from father to son; that the great and fatal law of life will operate, and that
he cannot expect to ca, use, as it were, the shadow to go back upon the sundial of life,
and to claim the position which would have been his had his father not sinned at all; but,
as far as the love of God is concerned, as far as the capacity of rising up and doing some
fit and noble work in life is concerned, as far as purification of his own spirit is
concerned, as far as the ennobling of his own character is concerned, as far as his
capacity to do something great and worthy is concerned, he is not at a disadvantage at
all. “The soul that sinneth shall die.” The sons, in that sense, shall not bear the iniquity of
their fathers. It was used, then, in an untrue sense, and it was used (and this is more
important still) for a false and unworthy purpose. “Our fathers,” said they, “had national
life; they had grand energy; they had the concentration and the spirit of a nation; they
had that great spirit of unity and all the glorious associations which created patriotic
hearts;, they had the everlasting hills; the snowy Lebanon was theirs; the rich and swift-
flowing Jordan was theirs; the fields instinct with the memories of a thousand victories
were theirs: but we are condemned to exile, condemned to dwell here by the barrier set
by these waters of Babylon. There is no hope for us: no future for us; our fathers eat sour
grapes, and our teeth are set on edge.” No wonder that when the prophet saw they were
quoting the proverb to bolster up their own indolence, and to make it the shameful
apology of their own disregard of their highest and noblest duties, that, with all the
indignation and sacred fire of his spirit, he rose up to denounce such an unworthy use of
a truth. “As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this
proverb in Israel. All souls are Mine—the soul of every individual, be he on the banks of
Babylon or not, is Mine; all nations are Mine, whether they be in the plenitude of their
power, or whether they be in a poverty-stricken existence.” For every soul, for every
nation, there is a glorious destiny; and for men to shelter themselves from their duty by
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18. declaring that a hard fate has bound them about with its fetters of iron, and that there is
no escape for them; that their whole life is shipwrecked and ruined; that they are the
miserable inheritors of the fatality of their own organisation, of the tyranny of their
national position, is forever to declare themselves unworthy of the name of men, that
they have lost faith in the power of God—it is to take a solemn truth, and wrest it to their
own destruction; it is to forge the weapons of their own imprisonment out of the very
thing which should be their highest stimulus to exertion. The greatest of truths may be
perverted to a false use. Truth is like a beam of light, which indeed falls straight from its
parent sun, but it is possible for us to divert and alter the beauty of its hue by putting the
prism of our own fancy and conceit between it and the object on which we cast it; in like
manner we may misuse truths as well as use them; and if we misuse them, it is to our
own detriment and shame. Oh, fatal way in which extremes meet—that the pessimist
should say that he is under the fatal law of organisation, and it is useless to do anything;
and that the optimist should say he is under the fatal and sweet law of organisation, and
that it is needless for him to do anything. Midway between these truths which we meet in
men’s lives, and which often become the fatal sources of the apology of their
indulgence—midway between them lies the real truth; these are but the opposite poles of
truth, the great world upon which we live revolves upon its axis between these two. It is
not your part to live forever in the north pole of life, and declare that it is all bitterness
and a blasted fate; it is not your duty to live in the sunny pole of the south, and to declare
that your life is all sweetness and sunshine; your lot and mine is cast in these moderate
poles, where we know that law rules, and love rules above our heads, sweet love beneath
our feet, sweet law, both strong, both sweet, both the offspring of God, both the sweet
heralds of encouragement, to lift up our energies, to exert ourselves in the toil of life, and
to be men, for do you not say that it is precisely in the counterpoising truths of law which
is inexorable, and love which is never inexorable, that the power of life, and heroism of
life, is found? (Bp. Boyd Carpenter.)
The two-fold heredity
It seems, then, that there is nothing new under the sun, and that in the days of Ezekiel
men had anticipated, in some respects at least, Darwin and Ibsen and the problem novel;
they were dealing with some, at least, of the difficulties which perplex us, upon whom
the ends of the world have come. Science has made plain the part played by the law of
heredity, the transmission of tendencies and characteristics from parents to offspring, in
the development of life upon the globe. Criminologists have carried the idea over into
the moral and judicial sphere, producing specimens of “pedigree criminals,” families in
which the criminal taint has descended from parents to children for generation after
generation, Novelists and dramatists have found in the subject a fertile source of plots
and tragedies. Social reformers find heredity a fact to be reckoned with. And now, as in
Ezekiel’s day, sinning souls are often inclined to lay the blame of their own failures on
those whose blood runs in their veins. The first step to be taken in approaching this
theme from the Christian standpoint is to notice how frequently it is dealt with in the
Bible, the book which by some gracious miracle anticipates all other books and reveals to
us the antiquity of our most modern problems. Our Lord Himself said, “Can men gather
grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” There is such a thing in the moral world as
pedigree, propagation of species, lines along which certain qualities and tendencies are
transmitted, and you do not expect out of one stock that which, by its moral qualities, is
properly the fruit of another. Paul’s close observation of the organism of human society,
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19. as reflected specially in the Epistle to the Romans, is also a contribution to the subject;
he sees that the human race is one in sin, that the taint is transmitted from generation to
generation, that human history in one aspect of it gathers itself round a kind of pedigree
of degeneration, so that by the disobedience of one many are made sinners. But though
there is something in the knew Testament on the theme, there is more in the Old. In the
New Testament it is specially the individual who comes to his rights; in the Old
Testament more attention is given to the family, the nation, the generations which
succeed each other and yet are part of each other—at once inheritors and transmitters of
the blessing or the curse. It works for good: “the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to
everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children’s children.” It
works also for evil—“visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third
and fourth generation.” And both in Jeremiah and in Ezekiel we meet this idea, which
had evidently become proverbial in Israel—“The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the
children’s teeth are set on edge.” The people were making too much of that; the prophets
were eager to show them that there was another side to the truth. But that their proverb
has some truth in it, who can deny?
I. And first, the fact. Here it is as a theologian (Dr. Denney, Studies in Theology) states
it: “We are born with a history in us.” Here it is as a novelist (Oliver Wendell Holmes,
Elsie Venner) states it: “Each one of us is only the footing up of a double column of
figures that goes back to the first pair. Every unit tells, and some of them are plus and
some minus We are mainly nothing but the answer to a long sum in addition and
subtraction.” If you prefer scientific witnesses, their name is legion; this doctrine is one
of the cornerstones of scientific thought. One of the quaintest and most delightful
studies of the subject it is hardly profound enough to be called a study, and yet it is
exceedingly suggestive—is in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Memories and Portraits. You
may remember the passage in which he describes his grim old minister-grandfather, and
wonders what he has inherited from him: “Try as I please, I cannot join myself on with
the reverend doctor; and all the while, no doubt he moves in my blood and whispers
words to me, and sits efficient in the very knot and centre of my being.” And not he
alone, but a broadening line of ancestors, stretching back into the cloudy past, the toilers
and fighters and adventurers of earlier generations, “Picts who rallied round
Macbeth,”. . . “star-gazers on Chaldean plateaus.”. . .”And furthest of all, what sleeper in
green tree tops, what muncher of nuts, concludes my pedigree? Probably arboreal in his
habits.” It all amounts to this, that each human being is a thousand rolled into one; the
roots of our lives go deep down into history, drawing from many different strata some of
the elements that make us what we are. It is the darker side of this fact that is reflected in
the text. “The fathers have eaten sour grapes,”—in other words, they have sinned,
perhaps they have suffered for their sins, the grapes have been sour even in the act of
eating; but their children after them have suffered also, perhaps in nothing more than in
this, that in them the ancestral tendencies to evil have been perpetuated and reproduced.
It means this, that if a man has had ancestors who have been, say, drunkards or loose
livers or men of ungovernable temper, very likely something of their besetting tendency
is transmitted into his very blood, and the battle is all the harder for him because of their
sin. And if he in his turn yields himself a servant to sins like these, very likely his
children and his children’s children will be enslaved by the same bondage. This is a
reality so tremendous that it has made some men curse the day they were born. Here is a
relationship which is not in the smallest degree in a man’s own control; he was not
consulted as to the family into which he should be born. Yet that relationship affects not
only his physical but his moral and spiritual life; it follows him into the race of life and
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20. into the fight of faith; it may prove a continual burden and snare. Thank God if those
who have gone before us have been His servants, living sweet, strong, clean lives. We do
not know how much easier that has made the battle for us. It is a personal matter, a care
and conscience so to live that no one in whose veins your blood may run may have
reason to hate your memory for what you have been or have handed on to them. And it is
a social matter, the mightiest of arguments for every form of moral and religious effort
that can be brought to bear on the life of today. Today is the parent of tomorrow. And
anything of health and purity and love and God that is sown like seed in the soil of the
present generation does not end its fruitfulness there; it is a gift and a blessing to the
future—“and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.”
II. I notice that, though heredity is a fact, and sometimes a terrible influence, it is an
influence which has its limits. This needs to be emphasised, because when men’s hearts
are in revolt against this tyranny of the dead past, they are apt to forget that the evil
transmitted is not unlimited or unmixed. Even taking the bright and dark sides of
hereditary influence together, it does not cover all the facts of life. Professor Drummond
is right when he says that for half of life, at least, we have no “inherited storage” of habit
or tendency. And if we take the darker side alone, still more is that a limited influence. It
is limited in duration: those words “unto the third and fourth generation” have a
meaning. So far and no further extends what Jeremy Taylor calls “the entail of curses”;
there is a beneficent law which limits the time through which any evil habit in a given
family can continue its self-propagating power; if it had not been for that, the world
would be an infinitely worse place today. And it is limited in extent also in the individual
life; it is limited by the very fact that a brighter side of hereditary influence exists; nobler
instincts and finer tendencies can also be transmitted; there is a kind of entail in the
blessing as surely as in the curse, and the entail of the blessing lasts the longer. These
limitations imply that individuality has its own rights and possibilities. They imply that
free will is not destroyed, even though hereditary influence gives a strong bias towards
evil. They imply that each life may be a fresh starting point for the nobler possibilities of
humanity. They imply that though a man’s ancestors may be among his most subtle and
powerful tempters, not all their power can forge upon him the fetters of an absolute fate.
The truth seems to be this, that there is enough reality in this fact of heredity to
constitute an important element in each man’s trial and conflict, in some lives perhaps
quite the most important element. But there is not enough in it to abolish the trial and
the conflict, to make it an inevitable certainty that any man will fail in the trial or go
under in the conflict. Over against the fact of corporate unity Ezekiel sets the equally real
facts of personal responsibility; if men die, it is for their own sins, not for the sins of
their fathers. They could turn; heavily weighted and sadly biassed though it is, human
nature still swings upon its pivot, and all things are possible. Grant that they cannot rid
themselves of sin, they have still a mighty defence against fate in this, that they can turn
from sin towards God—the God who waits to be a refuge and a deliverer.
III. That brings me to the last thought, the counteractive. For it is too mild a statement
of the case to say that the influence of heredity is limited: it is attacked, it is opposed, its
overthrow is planned and dared from the strongholds of eternity. Mr. Rendel Harris
(Union with God, the chapter on “Grace and Heredity”)
speaks the truth when he says: “If we have not a Gospel against heredity it is very
doubtful whether we have any Gospel at all.” At any rate, many souls are painfully
conscious that if there is no Gospel against heredity, there is no Gospel at all for them.
But there is an older heredity than that which is commonly meant by the word, older,
deeper, more essentially related to our true selves, reaching back even to the great deep
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21. from which we came. Listen to a fragment of a human genealogy. “Which was the son of
Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.”
The Evangelist is very daring. David the adulterer is in that genealogical tree, and Jacob
the supplanter, and many others, all more or less diseased, dwarfed, defiled with sin.
Can this, indeed, be allowed to stand as the ultimate origin of their being, the oldest
source from which they drew their life, “which was the son of God”? That honourable
lineage is allowed even to them, and indeed the genealogical tree of every one of us ends
there, “which was the son of God.” Has not this God created us? Are not all our souls
His, and is not His image stamped upon us all? Older than any link which binds us to the
past generations, deeper than any resemblance to human ancestors which may appear in
our faces or actions or characters,—so old and so deep is the relationship which connects
us with the living God. Nay, it is a direct and immediate relationship; that is the chief
burden of the prophet’s message here, in answer to the morbid melancholy of the
people’s mood. “As I live, saith the Lord God, all souls are Mine.” Each soul has still its
own link with God, its own responsibility to Him, and its own inheritance in Him. We
may have done our best to break this connection, to blot out this likeness. But He does
not disown the relationship. Now, this more wonderful heredity, so central and essential
in man’s true nature, has been sadly overlaid and overborne by other influences, such as
those I have spoken of today. And God has taken special means to restore it to its true
place and influence, to create the family that should realise the Divine intention, and
bring the race of man to its true and glorious destiny. Think of the wonder of that
interposition! The man Christ Jesus, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, descendant on
His human side of a stock that was no more exempt than we are from the universal
disease. Yet He was without sin, without one stain or taint of sin. The law of human
heredity was laid aside for once in Him, that the older, deeper, diviner heredity might
fully express itself, the answer to the world’s despair! And this second Adam became the
head and founder of a new family, reproducing Himself in those who believed on Him,
filling them with His grace, training and enabling them to follow in His steps, “that He
might be the first-born among many brethren.” Can men gather grapes of thorns or figs
of thistles? Of course not; but many a sorry branch of the human tree, barren and almost
ready for the burning, has begun to bear wondrous fruit when it has been grafted into
the true Vine. Jesus gives power to become the sons of God; He starts them on the life in
which the true end of their being is to be fulfilled. Let us believe in this. Let us pray to
have it realised in us and ours. So we have a Gospel against heredity, and surely it is a
Gospel indeed. (J. M. E. Ross, M. A.)
Heredity and grace
The context also makes it clear that the captives in Chaldea used the words as a
querulous reproach against the Almighty. Their forefathers had sinned; they, the
descendants, were reaping the fruit. Not for their own misdeeds were they now suffering
such dire calamity, They were simply involved as by the operation of a remorseless fate
in the sins of their predecessors, and they were unable to shake themselves free from the
crushing incubus. Now, these Jewish exiles voice very much of contemporary English
thought at the beginning of the twentieth Christian century. Men do not attempt to deny
the fact of moral evil. It is no longer pretended that this is the best of all possible worlds;
that the advance of education, refinement, and civilisation is steadily driving sin out of
the universe; and that under the evolutionary process we may confidently anticipate the
speedy advent of the new heavens and the new earth. No! that shallow optimism of
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22. English Deism is scouted by modern philosophy, whose keynote is heredity. The idea
that the offence of the ancestor involves the race in disability is no longer confined to the
theology of the dark ages. Scientists, social reformers, journalists, and novelists have
claimed it as their own. Darwin corroborates Paul. When the preachers of a century ago
talked of original sin they were grievously reproached for their dark, gloomy views of
human nature. It was a monstrous notion that men should be handicapped in all their
after destiny by the sin of one primitive man from whom they chanced to be the
descendants. That doctrine was only the invention of diseased consciences, the fiction of
priests, and impossible of acceptance by any but the least enlightened of mankind. But
modern philosophy has changed all that, and now proclaims in its own way every
principle of the old creed. So widespread and dominant has this teaching become that in
the words of a discriminating critic, “one would think that the problem of heredity
constituted the sum and substance of life, and that a man is nothing but a sum of
tendencies transmitted from his ancestors.” Nor can we be blind to the substantial truth
of the modern doctrine. There is no theory which could marshal a greater or more
appalling array of evidence in its favour than the theory incorporated in this Jewish
proverb. The Bible itself assures us that the sins of the fathers are visited upon the
children to the third and fourth generation. We see all around us men who inherit
physical capacities, physical qualities, physical aptitudes which make it not only difficult
for them to enter into life with the same advantage as their fellows, but which furnish
them with a terrible bias the wrong way. And let us thankfully acknowledge that science
has, at least, rendered this great service to the Christian faith. It has shown that we do
not stand alone. We are not isolated units. We are parts of a great social organism bound
to each other by close and indissoluble ties. “No man liveth unto himself,” we are all
members one of another. And yet the startling fact remains that Ezekiel only quotes this
proverb, expressive of so much truth, in order to repudiate it. He declares that it is
unworthy of those who bear the name of Israel. “What mean ye that ye use this proverb
in the land of Israel?”—the land which acknowledges Jehovah, and which is His peculiar
possession? It is only fit for heathen, and ought to be swept forever from the records of
Israel. He repudiates the proverb because it was used in an untrue sense, and was bound
up with absolutely false inferences. The captives said they were suffering because of their
fathers’ sin. That was true. Their present misery was the result of the idolatry of their
fathers. What then? Shall men make the ugly inheritance from the past a bolster for
indolence today, and an apology for disregarding the duties of the hour? It was this
mistake which the exiles were making. Their eyes were so fixed upon their fathers’ sin
that they could see none in themselves. They were the victims of dire misfortune—men
to be pitied and excused. A spirit of fatalism and despair had settled down upon them,
and they moaned that a hard fate had bound them in fetters of iron, from which there
was no escape. “If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in
them, how, then, should we live?” There is a similar spirit around us today. It is felt in
much of our literature. Sin is regarded as a man’s misfortune rather than his fault. The
drunkard, the impure, the idler, and ne’er-do-well can no more help themselves for these
evil things than they can interfere with the size of their stature or the colour of their hair.
I am not exaggerating the trend of popular opinion. One of our best-known writers, in a
little book which has become a household word, tells us that at the end of the twentieth
century men will “look backward,” and then, for the first time, seeing things as they
really are, will always speak of crime as “atavism.” This means, in plain language, that
what has been bred in the bone must sooner or later come out in the flesh. The murderer
is therefore what he has been made; he acts by necessity of nature, and cannot be
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23. otherwise than he is. Of course, we see at once where such teaching lands us. It means
the denial of all moral responsibility, and the paralysis of all aspiration. It is the doctrine
of despair. It is here that the Bible parts company with modern philosophy. It does not
deny the facts of heredity. It admits that men do not start equally in the race of life. It
shirks none of the hideous facts which are plain to every observer of human life. It
declares that to whom little is given of him little shall be required. It speaks of One who
watches above—“With larger other eyes than ours to make allowance for us all.” But it
refuses to regard any man as absolutely determined by the influences he has received
from the past. Our consciences tell us that the Bible is right. How otherwise can we
explain our feelings of personal responsibility, our sense of shame and remorse? No man
ever yet morally felt accountable because he was of diminutive height. The sense of
accountability for our actions, however, is always with us. The very men who deny it
cannot write a page without using language which contradicts their denial. And there is
no explanation whatever for this persistency of conscience, and its lofty refusal to be
gagged and silenced, when we plead our flimsy excuses at its bar, if a man is so
hopelessly bound by his past that it is impossible for him to be free. You never yet
succeeded in justifying yourself by shuffling the blame on to the shoulders of those who
have gone before you. No! the attempt to evade responsibility is essentially dishonest. It
is a futile make-believe. The man who attempts it hardly cheats himself, for in his
deepest heart he knows that, however hampered he may be in his fight with sin, he is not
justified in the resignation of despair. The prophet supplies the ground on which this
verdict of conscience is justified. Ezekiel sets over against the proverbial half truth of the
exiles another which counterbalances it. “Ye shall no more use this proverb in Israel, for
all souls are Mine.” Man does not belong only to the family, the tribe, the nation. He
belongs to God. He possesses not only what he has derived from a tainted ancestry, but
that which he has received straight from God. The deeds of my forefathers are not the
only factor in the case. God must be taken into account. God lives and works, and I
belong to Him. The reply of the prophet is carried further in the Christian Gospel. It tells
me of a Saviour who is able to save unto the uttermost. It opposes to these natural forces
which incline to sin the power of almighty grace. Every man here stands in direct
personal relations with Jesus Christ, and may come into personal saving contact with the
strong Son of God. Here is our hope. Christianity is a Gospel, because it points me to a
Redeemer who makes all things new. And so the work of the second Adam comes in to
restore the balance of moral forces disturbed in the fall of the first. The sin of the natural
head of the race is more than outweighed by the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The new
pulses of life from Him are mightier than the tide of tainted life that comes to me out of
the past. The transfusion of grace prevails over that of corruption.” Where sin abounded,
grace has much more abounded. We are not under the tyranny of natural law. We are
under grace. If, therefore, anyone says, “It is useless for me to hope to be better, greater,
truer than I am. You do not know by what circumstances I am environed; you do not
know what terrible physical organisation I inherit. You do not know the temper, the
passion, the lust that are in me. I am the victim of this terrible law which makes it
impossible for me to rise and shake off its tyranny.” I answer, “It is not so. You are not so
weighted in the race that you must fall and perish. There is help for every man, the
eternal and undying energy of Divine grace.” I tell you of Jesus, the servant of Jehovah
who is anointed to give deliverance to the captives. “He breaks the power of cancelled
sin, He sets the prisoners free.” Jesus told the man with the withered hand to stretch it
forth. That is just what he had tried to do again and again without success. But faith in
Jesus, who gave the command, induced him to make the effort to obey, and in the effort
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24. he received power. Jesus speaks to us all in His Gospel, and He speaks to the weak and
sinful side of our nature. He calls us to a life of self-conquest, of purity, of holy service
and high endeavour. And when we set forth the insuperable obstacles in our way, our
surroundings in business, our inherited tendencies, our strong passions, our weak wills,
and say “We cannot”; He replies: “Stretch forth thy hand.” Make this venture of faith.
You see all the forces arrayed against you. You do not see the living Saviour who can
make you more than conqueror. But act as if He were on your side, and you shall find
new life and new power. The will to be saved is the beginning of salvation. (W. E.
Bloomfield.)
The doctrine of heredity perverted
How do men pervert this doctrine of the fathers having eaten sour grapes, and the
children’s teeth being set on edge? They seek to ride off from responsibility on the
ground that they are suffering vicariously, and perhaps innocently; they cannot help
doing evil: the thirsty throat was born within them, and water cannot quench it, so they
must drink fire and brimstone; they say they are fated to do evil; the thief is in their
muscles, and they must steal; their father was a felon, and they must keep up the family
line. In a pensive tone, with a melancholy that is supposed to express a degree of
resignation, philosophical, although self-reproachful, they speak now about law,
heredity, development: and thus they walk down to darkness on the stilts of
polysyllables. The fathers have eaten sour grapes, say they, and our innocent teeth are
set on edge: this is the outworking of the mystery, the occult law of heredity. The Lord
will not have that any longer; He says, This proverb shall cease; these people are being
ruined by their own epigrams, they do not see the full sweep and scope and bent of
things. Then He lays down the grand, all-inclusive, all-involving doctrine to which we
shall presently turn. But is there not a law of succession, of heredity; is there not a
mystery of paternity, following the little boy all the time? Yes, there is. Take care what
use you make of that fact. Let it fall under the great all-governing law, and then it will
come into right perspective. How does society, that humanity which is next to God, treat
this law of heredity? Very directly, summarily, and justly. The culprit, being not only a
felon but a philosopher, says to the magistrate, I was born as you find me; I am not the
thief, it is my father who is guilty of felony; pity me as the victim of heredity. And his
worship, being also a philosopher, without being a felon, says, The argument is good, it
is based in reason; you are discharged. Is it so in society? Is it not accounted just in
society that the soul that sinneth, it shall be punished? Instead, therefore, of having a
theology that does not coincide with our own highest instincts and noblest practices, we
had better see what adjustment can be created as between our theology and our habits,
laws, and practices. In society we ignore heredity: what if in the Church it has been
pushed as a doctrine to evil because of irrational uses? What is the great principle, then,
that is to supersede small proverbs and local sayings and misapplied epigrams? “As I
live, saith the Lord”—solemn word: when it is uttered I feel as if the gates of eternity had
been thrown back, that the King might come out in person and address His people the
universe—“As I live, saith the Lord God,. . .behold, all souls are Mine”; and the law of
punishment is, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” The universe replies, That is just,
that is good. That is not arbitrary; that is necessary, that is reason working itself out, a
great stern law operating beneficently, when judged by sufficient breadth of time. The
Lord is not a tyrant with a rod of iron in His hand, smiting men because they do wrong;
He is the Sovereign of a universe so constituted that no man can tell a lie without loss—
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25. loss of quality, loss of standing, loss of dignity, loss of confidence. That is God’s
universe—sensitive to truth, sensitive to all that is exact, honourable, noble, pure, right.
It is good to live in such a universe so long as we are in harmony with its spirit, but when
we lose touch with its moral music it crushes us, not tyrannically and arbitrarily, not in a
spirit of petty resentment, which begets resentment, but in a spirit of justice, reason,
righteousness. See how good the Lord is. The just man shall live, saith the Lord. If the
just man have a son that is a robber, the robber shall not be saved because the father was
a just man. If a bad man have a good son, that good son shall live, though his father be
wallowing in hell. The question is, not what was your father, but what you are. Shall we
say, Lord, my father was a bad man, and therefore I cannot help being bad myself? The
Lord will not allow that reasoning. The Lord gives every man a chance in life, an
opportunity; allots to every man a measure of faith, or grace, or reason; attaches to every
man something on which he can found a Divine judgment. Shall we say, My father was
so good that I have not felt the need of being good myself; I want to be saved with the
family? The Lord will not admit such reasoning. We are not saved in families, we are
saved one by one; so the Lord will have it that His way is equal. The great law of
punishment therefore stands. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Heredity and environment
Various themes are afoot in our days, and have been in generations past, to relieve us
from the pressure of personal responsibility for the character of our own life. We want to
get some scientific ground to excuse ourselves whenever the ideal in our souls condemns
the real in our action. The theory abroad in our day, clad in a robe of scientific weaving,
and therefore counted respectable, has these two feet—one called heredity, the other
environment. It is assumed by many that a man can stand firmly, and hold up his head
bravely, if only he alternates these two ideas. If one gives out and will not account for
things, he can put the other forward. The consequence is that many people are fatalists. I
am what I am, because my father and mother and grandfather and grandmother were
what they were. This fatalism is paralyzing to the higher moralities and charities of life.
While on the one side it condemns, on the other side it discourages. Let us not say (it
would be foolish to do it) that the influences of heredity do not descend. The Old
Testament people knew they did. The idea was expressed very strongly in the words that,
not in their guilt but in their natural consequences, the sins of the fathers should be
visited on the children to the third and fourth generations. That is about the longest
period of life (in the human family) an evil has; but goodnesses and virtues keep on to
thousands of generations. In that is our hope of the final complete triumph of good over
evil. “Visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth
generation, and showing mercy unto thousands (of generations) of them that love Me
and keep My commandments.” Heredity justifies itself. It is beneficent in its purpose
and working. Notwithstanding that evil tendencies are started, notwithstanding that a
next generation may be handicapped, yet the question whether more evil than good ever
descends is one which we cannot now stay to discuss. Personally, I cannot but believe
that life is always a blessing given, and that along the line of the most unfortunate
heredity that thin stream of Divine life flows which can never be extinguished till God
withdraws Himself. And that is, to my mind, proved by the experiences we have of the
regenerating force of a purified environment. The cases are legion for numbers in which
some of the most useful lives now being lived have carried in them an heredity of the
very worst. People were thinking in Ezekiel’s time as we are thinking in our time. They
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26. were misrepresenting God and His providence. They were talking of one another as if
each were simply the exact sum of a row of figures; as if they were animals of certain
sorts or families. The lion is not responsible for being a lion, nor the leopard for his
spots, nor the tiger for his bloodthirstiness, nor man for his characteristics. That was the
kind of speech heard from lip to lip. Into the midst of it all the prophet came with his
message from God, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the
iniquity, etc. This language recognises that each of us is something more than a section
in the stream of heredity, and something more than a silver-plated mirror receiving the
impression of the life round about us, whether we will to receive it or not. A man is not
accountable for his heredity, and only partly for his environment, but he has a self which
is related to both, but which is more than both. He can say “I.” He can say “I will.”
Around those two words all his responsibility gathers. What fathers and mothers have
given us, that is between them and God. But there is something they have not given us.
Within all the forces of life, vital and mechanical, there is a Divine movement. Out of
theft Divine Spirit has come the soul which is the self, which sits at the centre of things,
receiving and rejecting, approving and disapproving—the Ego—the I—the self. This is
the mystery—the wonder of life. No theories, no philosophies, no systems can deny it or
undo it or scatter it, or give it to someone else, or make someone else responsible for it.
Individuality is as real as society itself. Evaporate it we cannot. Melt it into something
else than itself we cannot. All theories about man being heredity and environment, and
nothing else, are lifeless, in the presence of this persistent, unsubduable, and
unconquerable “I” which presides over every man’s destiny. Not for Adam’s sin—not for
your father’s sin—not for your mother’s sin—but for your own, that which is
unquestionably your own, will you be called to account. The truth under Ezekiel’s words,
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die,” etc.
that truth is the reassertion of God’s claim on the faithfulness of each as well as on the
allegiance of all. If you examine history you will find that God has moved the race
forward, and reforward by consecrated individualities. When He has punished its
laziness and sloth and wickedness, it has been by the misleading force of men of strong
individuality, not consecrated but desecrated,—for everything that is not used for God is
desecrated. It,. Old Testament times men were gradually led from one truth to another.
Not till Ezekiel’s time did the great truth of each person’s individual accountability to
God ring out clear and free. It was Ezekiel’s revival note, and, indeed, is not the root
distinctiveness between Romanism and Protestantism in this very truth? In Romanism
individualism is so controlled that it can never arise to the place where between it and
God there is nothing to intervene. In Protestantism the individual finds himself face to
face with God. His first allegiance is not to the Church and not to the State, but to God.
As intelligence increases he learns that he can serve the Church best and the State best
by serving God. What was the impression that the early Christians produced on the
society around them? “These all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is
another King—one Jesus.” Does not that passage show the simplicity of their allegiance?
It was not divided. It gave them no trouble. They were not perplexed about it, because
they were honest and sincere. Each man serving the same Christ, and subjecting his own
will, came into a new and deeper relationship to other men than had aforetime been
realised. There was no question of the collision of interests. Each man knew he could
serve the interests of his own family best by individual allegiance to Christ. Each knew
he could serve his Church best and his country best by serving Christ. (Rouen Thomas.)
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27. The proverb of heredity falsely used
There is a sense in which that proverb was then, and is now, perfectly true. No
generation starts fresh in the race of being. It is the offspring of a past; it is the parent of
a future. It is so; and it must be so. The England of today, the Church of today, the grown
man, and the little child of today, is not and cannot be what any one of these would have
been if it had had no yesterday; if each or any of them had not had an ancestry as well as
a history. There is a sense in which the proverb is perfectly true and applicable to almost
everybody—“The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on
edge.” But this was not the use made of the proverb by the contemporaries and
countrymen of Ezekiel. They represented not that their outward condition alone, their
national or individual circumstances, but that their spiritual state, their spiritual destiny,
depended upon that for which they were not responsible. God was displeased at them for
sins not their own. It was vain to approach Him with the cry of penitence or the prayer
for grace. A sentence of wrath and reprobation had gone forth against them, and to
struggle against it was to fight against God. This terrible view of life is combated at
length in the chapter. (Dean Vaughan.)
Parental responsibility
Dr. Leonard Bacon once preached a sermon on what he called the obverse side of the
Fifth Commandment, the duty of parents to be worthy of honour. The child is born into
the world with this right. His pure eyes look to his elders for example. His soul waits for
impulse and inspiration from them. Woe unto that parent, who by unworthy character
causes one of these little ones to stumble; it were better for him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea. (Christian
Union.)
2 “What do you people mean by quoting this
proverb about the land of Israel:
“‘The parents eat sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
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28. BARNES, "Concerning the land of Israel - Rather, “in the land of Israel,” i. e.,
upon Israel’s soil, the last place where such a paganish saying should be expected. The
saying was general among the people both in Palestine and in exile; and expressed the
excuse wherewith they ascribed their miserable condition to anyone’s fault but their
own - to a blind fate such as the pagan recognized, instead of the discriminating
judgment of an All-holy God.
CLARKE, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth
are set on edge? - We have seen this proverb already, Jer_31:29, etc., and have
considered its general meaning. But the subject is here proposed in greater detail, with a
variety of circumstances, to adapt it to all those cases to which it should apply. It refers
simply to these questions: How far can the moral evil of the parent be extended to his
offspring? And, Are the faults and evil propensities of the parents, not only transferred
to the children, but punished in them? Do parents transfer their evil nature, and are
their children punished for their offenses?
GILL, "What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of
Israel,.... This is spoken to the Jews in Babylon, who used the following proverb
concerning the land of Israel; not the ten tribes, but the two tribes of Judah and
Benjamin, concerning the desolation of the land, and the hardships the Jews laboured
under, since the captivity of Jeconiah, and they became subject to the yoke of
Nebuchadnezzar: this expostulation with them suggests that they had no just cause, or
true reason, to make use of the proverb; that it was impious, impudent, and insolent in
them, and daring and dangerous; and that they did not surely well consider what they
said. The proverb follows:
saying, the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set
on edge? that is, as the Targum explains it,
"the fathers have sinned, and the children are smitten,''
or punished, as the ten tribes for the sins of Jeroboam, and the two tribes of Judah and
Benjamin for the sins of Manasseh; hereby wiping themselves clean; and as if they were
innocent persons, and free from sin, and were only punished for their forefathers' sins,
and so charging God with injustice and cruelty; whereas, though the Lord threatened to
visit the iniquity of parents upon their children, and sometimes did so, to deter parents
from sinning, lest they should entail a curse, and bring ruin upon their posterity; yet he
never did this but when children followed their fathers' practices, and committed the
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29. same sins, or worse; so that this was no act of unrighteousness in God, but rather an
instance of his patience and long suffering; see Jer_31:29.
JAMISON, "fathers ... eaten sour grapes, ... children’s teeth ... set on
edge — Their unbelieving calumnies on God’s justice had become so common as to have
assumed a proverbial form. The sin of Adam in eating the forbidden fruit, visited on his
posterity, seems to have suggested the peculiar form; noticed also by Jeremiah (Jer_
31:29); and explained in Lam_5:7, “Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have
borne their iniquities.” They mean by “the children” themselves, as though they were
innocent, whereas they were far from being so. The partial reformation effected since
Manasseh’s wicked reign, especially among the exiles at Chebar, was their ground for
thinking so; but the improvement was only superficial and only fostered their self-
righteous spirit, which sought anywhere but in themselves the cause of their calamities;
just as the modern Jews attribute their present dispersion, not to their own sins, but to
those of their forefathers. It is a universal mark of corrupt nature to lay the blame, which
belongs to ourselves, on others and to arraign the justice of God. Compare Gen_3:12,
where Adam transfers the blame of his sin to Eve, and even to God, “The woman whom
thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”
TRAPP, "Verse 2
Ezekiel 18:2 What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel,
saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?
Ver. 2. What mean you?] Or, What is come to you? - quoe vos dimentia cepit? - that
you do so toss this sinful and senseless proverb among you, both at Jerusalem
[Jeremiah 31:29] and also here at Babylon.
“ Delicta parentum
Immeritus Iudaeae luis? ”
Must I be blasphemed rather than you faulted? Is it for your fathers’ sins only that
ye suffer? And do ye thus think to put off the reproofs of the prophets, as if
yourselves had not seconded and outsinned your fathers, and are therefore justly
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30. punished?
The fathers have eaten sour grapes.] Sin is no better. It is an "evil and a bitter thing
to forsake the Lord." {Jeremiah 2:19} What wild sour grapes your fathers both
bred and fed upon, see Isaiah 5:2; Isaiah 5:8; Isaiah 5:11; Isaiah 5:20-22; and it was
woe, woe unto them.
And the children’s teeth are set on edge.] Or, Stupefied. But is there not a cause?
and are there not sins enough with you, even with you, to procure your ruth and
your ruin? but that I must be injurious rather than you be found obnoxious?
BENSON, "Ezekiel 18:2. What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the
land of Israel — With respect to the desolations made in it by the sword, famine,
and pestilence. The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set
on edge — The present generation is punished for the offences committed by their
forefathers, particularly for the sins committed in the time of Manasseh, king of
Judah: see 2 Kings 23:26; Jeremiah 15:4. The Jewish people were very prone to
plead their innocence, however great their crimes were.
PETT, "Verse 2-3
“What do you mean that you use this proverb about the land of Israel, saying, ‘The
fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? As I live,”
says Yahweh, “you will not have occasion to use this proverb in Israel any more.”
The coming lesson on individual responsibility is opened by taking a popular
proverb and rebutting it. Like all proverbs it contained truth when taken rightly,
but was misleading when take wrongly. It is always true that our children to a
certain extent suffer for our failures, as well as benefiting from our successes, that
we are all to a certain extent what we are because of our backgrounds. But when
this becomes fatalism, suggesting that we cannot escape the round of fate, it becomes
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31. dangerously misleading. In the end we are what we choose to be.
The idea of corporate sin is an example of this. There is a sense in which we are
responsible for the activities of our families and communities, if we go along with
them without protest, and seek to do nothing about them. If we share in their
attitude, we share in any judgment made on them. But in the end, God tells us, we
are each responsible for our own behaviour and actions. We are accountable as
individuals. And that is how we will finally be judged.
This applied very much to the exiles. They looked back and to a large extent blamed
their present situation on their ‘fathers’ (Lamentations 5:7). ‘Our fathers have
sinned and are no more, and we have borne their iniquities’. And they had some
justification for this. (Compare Exodus 20:5; Exodus 34:7; Numbers 14:18;
Deuteronomy 5:9). But they now had to be faced up with the fact that in the end
their fate depended on themselves, and that it was their own sin which was the cause
of present judgment. See Ezekiel 3:16-21; Ezekiel 14:12-20; Ezekiel 33:1-20;
Deuteronomy 24:16; 2 Kings 14:6.
There is a significant contrast here with the use of the similar proverb by Jeremiah
31:29. There Jeremiah was looking ahead to the coming age when the new covenant
would be established. Then, he said, individual responsibility will be clearly
established. But through Ezekiel God says that that time is now. We must not just
wait for the future, He says, we must recognise that there is a need for full response
to God even now.
That lesson is important. While Ezekiel too looked forward to the coming age, he
also very much emphasised that what was true then could be true now. Would men
then receive the Spirit? They could receive the Spirit now (Ezekiel 18:31 compared
with Ezekiel 36:26). Would they be changed then? They could be changed now.
While each age has its different emphases, God’s way of deliverance through faith
in His mercy and forgiveness, and God’s gracious activity on behalf of His own
through His Spirit, have not changed. Salvation has always been, and will always be,
by faith through grace (Ephesians 2:8), as a result of the activity of His Spirit, and
as a result of God’s own provision of a means of propitiation and reconciliation. It
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32. was just as true then as now.
PARKER, " Abuse of Doctrine
Ezekiel 18:2
This is an instance of the abuse of doctrine. The doctrine itself may be right, but the
use which is made of it may be wrong. It is precisely there that many practical and
serious mistakes are made by men. Instead of looking at the doctrine itself, they look
at what somebody has said respecting it, or at some use which has been made of it;
and dwelling upon the perversion of the doctrine, they forget what the doctrine itself
really requires: so good becomes evil spoken of; mistakes are made which tend
towards looseness of faith, and after that to enslavement, and darkness of doubt and
unbelief. There is nothing wrong in the proverb, "The fathers have eaten sour
grapes, and the children"s teeth are set on edge." All life is teaching that. This has
ceased to be a proverb in the sense of being a local epigram, something that a few
people have discovered here and there: it is now the philosophy of life; it is now a
condensed expression of universal and irresistible law. Yet this doctrine, so true to
fact, so coincident with history and experience, has been twisted into private
interpretations, and has been demoralised, and has been perverted into an occasion
of offence. Therefore the Lord will have no more of it. He will put a stigma upon it,
he will brand it as obsolete in its merely epigrammatic form, and he will show that
although he can do without our proverb his great law rolls on, the same, inevitable,
irresistible, and in the end beneficent.
How do men pervert this doctrine of the fathers having eaten sour grapes, and the
children"s teeth being set on edge? They seek to ride off from responsibility on the
ground that they are suffering vicariously, and perhaps innocently; they cannot help
doing evil: the thirsty throat was born within them, and water cannot quench it, so
they must drink fire and brimstone: they say they are fated to do evil; the thief is in
their muscles, and they must steal; their father was a felon, and they must keep up
the family line. Do they speak so frankly? No. Whoever speaks frankly may be
converted; whoever looks at himself and says, You are a drunkard, you are a thief,
you are a bad Prayer of Manasseh , may tomorrow pray. His frankness is the
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33. beginning of a religion. How then do men speak about themselves now? In a pensive
tone, with a melancholy that is supposed to express a degree of resignation,
philosophical, although self-reproachful; they speak now about law, heredity,
development: and thus they walk down to darkness on the stilts of polysyllables. The
fathers have eaten sour grapes, say they, and our innocent teeth are set on edge: this
is the outworking of the mystery, the occult law of heredity. The Lord will not have
that any longer; he says: This proverb shall cease; these people are being ruined by
their own epigrams; they do not see the full sweep and scope and bent of things.
Then he lays down the grand, all-inclusive, all-involving doctrine to which we shall
presently turn. But is there not a law of succession, of heredity; is there not a
mystery of paternity, following the little boy all the time? Yes, there is. Take care
what use you make of that fact. Let it fall under the great all-governing law, and
then it will come into right perspective. Do not take it out and look at it in its
isolation, or then it will become a fallacy, a lie. Be careful how you pluck anything
out of its proper place. The buttercup that looks so beautiful on the greensward
looks ashamed of itself and offended at you the moment you pluck it. Take care how
you pull things out of their setting. You have put the buttercup into a vase filled
with scented water, but it drinks, and dies. Be careful how you take out a text from
the Bible. The Lord never made any texts. Where did we get that word "text"? It
has ruined us; it has ruined the pulpit, it has emptied the pews, it has turned honest,
frank, brave men into bigots. God knows nothing about texts; he knows about the
book, the Revelation , the whole thought, the all-encircling thought and love: but
little preachers, with partial digestion, suffering from an eternal disagreement with
the things they have eaten, have discovered texts, chapters, verses, and thus they
have cut up God"s paradise into little bouquets of flowers which they have set in
their houses, and if they be not accepted as the only flowers which God ever made,
then the man who doubts that solemn fallacy is a heretic. How does society, that
humanity which is next to God, treat this law of heredity? From the highest spiritual
civilisation get hints of the true theocracy. How then does society treat this law of
heredity? Very directly, summarily, and justly. The culprit, being not only a felon
but a philosopher, says to the magistrate, I was born as you find me; I am not the
thief, it is my father who is guilty of felony; I am the victim of heredity; I do not
know what the word means, but I feel as if it covered all I want to say: excuse my
detaining your worship any longer, I have an engagement in another place; pity me
as the victim of heredity. And his worship, being also a philosopher, without being a
felon, says, The argument is good, it is based in reason; you are discharged. Is it so
in society? Is it not accounted just in society that the soul that sinneth it shall be
punished? Instead, therefore, of having a theology that does not coincide with our
own highest instincts and noblest practices, we had better see what adjustment can
be created as between our theology and our habits, laws, and practices. Society may
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34. be right, when the individual citizen may be wrong. There is a spirit in the
individual Prayer of Manasseh , and there is also a spirit in the social Prayer of
Manasseh , and no law can stand in any civilised country that does not represent the
supreme instinct and highest spiritual education of the citizenship. In society we
ignore heredity: what if in the Church it has been pushed as a doctrine to evil
because of irrational uses?
What is the great principle then that is to supersede small Proverbs , and local
sayings, and misapplied epigrams? "As I live, saith the Lord"—solemn word: when
it is uttered I feel as if the gates of eternity had been thrown back that the King
might come out in person and address his people the universe—"As I live, saith the
Lord God,... behold, all souls are mine"; and the law of punishment Isaiah , "The
soul that sinneth, it shall die." The universe replies, That is just, that is good. The
word "soul" does not bear a merely theological definition in this connection; there is
no exclusive reference to what is termed the doctrine of immortality, or to any
psychological puzzle: by "soul" understand person, individual Prayer of
Manasseh ,—mind, intelligence, and moral accountability, as represented by an
abstract term. All souls are God"s: in their coming and going, in their evolution, in
their refluence, and in their flowing, in all the changing phases of their education
they are God"s own souls, and he watches them with a care he does not bestow upon
the stars. He will not have a child lost; if one member of his household be gone
astray he will leave those who are at home that he may follow the one that is
wandering. "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" God
is not at ease whilst one of his children is out of doors. "God is love." That does not
prevent his laying down the law, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." That is not
arbitrary; that is necessary, that is reason working itself out, a great stern law
operating beneficently, when judged by sufficient breadth of time. The Lord is not a
tyrant with a rod of iron in his hand, smiting men because they do wrong; he is the
Sovereign of a universe so constituted that no man can tell a lie without loss—loss of
quality, loss of standing, loss of dignity, loss of confidence. That is God"s universe—
sensitive to truth, sensitive to all that is exact, honourable, noble, pure, right. It is
good to live in such a universe so long as we are in harmony with its spirit, but when
we lose touch with its moral music it crushes us, not tyrannically and arbitrarily, not
in a spirit of petty resentment, which begets resentment, but in a spirit of justice,
reason, righteousness.
Do not hew this law into little proverbs: accept the law in its unity, entirety, and
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35. purpose; live in harmony with it, then it will be living in a house that is founded
upon a rock; live otherwise, and the rock will, so to say, leap from its place to avenge
the affronts that are dealt on the face of its land. We need no theologian with his
elaborate apparatus to teach us this doctrine, for we see it in our own circle, we
observe it in the operation of our own consciousness, and we note it in all the
evolution and procession of human history. Do not understand the word "die" as
imparting some narrow physical fact. The word "die" needs to be properly defined.
There are those who say, Why do you not believe the word "die" when it stands
there? Simply because the word "die" does not stand there in any little, narrow,
partial signification. To die is not to fall down and be prostrate and cold. Many a
living Prayer of Manasseh , according to social interpretations of that term, is dead.
It is possible, in Christian terms, to be dead whilst we are living: this is a
contradiction which words can never reconcile, but which consciousness and
experience daily and amply testify. There are men who are sepulchres; there are
men who know they are dead, but try to persuade an unsuspecting companionship,
whether in the house or in the church, that they are living, because they can utter
religious words and attend to religious formalities. By "die" understand loss, want
of sympathy with God, alienation from right, life without life. My soul, come not
thou into that mystery or secret! Thus interpreted the word "soul" has its true
significance, the word "die" is promoted to its right symbolism, and then the law
operates, and we acknowledge its operation and attest its beneficence: "The soul
that sinneth, it shall die"—go down in volume, in quality, in power, in utility, in
interest, in sympathy with things upright and beautiful. To die in the fleshly sense of
the term would be nothing. There are men who are so weary of what is called their
life that they would be glad to die. When we read "In the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die," persons say, Why not accept the word "die" as
indicating a sublime and solemn fact? Because there is a sublimer and more solemn
fact. It is possible to be dead whilst we live; it is possible to be conscious yet not to be
blessed. Along that suggestion lie all the mysteries of the future, and we cannot
follow them in their evolution and culmination.
See how good the Lord is. The just man shall live, saith the Lord. If the just man
have a son that is a robber, the robber shall not be saved because the father was a
just man. If a bad man have a good Song of Solomon , that good son shall live,
though his father be wallowing in hell. There is the law of heredity torn to shreds, so
far as it is perverted into a refuge of lies. Your father is a good Prayer of Manasseh ,
therefore you are a good Prayer of Manasseh , would seem to be the short and easy
logic,—wanting in nothing but in reason and truth. If the Lord will not take you to
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36. heaven because your father was a good Prayer of Manasseh , is he likely to send you
to hell because your father was a bad man? Be faithful to the reasoning: do not
shrink from all the issues of the statement. The Lord defends himself against
accusations so unjust and debasing; he deals with the individual soul; he inquires
into individuality of character. The question Isaiah , not what was your father, but
what you are. Shall we say, Lord, my father was a bad Prayer of Manasseh , and
therefore I cannot help being bad myself? The Lord will not allow that reasoning.
The Lord gives every man a chance in life, an opportunity; allots to every man a
measure of faith, or grace, or reason; attaches to every man something on which he
can found a divine judgment. Shall we say, My father was so good that I have not
felt the need of being good myself; I want to be saved with the family? The Lord will
not admit such reasoning. We are not saved in families, we are saved one by one; so
the Lord will have it that his way is equal. The great law of punishment therefore
stands. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the
father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the
righteous shall be upon him, and the wicked ness of the wicked shall be upon him."
Finally? Perhaps Certainly finally? No. When did the Lord ever speak without
putting in some sign of his fatherly heart? Where is there a history without at least
the suggestion of a gospel?
"But"—here the divine voice took upon it all the music of eternity—"But if the
wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes,
and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die." That is
the gospel, the good news, the glad tidings of the Cross. But, Lord, he has made a
history, he has a foul past; what shall be said of the yesterdays all stained and
tainted with crime? There is an answer to that inquiry, the inquiry itself being
natural—"All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be
mentioned unto him." That is a divine forgiveness. Sometimes men increase the
estimate of their own virtue by reminding the forgiven one how much has had to be
forgiven. The Lord will have none of that partial pardoning; transgressions of
yesterday shall have no life today, no memory; they shall never be the subject of
reproachful reminiscence—nay, they shall never be the subject of ungracious
comment; they shall die: "In his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have
I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he
should return from his ways, and live?" This God is the God we adore. May a
righteous man fall? The Lord says he may: "But when the righteous turneth away
from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the
abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he
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37. hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his
sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die." No election can supersede character.
It is character that is elected—goodness to life, evil to death; and the devil has never
been able to invert or modify that law.
Now the Lord God becomes preacher, apostle, missionary, and he says: "Repent,
and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and
make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I
have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn
yourselves, and live ye." That is preaching. It is so righteous, so stern in law, so
noble in reason, so tender to tears of the heart in mercy and grace. The old
preachers used to wrestle with their hearers. The great men of the pulpit that made
the pulpit what it was in its best days wrestled with their hearers, seized them,
arrested them, in the name of the Cross, in the name of God the Father, God the
Song of Solomon , and God the Holy Ghost, and would not let them go until there
was a clear understanding as to the responsibility of the preacher and the hearer.
Such preaching has its vindication in God"s own voice and in God"s own method.
Here is the exhortation, here is the appeal, here is the application. What is forgotten
in the modern sermon is the application, the last tug, that final wrestle, that
concluding importunity. A sermon should have reason, doctrine, philosophy,
Scripture, experience: but it should never be without emotion, exhortation, appeal,
tenderness. The preacher stands up to call men to repentance, to forgiveness, to
heaven. A wonderful spectacle this of all men turning away from their paths of
death, and turning into the paths of life. "Turn ye, turn ye! why will ye die?" Think
of ten thousand all going in one direction, and a voice following them—a voice of
reason and pleading and tenderness, and think of a moment in which the whole ten
thousand feel that they are wrong, and they turn and return. That is the picture.
God looks for it, expects it, welcomes it. Do not wait until the whole world turns, but
let each man himself, as one, turn, think, pray, love, and say to the dying Christ, the
one Saviour of the world, "Let me hide myself in thee."
Prayer
Almighty God, thou settest up and thou puttest down as seemeth good in thy sight
The first shall be last, and the last shall be first. Thou doest as thou pleasest amongst
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38. the armies of heaven, and amongst the children of men. Thou art doing all things
well. Help us to believe in thy fatherly providence: oh that we may rest in the Lord
and wait patiently for him, that he may give us our heart"s desire. May our heart"s
desire be that God"s will shall be done on earth as it is done in heaven. Thou art a
great Destroyer: who can stand before the breath of thy mouth? Our God is a
consuming fire: none can stay his hand, none may say unto him, What doest thou?
Thou art a great Saviour; it is in thine heart to save the men thou hast created; there
comes to us the great cry, Turn ye, turn ye! why will ye die? This is thy voice; it is
the voice of thine heart, it comes from heaven, it comes from the Christ, it comes in
all the events of thy providence. In God there is no death; thou wouldst have all men
turn and be saved; thou art the living God, and thou wouldst give life to all those
who put their trust in Christ. For this Christ we bless thee; he is the brightness of
thy glory, he is the express Image of thy person. We see not God, but we see Jesus;
we follow him with wonder, admiration, rapture, confidence; we give ourselves
wholly into his care. We say, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, the
Creator of all men, and the Redeemer of the world: have us ever in thy holy
keeping. Thou knowest the world we live in; thou dost govern all its affairs. For a
time we seem to rule them, but thou dost overrule our dominion, and out of
darkness thou dost bring light, and out of tumult great peace. Thou knowest the
weariness of many: oh the heartbreak, the heartache, the weariness, the tears that
bring no relief, the sighing that is almost prayer: thou knowest all our life; continue
to pity us and to sustain us by thy love; and when the night draws nigh, so much
longed for by many, may it be found that even in our waiting and sighing and
weariness we have been enabled to show forth somewhat of the grace and majesty of
Christ. Amen.
3 “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord,
you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.
CLARKE, "As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any
more to use this proverb in Israel - I will now, by this present declaration, settle
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39. this question for ever. And hence God has sworn to what follows. After this, who will
dare to doubt the judgment pronounced?
GILL, "As I live, saith the Lord God,.... This is a form of an oath; the Lord here
swears by his life, by himself, because he could swear by no greater, Heb_6:13; and it
expresses how displeased he was with the above proverb, and how much he resented it,
as well as the certainty of what follows; which, it might be depended on, would be
assuredly done, since the Lord not only said it, but swore unto it:
ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel; signifying
that he would no longer defer the execution of his judgments, but immediately bring
them upon them; so that or the future there would be no use of the proverb; no occasion
to make mention of it in the next generation; and, moreover, that he would make it so
manifest to themselves and others, by his dealings with them, that it should be seen, and
known, and acknowledged by all, that it was for their own sins and transgressions that
they were visited and corrected.
HENRY, "That the use of the proverb should be taken away. This is said, it is sworn
(Eze_18:3): You shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb; or (as it may be
read), You shall not have the use of this parable. The taking away of this parable is made
the matter of a promise, Jer_31:29. Here it is made the matter of a threatening. There it
intimates that God will return to them in ways of mercy; here it intimates that God
would proceed against them in ways of judgment. He will so punish them for this
impudent saying that they shall not dare to use it any more; as in another case, Jer_
23:34, Jer_23:36. God will find out effectual ways to silence those cavillers. Or God will
so manifest both to themselves and others that they have wickedness of their own
enough to bring all these desolating judgments upon them that they shall no longer for
shame lay it upon the sins of their fathers that they were thus dealt with: “Your own
consciences shall tell you, and all your neighbours shall confirm it, that you yourselves
have eaten the same sour grapes that your fathers ate before you, or else your teeth
would not have been set on edge.”
2. That really the saying itself was unjust and a causeless reflection upon God's
government. For,
(1.) God does not punish the children for the fathers' sins unless they tread in their
fathers' steps and fill up the measure of their iniquity (Mat_23:32), and then they have
no reason to complain, for, whatever they suffer, it is less than their own sin has
deserved. And, when God speaks of visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,
that is so far from putting any hardship upon the children, to whom he only renders
according to their works, that it accounts for God's patience with the parents, whom he
therefore does not punish immediately, because he lays up their iniquity for their
children, Job_21:19.
(2.) It is only in temporal calamities that children (and sometimes innocent ones) fare
the worse for their parents' wickedness, and God can alter the property of those
calamities, and make them work for good to those that are visited with them; but as to
spiritual and eternal misery (and that is the death here spoken of) the children shall by
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40. no means smart for the parents' sins. This is here shown at large; and it is a wonderful
piece of condescension that the great God is pleased to reason the case with such wicked
and unreasonable men, that he did not immediately strike them dumb or dead, but
vouchsafed to state the matter before them, that he may be clear when he is judged.
Now, in his reply,
JAMISON, "ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb —
because I will let it be seen by the whole world in the very fact that you are not righteous,
as ye fancy yourselves, but wicked, and that you suffer only the just penalty of your guilt;
while the elect righteous remnant alone escapes.
CALVIN, “Ye, says he, use this proverb; but as I live, says the Lord Jehovah, you
shall not use this proverb anymore. He does not mean, by these words, that the Jews
should repent and become more modest, and not dare to vomit forth such
blasphemy against him; for he is not treating of repentance here; but it is just as if
he said, I will strike from under you this boasting, since your iniquity shall be made
manifest, and the whole world shall acknowledge the justice of your punishment,
and that you have deserved it yourselves, and cannot throw it upon your fathers, as
you have hitherto endeavored to do. The Jews indeed did not cease their rebellion
against God, and there is no doubt that they were more and more exasperated, so as
to expostulate with audacity against him; but because their wickedness was really
apparent, and God was not hostile to them in vain, or for trifling reasons; and
although he was severe, yet they had arrived at the highest pitch of impiety, so that
no punishment could be sufficient or too oppressive. We now understand the
meaning of the Prophet, or rather of the Holy Spirit, since God took away all
pretense for shuffling from the Jews when he detected their impiety, and made it
conspicuous that they were only suffering the due reward of their crimes. But God
swears by himself, whence we gather how abominable was their blasphemy; and
truly men cannot absolve themselves without condemning God; for God’s glory then
shines forth, when every mouth is stopped, as we saw before. (Ezekiel 16:63;
Romans 3:19.) As soon as men descend into that arena, through wishing to show
their innocence, it is just as if they wished to reduce God’s justice to nothing. Hence
it is not surprising that God is very angry when he is despoiled of his justice; for he
cannot exist without this attribute.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:3 [As] I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have [occasion]
any more to use this proverb in Israel.
40

41. Ver. 3. Ye shall not have occasion any more.] For I will shortly take an order with
you; and not by words, but by blows, vindicate my just judgments from your cavils
and scurrilities.
BENSON, "Ezekiel 18:3. As I live; saith the Lord, ye shall not have occasion to use
this proverb any more in Israel — I will make such a visible discrimination between
the righteous and the wicked, between those that tread in the steps of their
forefathers and those who take warning by their examples, that you shall not have
any further room to use this proverb among you. God threatens, it must be
acknowledged, to visit the sins of the fathers upon the children, both in the Old
Testament and the New: see Exodus 20:5; Matthew 23:35. But this is to be
understood only, 1st, With respect to the temporal punishments of this world, not
with respect to the eternal punishments of the next; and, 2d, When the children
walk in the wicked steps of their parents, and so by degrees fill up the measure of
national iniquity: see notes on Jeremiah 15:4; Jeremiah 31:29, where this matter is
more fully explained. “The Scripture takes notice of a certain measure of iniquity,
which is filling up from one generation to another, till at last it makes a nation or
family ripe for destruction. And although those persons on whom this vengeance
falls suffer no more than their own personal sins deserved, yet, because the sins of
former generations, which they equal or outdo, make it time for God utterly to
destroy them, the punishments due to the sins of many ages and generations are said
to fall upon them.” — Dr. Sherlock.
PULPIT, "Stress is laid on the fact that the proverb which implied unrighteousness
in God is no longer to be used in Israel. There, among the, people in whom he was
manifesting his righteousness for the education of mankind, it should be seen to
have no force whatever. The thought was an essentially heathen thought—a half-
truth distorted into a falsehood.
4 For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well
41

42. as the child—both alike belong to me. The one
who sins is the one who will die.
BARNES, "ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb —
because I will let it be seen by the whole world in the very fact that you are not righteous,
as ye fancy yourselves, but wicked, and that you suffer only the just penalty of your guilt;
while the elect righteous remnant alone escapes.
CLARKE, "All souls are mine - Equally so; I am the Father of the spirits of all
flesh, and shall deal impartially with the whole.
The soul that sinneth, it shall die - None shall die for another’s crimes, none shall
be saved by another’s righteousness. Here is the general judgment relative to the
righteousness and unrighteousness of men, and the influence of one man’s state on that
of another; particularly in respect to their moral conduct.
GILL, "Behold, all souls are mine,.... By creation; they being the immediate
produce of his power; hence he is called "the Father of spirits", Heb_12:9, or the souls of
men; these he has an apparent right unto; a property in; a dominion over; they are
accountable to him, and will be judged impartially by him:
as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine; and therefore must
be thought to have as great a respect and affection for the one as for the other; for the
soul of a son as for the soul of a father; and not deal partially in favour of the one, and
cruelly and unrighteously with the other:
the soul that sinneth, it shall die; the soul that continues in sin, without repentance
towards God, and faith in Christ, shall die the second death; shall be separated from the
presence of God, and endure his wrath to all eternity: or the meaning is, that a person
that is guilty of gross sins, and continues in them, shall personally suffer; he shall endure
one calamity or another, as the famine, sword, pestilence, or be carried into captivity,
which is the death all along spoken of in this chapter; the Lord will exercise no patience
towards him, or defer punishment to a future generation, his offspring; but shall
immediately execute it upon himself.
HENRY, "He asserts and maintains his own absolute and incontestable sovereignty:
Behold, all souls are mine, Eze_18:4. God here claims a property in all the souls of the
42

43. children of men, one as well as another. First, Souls are his. He that is the Maker of all
things is in a particular manner the Father of spirits, for his image is stamped on the
souls of men; it was so in their creation; it is so in their renovation. He forms the spirit
of man within him, and is therefore called the God of the spirits of all flesh, of embodied
spirits. Secondly, All souls are his, all created by him and for him, and accountable to
him. As the soul of the father, so the soul of the son, is mine. Our earthly parents are only
the fathers of our flesh; our souls are not theirs; God challenges them. Now hence it
follows, for the clearing of this matter, 1. That God may certainly do what he pleases
both with fathers and children, and none may say unto him, What doest thou? He that
gave us our being does us no wrong if he takes it away again, much less when he only
takes away some of the supports and comforts of it; it is as absurd to quarrel with him as
for the thing formed to say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? 2. That
God as certainly bears a good-will both to father and son, and will put no hardship upon
either. We are sure that God hates nothing that he has made, and therefore (speaking of
the adult, who are capable of acting for themselves) he has such a kindness for all souls
that none die but through their own default. All souls are his, and therefore he is not
partial in his judgment of them. Let us subscribe to his interest in us and dominion over
us. He says, All souls are mine; let us answer, “Lord, my soul is thine; I devote it to thee
to be employed for thee and made happy in thee.” It is with good reason that God says,
“My son, give me thy heart, for it is my own,” to which we must yield, “Father, take my
heart, it is thy own.”
JAMISON, "all souls are mine — Therefore I can deal with all, being My own
creation, as I please (Jer_18:6). As the Creator of all alike I can have no reason, but the
principle of equity, according to men’s works, to make any difference, so as to punish
some, and to save others (Gen_18:25). “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” The curse
descending from father to son assumes guilt shared in by the son; there is a natural
tendency in the child to follow the sin of his father, and so he shares in the father’s
punishment: hence the principles of God’s government, involved in Exo_20:5 and Jer_
15:4, are justified. The sons, therefore (as the Jews here), cannot complain of being
unjustly afflicted by God (Lam_5:7); for they filled up the guilt of their fathers (Mat_
23:32, Mat_23:34-36). The same God who “recompenses the iniquity of the fathers into
the bosom of their children,” is immediately after set forth as “giving to every man
according to his ways” (Jer_32:18, Jer_32:19). In the same law (Exo_20:5) which
“visited the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation” (where the explanation is added, “of them that hate me,” that is, the children
hating God, as well as their fathers: the former being too likely to follow their parents,
sin going down with cumulative force from parent to child), we find (Deu_24:16), “the
fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither the children for the fathers:
every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” The inherited guilt of sin in infants
(Rom_5:14) is an awful fact, but one met by the atonement of Christ; but it is of adults
that he speaks here. Whatever penalties fall on communities for connection with sins of
their fathers, individual adults who repent shall escape (2Ki_23:25, 2Ki_23:26). This
was no new thing, as some misinterpret the passage here; it had been always God’s
principle to punish only the guilty, and not also the innocent, for the sins of their fathers.
God does not here change the principle of His administration, but is merely about to
manifest it so personally to each that the Jews should no longer throw on God and on
their fathers the blame which was their own.
43

44. soul that sinneth, it shall die — and it alone (Rom_6:23); not also the innocent.
CALVIN, “We now see why an oath is interposed, while he pronounces that he will
take care that the Jews should not ridicule any longer Behold, says he, all souls are
mine; as the sole of the son so the soul of the father, all souls are mine; the soul,
therefore, which has sinned it shall die. Some interpreters explain the beginning of
the verse thus: that men vainly and rashly complain when God seems to treat them
too severely, since the clay does not rise against the potter. Since God is the maker of
the whole world, we are his workmanship: what madness, then, to rise up against
him when he does not satisfy us: and we saw this simile used by Jeremiah. (Jeremiah
18:6.) The sentiment, then, is true in itself, that all souls are under God’s sovereignty
by the right of creation, and therefore he can arbitrarily determine for each
whatever he wishes; and all who clamor against him reap no profit: and this
teaching it is advantageous to notice. But this passage ought to be understood
otherwise; namely, that nothing is more unworthy than that God should be accused
of tyrannizing over men, when he rather defends them, as being his own
workmanship. When, therefore, God pronounces that all souls are his own, he does
not merely claim sovereignty and power, but he rather shows that he is affected with
fatherly love towards the whole human race since he created and formed it; for, if a
workman loves his work because he recognizes in it the fruits of his industry, so,
when God has manifested his power and goodness in the formation of men, he must
certainly embrace them with affection. True, indeed, we are abominable in God’s
sight, through being corrupted by original sin, as it is elsewhere said, (Psalms 14:1;)
but inasmuch as we are men, we must be dear to God, and our salvation must be
precious in his sight. We now see what kind of refutation this is: all souls are mine,
says he: I have formed all, and am the creator of all, and so I am affected with
fatherly love towards all, and they shall rather feel my clemency, from the least to
the greatest, than experience too much rigor and severity. At length he adds, the
soul which sinned it shall die. Now, Ezekiel expresses how God restrains the Jews
from daring to boast any longer that they are afflicted undeservedly, since no
innocent person shall die; for this is the meaning of the sentence; for he does not
mean that every guilty person should die, for this would shut against us the door of
God’s mercy, for we have all sinned against him: so it would follow that there is no
hope of safety, since every man must perish, unless God freed sinners from death.
But the Prophet’s sense is not doubtful, as we have said, since those who perish are
not without fault; neither can they bring up their innocence to God, nor complain of
his cruelty in punishing them for the sins of others. Although here a question may
arise, since no one at this day perishes who does not partly bear the fault of another,
namely, of Adam, by whose fall and revolt the whole human race actually perished.
44

45. Since therefore Adam, by his fall, brought destruction upon us, it follows that we
perish through the fault of another. Since this question will be treated again in its
own place, it will now be sufficient to say, in three words, that although we perish
through the fault of another, yet the fault of each individual is joined with it. We are
not condemned in Adam as if we were innocent in ourselves, but we have contracted
pollution from his sin; and so it has come to pass that each must bear the
punishment of his own crime, since the punishment which he deserved first is not
simply inflicted on the whole human race, but we have been tainted with his sin, as
will afterwards be said. Whatever the meaning, we shall not die innocent, since each
is held convicted by the testimony of his own conscience. As far as relates to young
children, they seem to perish not by their own, but for another’s fault; but the
solution is twofold; for although sin does not appear in them, yet it is latent, since
they carry about with them corruption shut up in their soul, so that they are worthy
of condemnation before God. This does not come under the notice of our senses; but
we should consider how much more acutely God sees a thing than we do: hence, if
we do not penetrate into that hidden judgment, yet we must hold that, before we are
born, we are infected by the contagion of original sin, and therefore justly destined
to ultimate destruction: — -this is one solution. But as far as concerns the Prophet’s
expression, the dispute concerning infants is vain and out of place, since the Prophet
only wished to refute that impious perverseness, as I have said, so that the people
should no longer charge God with cruelty. The soul, says he, which has sinned; that
is, none of you can boast of innocence when I punish you: as when it is said, He who
does not labor, neither let him eat. (2 Thessalonians 3:10.) Surely this cannot be
extended to infants. Nature teaches us that they must be nourished, and yet sure
enough they do not acquire their food by labor: but this is said of adults, who are
old enough to acknowledge the reason why they were created, and their fitness for
undergoing labor. So also, in this place, we are not treating of the tender young
when newly born, but of adults, who wish to charge God instead of themselves, as if
they are innocent; and so, when they cannot escape punishment, they are anxious to
transfer the fault elsewhere — first upon others, and then upon God himself.
COKE, "Ezekiel 18:4. The soul that sinneth, it shall die— That is, "all shall be
treated equally and without any respect of persons. God will punish or reward
according to the good or evil which every one shall have done. The iniquity of the
father shall by no means prejudice the righteousness of the son, and the
righteousness of the son shall be no justification to the wickedness of the father."
Calmet.
45

46. TRAPP, "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.
Ver. 4. Behold all souls are mine.] So that to show my sovereignty I may do with
them as I see good. Howbeit, let me tell you that I slay none but for his sins, i.e.,
idque ipsi sua iniustitia eventit, non iniuria mea, the fault is merely in himself; so
little reason is there that you should be thus quarrelsome and contumelious against
me.
The soul that sinneth it shall die,] i.e., Shall suffer for his sin either here or
hereafter, without repentance. Every man shall bear his own burden, every tub shall
stand upon its own bottom, and every fox yield his own skin to the flayer, as the
Jews at this day proverbially can say.
BENSON, "Ezekiel 18:4. Behold, all souls are mine — As they are all equally my
creatures, and in my power, so my dealings with them shall be without prejudice or
partiality. The soul that sinneth, it shall die — The very same man that committeth
sin shall be punished for it. Some commentators explain this of the temporal death
which was about to come on the wicked Jews by the sword, famine, and pestilence;
and they would confine the whole chapter to these events. “But,” as Mr. Scott justly
observes, “it cannot be proved that every righteous man escaped those temporal
judgments, or that all who survived them were righteous: without which this whole
interpretation must fall for want of a foundation. Many, indeed, of the pious Jews
had
‘their lives given them for a prey,’ but even what Jeremiah, Baruch, and others
endured in the siege, and after the taking of Jerusalem, nearly equalled the external
sufferings of many wicked men among them; and none of those who survived the
siege escaped captivity or exile. So that facts, in this particular, did not so fully
ascertain the equality of the divine conduct toward these distinct characters, as this
hypothesis requires.” Temporal death, therefore, which, as the consequence of the
first transgression, passes equally upon all men, cannot be only, or even chiefly, if it
be at all, intended here. But, as life signifies in general all that happiness which
46

47. attends God’s favour, so death denotes all those punishments which are the effects
of the divine displeasure, (see 2 Samuel 12:13,) under which are comprehended the
miseries of the next world. And these shall be allotted to men according to their
deeds, (Romans 2:6,) without any regard to the faults of their ancestors, which shall
not then be laid to their charge, or taken into account to aggravate their guilt. This
the prophets well knew, and therefore, as they instruct men in the practice of
inward and evangelical righteousness, and in order to it speak slightingly of the
mere external duties of religion, (see Isaiah 1:11; Jeremiah 7:22-23,) so they raise
men’s minds to look beyond the temporal promises and threatenings of the law, to
the eternal rewards and punishments of another life, Isaiah 66:24; Daniel 12:2. In
both which respects they prepared men’s minds for the reception of the gospel when
it should be revealed. See Lowth.
NISBET, "THE CURE FOR FATALISM
‘All souls are Mine.’
Ezekiel 18:4
I. How magnificent the attribute here asserted!—Seven or eight hundred souls are
here at this moment inside these bodies. The comprehension, the very conception, of
one of these, is beyond the reach of our thought or of our imagination. Oh, the
rovings and the wanderings of the thoughts of one heart—how mysterious, how
inconceivable, even to that one! Mysteries of memories, of hope, of desire, of
affection, of purpose, of will—mysteries of action and of relation, of conscience and
introspection! Who shall gather up all those fragments, who shall grasp in the two
hands all those elements which make up one being? Add to my complexities those of
my nearest neighbour—multiply these by the ten and by the hundred—oh, within
the four walls of one church, what a word of awe and astonishment is that, ‘All souls
are Mine!’ Let it arouse some feeling of the majesty with which we have to do. Let it
stir some misgivings as to the irreverence, the profaneness, the blasphemy, which
lurk in these hearts, even in their worship.
47

48. ‘All souls are Mine’—what must He be Who claims such a sovereignty? No
possession of islands and continents, no dominion of stars and planets, no empire of
systems and universes, can compare with it for one moment. The manipulation of
matter, its subjugation to mind and will, its adaptation to all manner of uses and all
manner of services—of this, on a small scale, men have experience: to extend this
experience till it takes in infinities, is but to rise, step by step, in the region which is
our dwelling-place, which is our home. From matter to spirit how vast the
transition! No earthly potentate, no tyrant of fable, ever claimed the sovereignty of
one soul—the chain was never forged that could bind it, the ‘handwriting’ was
never written that professed to transfer. ‘One soul is mine’—it never entered into
the heart of man to say it.
II. But, if ‘all souls are Mine’—and God is the speaker—the next thought must be
that of the sacredness, the sanctity, of the thing claimed.—It would be an advance,
for many of us, in the spiritual life, if we could read the saying in the singular, ‘My
soul is God’s’; if we could recognise and remember the single ownership, and carry
it into the daily round of thought, speech, and action.
‘Not my own—bought with a price’; not my own, to starve or to pamper; not my
own, to humour or to defile; not my own, to give it this colour or that, this stamp or
that, at the bidding of vanity, sloth, or lust; not my own, to say to it, Such shall be
thy employment, such thy relaxation, such thy glory, or such thy idol, regardless
what God has spoken concerning each one—yes, to feel the revelation ‘All souls are
Mine,’ all, and therefore each; each, and therefore this one. What seriousness would
it give, and what dignity, and what holiness, to the life of time, making each day and
each night take the impress of that other saying, ‘And the spirit shall return to God
Who gave it.’
III. The word of Holy Scripture is light as well as shade—and so is it with the text.—
For these not least, might they but listen to it, the lesson of the text was written. ‘All
souls are Mine’; the son shall not die for the iniquity of the father, only by its own
choice of evil shall any soul perish; out of the very pestilence of corruption grace can
rescue, yea, in the very pestilence of corruption grace can save.
48

49. Is not this, brethren, when we think of it, the true ground of all hope for ourselves
and for the world?
If my soul is God’s—His already, without prayer and without act of mine—can
there be anything presumptuous, can there be anything even tentative, in the appeal
to Him to keep and to save His own? Can it be the will of God that one soul should
perish? Can either long neglect, or distant wandering, or obdurate hardness, have
rendered the case desperate, so long as there remains the possible petition, ‘I am
Thine: O save me!’
IV. Finally, it seems to me that the words of this text have in them a sufficient
answer to all the cavillings and all the doubtings which beset our faith in the
Incarnation, the Atonement, and the New Birth.—‘All souls are Mine’—then will
He lightly abandon, Who has thought it worth while to possess? We could not
indeed know, without revelation, what processes would be necessary, or what would
be sufficient, to redeem a soul; it is idle to speak as though it were obvious that
‘without shedding of blood there is no remission,’ or as though it were intelligible
(some would even say, self-evident) that the sacrifice of the Eternal Son could
connect itself with the pardon and with the salvation of a fallen and guilty race.
These are mysteries still, and it is but playing with words to represent them as
explained to us even in the Bible.
But what we say is, that the Divine ownership of imperilled and ruined souls
accounts for any steps, however intricate or however marvellous, by which infinite
wisdom may have passed towards their rescue and towards their salvation. What
those steps should be, God alone could determine—He might never have told us of
them, He does nowhere explain them—but ‘all souls are Mine’ prepares us for His
taking them, and leaves nothing improbable, whatever else it may leave mysterious,
in the bare fact that at any price and at any sacrifice He should have interposed to
redeem.
Illustration
49

50. ‘All souls belong to God by right of creation, and because Jesus made propitiation
for the sins of the whole world.
What a wonderful conception! We think of the vast multitudes of the human family
that have covered our globe, back to the early dawn of history, the myriads that
built the Pyramids, the successive cities on the site of Nineveh and Babylon, the
teeming masses of human beings of China and India; but not one of them, not the
most wretched and degraded, not the smallest and shortest-lived, that is not
included in the circumference of these mighty words.
And as we lay emphasis on that present tense and read, “All souls are Mine,” and
couple with it the Saviour’s words, “God is not God of the dead, but of the living,”
we are compelled to remember that all the generations which have stormed across
this earth of ours are living yet. To use the words of another: Somewhere, at this
very instant, they now verily are. Men say, they were, they have been, but there are
no have beens. To be is eternal being.’
PETT, "Verse 4
“Behold all lives are mine. As the life of the father, so also the life of the son is mine.
The one who sins, he will die.”
The use of the word ‘soul’ for nephesh in modern translations is misleading. In
Ezekiel’s day the philosophical conception of ‘the soul’ did not exist. The nephesh
was rather the life principle within him, the essence of what a man was. God had
breathed on man and he became a living person (Genesis 2:7). Thus man had life
because God had given him it, and that life could be taken away. As in most parts of
the Old Testament, Ezekiel says nothing about an afterlife.
So here the emphasis is on this fact that man has life because he has been given it by
God, that he is accountable for his own sin, and that if he does sin he will die. The
50

51. wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), but it is each for his own sin.
PULPIT, "Behold, all souls are mine, etc. The words imply, not only creation,
ownership, absolute authority, on the part of God, but, as even Calvin could
recognize (in loc.), "a paternal affection towards the whole human race which he
created and formed." Ezekiel anticipates here, and yet more fully in verse 32. the
teaching of St. Paul, that "God willeth that all men should be saved" (1 Timothy
2:4). The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The sentence, though taken from the Law,
which ordered capital punishment for the offences named, cannot be limited to that
punishment. "Death" and "life" are both used in their highest and widest
meaning—"life" as including all that makes it worth living, "death" for the loss of
that only true life which is found in knowing God (John 17:3).
BI, "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.
The gospel of the exile incarnate in Ezekiel
(with Eze_36:25-26; Eze_37:14):—Every living “word” must be made flesh, and dwell
among us; live in a human and personal life, breathe our warm breath, grasp us with
sympathetic and friendly hands, carry our sins and bear our sorrows, if it is to gain
admission at “lowly doors”; stir the “spirit’s inner deeps”; compel and inspire to an
ampler life the reluctant souls of men. The maximum of power is never gained by ideas
till they possess and sway the “body prepared for them,” and clothe themselves with the
subtle and mysterious influences of a vital and impressive personality. The notion of
rescuing the waifs and strays of town and village life was in the air of the last century for
a long time, and occasionally passed out of its formlessness into print and speech; but it
did not grapple with evil, and become the power of God unto the salvation of young
England, until it was incarnate in Robert Raikes, of Gloucester, and through him
became, as the Sunday School, “the pillar of a people’s hope, the centre of a world’s
desire.” The brutal hardness and ferocious cruelty of the prisons of Europe had arrested
the fickle attention again and again, but no blow was struck to abate the prodigious
mischiefs of criminal life, and elevate punishment into a minister of justice, till John
Howard was fired and possessed with the passion of prison reform, and dedicated his
will to its advancement with the glorious abandon and success-compelling energy of the
prophet. The same is true of the war for personal liberty, of the battles against
superstition, and so on ad infinitum. Now, our Bible is a book of ideas—ideas the most
simple and sublime, central and essential to all human welfare; but these ideas do not
appear as ghosts of a strange and distant world, but clothed in our own humanity, our
veritable flesh and blood, speaking “our own tongue wherein we were born,” and moving
in the midst of the experiences of sin and sorrow, temptation and suffering, and painful
progress common to us all. The biblical evangels are all in men. Each one comes with the
momentum of a human personality. The Gospel of all the Gospels, the pearl of greatest
price, is in the Man Christ Jesus; and in accordance with this Divine principle, the
51

52. Gospel of the Exile was incarnate in the prophets, and notably in Ezekiel. His very name
was a Divine promise, “God shall strengthen”; and his life an enforcement of the
beautiful saying, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength,” etc. The
signs and proofs of imperfection notwithstanding, it is palpable that Ezekiel, moved by
the Holy Ghost, is a man of invincible newness of spirit, works by methods of evangelical
thoroughness, and inspires and impels by motives of a decisively Christian quality.
I. Ezekiel breathes the spirit of the new evangel from the beginning to the close of his
ministry, the spirit of unbending courage, iron consistency, uncompromising
faithfulness, heroic self-abnegation, and living faith in God. The breath of Jehovah lifts
him on to his feet. The ineffable thrill of the Divine life fills him with a manly daring,
makes his “forehead as an adamant, harder than flint,” so that he faces and accepts in his
inmost being the unspeakable bitterness of the communications he has to deliver, and
bears without repining the pressure of an overwhelmingly sorrowful work for the
disobedient and obdurate house of Israel. The conscious possession of a gospel for men
is the true inspiration to fearlessness, defiance of wrong and falsehood and hypocrisy,
calm and inflexible zeal in work. The real prophet of his age reckons with calumny,
misrepresentation, neglect, and poverty. Livingstone carries in his New Testament the
food on which martyrs are nourished. Savonarola is fortified for death by the vision of
the future of Florence which grows out of the good tidings he preaches. Paul and
Barnabas can readily hazard their lives as missionaries because they know they are
conveying the unsearchable riches of Christ.
II. The Gospel of the exile is incarnate in Ezekiel as to its method, as well as in its new
and conquering spirit. There is a penetrating thoroughness characteristic of the life of
the time, and of the particular experience through which Israel is passing; a going to the
root of individual and national mischief; a searching of heart, an arousal of conscience,
an insistence on the doctrine of individual responsibility; a forcing of men face to face
with eternal and irresistible Divine laws—all essential to the successful proclamation of a
true evangel for sinning men.
1. The prophet’s first word anticipates that of John the Baptist and of our Lord,
“Repent ye, repent ye. God is at hand. His rule is real, though invisible. His kingdom
is coming, though you do not see it. Repent, and repent at once.” With an energy of
language, and a vigour of epithet, and a vehemence of spirit, that could neither be
mistaken nor resisted, he rebuked the sins of this house of disobedience, exposed its
hollow sophistries and self-delusions, and bade it cast away its transgressions, and
make itself a new heart and a new spirit.
2. Nor does he rest till he has dug up the very roots of their false and fatal wrong-
doing, and laid bare to the glare of the light of day the real cause of all their sin. They
are fatalists. Ezekiel met this fixed iron fatalism of the people with the all-
encompassing and indefeasible doctrine of the personal responsibility of each man
for his own sin; as distinct from the distorted notion of inherited and transmitted
guilt and suffering, they were proclaiming. “God says,” he told him, “behold, all souls
are Mine”; each is of equal and independent value; as the soul of the father, so is the
soul of the son; the soul that sinneth, it shall die—it, and not another for it; it alone,
and only for its own conscious and inward wrong. God’s ways are all equal, and
righteousness is the glory of His administration. Heredity is a fact; but it neither
accounts for the sum of human suffering, nor for the presence of individual sin. The
grape theory may fill a proverb, but it will not explain the Exile.
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53. III. Ezekiel could not have adopted so rigorous and searching a method unless he had
been bathed and inspired by the great evangelical motive. The motive to Ezekiel’s
ministry is the loving, omnipotent, and regenerating God.
1. As the idea of sin bulges more and more in the thought of the Jews, and burns
with increased fierceness in their consciences, fed by the sufferings of their nation, so
with unprecedented sharpness of outline appears “the wiping out” of guilt by the
free, sovereign, and love-prompted grace of God.
2. It is in the inspiration of hope in the almighty power of God that Ezekiel soars to
the highest ranges, and beholds his most memorable and gladdening vision. Carried
in thought to his “Mount of Transfiguration,” Tel-Abib, he sees covering the vast area
of the far-stretching plain the wreck as of an immense army, of dry, bleached, and
withering bones. He muses, and the fire of thought burns, and the voice of God
sounds in the lonely chambers of his soul. The omnipotence of God is the certain
resurrection of the soul of man. He cannot be holden of death. This last enemy shall
be destroyed. Power belongeth unto God, and He uses it to save prostrate,
despondent, and despairing souls, convicted of guilt, oppressed with the
consciousness of death! His delight is in renewal as well as in mercy!
3. Nor is this a fitful and passing access of power, standing out in life like a mountain
peak in a plain, a sad memorial of a delightful past, and prophecy of an impossible
future; a record of privilege never again to be enjoyed. No; for “I will,” says God,
“take away the hard, insensitive, unsympathetic, and selfish heart of stone, and will
give you a heart of flesh, tender, responsive to the touch of all that surrounds it, open
to the Divine emotion of reverence and pity, love and aspiration; and I will put My
spirit within you, and write My laws on your heart, enrich you with personal
communion, and nourish you by a true obedience.” O blessed Gospel! O cheering
Pentecost of the Exile! How the hearts of the lowly and penitent in Israel leapt to hail
thy coming, rejoiced in the fulness of the blessing of faith, hope, and fellowship, with
the Eternal! and prepared for the world-saving mission to which God had called
them. Who, then, will hesitate to preach God’s last, perfect, and universal Gospel to
his fellow man? Who will not seek for the strength which comes
(1) from a new and full life, a heart quick in sympathy and strong in the Spirit;
(2) from the conviction that we are living in a world of persons spiritually related
to the Father, and immediately responsible to His judgment; and
(3) from the assurance that the love of God is a real gospel for each human soul—
so that he may proclaim the faithful saying, that God is the Saviour of all men,
specially of those that believe? (J. Clifford, D. D.)
All souls for God
There is a difference between the utterance of a man of science and the utterance of a
prophet. When knowledge or science speaks, we demand that it shall prove its
assertions; but when the prophet speaks, he speaks that which demands and needs no
reason, because he speaks to that within us which can approve its utterance. Again,
when the man of science speaks, what he conveys may be interesting, but it does not
necessarily convey any requisite action on our part; but wherever prophecy speaks, it
commands responsible action on our part; it is the obligation of obedience. Now, Ezekiel
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54. was a prophet, differing, no doubt, from other prophets; but, nevertheless, he was one of
those who gave utterance to those pregnant sentences or statements which, having been
once spoken, are spoken forever. You have an illustration of it in the text. “Behold,” says
the prophet, and he speaks not for his own time, but for all time—“Behold,” speaking in
the name of God, “all souls are Mine.” It is to the principle which underlies those
words—and to the exhaustless range of its application to various departments of human
life, that I ask your attention. It is indispensable to our conception of God that all souls
should be His. Imagine for one moment that it could be shown that there were souls
which did not belong to God; we should immediately say that the whole conception
which we had formed of God, the very fundamental idea which we attach to the word,
had been entirely destroyed, and He would cease to be God to us if He were not God of
all! But if it is true, then, as belonging to the indispensable conception of the Divine
Being that all souls should be His, the power of the principle lies in this; a principle lies
behind, I venture to think, nearly all our opinions. It was so in the prophet’s day. Here
strong opinions prevailed. The opinion which was strongest amongst the people of his
day, was an opinion concerning what would be called in modern language, heredity—
“The fathers had eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth were set on edge.” A truth!
An unquestionable truth when viewed from some standpoints. But how did he deal with
it? By bringing out the force of the old principle, the unquestionable principle, “All souls
are Mine.” Whatever may have happened in the progress of generation after generation,
whatever dark shadow may have descended from father to son, however much the
father’s sin may have been visited upon the children, that is not a token that they have
ceased to be God’s, rather is it a token that the surrounding and the providential hand of
God is upon them still. And no act of one man can sever God from the rights which He
has over another man. And as no man can redeem his brother, so no man can drag his
brother out of the hand of the Almighty. For He lays down this principle of sovereignty,
All souls are Mine; and as God is crowned King of heaven, so does He declare that His
are inalienable rights, and no wrong and no darkness and no sin can rob Him of those
rights. That is the declaration of the principle—“All souls are Mine.” It is a statement of a
right to property, “It is He that hath made us and not we ourselves, and behold! our
souls are His!” But are you satisfied that that shall be the only significance of it? It is the
declaration of Divine right, arising out of creation if you please, but remember, it is ever
true that the enunciation of Divine rights is the enunciation of Divine character. We
must never for a moment imagine that we can dissociate the idea of God’s rights from
the idea of a Divine character. It is the declaration not only of His claim over men by
right of His creation of them, but of His nearness to them and His care for them; that
they have a claim to His care arising out of His creation of them. That is what the
prophet is earnestly urging. For if you look for a moment you will see it is no mere naked
assertion of the right to property over men. What he is anxious for is to blot out the
darkness which their false and tyrannising opinion has brought over the souls of his
brethren. They are in exile, cowering down beneath the weight of circumstances Which
seemed inevitable and inexorable. He stands as before these men and says, “Behold, you
are liberated; God is near you. No one has a right to declare that you do not belong to
Him. I speak for your souls which are now trodden down by the idea that somehow or
another the dark shadow of the past has put them out of the care of God, and out of the
thought of God. This never has been, and never can be, the case, for whatever a man be,
with his soul falling into wickedness and evil, or rising into goodness, all, all, no matter
of what sort, are under His care and keeping.” It is an attack upon the idea that anything
can take a man out of the care, out of the love, out of the tenderness of God. And was he
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55. net right in his interpretation? The ages go by; I turn to another book, and behold! the
message of the book is the message which runs precisely on those lines. Property, in the
Divine idea, means the obligation of property. What did your Master and mine say? He
said, “Here are men in the world: who are the men which show the carelessness of
responsibility? The hireling flieth, because he is an hireling, but the Good Shepherd lays
down His life for the sheep, because the sheep are His own, and the right of property
gives responsibility.” Those who are His by the claim of possession have also a claim
upon His care. If this be the principle, do you not see how wide it is? And yet, surely
often and often this principle has been lost sight of, and opinions again have risen up to
tyrannise over us and to limit “its” thought and its power. How often we are told, “Yes,
they are God’s, if—” There is always an “if”—“if a certain experience has been gone
through; if a certain ceremony has been performed; if a certain belief has been
acknowledged; if a certain life has been lived, then they are God’s, not otherwise!” You
will not suppose for a moment that I would undervalue an experience, nor an ordinance,
nor a faith, nor a life. But surely we must never confuse the manifestation of a principle
with the original principle itself. When the soul wakens up to the consciousness of God,
it is the awakening of the soul to the thought that God had claimed it before. When the
child is taken and admitted into the Christian Church, you had not baptized it unless you
had believed beforehand that the redeeming hand of Christ had been stretched athwart
the world. The faith that you teach the humblest of your disciples will give him the first
thought that he belongs to God, for you will teach him, “I believe in God my Father.”
And the life that he has to live can only be the outcome of this, that he is possessed by
the power of a spirit which is declaring, to him that he is not his own, but he is bought
with a price. Nay, does not the apostle round his argument precisely in that order? All
the experiences, the joyous experiences of Christian life, are the outcome of the
realisation of that which was true beforehand, that the soul belongs to any lesser or any
lower, but simply to God. Because ye are His, God has sent forth the spirit of His Son
into your hearts, crying Abba, Father. Such is the range of the principle as an expression
of Divine love, which is also the charter of human rights. Yes, it stands forever written
here, that the world may remember “All souls are Mine.” We know what the history of
the past was—contempt for this or that race. Can there be contempt any longer, seeing
that the Divine fiat has gone forth, “All souls are Mine”? It stands as the perpetual
witness against the selfish contempt of race against race. It is the declaration then, so
far, of rights. It is an individual one, for, believe me, no philosophy can ever take the
place of religion. It is absolutely impossible that altruism can be a fitting substitute for
self-sacrificing Christian love. The best intentions in the world will not secure the objects
of those good intentions. As long as you and I live we shall find that the charter of
human rights lies not in any declaration from earth, but in a declaration from heaven.
Just as the city, the ideal city when it comes, will not spring from the earth, but will come
down from heaven, so, also, that which is the declaration of the citizenship of that great
city must descend from heaven, and the rights of men be conceived there and not upon
earth. For, unfortunately, it is only too true that civilisation weaves within her bosom
many strange passions and prejudices and opinions which become an organised cruelty
against the rights and the pities of men. There are cruelties of philosophy, and cruelties
of science, and cruelties of commerce, and cruelties of diplomacy. Cruelties of
philosophy—one man teaches us that it is impossible to raise out of their savage and sad
condition certain races of the world. Cruelties of science, when we are told that it is a
pity to disturb the picturesque surroundings of some of the lower African tribes, because
the scientific man loses the opportunity of a museum-like study when these races
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56. become Christianised. Cruelties of commerce, when men are ready to condone the
wicked, and cruelly slaughter thousands, if they may secure a half per cent more
dividend upon their capital. Your answer is, “Here is a Divine principle; have faith in this
principle and behold the cruelty shall disappear.” It has been so. The answer which has
been given out of the exercise of faith in this principle is an unanswerable reply to the
objectors of all kinds. Everywhere where there has been energy, everywhere where there
has been this faith, it has been faith in the one living principle that God’s hand is over
the whole race, and that all souls belong to Him. That is the answer to those who would
seek to make the charter of men less, and Jesus Christ coming to us says, “Behold, it is
even truer,” for over the whole world His love goes forth, and the armies of His Cross
spread East and West, and all are brought within His embrace, seeing that He tasted
death for every man. And as we contemplate, behold what happens! We see immediately
all these various races with their several conditions, with their degraded state, or what
we are pleased to call their uncivilised state, all of them are united in one thing: they
have a common origin; they have a common call; there is a common hope for them;
there is a common hand of love stretched out to them, and as you contemplate this
fundamental bond of union all the other idiosyncrasies and differences sink into
insignificance compared with this, that they are made of the same blood as ourselves,
that their souls are called by the same God as ourselves, and all these souls are His, and
the less we speak of these minor differences the better is the realisation of the profound
love of God which has become the charter of human rights. It is a statute, finally of
obligation, of service—“All souls are Mine.” If all souls are God’s, then, humbly be it
spoken, we too are His, and His claim over us is the very same as the claim which we are
seeking to extend the whole wide world over, and His claim over us is the claim that we,
being His, shall, in some sort, resemble Him. In the constancy of His service who works
ceaselessly, in the self-sacrifice of that love which loved us and gave itself for us, the
obligation which springs out of that conception “All souls are Mine “is the obligation that
your whole life, your whole soul, all that you are, shall be consecrated and dedicated to
His service. And that is the rationale of Christian missions. (Bp. Boyd Carpenter.)
The wealth of God and the obligation of man
I. The wealth of God. He owns souls—intelligent, free, influential, deathless souls.
1. His wealth is immense. Think of the value of one soul. Think of the inexhaustible
powers, of the wonderful things that one soul is capable of producing, of the
interminable influence for good or bad that one soul originates; and it may be well
said, that one soul is of more value than the whole world.
2. His wealth is righteous. He has the most absolute, the most unquestionable right
to them. He made them: He is the only Creator, and He has the only right. They are
His, with all their faculties and powers.
3. His wealth is inalienable. They cannot become their own, nor can they become the
property of another. They are his, absolutely, righteously, and forever.
4. His wealth is ever-augmenting. The mountains are old, and the sea is old, and the
river is old, and even the youngest plants and animals that appear are but old
materials entered into new combinations, nothing more. But souls are new in the
entireness of their nature. Fresh emanations from the Eternal Father are they all.
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57. Thus His wealth of souls increases.
II. The obligation of man.
1. We should act according to His will. It is His will that we should not “live to
ourselves”—not seek our own. It is His will that we should centre our affections on
Him, love Him with all our hearts, etc. It is His will that we should avail ourselves of
the provisions of mercy in Christ Jesus.
2. We should confide implicitly in His protection. We are His, and if we use
ourselves according to His direction, He will take care of us, be our shield in the
battle, and our refuge in the storm.
3. We should be jealous for His rights.
(1) We should zealously maintain His rights in ourselves. We should allow no
one to extort service or homage from us that belongs to God.
(2) We should practically recognise His right in our fellow men. We should battle
against priestcraft, oppression, and slavery, on the ground of loyalty to heaven.
(Homilist.)
All souls are God’s
When we look at the world from any other point of view than the Christian we are led to
despise or to undervalue the mass of men. The man of culture looks down on them as
incapable of mental improvement; the man of righteousness sees them hopelessly
immersed in vice and crime; the reformer turns away discouraged, seeing how they cling
to old abuses. Everything discourages us but Christianity. That enables us to take off all
these coverings, and find beneath the indestructible elements and capacities of the soul
itself. We see standing before us a muffled figure: it has been long dug out of the ground,
and is covered with a mass of earth. The man of taste looks at it, and finds nothing
attractive: he sees only the wretched covering. The moralist looks at it, and finds it
hopelessly stained with the earth and the soil in which it has so long lain. The reformer is
discouraged, finding that it is in fragments,—whole limbs wanting; and considers its
restoration hopeless. But another comes, inspired by a pro-founder hope; and he sees
beneath the stains the Divine lineaments; in the broken fragments the wonderful
proportions. Carefully he removes the coverings; tenderly he cleanses it from its stains;
patiently he readjusts the broken parts, and supplies those which are wanting: and so at
last it stands, in a royal museum or pontifical palace, an Apollo or a Venus, the very type
of manly grace or feminine beauty,—a statue which enchants the world.
1. All souls belong to God and to goodness by creation. Compared with the capacities
and powers which are common to all, how small are the differences of genius or
talent between man and man! Now, suppose that we should see in the midst of our
city a building just erected with care and cost. Its foundations are deeply laid; its
walls are of solid stone; its various apartments are arranged with skill for domestic
and social objects; but it is unoccupied and unused. We do not believe that its owner
intends it to remain so: we believe that the day will come in which these rooms shall
become a home; in which these vacant chambers shall resound with the glad shouts
of children and the happy laughter of youth; where one room shall be devoted to
earnest study, another to serious conversation, another to safe repose, and the whole
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58. be sanctified by prayer. Such a building has God erected in every human soul. One
chamber of the mind is fitted for thought, another for affection, another for earnest
work, another for imagination, and the whole to be the temple of God. It stands now
vacant; its rooms unswept, unfurnished, wakened by no happy echoes: but shall it be
so always? Will God allow this soul, which belongs to Him, so carefully provided with
infinite faculties, to go wholly to waste?
2. No; God, having made the soul for goodness, is also educating it for goodness. The
soul, which belongs to God by creation, will also belong to Him by education and
culture. The earth is God’s school, where men are sent for seventy years, more or
less, to be educated for the world beyond. All souls are sent to this school; all enjoy
its opportunities. The poor, who cannot go to our schools; the wretched and the
forlorn, who, we think, are without means of culture,—are perhaps better taught
than we are in God’s great university. The principal teachers in this school are
three,—nature, events, and labour. Nature receives the newborn child, shows him
her picture book, and teaches him his alphabet with simple sights and sounds.
Happy are the children who can go the most to Mother Nature, and learn the most in
her dame school. The little prince was wise who threw aside his fine playthings, and
wished to go out and play in the beautiful mud. The next teacher in God’s school is
labour. That which men call the primal curse is, in fact, one of our greatest blessings.
Those who are called the fortunate classes, because they are exempt from the
necessity of toil, are, for that very reason, the most unfortunate. Work gives health of
body and health of mind, and is the great means of developing character. Nature is
the teacher of the intellect, but labour forms the character. Nature makes us
acquainted with facts and laws; but labour teaches tenacity of purpose, perseverance
in action, decision, resolution, and self-respect. Then comes the third teacher,—these
events of life which come to all,—joy and sorrow, success and disappointment, happy
love, disappointed affection, bereavement, poverty, sickness and recovery, youth,
manhood, and old age. Through this series of events all are taken by the great
teacher,—life: these diversify the most monotonous career with a wonderful interest.
They are sent to deepen the nature, to educate the sensibilities. Thus nature teaches
the intellect, labour strengthens the will, and the experiences of life teach the heart,
For all souls God has provided this costly education. What shall we infer from it? If
we see a man providing an elaborate education for his child, hardening his body by
exercise and exposure, strengthening his mind by severe study, what do we infer
from this? We naturally infer that he intends him for a grand career.
3. Again, all souls belong to God by redemption. The work of Christ is for all: He
died for all, the just and the unjust, that He might bring them to God. The value of a
single soul in the eyes of God has been illustrated by the coming of Jesus as in no
other way. The recognition of this value is a feature peculiar to Christianity. To be the
means of converting a single soul, to put a single soul in the right way, has been
considered a sufficient reward for the labours of the most devoted genius and the
ripest culture; to rescue those who have sunk the lowest in sin and shame has been
the especial work of the Christian philanthropist; to preach the loftiest truths of the
Gospel to the most debased and savage tribes in the far Pacific has been the chosen
work of the Christian missionary. In this they have caught the spirit of the Gospel.
God said, “I will send My Son.” He chose the loftiest being for the lowliest work, and
thus taught us how He values the redemption of that soul which is the heritage of all.
Now, if a man, apparently very humble and far gone in disease, should be picked up
in the street, and sent to the almshouse to die, and then, if immediately there should
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59. arrive some eminent person—say, the governor or president—to visit him, bringing
from a distance the first medical assistance, regardless of cost, we should say, “This
man’s life must be very precious: something very important must depend upon it.”
But now, this is what God has done, only infinitely more for all souls. He must
therefore see in them something of priceless value.
4. Lastly, in the future life all souls will belong to God. The differences of life
disappear at the grave, and all become equal again there. Then the outward clothing
of rank, of earthly position, high or low, is laid aside, and each enters the presence of
God, alone, as an immortal soul. Then we go to judgment and to retribution. But the
judgments and retributions of eternity are for the same object as the education of
time: they are to complete the work left unfinished here. In God’s house above are
many mansions, suited to everyone’s condition. Each will find the place where he
belongs; each will find the discipline which he needs. Judas went to his place, the
place which he needed, where it was best for him to go; and the apostle Paul went to
his place, the place best suited for him. When we pass into the other world, those
who are ready, and have on the wedding garment, will go in to the supper. They will
find themselves in a more exalted state of being, where the faculties of the body are
exalted and spiritualised, and the powers of the soul are heightened; where a higher
truth, a nobler beauty, a larger love, feed the immortal faculties with a Divine
nourishment; where our imperfect knowledge will be swallowed up in larger insight;
and communion with great souls, in an atmosphere of love, shall quicken us for
endless progress. Then faith, hope, and love will abide—faith leading to sight, hope
urging to progress, and love enabling us to work with Christ for the redemption of
the race. (James Freeman Clarke.)
All souls
The Christian Church has celebrated for more than a thousand years an annual festival
in honour of all its saints. It thus extended to a large number of persons a memorial that
was at first confined to its distinguished champions, its confessors and historic names.
There was something beautiful—may we not say generous?—in such an observance. It
thus embraces the whole congregation of those who have been severed from this world’s
joy, and rest from its labours. It recognises no distinction of rank or belief or fortune in
those who dwell no longer in the flesh, but have passed to their account. It considers
only the sympathies of a common nature and the fellowship of death. This is called the
day of the dead; and with a pathetic specialty each one is expected to bear upon his heart
the recollection of his own dead. Care is taken that no one of the lost shall be forgotten,
though separated by distance of time and become dim to the memory, and whatever
changes of relationship and transfers of affection may have come between. This
anniversary suggests something better than the revival of former sorrows, however
affectionate or sacred. It does not lead us in the train of any sad procession, but rather
lifts up the heart to worship the universal Father of spirits. “Behold, all souls are Mine,
saith the Lord God.” They are His, whether confined in the flesh or delivered from its
burden; for whether one or the other, “all live unto Him.” They are His, with whatever
degrees of capacity He has endowed them, small and great, weak and strong, to whatever
trials of condition He has appointed them, the happy and the afflicted; in whatever
degree they have acknowledged, or refused to acknowledge, that Divine ownership. It is
not true, that the empire of the Omnipotent is divided, and a portion of its moral
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60. subjects cut off from its regard; whether by the power of an adversary or the change of
death. He has not given away His possession, or any part of it, to another. “Behold, all
souls are Mine, saith the Lord.” And it is not true that the Gospel sets itself forth for only
a partial redemption; that for a few elect ones only its wonders were wrought, and its
angels appeared, and its spirit was poured out, and its testimony spread everywhere
abroad. It was to reconcile the world to God that its great Witness suffered and rose.
While on earth, He chose the despised for His companions; He called the sinful to His
offered grace. The faith that He bequeathed when He ascended shows a like
condescension, carries on the same benignant design. It deals kindly with the afflicted,
the humble,—with those who are most in need of such treatment, and those who are
least accustomed to it. It repels none. It despairs of none. It opens one faith, one hope. It
instructs the living in its truth, that knows no distinction among them, and it gathers the
dead under the protection of its unfailing promises. If, therefore, we would
commemorate this day of All-Souls, what has been said may serve to give those thoughts
their proper direction. Let us first remember the souls of such as were once in our
company, but “were not suffered to continue by reason of death”; or of such as we never
personally knew, but who have yet always had a life in our revering minds. We may
salute them anew in their far-off state, and be the better for doing so. We do not know
what that state is, and need not know. We may trust them to the care of Him who has
said, “All souls are Mine.” Let us repent ourselves afresh of any neglect or injustice that
we may have committed in regard to them. Let us revive in our hearts the sense of all
that endeared them to us. Let us prove more ready and less fearful for the end, as we
treasure up the admonitions which their loss occasioned. Let us find that dim future not
so void as it was, since they have gone before to inhabit it. And after we have performed
this duty, another that is more important remains. It is as amiable as that, and has a
broader practical reach than that. Let us remember the souls of those who are walking
with us a similar course of probation and mortality, surrounded like ourselves with
difficulties, exposures, infirmities, fears, and sorrows; equally, perhaps, though
differently beset. Let us call to view our common frailties, our mutual obligations. Let us
forgive if we have aught against any. (N. L. Frothingham.)
The claim of God upon the soul
I. Every living soul is, in a sense, the subject, the sharer, of the privileges, the attributes
of God.
1. There is, without contradiction, the privilege of life. Life! what is life? Ah! who can
answer, and yet who can fail to understand? “What am I? says a father of the Church;
“what I was has vanished; what tomorrow I shall be is dark.” “We do not know
ourselves; we do not understand our own nature,” echoes the scarcely Christian
philosopher: the further we go by natural reason, the deeper the darkness, the
greater the difficulty; and yet the corn that waves in the autumn wind, the flower that
opens in the spring morning, the bird that sings in the leafy thicket, nay, in a sense,
the very wave that ripples on the beach, much more the heaving swell of human
multitudes that throng the city streets, all conspire to sing the song, the solemn song
of life; and the pulses of the young heart vibrate to the music,—growth, movement,
reality; the past is dim, the future inscrutable, but here at least is a great possession,
the mystery, the thrilling mystery, of individual life. Better than silent stone, or
sounding waves, or moving worlds, is one who holds the eternal spark of life.
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61. Whatever comes, we feel, we know it, it is something to have lived. This is what it
means. It is to have been single, separate, self-determining. Yes; man feels his own
life; he is an object of his own consciousness; he is, and he can never change in such
sense as to be another self.
2. Another privilege of this lofty place in the scale of being is immortality. Man’s
ordinary moods may suit a finite life. But these—this lofty aspiration, keen remorse,
unsatisfied desire, these infinite unspoken yearnings, these passionate affections—
whence come they? There is one answer, only one. From the depth of a conscious
being, whose life, whose personality, is not bounded by the grave. Man is immortal.
So dimly dreamed the ancients. Alas, too often it was but a dream. Cicero was busied
in “Platonic disquisitions,” as it has been said, “on the immortality of the soul”; but
when his darling Tullia died, he and his friend could only fancy that “if” she were
conscious she would desire comfort for her agonised father. Still, there was the
dream of immortality. Seneca spoke of it as a dream. “I was pleasantly engaged,” he
wrote to his friend, “inquiring about immortality; I was surrendering myself to the
great hope; I was despising the fragments of a broken life. Your letter came, the
dream vanished.” Was it only a dream? At least it was “a great hope.” A dream, but
destined to become a waking vision! A hope, one day to be a clear reality! Christ
came—came in His sweet simplicity, came in His deep humility, came with His great
revelation. Christ came; came and placed it in evidence, by His Divine teaching, by
the indisputable need of a future life for the fulfilment of His lofty principles, and last
by that stupendous fact of which the apostles, testing it by their senses, testing it by
all varieties of available evidence, knew and affirmed the truth—the miracle, the
unique, the crowning miracle, of the resurrection.
3. I instance one further privilege of the soul—The intuition of moral truth, and with
this the sense of moral obligation. An image emerges in the Gospel, unique,
beautiful; a picture suited for all situations, unchangingly powerful amid all changes
of inner and outer life. The German rationalist is perplexed by His perfection; the
French infidel is startled by His beauty; the modern Arian is constrained to admire,
while he inconsistently denies the assertion of Godhead, which, if falsely made,
would shatter that image of perfect beauty. Yes, the old saying—Tertullian’s saying—
is true, “O soul, thou art by nature Christian”; as He only sanctions thy yearnings for
immortality, so Jesus only satisfies thy sense of moral beauty. He does more. The
soul, approving, desires to love; but love requires an object—what object like Thee, O
uncreated beauty!
II. If the soul is so endowed by God, it follows necessarily that God has a claim upon the
soul. It is on success in realising, remembering, acting upon this truth of our
relationship to God, that so much of our true happiness and, I may add, our true dignity
depends. Of what character is this claim?
1. God has a rightful claim upon our conscious dependence. And you must render
Him this service, oh! you must carefully render it, for many reasons—Clearly,
because to do so is to do that which all sensible men should strive to do, to recognise
and reverence facts. You do depend on God. Never imagine that, like an intrusive
caller, you can bow God politely and contemptuously out of His creation; in spite of
your puny insolence He is there.
2. Such recognition is only a just outcome of gratitude. Count up your blessings;
perhaps they are so familiar to you, so strongly secured to your possession by what
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62. seem, from habit, indissoluble bonds, that you have forgotten that they are blessings.
Better at once awake from that dream. The keeping alive the sense of conscious
dependence upon God exercises upon our character a great moral influence. We
never rise to the dignity of nature but by being natural. This dependence is one of
those pure facts of nature which has imbibed none of the poison of the fall. Two
powers accrue to the soul from cultivating the sense of it—resignation and strength.
The Christian learns that the hand that gives, and gives so lavishly, may rightly be
trusted to take away. All of us,—we may settle it in our minds, with no morbid
fearfulness, but with quiet certainty,—all of us most sooner or later suffer—ay, and
sharply. Let us pray so to know Him who made us, so to depend upon Him now, that
when it pleases Him to try our constancy, we may, with a real resignation, “suffer
and be strong.” Seek your strength where alone it will be found available in a
moment of crisis; cherish and stand upon the great thought of God.
III. God’s preserving and so richly endowing the soul gives Him a claim that in its plans
and activities He should have the first place. “Religion is that strong passion, that
powerful virtue, which gives the true colour to all else.” Give Him you first thoughts in
the morning; try to act as in His presence, for His glory; let the thought of Him restrain a
sinful pleasure, gladden an innocent delight; love Him through all He gives you, and all
He gives love in Him. Young men, young women, remember it—“Them that honour Me I
will honour.” He depends on you for a portion of His glory. Angels do their part in song,
in work, in worship; yours they cannot do. One work He called you to do. You entered
the world, at a fixed time, to do just that work. When death comes, will it find you
working in that spirit?
IV. God makes this claim upon you, that you despise no soul. This is difficult. We live in
an age when, more than ever, judgment goes by appearances—an age of rush, of
competition. The lad whom the schoolmaster ignored as stupid may turn out a Newton.
The little newspaper boy you pass as so much lumber in the street may prove a Faraday;
even intellectually, we may be mistaken. But a soul, as a soul, demands respect. Despise
no soul, however debased and grimed and soiled. These souls are God’s. The corruption
of the morals of the poor pains you? It is true—lamentable how imposture dries the
springs of charity and makes a cynic of the Christian. Never mind, life is full of sadness;
but keep the heart fresh. In spite of all, there are beautiful souls about the world; and for
all souls Jesus died. Despise no soul. At least, O Christian, pray for them.
V. Some serious lessons.
1. The first is individual responsibility. Philosophers have fancied that each
movement of thought displaces some molecule of the brain, so that every airy fancy
registers itself in material fact. Anyhow, this is true: every free choice of the creature
between good and evil has an eternal import, and it may be, it will be if you will have
it so, a splendid destiny. “What shall I do, my father?” asked the barbarian
conqueror, as he stood awe-stricken before the aged Benedict. Calmly the saint
replied in this fashion, “My son, thou shalt enter Rome.” “And then?” “Then thou
shalt cross the sea, shalt sweep and conquer Sicily.” “And then? Then thou shalt
reign nine years; and then,” said the father, “then thou shalt die, and then thou shalt
be judged.” We may hope, in part at least we may believe, the lesson was not lost on
Totila. My brothers, have we learnt that lesson? The grave prerogative of the soul is
this: life’s struggle over, then it “shall be judged.”
2. The soul’s true beatitude is to know God. “Acquaint thyself with God, and be at
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63. peace.” Duty and communion make up life, the life that is worthy of a soul. Is it
yours? Remember, O soul, thy princely rank; aspire to God by a true, a loving life.
(Canon Knox Little.)
God’s ownership of souls
God’s right of property in these souls is not derived, as man’s is, but original; His, not by
conveyance from another, but by right of creation. As the Creator of the soul, and the
Upholder of the soul, God can do what He will with the soul. There are no codes of law to
guide Him, no interlacings of other rights with His right to fetter or restrain His will. On
the contrary, His will is His own law, and hence it is said, “He doeth according to His will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.” “All souls.” What a
compass does this give to His spiritual proprietorship! All human souls are His. Every
being who ever lived on this earth in whom God breathed the breath of an immortal
spirit belongs to God. The souls of all fallen angels are His. They are His, despite their
rebellion; His despite their sin; nor can they ever flee themselves from the absolute right
of God to do what He will with His own. The souls of the dwellers in heaven belong to
God, Each and every order of spiritual existences, from the lowest who waits before the
throne, to the tallest archangel in the hierarchy of heaven, belongs to God. What a
mighty proprietorship is this! to be able to stand on this world, and say of each
generation of its hundreds of millions of beings, as they pass in a procession sixty
centuries long, “Behold, all these souls are Mine.” To stand like Uriel in the sun, and say
of the thronging myriads which inhabit the planets of this solar system, as they sweep
their swift orbits around the central light, “Behold all these souls are Mine.” Oh, surely,
He who can say this must be the great and glorious God! The question now arises, For
what purpose did God make these souls? Let God Himself answer. “I have created him
for My glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him”; and again, He says, “This
people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise.”
1. The first inference is, That man holds his soul in trust from God for the use of
God. He has, indeed, implanted in you a will; but with that will He has also given two
laws,—the law of conscience, and the moral law of Sinai; and that will must guide all
its volitions according to these laws, and any breach of either is known to, and
punishable, by God. The terms of trusteeship inscribed on each soul are—“Occupy
till I come.” Occupy the powers, the affections, the sensibilities, the will of this soul
for Me. Occupy as My steward, for My glory; and whenever these souls are used for
any purposes contrary to God’s will, then is there in you great breach of moral trust,
and that is sin. But not only is there a breach of trust in thus misusing the soul with
which you are placed in trust, there is also involved in such conduct absolute treason
and rebellion. God says your soul is His, consequently He has a right to rule over it,
and receive, its fealty as its governor and, king; but you cast aside His rule, and give
your fealty and obedience to God’s enemy. Is not this treason, rebellion? But we have
not yet done with this inference that you hold your souls in trust for God; for your
conduct in withholding your souls from Him is not only a breach of trust, not only
treason, not only rebellion, but it is absolute robbery of God. I speak to you who are
men of probity and honour, who would eat the crust of poverty sooner than betray a
human trust—feel you no sense of shame in betraying the Divine trust which God has
placed in your charge? I speak to you men of patriotism, who would shed your blood
sooner than join the enemies of your country or foment rebellion against the
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64. government which protects you-feel you no compunctious smiting of conscience, no
goadings of remorse, at your treason in adhering to the enemy of all righteousness,
in being a child and follower and servant of him who plotted rebellion in heaven,
who plotted rebellion on earth, and who is ever waging war with God?
2. This brings us to the second inference, which is—that all misuse of this trust is sin.
God requires us to love Him with all our soul; this, He says, is the first and great
commandment. Each want of conformity to this law is sin, for the apostle distinctly
states, “Sin is a transgression of (or want of conformity to) the law.” Each soul, then,
which withholds itself from God does, by that act, break the first and great
commandment, and consequently commits sin. And now, what does God in the text
say of such sinning soul? “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” What a fearful doom is
this! The two great elements of this death of the soul are—lst, The absence of all that
constitutes everlasting life; 2nd, The presence of every thing that constitutes
everlasting despair. There is forever present to the soul the consciousness of this its
two-fold misery. (Bp. Stevens.)
Mankind the Divine possession
I. God’s claim to our service. “All souls are Mine.”
1. Being itself, notwithstanding its characteristic individuality, is of Divine origin.
Need we go back to the remote ages of antiquity to search the register of creation for
our pedigree? Are there not records nearer home that will answer that purpose?
Look into that world of consciousness. There, in the depths of your being, you will
find the record. The intellect which grasps knowledge, the moral sense which fights
for the right, the affection which rises above every creature to a Divine level, and the
will which arbitrarily determines our course of action, these are the entries in
creation’s register which prove that God is our Father.
2. The properties of life teach us the same truth. An unseen hand makes ample
provision for our wants. We are sheltered by the mantle of His power: and the
presence of the Almighty is our dwelling place. That presence is a wall of fire around
us, to ward off destruction and death. Although our journey is through a waste-
howling wilderness, the cloud by day and fiery pillar by night lead the way. His way is
in the sea; His path in the great waters; and His footsteps are not known. A thousand
voices herald His coming every morning; a thousand mercies witness to His
goodness during the day. Out of the fruit of the earth, the light and the darkness, the
sustenance and preservation of life; out of every part of nature, and every turn of
providence, the voice calls, “All souls are Mine.”
3. We will further take the more emphatic testimony of redemption. The hand of
inspiration on the human mind, from the earliest ages, was a Divine claim on our
thoughts. But we will pass by the long series of testimony under the patriarchal and
Mosaic dispensations, in order to come to the mission of the Son of God. The
substance of that mission is contained in the statement, “Our Father which art in
heaven.” By discourses and actions, the declaration was made to the world with an
emphasis which impressed the truth indelibly on the mind of the race.
II. This high and holy relationship imposes its own conditions.
1. Love to the being of God. Reconciliation by Jesus Christ leads to the conception
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65. that “God is love.” “Pardon him,” said the sergeant to the colonel of the regiment.
The offending soldier had been punished many times, fill he hated every one of his
comrades, and even virtue. He was pardoned. The effect was striking—he became a
loving man. Jesus said of the sinner, “Pardon him,” and for the first time he saw that
“God is love.”
2. Trustfulness in God’s dealings. We are under an administration of law and order
which we do not quite understand. The inclination of the child is often opposed to
the father’s wish. These two, ignorance on the one hand and perverseness on the
other, must be subordinated to the will of God. This is the hard lesson of life.
3. Usefulness in God’s vineyard. Life in earnest is the highest condition of life. The
life of the tree touches its highest point when it throws off fruit in abundance. In
conclusion, let us take a glance at the profitable life which blossoms for immortality.
Its activities are sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Of the holy thoughts which revolve in
the breast, the heavenly aspirations which rise in the heart, the gracious words which
are uttered by the lips, and the kind deeds which are wrought in faith, of these God
says, “They are Mine.” (T. Davies, M. A.)
God’s proprietorship of souls
There are hero two great facts presupposed, both of them impugned and challenged by
some of the fleeting false philosophies of the moment. The one is the existence of God.
The other is the existence of the soul. We believe in the two great realities—God and the
soul; and we know that the one want of humanity, and therefore the one object and one
office of religion, is the bringing of these two realities together. The soul is a fugitive and
runaway from Him who is its owner. God in Christ is come to seek and to save. How very
magnificent is the Divine attribute thus opened! The comprehension, the very
conception of one soul, is beyond the reach of the reason, or even the imagination. How
unsearchable are the ways of one heart even to that one! Multiply that one being by the
ten and by the hundred surrounding, all within the four walls of one church; what a
word of awe and astonishment is here, “The souls here present are Mine!” What must He
be who claims that proprietorship! No sovereignty of islands and continents, no
dominion of stars or planets, no empire of systems and universes can compete or
compare with it for a moment. No earthly potentate, no tyrant of history or of fable ever
claimed the sovereignty of a soul. The chain was never forged that could bind it; the
instrument was never invented that could even profess to transfer it. “One soul is mine.”
No, it never entered the heart of man to say that. But now, if God speaks and makes this
His attribute, “All souls are Mine,” the next thought must be, What is this thing of which
it belongs to God alone to have possession? Two characteristics of it will occur at once to
everyone, of which the first and most obvious is the sanctity. There is that in us which
cannot be seen or handled. That invisible, intangible thing belongs to God. It would be
an advance for many of us in the spiritual life if we could read the saying in the singular
number, if we could recognise and remember the single ownership, “My soul is God’s,”
not my own, to treat thus or thus, to use thus or thus, to manage thus or thus at my
pleasure; not mine to starve or to pamper; not mine to honour or dishonour, to indulge
or to defy; not mine that I should give it this colour or that colour, at the bidding of
vanity, of indolence, of caprice, of lust; not mine that I should say to it, Become this, or
become that, as I please to direct thy employments, thy relaxations, thy opinions, thy
affections, regardless of what the Lord thy God hath spoken concerning each one of us.
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66. On the contrary, to feel the revelation “All souls are Mine,” and to draw from it this
inference: If all, then each; and if each, then the one—what seriousness would it give,
what dignity, and what elevation to this life of time, making each day and each night take
with it the impress also of that other revelation: “And the spirit must return to God who
gave it!” If all souls, then each soul, and if each soul, then, further, the soul of that other,
for a moment or for a lifetime so near thine own; brother, sister, friend, kinsman, wife,
or child, it too has an owner, not itself, and not thou, and nothing can befall it for joy or
grief, for weal or woe, for remorse or wrong, but the eye of the Omniscient observes, and
the hand of the Omnipotent writes it down. Sanctity, then, is one thought; preciousness
is the other. This is an inference not to be gainsaid, seeing the proprietorship claimed in
the text; and is it not, when we ponder it, the very basis and groundwork of all hope,
whether for ourselves or for the world? If my soul is God’s, can there be presumption,
ought there to be hesitation in the appeal to Him to keep and to save His own? Can
either long neglect, or distant wandering, or obstinate sinning, have rendered the case
desperate so long as there remains the possible petition: “I am Thine—oh, save me”?
And as for the individual, so also for the race. It seems to me that the thought of the
Divine ownership, with its obvious corollary, the preciousness of the soul, has in it a
direct and a sufficient answer to all the cavillings and all the doubtings which beset our
faith in the incarnation, the atonement, and the new birth. “All souls are Mine.” Then,
shall He lightly abandon who has thought it worth while to possess? We could not,
indeed, know without revelation what processes would be necessary or what would
suffice to redeem a soul. But what we say is this, that the Divine ownership implies the
preciousness of souls, and that the preciousness accounts for any processes, however
intricate or however costly, by which Infinite Wisdom may have wrought out their
rescue and salvation. What those methods should be, God alone could determine. He
might never have told us of them. It is nowhere explained; but “all souls are Mine”
prepares us for His adopting those methods, whatever they might be, and leaves nothing
improbable, whatever else it may leave mysterious, in the bare fact that at any price and
at any sacrifice God should have interposed to redeem. (Dean Vaughan.)
God and the soul
1. The immediate occasion of this word of the Lord by the prophet was a powerful
objection made against the moral government of God. Punishment was not dealt out
to the transgressor, and to him only; but his children were made to suffer too.
2. This misbelief of the people was very alarming; all the more so that an element of
truth was at the base of it. Doubt is never more serious than when it questions the
righteousness of God; and it is often easy to offer some show of reason for such a
suggestion. Ezekiel had to do with a kind of misbelief which is not so very
uncommon in our own time.
3. He met it, as such belief must always, I think, be met, not by denying the half-
truth on which the objection rests; but by affirming the complementary truths of
man’s individual responsibility and God’s absolute fairness. We do belong to the
race, and we do inherit the consequences of other men’s actions; but, none the less,
each of us is a unit, dwelling in “the awful solitude of his own personality”; each of us
is responsible for his own conduct, and must give his own account to God.
4. This rests on the fundamental truth that “all souls are God’s.” Men have a relation
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67. to God as well as to one another; and this is true not only of some men, but of all. We
all live in God. What we inherit from our ancestors is not more important than what
we receive, and may receive, from God,—it is vastly less important. The supreme fact
in every human life is, not heredity, but God.
5. “All souls are God’s.” Every man lives in God, is sustained and preserved by God,
is dealt with by God in his own individual personality; and that, not only in reference
to material things, but in reference to the moral and spiritual aspects of life. As the
all-embracing air is around each, so is the presence of God, and that is the guarantee
for the government of each with perfect fair play, in mercy and righteousness and
love.
6. The truth before us, then, is that every human soul is an object of God’s care. In
every man God has a personal interest. He deals with us, not in the mass, but one by
one; not simply through the operation of unbending, universal law, or as a blind,
impersonal force, but by a direct and vital contact.
7. I know that many among us find it almost impossible to share this belief, and it
may be confessed freely that many things which we see around us are hard to
reconcile with a strong faith in the truth which I am seeking to establish—the truth
that God has a personal and individual care for every man—dealing with “all souls”
in perfect wisdom, righteousness, and love. We find life full of glaring inequalities—
surfeit and starvation side by side; Dives feasting luxuriously, and Lazarus longing
for the wasted crumbs; bounding health that counts mere life a joy, and lingering
sickness that prays for death as gain; happiness that scarcely knows an unsatisfied
desire, and exquisite misery that hardly remembers a day’s unbroken peace. We find
the same inequality extending to spiritual privileges. Here men live in the full light of
the Christian revelation, in a land of churches and Bibles, where helps to holy living
are abundant. Yonder men dwell in pagan darkness, ignorant of Christian truth,
destitute of Christian influence, surrounded by all that tends to degrade and deprave.
8. What, then, is our proper course in the presence of these difficulties? What can it
be but to follow the example of Ezekiel in strongly affirming the fact? Let the fact of
God’s personal, individual, universal care be firmly grasped, and the difficulties will
fall into their right place of comparative unimportance.
9. If you have any momentary difficulty in accepting this as true, reflect, I beseech
you, what a horrible theory would be involved in its denial—the theory that for some
of His children God has no kind thought, no tender feeling, no purpose of mercy and
love; that for some men He does not care at all. He gave them life, and preserves
them in being; but He does not love them. They have the same powers and capacities
as ourselves, are made capable of trusting, loving, obeying, rejoicing in Him; but He
has no merciful regard for them, He withholds the enlightening truth, the saving
grace, the redeeming message; He shuts up His heart of compassions, and leaves
them, as orphans in the wild, to perish miserably for lack of ministers of love. But
this is infidelity of the very worst kind, the grossest and most mischievous.
10. Moreover, we may question if the sure signs of God’s gracious care are absent
from any life. They do not lie on the surface, and we may miss them at the first
glance; but they are there, and larger knowledge would correct the thought that
anyone has been neglected. For any right understanding of this matter we must get
beyond the superficial reading of life which sees signs of Divine love in what is
pleasant, and signs of anger in the unpleasant. The pruning of the tree shows the
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68. gardener’s care, just as much as the supply of its obvious wants; and we should
remember that in the education of life and character, the best results are sometimes
secured by the most painful processes. It is with apparently neglected lives as it is
with apparently neglected races and nations: a fuller acquaintance with them proves
that they also have been objects of the Divine care. When Mungo Park, travelling in
Central Africa, was ready to give himself up as lost, his failing courage was revived by
a bit of moss on which his eye chanced to fall; and that reminded him that God was
there. And if some leaf of grass or tiny flower is a witness to the nearness and active
energy of God, is not such witness to be recognised in every devout thought, every
idea of right and truth and duty, every effort to attain to a knowledge of God and to
render to Him acceptable service?
11. And if, look where we will, in every land and among all people, we may find some
witness to God’s care of the individual life, it is only in the Gospel of Christ that we
find the full measure of His care adequately set forth. As might naturally be expected,
since He came to reveal the Father, there is no such witness to the care of God for
His children as Jesus Christ. His doctrine, His life, and His death constitute a three-
fold testimony, so clear, so ample, so emphatic that one could scarcely wish for more.
(1) He taught that God loves the world; is gracious to the wicked, merciful to the
undeserving, kind to the unthankful and the evil.
(2) His life also gave emphasis to the same great truth—the truth of God’s care
for the individual soul. Though a mighty Teacher, having the ear of multitudes,
He devoted a large part of His time to the instruction of men and women one by
one.
(3) And since there was no greater thing He could do to show the Father’s care—
no greater sacrifice that He could make in His unspeakable love that imaged
God’s great love—He gave Himself to die upon the Cross a ransom for our sins.
He died, the Just for the unjust, to bring us to God. He suffered for you and me,
for each because for all, for the whole world; therefore, for every soul that is in
the world. (G. Hill, M. A.)
The value and accountability of the human soul
I. The value of the human soul.
1. “All souls are Mine” appears to imply a distinction and dignity as to their origin.
Father and son may share together flesh and blood, but the soul is a direct creation
from God. It has personality; for it is—each soul is—a separate creation of Almighty
God.
2. Creationism appears to protect the soul’s spirituality and its solitariness in a way
Traducianism certainly does not; though it accentuates the mysteriousness of the
doctrine of the Fall. The soul comes from God, not as a part of His substance, which
is heresy, but by a creative act of His will. This infusion of the soul puts man, “as
distinguished from the brute, in a conscious relation to God” (Aubrey Moore), and
this is the very root of religion.
3. Souls, too, belong to God in a way the material creation does not—they are made
in His image “and likeness”; they are a created copy of the Divine life. They find in
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69. Him not only the beginning, but the end of their being. They hold communion with
Him, can be conscious of His presence and touch, and can respond to His love. The
soul possesses faculties and moral qualities “which are shadows of the infinite
perfections of God” (Pusey).
4. The soul’s value may be further estimated by the Infinite Love of the Son of God in
dying to save us.
II. The soul’s separate accountability. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
1. These words are repeated in verse 20, with the addition, “The son shall not bear
the iniquity of the father.” But in Lam_5:7 it is written, “Our fathers have sinned,
and we have borne their iniquities.”
2. There are two limits to the declaration, “The son shall not bear,” etc. One is that it
refers only to personal sin, and not to original sin; for we are conceived and born in
sin, because of the disobedience of our first father, Adam. This is a fundamental
doctrine of the Christian Faith (Rom_5:12-21). Another is that the words only refer
to the temporal penalties of sin, not to the guilt (culpa); even with regard to results of
sin, the tenor of the commandment, “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me,” or “to those
that hate Me,” appears to imply that the children are imitators of their parents’ sins,
and so become themselves accountable. They only share the iniquities of their
fathers “if the children imitate the evil example of the parents” (St. Gregory, Moral.,
15:41). But “external” consequences of sin, which do not affect the relation of the soul
to God, do descend from father to son, entailing suffering or defect. The destruction
of Jerusalem is the turning point of the Book of Ezekiel, and a great number of
infants who had no responsibility perished in the siege.
3. But the prophet does not touch upon these exceptions, as he is occupied with
emphasising “that aspect of the question” which the proverb ignored, “and which,
though not the sole truth, is nevertheless an important part of the truth, viz., that
individual responsibility never ceases” (Driver). No actual sin is ever transferred
from one soul to another, nor eternal penalty incurred through the misdeeds of
ancestors.
4. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” In other words, sin is personal fault, not
misfortune; sin is a free act of the soul, not a necessity: “the soul that sinneth.” Sin is
“the misuse of freedom” (Luthardt). Sin, deadly sin, separates the soul from God, the
Source of life, and so brings about spiritual death, as the separation of the soul from
the body brings about physical death.
5. Each soul is accountable before God, and cannot attribute justly its misdeeds to
some ancestral strain which makes for anything but righteousness, nor to present
circumstances.
III. Lessons.
1. To be careful, amid the seeming perplexities of God’s providence, not to impugn
the Divine justice or equity (verse 25).
2. To strive to realise the value of the soul, and how it belongs to God, and to make
God the Beginning and End of our being; also to reflect upon the separateness of our
existence, whilst outwardly so much mingled with the lives of others.
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70. 3. The heinousness of sin, the only real evil, which injures or kills the soul’s life,
should lead to hatred of sin and watchfulness against it.
4. Whilst the innate responsibility of each soul before God should prevent us from
making excuses for sin, and from resorting to the meanness and injustice of charging
others with being the cause of our iniquities, for which we alone are personally
accountable (Rom_14:12). (The Thinker.)
The universal responsibility of man
I. The universal responsibility of man.
1. Explanation of the terms of this proposition. When we speak of the responsibility
of man, we mean that tie or bond or obligation or law necessarily springing from the
relations in which he stands, and the circumstances in which he is placed,—by which
he is not only bound to demean himself in a manner answerable thereto, and is liable
to the penalties of failing therein, in respect of his own welfare and that of others
with whom he is surrounded and brought into daily contact; but more especially is
this the case in reference to the supreme God, to whom all his allegiance is directly
due, and from whose hands he must finally receive a gracious approbation, or a most
fearful and eternal condemnation. Again, when we speak of the universality of this
responsibility, or obligation, we mean that it applies both to all individual persons
and to all relative or social or other orderly circumstances, by which human beings
are connected together, and dependent upon each other; and that in all these
relations this obligation is more especially to be considered in reference to their
accountability to the Lord.
(1) If you consider man as a creature, the work of God’s hand, the law of his
responsibility, as such, binds him to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,”
etc.
(2) If you consider man as a sinner, a rebel against the law and the authority of
God, his responsibility appears in new and vastly increased proportions.
(3) The same equally applies, although in a still stronger point of view, to the
state and condition of man as a sinner, placed under a dispensation of mercy.
Now, as he values the life of his soul, and the favour of God, he is bound to repent
of his sins and believe the Gospel.
(4) Again, if you consider man as a happy believer in Christ, pardoned and
accepted in the Beloved, you must still consider him as a responsible creature,
bound in a new and higher manner to love and adore the God of his salvation;
while the very mercy he has received not only lays him under the new claims of
gratitude and love, but evinces the equity of his former obligations, and honours
and fulfils them all.
(5) Or if you advance a step further, and consider him as a glorified saint in
heaven, there the obligation rises to the highest pitch, and there it is perfectly
rendered, and will be so forever. Every penalty is here paid, and every claim is
here fulfilled.
(6) Or yet again once more, if you see the devil and his angels, and the wicked,
and all the nations that forget God, cast into hell, and suffering together the
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71. vengeance of eternal fire, you there behold the creature’s responsibility exhibited
in the most awful and tremendous manner.
2. In its expansive nature and particular detail. Consider it in reference—
(1) To our individual character. Every person throughout the whole earth,
whether high or low, or rich or poor, comes within the sphere of its influence.
(2) In its relative extent. The law of responsibility enters into all the various
orders and relations of society, and pervades and sways over the whole.
(3) In its aggregate amount. But who can calculate this amount, or reckon up the
untold liabilities of the creature, as they congregate upon his head in the relative
positions in which he stands, or in the social gradations with which he is
invested?
(4) And can anything be more lovely and beautiful in itself, or more equitable,
reasonable, and holy, in its obligations and claims, than the systematic
proportions of such an order and constitution of things as this? Here is nothing
redundant, nothing unnecessary, nothing unfit, nothing that does not conduce to
the mutual benefit and advance the welfare of all!
II. Some awakening reflections necessarily arising therefrom.
1. How needful it is that every person should seek to be thoroughly grounded in the
doctrine of man’s universal responsibility.
2. What a clear ground for universal conviction and condemnation! The glittering
crown is no screen from this allegation, nor the royal robe any covering from this
guilt. Dignity, honour, wealth, fame, talents, abilities, lordly palaces, princely
incomes, can neither shield the guilty culprit nor avert the sentence to which he is
exposed. Nor can any inferiority of rank or station elude its piercing eye, or escape its
widely extended arm. It is the law of our being; and therefore it will find us out,
wherever we are and whatever we do.
3. What a vast amount of guilt lies at every man’s door! Talents neglected; abilities
abused; influence and authority averted from the cause of God and His truth, and
dedicated to the service of pleasure and sin.
4. How just will be the righteous judgment of God upon all impenitent sinners at
last!
5. Let all who would escape that fearful doom bethink themselves in time, and flee to
the appointed refuge while mercy may be had. (R. Shittler.)
The individual
1. It would be too much to say that Ezekiel discovered the individual, for no true
prophet could ever have lost him. However clear-cut a unity the State may have
appeared to earlier prophets, they read life too soberly, too earnestly to imagine it
had any guilt or glory that was not contributed to it by its individual members. No
preacher preaches to his ideal, but to someone whom he is anxious to direct towards
it. It was the dissolution of the Hebrew State that helped Ezekiel to realise and
formulate his new message. At first he, like his predecessors, spoke to the people as a
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72. chosen whole. He had come to Tel-Abib, to “them of the captivity,” he had sat among
them for a week “astonished,” when the Lord came to him, appointing him to be a
watchman, to hear the word of warning at God’s mouth, and deliver it unrevised to
the wicked and to the righteous, one by one (Eze_3:16-21). Then the individual
seems to disappear, and the State stands before him: “For they are a . . . house”
(Eze_3:26). His signs and his parables are for the “house” of Israel. So, again, his
“Thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel” has in it a personification of the
State that is peculiarly intense.
2. So the prophet seems, in sign after sign, in parable after parable, to cling to the old
phrase of a sacred collectivism. But the new individualism suddenly, and more
intensely, reappears (chap. 18). The people tried to make an excuse of heredity: “The
fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” In our own
days, as in those of Ezekiel, no doctrine has been more inconsiderately abused than
that of heredity. The prophet attempts, to undo the harm done through the proverb
by a profound statement in God’s name: “All souls are Mine.” God can never be
careless of His possessions. To Him their intrinsic value never changes. The prophet
does not so much deny the fact of hereditary transmission as deny its relevancy to
the consideration of personal guilt. He takes, for illustration, three generations: a
good father, a wicked son, a good grandson. Whatever advantages the wicked son
inherits, they do not save him from the consequences of his personal wrong-doing;
nor does the grandson’s legacy of disadvantages rob him of the fruit of his right-
doing. The just “shall surely live”; the wicked, between a just father and just son,
shall “die in his iniquity” (verses 5-18). If every soul is equally related to God, that
relation overrides the relation of one soul to another. We are judged, not at the
circumference, but from the centre. Heredity, at most, is only one of the modes of
our mutual relation as created beings; it cannot affect the Creator’s mind. To Him
the father stands as distinctly apart from the son as if there were no son, and the son
as distinctly apart from the father as if he were fatherless. Men may act together, and
act one upon another, but each of them will have to God an individual worth. A soul
is forever His soul. The accountability of a soul, its guilt or redemption, lies
supremely in its relation to God. “All souls are Mine.” The prophet proceeds to
declare that life’s present may be cut clear from life’s past. A tradition of
righteousness cannot save a soul that has fallen into actual wickedness; a tradition of
wickedness cannot undo a soul that strives after righteousness. What the world does
impulsively, often blindly, God does with due regard to the moral secret of the
“thousand victories” and the “once foiled.” He watches for the throb of new
beginnings: He sees the “imperfect substance” of our desires and deeds. And yet we
must be careful not to force the prophet’s teaching. A man may suffer for his father’s
sins, or for the sins of his own past life; he may suffer, and yet not be deprived of the
privileges of the new kingdom. The inviolable relation is not that of a soul to another,
or to its own past, but to God. “All souls are Mine.”
3. The vision grows upon the prophet, and so he comes to make his still more ample
announcement: “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? saith the Lord God:
and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?” It would seem as if the
despair of man won from God His profoundest secret, His most healing revelation.
The State was failing to pieces, Israel was scattered and unbrothered; but God met
each individual son and daughter of Israel with this great message—repeated later
on, and confirmed “with an oath,” to use the language of the Epistle to the Hebrews
(Heb_6:13; Heb_6:17)—“As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of
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73. the wicked” (Eze_33:11). Though our “dim eyes” are unable, after all our endeavours,
to comprehend the place of what seem to us finite emotions in the Infinite Mind, we
will still cherish the tender, the brave Gospel, that God has “no pleasure” in the death
of the wicked.
4. We need Ezekiel’s teaching today in many ways. The individual is always tempted
to hide from himself, or hide from his brother. He is more and more tempted to rely
upon the State, or upon the Church. Man belongs to himself and to God, and to no
other, in the final issue. “Bear ye one another’s burdens”—in his relation to his fellow
creatures, “for each man shall bear his own burden”—in his relation to God.
Whatever a man may suffer from one or the other, or both, his hell is not from his
parents or from his past, while he has the power, by God’s help, any moment—any
brief, immeasurable moment—to cut his soul loose from the things that are behind,
and set sail for the Paradise of God. “The son shall not bear the iniquity of his
father,” etc. (verses 20, 27, 28). A man is master of his fate the moment he lets the
mercy of God find him. It was not the discussion, for its own sake, that concerned the
prophet. He wanted to come close to the soul of each individual, in order to make his
fervent appeal: “Make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house
of Israel?” So earnest is he in emphasising man’s share in his own renewal, that he
seems almost to forget God’s share; but the reverse would be true regarding the
vision of the Valley of Dry Bones. It is this ineffaceable signature of the Eternal Spirit
in man that makes him worthy for God to contend with in holy mercy (Eze_
20:35-36). No soul meets its final fate before somewhere, somehow meeting God
face to face. There is no mere accident in the damnation of any soul. It is a deliberate
choice, after an ultimate controversy (Isa_1:18-20). “As I live, saith the Lord, I have
no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” (H. E. Lewis.)
The death of the soul
This sentence is really the climax of an argument. It is the conclusion, for the sake of
which this chapter was written. The prophet’s aim is to emphasise individual in the stead
of collective responsibility for sin. It will not be the nation, it must not be some other
soul or souls, for “every man must bear his own burden.” “The soul that sinneth, that
shall die.” Yet this sentence can easily be misunderstood, and, in fact, often has been
misunderstood. Someone will say: “Does the Bible mean that ‘to die’ in this sentence is
to perish utterly and forever, or does it mean that the sinner must be punished for his sin
and suffer forever?” Now we will ask Ezekiel. Suppose we had this old Israelitish prophet
with us, and that we interrogated him concerning the meaning of his own words. I can
assure you that he would be most astonished to hear the questions which I have just
repeated. He would say: “I was not speaking of mortality or immortality; I was speaking
of the quality of life, and I was thinking for the moment of the immediate future of my
beloved Israel.” Let us follow him through the experiences that made him say this, and
you will see very soon what he means. This prophet is a prisoner. He is in the hands of
Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. He is one of the Israelitish remnant that have been
torn from their home, and by whom the plaintive song is sung, “By the rivers of Babylon
there we sat down and wept, we wept when we remembered Zion.” But these captives
were not all that there was of Israel. There was still an Israel at home, and a very bad
Israel it was. And this Ezekiel, who was a contemporary of the Jeremiah who wrote the
Lamentations over that wicked Israel, was looking from his land of captivity far away to
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74. the Jerusalem from which he had been torn, and was speaking to his fellow captives
thus: “Beloved fellow prisoners, our day of deliverance is coming, but it can only come
after yonder evil Jerusalem is razed to the ground. Ours it shall be to rebuild the temple,
ours it shall be to worship God in a purified sanctuary in the homeland once more.
Yonder Israel is preparing her own destruction. As u nation she must perish for her
sins.” Beware, you selfish, unpatriotic, slave-hearted men, who are living contentedly in
the abominations of the Babylonians. We shall go to the homeland, but the soul that
sinneth here, unworthy of the high calling, shall die to Israel, shall be outside the
covenant. By soul he simply meant man. By die he meant remain a slave, or bear the
penalty of exclusion from the glorious return. Since Ezekiel wrote we have learned a
great deal more as to what is meant by the word “soul.” The principle upon which he laid
emphasis here is this, that the man who is doing wrong to his God does wrong to
himself. He is not worthy to rebuild the Temple. He is not worthy to return to the Holy
Land. And no nation will suffer for him. God’s purposes cannot be foiled. The soul that
sinneth, and that alone, must perish. Now what are we to say “the soul” means? In the
earliest portions of this marvellous Book of Books the word “soul” means little more
than the animating principle of all organisms. “The soul” means the breath or the life
that distinguishes the things which are organic from the things which are not. Trees and
flowers in that sense have and are souls. “Let everything that hath breath—let everything
that hath soul—praise the soul.” Then it came to mean, as we see, by a narrowing but by
an intensification of its meaning, the animating principle of human consciousness. And
so the word, delimitated, gradually expanded its meaning at the same time that it
narrowed it, until in the New Testament and in the later prophecies of the Old
Testament the word soul simply means the man. The soul is man’s consciousness of
himself, as apart from all the rest of all the world, and even from God. What are we to do
with it, this soul of ours, this that marks me as me apart from all mankind? Why, to fill it
with God. “This is life eternal, that they may know Thee, the only true God.” Death is the
absence of that fellowship with God. Now we begin to understand what Christ meant—
that it were possible for a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul. In other
words, he is destroying the Godlike within himself, he is failing in that for which he was
created, he is perishing even where he seems to succeed. This, again, is what Paul means
when he says he dies to himself that he may live to God. “Ye died, and your life is hid
with Christ in God.” Nor is this false to what the prophet says: “When the wicked man
turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is
lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.” The question of questions for any of us is
this, “What kind of soul are we building? Is our attitude lifeward or deathward? Are we
destroying that beautiful thing that God has given into our keeping?” We will now speak
about the same truth in relation to ordinary, average human experience or acquaintance
with life. Do any of you know, as I too well know, what it is to have a childhood’s
companion or a youth’s friend of whom much was expected, bug the promise has never
been fulfilled? Do you remember that lad who sat beside you in the day school years ago
of whom the masters and proud parents said thug one day the world would ring with his
name? The boy was endowed with almost every gift that could be thought of for making
his way in life. Well, what has come to him? We have lost sight of him for a few years
maybe, and yesterday we met him. What was it that gave us a shock and a thrill, a
sudden sinking of the heart, as we looked into his countenance? Why, this—something
was missing that ought to have been there, and something was there we never thought to
see. The thing that was missing was life, and the thing that was present was death. That
man has lived to the flesh, and of the flesh has reaped corruption. In doing it he has
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75. limited, imprisoned, destroyed his own better nature, until now, all involuntarily as it
were, as you look on the beast, that gazes out of his eyes, you shudderingly say: “He is
utterly without soul.” “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Amongst my circle of friends
there is one whose name you may probably have heard, a man well advanced in years,
and better known to an earlier generation than to yours and mine, I mean George Jacob
Holyoake. This man is not a Christian, but those who have any acquaintance with his
record know that he has done a good many Christian things. I have been reading lately a
book in which he has put some recollections of his past. He calls it “Bygones Worth
Remembering,” and in it he tells the story of some of his moral activities, and of the men
with whom he shared enthusiasms in earlier days. Amongst those who called him friend
were General Garibaldi and the patriot Mazzini. In this book he tells of an occasion on
which Mazzini, who was a God-intoxicated man, and whose motto was “God and the
People,” reasoned with him and with Garibaldi on their materialism, and gave utterance
to a sentence of this kind: “No man without a sense of God can possess a sense of duty.”
Garibaldi instantly retorted impetuously: “But I am not a believer in God. Have I no
sense of duty?” “Ah,” said Mazzini, with a smile, “you drew in your sense of duty with
your mother’s milk.” I could not read an incident like that without a feeling akin to
reverence for these great souls with a great ideal, Holyoake served his generation well, so
did Garibaldi, so did Mazzini. They were men of soul. Would you deny that they
possessed moral and spiritual life? These men were all alive. Mazzini’s theology gave way
in the presence of the splendid fact. It is the quality of the life into which we have to
examine. There is no question but the life was there. I quoted this morning from the
story of the life of John G. Paton, as told by himself, the veteran missionary. Will you let
me read to you this man’s account of the daily habits of his father, and the influence it
had on his life? “That father was a stocking weaver, a poor man in one of the poor
districts of Scotland.” “But,” says J.G. Paton, “he was a man of prayer.” There was one
little room in between the “but” and the “ben” of that house, as the Scots call it, into
which he retired daily, and often many times a day. The experience of this old Scottish
weaver, which cast such a spell on the life of his son, is as much a fact of the universe as
the rain that is falling outside, and it needs to be accounted for and given its due place. It
is the most precious thing in the whole range of possible human experience that a man
might walk with God, that the light eternal might shine in his heart, that the soul might
live. Truly this is life, to know God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. Contrast again
in your mind for a moment this experience with that of the man you will meet tomorrow,
of whom you will say, such a one is dead to right feeling, such another is dead to truth
and honour, and, saddest of all, perhaps, you may say of some cynical, selfish being, he is
dead to love. But what are you doing? You are either marching towards the ideal of
Paton’s father or you are marching away from it. To be as full of moral passion as a
Holyoake or a Garibaldi is better than to live for self or the world alone. But how few
there are who know what true life is. God knew where it was to be. In my greenhouse
sometimes I see a plant, from which I expected something, marring its promise. One tiny
speck of rust on a white petal, and I know my plant is doomed. That speck is death; there
will be another tomorrow, and yet another to follow. Presently the soul, so to speak, of
my little plant will be destroyed. Every time you commit a sinful act you destroy
something beautiful which God made to bloom within your nature, you have a speck of
death upon your soul. And every time you lift heart and mind and will heavenward, and
every time your being aspires to God and truth, and every time the noble and the heroic
and the beautiful have dominion over you (for these are God) then you are entering into
life. (R. J. Campbell, M. A.)
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76. Man’s responsibility for his sin
Mr. Thomas, a Baptist missionary, was one day addressing a crowd of natives on the
banks of the Ganges, when he was accosted by a Brahmin as follows: “Sir, don’t you say
that the devil tempts men to sin?” “Yes,” answered Mr. Thomas. “Then,” said the
Brahmin, “certainly the fault is the devil’s; the devil, therefore, and not man, ought to
suffer punishment.” While the countenances of many of the natives discovered how
pleased they were with what the Brahmin had said, Mr. Thomas, observing a boat with
several men on board descending the river, replied, with that facility of retort with which
he was gifted, “Brahmin, do you see yonder boat?” “Yes.” “Suppose I were to send some
of my friends to destroy every person on board, and bring me all that is valuable in the
boat—who ought to suffer punishment? I, for instructing them, or they for doing this
wicked act?” “Why,” answered the Brahmin, with emotion, “you ought all to be put to
death together.” “Ay, Brahmin,” replied Mr. Thomas, “and if you and the devil sin
together, the devil and you will be punished together.” (Christian Herald.)
5
“Suppose there is a righteous man
who does what is just and right.
CLARKE, "If a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right - If he be
just or holy within, and do what is according to law and equity. What is meant by this, is
immediately specified.
GILL, "But if a man be just,.... Not legally, as to be wholly free from sin, for there is
no such just man, Ecc_7:20; but evangelically, through the imputation of the
righteousness of Christ unto him; and who has a principle of grace and holiness wrought
in him; a man of a just principle and good conscience; who is disposed by the grace of
God to that which is just and right; for this seems to refer to the inward frame of the
mind, as distinct from actions, and as the source of them, as follows:
and do that which is lawful and right; or "judgment" (c) and "justice"; true
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77. judgment and justice, as the Targum; that which is just and right by the law of God, and
is so between man and man; the particulars of which follow:
HENRY 5-9, " Though God might justify himself by insisting upon his sovereignty,
yet he waives that, and lays down the equitable and unexceptionable rule of judgment by
which he will proceed as to particular persons; and it is this: - First, The sinner that
persists in sin shall certainly die, his iniquity shall be his ruin: The soul that sins shall
die, shall die as a soul can die, shall be excluded from the favour of God, which is the life
and bliss of the soul, and shall lie for ever under his wrath, which is its death and misery.
Sin is the act of the soul, the body being only the instrument of unrighteousness; it is
called the sin of the soul, Mic_6:7. And therefore the punishment of sin is the tribulation
and the anguish of the soul, Rom_2:9. Secondly, The righteous man that perseveres in
his righteousness shall certainly live. If a man be just, have a good principle, a good
spirit and disposition, and, as an evidence of that, do judgment and justice (Eze_18:5),
he shall surely live, saith the Lord God, Eze_18:9. He that makes conscience of
conforming in every thing to the will of God, that makes it his business to serve God and
his aim to glorify God, shall without fail be happy here and for ever in the love and
favour of God; and, wherein he comes short of his duty, it shall be forgiven him, through
a Mediator. Now here is part of the character of this just man. 1. He is careful to keep
himself clean from the pollutions of sin, and at a distance from all the appearances of
evil. (1.) From sins against the second commandment. In the matters of God's worship
he is jealous, for he knows God is so. He has not only not sacrificed in the high places to
the images there set up, but he has not so much as eaten upon the mountains, that is,
not had any communion with idolaters by eating things sacrificed to idols, 1Co_10:20.
He would not only not kneel with them at their altars, but not sit with them at their
tables in their high places. He detests not only the idols of the heathen but the idols of
the house of Israel, which were not only allowed of, but generally applauded and adored,
by those that were accounted the professing people of God. He has not only not
worshipped those idols, but he has not so much as lifted up his eyes to them; he has not
given them a favourable look, has had no regard at all to them, neither desired their
favour nor dreaded their frowns. He has observed so many bewitched by them that he
has not dared so much as to look at them, lest he should be taken in the snare. The eyes
of idolaters are said to go a whoring, Eze_6:9. See Deu_4:19. (2.) From sins against the
seventh commandment. He is careful to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour,
and not in the lusts of uncleanness; and therefore he has not dared to defile his
neighbour's wife, nor said or done any thing which had the least tendency to corrupt or
debauch her, no, nor will he make any undue approaches to his own wife when she is put
apart for her uncleanness, for it was forbidden by the law, Lev_18:19; Lev_20:18. Note,
It is an essential branch of wisdom and justice to keep the appetites of the body always in
subjection to reason and virtue. (3.) From sins against the eighth commandment. He is a
just man, who has not, by fraud and under colour of law and right, oppressed any, and
who has not with force and arms spoiled any by violence, not spoiled them of their
goods or estates, much less of their liberties and lives, Eze_18:7. Oppression and
violence were the sins of the old world, that brought the deluge, and are sins of which
still God is and will be the avenger. Nay, he is one that has not lent his money upon
usury, nor taken increase (Eze_18:8), though, being done by contract, it may seem free
from injustice (Volenti non fit injuria - What is done to a person with his own consent is
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78. no injury to him), yet, as far as it is forbidden by the law, he dares not do it. A moderate
usury they were allowed to receive from strangers, but not from their brethren. A just
man will not take advantage of his neighbour's necessity to make a prey of him, nor
indulge himself in ease and idleness to live upon the sweat and toil of others, and
therefore will not take increase from those who cannot make increase of what he lends
them, nor be rigorous in exacting what was agreed for from those who by the act of God
are disabled to pay it; but he is willing to share in loss as well as profit. Qui sentit
commodum, sentire debet et onus - He who enjoys the benefit should bear the burden.
2. He makes conscience of doing the duties of his place. He has restored the pledge to
the poor debtor, according to the law. Exo_22:26. “If thou take thy neighbour's raiment
for a pledge, the raiment that is for necessary use, thou shalt deliver it to him again, that
he may sleep in his own bedclothes.” Nay, he has not only restored to the poor that
which was their own, but has given his bread to the hungry. Observe, It is called his
bread, because it is honestly come by; that which is given to some is not unjustly taken
from others; for God has said, I hate robbery for burnt-offerings. Worldly men insist
upon it that their bread is their own, as Nabal, who therefore would not give of it to
David (1Sa_25:11); yet let them know that it is not so their own but that they are bound
to do good to others with it. Clothes are necessary as well as food, and therefore this just
man is so charitable as to cover the naked also with a garment, Eze_18:7. The coats
which Dorcas had made for the poor were produced as witnesses of her charity, Act_
9:39. This just man has withdrawn his hands from iniquity, Eze_18:8. If at any time he
has been drawn in through inadvertency to that which afterwards has appeared to him
to be a wrong thing, he does not persist in it because he has begun it, but withdraws his
hand from that which he now perceives to be iniquity; for he executes true judgment
between man and man, according as his opportunity is of doing it (as a judge, as a
witness, as a juryman, as a referee), and in all commerce is concerned that justice be
done, that no man be wronged, that he who is wronged be righted, and that every man
have his own, and is ready to interpose himself, and do any good office, in order
hereunto. This is his character towards his neighbours; yet it will not suffice that he be
just and true to his brother, to complete his character he must be so to his God likewise
(Eze_18:9): He has walked in my statutes, those which relate to the duties of his
immediate worship; he has kept those and all his other judgments, has had respect to
them all, has made it his constant care and endeavour to conform and come up to them
all, to deal truly, that so he may approve himself faithful to his covenant with God, and,
having joined himself to God, he does not treacherously depart from him, nor dissemble
with him. This is a just man, and living he shall live; he shall certainly live, shall have
life and shall have it more abundantly, shall live truly, live comfortably, live eternally.
Keep the commandments, and thou shalt enter into life, Mat_19:17.
JAMISON, "Here begins the illustration of God’s impartiality in a series of supposed
cases. The first case is given in Eze_18:5-9, the just man. The excellencies are selected in
reference to the prevailing sins of the age, from which such a one stood aloof; hence
arises the omission of some features of righteousness, which, under different
circumstances, would have been desirable to be enumerated. Each age has its own
besetting temptations, and the just man will be distinguished by his guarding against the
peculiar defilements, inward and outward, of his age.
just ... lawful ... right — the duties of the second table of the law, which flow from
78

79. the fear of God. Piety is the root of all charity; to render to each his own, as well to our
neighbor, as to God.
CALVIN, “Here the Prophet confirms his former teaching by examples. For he first
says, if any one faithfully keep the law, he shall prosper, since God will repay the
reward of justice: afterwards he adds, if the just man beget a son unlike himself, the
justice of the father shall not profit the degenerate son, but he shall receive the
reward of his iniquity. But if this second person should beget a son who does not
imitate his father, God promises that this third person shall be acceptable by him,
because he is just, and therefore enjoys prosperity and happiness. We see, then, that
the grandfather and grandson are here spoken of, and that the son of the first, and
father of the third, is placed between them. But this is the Spirit’s intention, that
God has prepared a reward for each according to their lives, so that he does not
permit them to be deprived of their promised blessing, nor let the impious and
despisers of his law escape. Now let us come to the words, if any one has been just,
says he, he shall be just, therefore he shall live. He speaks generally first: he
afterwards enumerates certain species under which he embraces the sum of the
whole law. The full sentence is, if any one has been just, he shall live in consequence
of his justice. But the Prophet defines what it is to be just, and he there chooses
certain parts of the law: by putting a part for the whole, as I have said, he signifies,
that whoever faithfully observes the law is esteemed just before God. Now we must
examine each of these kinds of justice, and afterwards come to the general doctrine.
He says first, that he is just who does justice and judgement. By the word judgment
holy Scripture signifies rectitude; but when the two words are joined together,
judgment seems to express more than justice: for justice is nothing but equity,
fidelity, integrity, when we abstain altogether from fraud and violence, and deal
with our brethren as we wish them to deal with us. Whoever so conducts himself is
said to do justice; but judgment is extended further, namely, when we not only
desire to benefit but defend our brethren, when unjustly oppressed, as far as we
can, and when we oppose the lust and violence of those who would overthrow all
that is right and holy. Hence to do judgment and justice is nothing else than to
abstain from all injury by cultivating good faith and equity with our neighbors:
then to defend all good causes, and to take the innocent under our patronage when
we see them unjustly injured and oppressed. But these duties belong properly to the
second table of the law. But it is clear from this that we fear God when we live justly
with our brethren, for piety is the root of charity. Although many profane persons
seem blameless in their life, and manifest a rare integrity, yet no one ever loves his
neighbor from his heart, unless he fears and reverences God. Since, therefore,
charity flows from piety and the fear of God, as often as we see the duties of the
79

80. second table placed before us, we should learn them to be the testimonies to the
worship of God, as is this place: but then the Prophet also adds certain parts of the
first table.
COFFMAN, "Verse 5
"But if a man be just and do that which is lawful and right, and hath not eaten upon
the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes unto the idols of the house of Israel,
neither hath defiled his neighbor's wife, neither hath come near to a woman in her
impurity, and hath not wronged any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge,
hath taken naught by robbery, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered
the naked with a garment; he that hath not given forth upon interest, neither hath
taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity; hath executed true
justice between man and man, hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept mine
ordinances, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord Jehovah."
The distinctions between the righteous and the wicked which are listed here are
repeated over and over again in this chapter, with only very slight variations. The
critical bias that God cares only for the observance of God's law, and that
ceremonial considerations are unimportant was succinctly stated thus by Cooke.
"The sins enumerated are moral rather than ceremonial offenses";[8] However, the
reference to the righteous man's keeping "all my statutes" in such passages as
Ezekiel 18:6,9,11,17,21, cannot possibly support such an error.
Beginning with this paragraph and running through Ezekiel 18:18, "Ezekiel gives a
concrete example of the truth announced in Ezekiel 18:4, above. Three generations
are presented: (1) a just grandfather; (2) an ungodly son; and (3) a righteous
grandson. The three kings of Judah, namely, Hezekiah, Manasseh, and Josiah fit the
descriptions given here."[9]
"And hath not eaten upon the mountains ..." (Ezekiel 18:6). Such scholars as May
and Eichrodt agree that this passage should be translated, "If he doth not eat flesh
with the blood."[10] The importance of this lies in the fact that the very first
80

81. identification mark of the righteous man is that he respects the ceremonial
requirements of the Law of Moses. Since the "eating upon the mountains" where
the idol worship took place almost certainly involved the use of food improperly
prepared, the emended text, as proposed, would appear to be correct. A Biblical
mention of the sin of eating flesh with the blood is found in 1 Samuel 14:32-34.
"He that hath not given forth upon interest ..." (Ezekiel 18:8). "The embargo
against interest, found here and in passages such as Psalms 15:5 is primarily a
reference to charitable loans to persons in distress. (Deuteronomy 23:19f) permitted
the charging of interest on loans to non-Israelites."[11]
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:5 But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right,
Ver. 5. But if a man be just.] Keep faith and a good conscience; do good acts, and
have good aims; do all as well as any, not this or that, but this and that too, as here it
followeth, duties of piety, and duties of charity.
BENSON, "Verses 5-9
Ezekiel 18:5-9. If a man be just — Or righteous, rather, as the word ‫צדיק‬ properly
signifies; for it is not mere honesty, but true religion that is intended. And hath not
eaten upon the mountains — Feasted on the sacrifices they offered to false gods.
Idolatrous worship was commonly performed upon mountains or high places; and
eating part of the sacrifice was properly maintaining communion with the idol to
which it was offered. Neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols — In prayer and
adoration. And hath restored to the debtor his pledge — That is, what he could not
be in want of without great inconvenience; such as clothes, bedding, and the like.
God forbade the Jews to detain all night any pledge of this kind which they took
from a poor man, (see the margin,) which was, in effect, to enjoin them to lend to the
poor, without either pawn or usury. Hath given his bread to the hungry — After the
offices of justice, come those of charity or beneficence: see margin. That hath not
given forth upon usury — Usury, when exacted of the poor, has been generally
condemned as no better than oppression, and is particularly forbidden by the law:
81

82. see the margin. It is probable this sort of usury is chiefly here meant, because it is
joined with oppression, violence, and want of charity. Every kind and degree of
usury, however, was forbidden to the Israelites among one another, to promote a
spirit of mutual kindness. But this law was peculiar to them: like their not reaping
the corners of their fields, and their not gleaning their vines and olive-trees. Neither
hath taken any increase — This seems to be meant of taking any advantage of the
poor upon any occasion: see note on Leviticus 25:36. Hath executed true judgment
between man and man — Whenever he has been appointed a judge or an arbiter of
differences between men; or, according as he has opportunity of doing it. Hath
walked in my statutes, and kept my judgments — My ordinances and
commandments, attending diligently to the various institutions of my worship, and
living in continual obedience to my will as revealed in my word, and that from a
principle of faith in, and love to me, Deuteronomy 6:5; and Deuteronomy 30:20; to
deal truly — Uprightly and sincerely, according to the best of his knowledge; he is
just — Righteous in a gospel sense. Righteousness has been imputed to him, Genesis
15:6; Psalms 32:1-2; and implanted in him, Deuteronomy 5:29; Deuteronomy 30:6;
Psalms 51:10; otherwise it would not be thus practised by him. His person has been
justified, and his nature renewed, otherwise he would neither have inclination nor
power to walk thus before God in all well-pleasing. He shall surely live, saith the
Lord God — Shall enjoy the comfort and reward of his obedience, and shall not
need to fear any of those punishments that befall the wicked. He lives to God here,
and shall live with him hereafter: see notes on Psalms 15.
PETT, "Verses 5-9
The Righteous Father.
“But if a man is just and does what is lawful and right, and has not eaten on the
mountains, nor has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, nor has
defiled his neighbour’s wife, nor has come near to a woman in her separation, and
has not wronged any, but has restored to the debtor his pledge, has spoiled none by
violence, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with
clothing, he who has not lent at interest to the needy, nor has taken any increase,
who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true judgment between
man and man, has walked in my statutes, and has kept my judgments to deal truly.
82

83. He is just. He will surely live, says the Lord Yahweh.”
The righteous man is now described, the one who is acceptable to God and thus free
from judgment. He may suffer from the normal pressures of life, but he will not
suffer for his sin. Each example is take from the law of the covenant.
‘If a man is just and does what is lawful and right.’ The test of a man is his
obedience to the word of God as it is revealed in the Scriptures.
‘And has not eaten on the mountains, nor has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the
house of Israel.’ To ‘eat on the mountains’ referred to participating in festivals
connected with idols in the high places (see Deuteronomy 12:2). These festivals in
Canaan were orgies of sexual perversion (Ezekiel 22:9) and involved mystical
association with the gods in all their lax ways. Combined with this was the
submission to, and worship of, these idols, bowing down to wood and stone in direct
contravention of God’s demands (Exodus 20:5). As Paul would demonstrate, this
would lead to corrupt living (Romans 1:18-32).
‘Nor has defiled his neighbour’s wife, nor has come near to a woman in her
separation.’ The next test is in attitudes towards women. A man’s attitude and
behaviour towards women is a good measure of his whole behaviour. The first
refers to adultery (Exodus 20:14; Leviticus 20:10; Leviticus 20:18; Deuteronomy
22:22), the stealing of what was most precious to a man. It declares strict bounds
beyond which a man may not go. He may not touch another’s wife. The second
refers to intercourse during the menstruation period (Leviticus 15:19-24; Leviticus
18:19-20). The latter had health dangers in the circumstances of the time, but it was
also intended to stress the sacredness of the blood as representative of life and death.
At a time when life was cheap it was a constant reminder that God saw life as
sacred.
“And has not wronged any.” This refers to behaving rightly towards his neighbours.
The righteous man behaves as he would wish others to behave towards him. He
always avoids doing what is harmful to others. Then specific examples follow, taken
83

84. from the Law.
“But has restored to the debtor his pledge.” The basic idea is that he has treated his
debtors, those who have borrowed from him in time of need, correctly and
compassionately, not with exacting demands but with kindness and consideration.
Exodus 22:25 puts it ‘you shall not be to him as a creditor’, that is, treat him
harshly. When a cloak was take in pledge it had to be restored at night so that the
debtor had necessary protection against the cold (Exodus 22:26-27; Amos 2:8;
Deuteronomy 24:12-13). Compare also Deuteronomy 24:6 where a millstone was not
to be accepted as a pledge because a man’s life depended on being his able to mill
grain, and Ezekiel 24:17 where a widow’s clothing was not to be taken in pledge.
Consideration was to be shown at all times. Thus a debtor was not to be humiliated
(Deteronomy Ezekiel 24:10-11). And of course pledges had to be returned once the
debt was paid off (Ezekiel 33:15), something that was not always done, on one
pretext or another. So God watches carefully how we treat those who owe us a debt
of any kind.
This is a reminder that God is concerned about how we run our businesses. Our
excuse may be, ‘but this is business’. God says, ‘remember it is My business, and I
will call you to account for how you run it.’
‘Has spoiled none by violence.’ This was especially spoken to the strong and
influential, but included all who considered using violence on order to enrich
themselves. The use of violence to obtain one’s will is repudiated whether in
commercial activities or any other. It includes robbery with violence and banditry,
but also has in mind all extortion.
‘Has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with clothing.’ The
words are reminiscent of Matthew 25:35-36. Compare also Luke 16:19-31. The
righteous man is revealed by his constant concern for the poor and needy, feeding
the hungry and clothing those in rags. He is epitomised by consideration and
thoughtfulness.
84

85. ‘He who has not lent at interest to the needy, nor has taken any increase.’ This does
not have in mind commercial lending, except where the borrower is in personal
financial need. It has in mind lending to those in need and poverty and who found
themselves in severe straits. To such the well-to-do man should be willing to offer
help and assistance. And it was stated clearly in the Law that such people, when
fellow-Israelites, must not be charged interest, nor must any ‘increase’ (percentage
of produce) be accepted as reward (Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:35-37; Deuteronomy
23:19-20. See also Psalms 15:5; Proverbs 28:8). Loans should be made to needy
people of God out of generosity of heart, not to make a profit or obtain a benefit.
‘Who has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, has executed true judgment between
man and man, has walked in my statutes, and has kept my judgments to deal truly.’
This finally summarises the righteous man. He avoids wrong, is totally fair and
upright in his dealings, is completely trustworthy as a witness, lives in accordance
with the word of God as revealed through the Law and the Prophets and deals truly
in all things.
‘He is just. He will surely live, says the Lord Yahweh.’ On such a man God declares
His verdict. These are the ways of a man accepted as right with God. He behaves
rightly towards both God and man. Thus he will enjoy a prosperous life and will not
die prematurely under judgment.
PULPIT, "Ezekiel 18:5-9
The verses that follow are noticeable as forming one of the most complete pictures of
a righteous life presented in the Old Testament. It ads characteristic of Ezekiel that
he starts from the avoidance of sins against the first table of the commandments. To
eat upon the mountains was to take part in the sacrificial feasts on the places, of
which he had already spoken (Ezekiel 16:16; comp. Ezekiel 22:9; Deuteronomy
12:2). The words, lifted up his eyes, as in Deuteronomy 4:19 and Psalms 121:1,
implied every form of idolatrous adoration. The two sins that follow seem to us, as
compared with each other, to stand on a very different footing. To Ezekiel, however,
they both appeared as mala prohibita, to each of which the Law assigned the
punishment of death (Le Ezekiel 18:19; Ezekiel 20:10, Ezekiel 20:18; Deuteronomy
85

86. 22:22), each involving the dominance of animal passions, in the one case, over the
sacred rights of others; in the other, over a law of self-restraint which rested partly
on physical grounds, the act condemned frustrating the final cause of the union of
the sexes; partly, also, on its ethical significance. The prominence given to it implies
that the sin was common, and that it brought with it an infinite degradation of the
holiest ties.
6
He does not eat at the mountain shrines
or look to the idols of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor’s wife
or have sexual relations with a woman during
her period.
BARNES, "Eaten, upon the mountains - At the feast of idols, in contradiction to
the command of Deu_12:17.
Idols of the house of Israel - Idolatry was so popular that certain idols were
counted as belonging to the people of Israel, of whom Yahweh was the true God.
CLARKE, "Hath not eaten upon the mountains - Idolatrous worship was
generally performed on mountains and hills; and those who offered sacrifices feasted on
the sacrifice, and thus held communion with the idol.
2.
Neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols - Has paid them no religious
adoration; has trusted in them for nothing, and has not made prayer nor supplication
before them.
86

87. 3.
Neither hath defiled his neighbor’s wife - Has had no adulterous connection
with any woman; to which idolatrous feasts and worship particularly led.
4.
Neither hath come nigh to a menstruous woman - Has abstained from the use
of the marriage-bed during the periodical indisposition of his wife. This was absolutely
forbidden by the law; and both the man and the woman who disobeyed the command
were to be put to death, Lev_20:18. For which Calmet gives this reason: “It has been
believed, and experience confirms it, that the children conceived at such times are either
leprous, or monsters, or deformed by their diminutiveness, or by the disproportion of
their members.” There are other reasons for this law, should those of the learned
commentator be found invalid.
GILL, "And hath not eaten upon the mountains,.... Where temples and altars
were built for idols, and sacrifices offered up to them; and where feasts were kept to the
honour of them, and the sacrifices to them eaten; see Eze_6:13; for otherwise it was not
unlawful to eat common food on mountains, as well as on other places; but here it
denotes idolatrous practices; and the Targum is,
"and hath not served idols on the mountains:''
neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel; their
"dunghill gods" (d) as the word signifies; as not to the idols of the Gentiles, so not to
those of Israel, as the calves at Dan and Bethel; these he does not worship, nor pray
unto, or invoke, nor even give a pleasant and favourable look unto; but turned from
them with abhorrence and contempt:
neither hath defiled his neighbour's wife; been guilty of adultery, by lying with
another man's wife; or by marrying one divorced, not having committed fornication;
which divorces were common among the Jews, and marrying such so divorced, Mat_
19:19;
neither hath come near to a menstruous woman: a woman in her monthly
courses, even his own wife; who, according to the law, was set apart for her uncleanness
for a certain term of time; during which she was not to be touched, nor anything she sat
or lay upon; and all conjugal acts to be abstained from, Lev_15:19.
JAMISON, "not eaten upon ... mountains — the high places, where altars were
reared. A double sin: sacrificing elsewhere than at the temple, where only God
sanctioned sacrifice (Deu_12:13, Deu_12:14); and this to idols instead of to Jehovah.
“Eaten” refers to the feasts which were connected with the sacrifices (see Exo_32:6;
Deu_32:38; Jdg_9:27; 1Co_8:4, 1Co_8:10; 1Co_10:7).
lifted ... eyes to — namely, in adoration (Psa_121:1). The superstitious are compared
to harlots; their eyes go eagerly after spiritual lusts. The righteous man not merely
87

88. refrains from the act, but from the glance of spiritual lust (Job_31:1; Mat_5:28).
idols of ... Israel — not merely those of the Gentiles, but even those of Israel. The
fashions of his countrymen could not lead him astray.
defiled ... neighbour’s wife — Not only does he shrink from spiritual, but also
from carnal, adultery (compare 1Co_6:18).
neither ... menstruous woman — Leprosy and elephantiasis were said to be the
fruit of such a connection [Jerome]. Chastity is to be observed even towards one’s own
wife (Lev_18:19; Lev_20:18).
CALVIN, “He says then, if he has not eaten upon the mountains, and not raised his
eyes to the abominable deeds of the house of Israel. These two points respect the
worship of God: for by the figure “a part for the whole” to eat, means to offer
sacrifices: he refers to those to which banquets were added as appendages. And
truly when Paul speaks of idolatry, he does not say, if any one bends his knees
before stone or wood, but he quotes the words of Moses, that the people rose up to
play after eating, that is, after banqueting. (1 Corinthians 10:7; Exodus 32:6.) Hence
a feast is there taken for that sacrilegious profaneness when the people made for
themselves a calf, and wished to worship God before it. When, therefore, it is now
said, if any one has not eaten upon, the mountains: by a feast, as I have said, a
sacrifice offered to idols is intended. Now we know that altars were raised on high in
every direction, because they thought that they were near God when they ascended
to an elevated spot. Because, therefore, superstitions were so exercised on the
mountains, hence the Prophet relates what was customary, if any one has not eaten,
upon the mountains: then he explains himself more clearly, if any one has not raised
his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel. To raise the eyes is here taken by a figure
of speech for to be urged with eagerness towards superstitions: for we know that
eyes are the principal outlets to the affections; for when the affections burst forth in
the eyes, and are conspicuous there, it is not surprising if all our desires are marked
by this form of speech. Thus a person is said to raise his eyes to the house of his
neighbor when he covets it, and also towards his wife, or anything else, when he is
seized by a depraved lusting. The meaning is, then, that those who do not
contaminate themselves with idols are thought just before God, as far as concerns
the first table of the law, since they are content with the simple and lawful worship
of God, and do not incline from it in any direction; nor, like the superstitious, allow
their eyes to be wandering and erratic: and so they are compared with harlots who
seek lovers on all sides. I repeat it again. — the meaning is, that the true worshipers
of God are those who are content with his doctrine, and are not carried hither and
thither by a perverse appetite, and so fabricate for themselves idols. Besides, the
Holy Spirit calls idols ‫,גלולים‬ gelolim, “defilements,” (211) since all superstition
should be detested by us; for as we are prone by nature to all kinds of error, we
88

89. cannot be sufficiently restrained within the true and pure worship of God. Since,
then, unbelievers imagine their gods to be sacred, the Holy Spirit, on the other hand,
pronounces them to be defiling, since their profane worship is disgusting and
abominable. But he says, the idols of the house of Israel, so that all shuffling must
cease: because, if he had spoken of idols only, they might have objected that they
detested the false and foolish gods of the Gentiles; but since many ceremonies were
through long use received among the elect people, these ought not to be condemned
like the impious rites of the heathen. The Holy Spirit refutes this cavil, and says,
that though the house of Israel has approved such defilement’s, yet they are not to
be excused for setting aside the law of God, and devoting themselves to human
fictions.
And has not polluted his neighbors wife. The Prophet now returns again to the
second table, and treats here of adultery; and the language must be noticed, since
such contamination shows how holy God considers the marriage tie: hence we see
the atrocity of the sin, and the detestable nature of adultery; for both parties are
equally polluted, though it appears stronger in the female sex through their natural
modesty. We must hold, then, that the very body is engrained with disgrace and
infamy, as Paul says, when such sins are committed. Other sins, says he, are without
the body; but this is a sin against the body itself which thus bears the marks of
shame and infamy. (1 Corinthians 6:18.) Here, as I have said, Ezekiel treats the case
of the woman, since the offense is in her case more pernicious. It follows — and has
not approached a female when legally unclean: for we know this to be prohibited
under the law; as being contrary to nature; for it was not necessary to define the
matter by written law, as it speaks for itself. and God detests such crimes, not only
because their offspring would contaminate cities and the nation at large, but
because they are adverse to the instincts of human nature. (Leviticus 18:19;
Leviticus 20:18.) He afterwards adds, if he has not oppressed or afflicted any one.
This is general, just as if the Prophet had said, if he has abstained from all fraud,
violence, and injustice. But this is a great point to live so innocently among men, that
no one should complain of any injury done to him, nor of any loss sustained. But it
is not enough to preserve this self-restraint unless we desire to profit our brethren,
since God wishes the good offices of life to be reciprocal: although, indeed, to take
care to be free from all injustice ought to precede other duties. He says, if he has
returned his pledge to the debtor. This ought not to be taken generally, but depends
on the precept of the law; for we have often said, that the prophets are the
interpreters of Moses, and so they often touch briefly on what Moses expresses more
clearly. But if we wish to occupy ourselves usefully in reading them, we ought to
89

90. determine the meaning of the law, and then to accommodate what we read in the
prophets to what is there contained. (212) So, in this passage, to restore the pledge
to, the debtor, is restricted to the poor and needy, who had pledged either their
garments, or their beds, or the tools by which they acquired a livelihood: for God
forbids taking a pledge of a widow or a poor person: then he forbids taking a
millstone, that is, any tool which a workman uses to Judea his living; for if any one
empties the workshop of the miserable, he might just as well take his life. Hence
Moses says, His life is in the pledge, (Deuteronomy 24:6,) that is, if any one pledges
his tools, it is like having his hands cut off, since he cannot carry on his trade
without His tools: hence you take away his life. Hence God forbids taking a coverlet,
or garments, or bedding, for a wretched man would perish with cold were he to
pledge either his coverlet or his bedding. But if, on the other hand, men of this kind
are assisted without taking a pledge, they will bless those who abstain from too
much rigor. Lastly, God forbids the destruction of the poor man’s house, lest he
should be ashamed of his poverty, and then because it is too cruel to penetrate into
the house of another, and inquire for its contents; nay, this is a species of robbery.
We see now how Ezekiel thought to be understood, if he has restored a pledge to the
debtor, that is, to the poor debtor, or the necessary pledge, as I have said, such as
tools and needful furniture, without which a person cannot exercise his trade. He
has not seized a prey, that is, has not preyed upon his neighbors. For every kind of
robbery is here marked by the word ‫,גזל‬ gezel, violence. And has given his bread to
the hungry. Here the Prophet teaches what I have lately touched on, that cautious
self-restraint from all injury is not sufficient, and sparing our neighbors; but that
more is required, since we ought to assist them as far as we possibly can. Unless this
had been added, many might object that they injured no one, never defrauded any,
nor took advantage of the simple. But since God has united men in the bonds of
mutual society, hence they must mutually perform good offices for each other. Here,
then, it is required of the rich to succor the poor, and to offer bread to the hungry.
But it is said, His bread, lest any one should object, through his habit of being too
restricted; but there is no reason to bind me to bestow my goods on others: this is
my bread, and so I have a right to possess what is my own: if any one is oppressed
by want, I confess it to be praiseworthy to succor him, but no one is compelled to
this act of liberality. Lest any one should escape thus, behold, says the Holy Spirit,
although you rightly call the bread yours, yet it is not so yours that you ought to
refuse your brother when his hunger provokes you to pity. And has covered the
naked with a garment: the rule for garment and for bread is the same. The
substance is, that others are not deemed just before God unless they are inclined to
benevolence, so as to supply the necessities of their brethren, and to succor them in
their poverty. It follows, since he has not given on usury and has not received
increase. Here, among other crimes, Ezekiel enumerates usury — though the word
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91. usury is not properly suitable to this passage ‫,נשך‬ neshek, is deduced from biting,
and so the Hebrews name usury, because it gnaws and by degrees consumes the
miserable. Ezekiel then says, that they are considered observers of the law who
abstain from usury. But because men are very acute and cunning on this point, and
devise subterfuges by which they may hide their cruelty, he adds, and has not
received increase: for we know how various are the schemes for gain: for whoever
devotes his attention to unlawful gains, will find out many monstrous things which
no one would ever have thought of. Thus it happens that the usurer will deny that
he exacts usury, and yet he will spoil the wretched and even suck out their blood.
Under the name, ‫,תרבית‬ ther-bith, Ezekiel comprehends those more secret kinds of
usury which the avaricious use with many disguises, and when they spread such
coverings before them, think themselves free from all blame. Hence the Prophet
says, even if the name of usury is removed and is not taken into account, yet it is
sufficient to condemn men if they receive increase, that is, make a profit at the
expense of others. A question arises here, whether usury be in itself a crime, since
God formerly permitted his people to take interest of strangers, and only forbade it
among themselves. And there was the best reason for that law. For if its just
proportion had been overthrown, there would have been no reciprocity, since the
Gentiles could exact interest of the Jews; and unless that right had been mutual and
reciprocal, as the phrase is, the condition of God’s people would have been worse
than that of the Gentiles. God therefore permitted his people to take interest, but
not among each other, as I have said: this was only allowable with strangers.
Besides, the law itself was political: but in this case the Prophet seems to condemn
all kinds of interest, and exaggerates the weight of the sentence, when he adds
increase, that is, whatever gains the avaricious mutually strive for. So also in the
15th Psalm, where a just mode of living is proscribed for us, David mentions, among
other things — who has not lent his money on usury, (Psalms 15:5.) It seems, then,
from these two places, that usury is in itself unlawful. But because God’s law
embraces complete and perfect justice, hence we must hold that interest, unless it is
opposed to God’s law, is not altogether to be condemned, otherwise ignominy would
clearly attach to the law of God if it did not prescribe to us a true and complete rule
of living justly. But in the law there is that perfection to which nothing can be
added. If then we wish to determine whether interest is unlawful we must come to
the rule of the law, which cannot deceive us: but we shall not find all interest
contrary to the law, and hence it follows that interest is not always to be condemned.
Here, too, we must remember that we must regard the subject rather than the
words, for men trifle by their own caviling, but God does not admit of such fallacies.
Hence, as I said, the substance ought to be weighed, because the words alone will not
enable us to decide whether interest be sometimes lawful or not. For example,
among the Latin’s the word for interest is honorable in itself and has no disgrace
91

92. attached to it, but that for usury is odious. What causes disgrace to be thus hidden
under it, but they fancied that they abhorred usurers, hence the general term
interest contains within it all kinds of usury, and there was nothing so cruel, so
unjust, and so barbarous, which was not covered by that pretense. Now since the
name for interest was unknown to the French, that for usury became detestable:
hence the French devised a new craftiness by which they could deceive God. For
since no one could bear the name of usury, they used “interest” instead: but what
does this mean but something which interests us, and thus it signifies all kinds of
repayment for loans, for there was no kind of interest among the ancients which is
not now comprehended in this word. Now since we have said that interest cannot be
totally and without exception condemned, (for we must not play upon words, but
treat the real point,) we must see how far it can be proved not to be reckoned a
crime. First of all, in a well regulated state, no usurer is tolerated: even the profane
see this: whoever therefore professedly adopts this occupation, he ought to be
expelled from intercourse with his fellow-men. For if any illiberal pursuits load
those who pursue them with censure, that of the usurer is certainly an illiberal
trade, and unworthy of a pious and honorable man. Hence Cato said that to take
usury was almost the same as murder. For when asked concerning agriculture, after
he had given his opinion, he inquired, But what is usury? Is it not murder? says he.
And surely the usurer will always be a robber; that is, he will make a profit by his
trade, and will defraud, and his iniquity will increase just as if there were no laws,
no equity, and no mutual regard among mankind. This is one point: but there is
another part of the occupation besides that of taking interest. When any one sets up
his table he uses the same art as a farmer does in employing his labor in cultivating
the fields. But any one may receive interest without being a professed usurer. For
example, a person may have capital and put out a part of it on loan, and thus receive
interest: and if he do that once, he will not be called a usurer; so that we must
consider when and from whom a person exacts interest. But this sentiment ought to
prevail here: “neither everywhere, nor always, nor all things, nor from all.” This
indeed was said of offices, and that law was imposed upon the governors of
provinces: but it agrees best with this subject. It is not suitable then to receive “all
things,” because if the profit exceed moderation it must be rejected, since it is
contrary to charity: we said also that the continual habit and custom is not without
fault. Neither “everywhere,” since the usurer, as I have said, ought not to enter or be
brought into the Church of God. Then again, not “from all,” because it is always
wrong to exact usury from a poor man; but if a man is rich, and has money of his
own, as the saying is, and has a very good estate and a large patrimony, and should
borrow money of his neighbor, will that neighbor commit sin by receiving a profit
from the loan of his money? Another borrower is the richer of the two, and might
do without it and yet suffer no loss: but he wishes to buy a farm and enjoy its fruits:
92

93. why should the creditor be deprived of his rights when his money brings profit to a
neighbor richer than himself? We see, then, that it may sometimes happen that the
receiver of interest is not to be hastily condemned, since he is not acting contrary to
God’s law. But we must always hold that the tendency of usury is to oppress one’s
brother, and hence it is to be wished that the very names of usury and interest were
buried and blotted out from the memory of men. But since men cannot otherwise
transact their business, we must always observe what is lawful, and how far it is so.
I know that the subject might be treated at greater length, but I have shortly
expressed what is sufficient for our purpose.
It follows, And has withdrawn his hand from iniquity. Here again the Prophet
commends innocence, when we are cautious that our neighbor should not receive
any damage or injury through our fault. Hence abstaining from injury is again
praised here, but a new form of speech is used, since if men are not very anxious and
careful they easily extend the hand to iniquity: and why so? various means of gain
from many quarters present themselves to us, and we are easily led captive by such
enticements. Hence the Prophet, not without reason, here commends the servants of
God to withdraw the hand from iniquity, that is, not only to abstain from injury,
but when the sweetness of gain entices us, and some plausible means of profit is
proposed, that they should restrain themselves this is the meaning of to withdraw
the hand from iniquity. The rest I leave for tomorrow.
COKE, "Ezekiel 18:6. And hath not eaten, &c.— Idolatrous worship was generally
performed upon the mountains or high places; and eating part of the sacrifice was
properly entertaining communion with the idol to whom it was offered. The high
places whereof Ezekiel speaks here, were of the most infamous sort, where the
grossest idolatries and the vilest prostitutions were committed.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:6 [And] hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted
up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour’s
wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman,
Ver. 6. And hath not eaten upon the mountains,] i.e., Hath not offered there to idols;
for at their sacrifices they feasted. [Exodus 32:1-6] The people sat down to eat and
93

94. drink, and rose up to play. See Ezekiel 20:28, Hosea 4:13.
Neither hath lift up his eyes to the idols.] As every Papist doth daily, and is therefore
no righteous person, such as is here described. Neither helpeth it, that they are the
"idols of the house of Israel," and not the idols of the nations.
Neither hath come near to a menstruous woman.] Though his own wife. [Leviticus
18:19; Leviticus 20:18] Adulter enim est uxoris propriae ardentior amator, said a
heathen; There is a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
[Ecclesiastes 3:5]
7
He does not oppress anyone,
but returns what he took in pledge for a loan.
He does not commit robbery
but gives his food to the hungry
and provides clothing for the naked.
CLARKE, "Hath not oppressed any - Has not used his power or influence to
oppress, pain, or injure another.
94

95. 6.
Hath restored to the debtor his pledge - Has carefully surrendered the pawn or
pledge when its owner came to redeem it. As the pledge is generally of more worth than
that for which it is pledged, an unprincipled man will make some pretense to keep it;
which is highly abominable in the sight of God.
7.
Hath spoiled none by violence - Either by robbery or personal insult. For a man
may be spoiled both ways.
8.
Hath given his bread to the hungry - Has been kind-hearted and charitable;
especially to them that are in the deepest want.
9.
Hath covered the naked with a garment - Has divided both his bread and his
clothing with the necessitous. These are two branches of the same root.
GILL, "And hath not oppressed any,.... By fraud or force, particularly the poor, to
the great grief and hurt of them:
but hath restored to the debtor his pledge; which was pawned; not embezzling it,
or keeping it beyond the time fixed by the law of God, Deu_24:12;
hath spoiled none by violence; has not committed theft and robbery, or done injury
to any man's person and property:
hath given his bread to the hungry; which was his own; what he had laboured for,
and come by honestly, and so had a right to dispose of; and being merciful, as well as
just, eats not his morsel alone, but distributes it to the poor and hungry, Isa_58:7;
and hath covered the naked with a garment; as Job did, as well as the former, and
for which Dorcas is commended, Job_31:17.
JAMISON, "restored ... pledge — that which the poor debtor absolutely needed;
as his raiment, which the creditor was bound to restore before sunset (Exo_22:26, Exo_
22:27), and his millstone, which was needed for preparing his food (Deu_24:6, Deu_
24:10-13).
bread to ... hungry ... covered ... naked — (Isa_58:7; Mat_25:35, Mat_25:36).
After duties of justice come those of benevolence. It is not enough to refrain from doing
a wrong to our neighbor, we must also do him good. The bread owned by a man, though
“his,” is given to him, not to keep to himself, but to impart to the needy.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:7 And hath not oppressed any, [but] hath restored to the
debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry,
95

96. and hath covered the naked with a garment;
Ver. 7. And hath not oppressed any.] Either by force or fraud.
Hath given his bread to the hungry.] Negative goodness alone is little worth. Men
must not only rob the hospital, as we say, spoil the poor by violence, but "draw
forth their souls," and their sheaves both, "to the hungry," and clothe the naked
with a garment, or they cannot have the comfort and credit of just men.Ezekiel 18:7
Hath restored to the debtor his pledge. The law, found in Exodus 22:1-31.25 and
Deuteronomy 24:6, Deuteronomy 24:13, was a striking instance of the
considerateness of the Mosaic Law. The garment which the debtor had pledged as a
security was to be restored to him at night. Such a law implied, of course, the return
of the pledge in the morning. It was probably often used by the debtor for his own
fraudulent advantage, and it was a natural consequence that the creditor should be
tempted to evade compliance with it. The excellence of the man whom Ezekiel
describes was that he resisted the temptation. Hath spoiled none by violence. Comp.
Le Ezekiel 6:1-5, which Ezekiel probably had specially in view. The sin, common
enough at all times (1 Samuel 12:3), would seem to have been specially characteristic
of the time in which Ezekiel lived, from the king downwards (Jeremiah 22:13). As
contrasted with the sin, there was the virtue of generous almsgiving (Isaiah 58:5-7).
8
He does not lend to them at interest
or take a profit from them.
He withholds his hand from doing wrong
96

97. and judges fairly between two parties.
BARNES, "Usury - is the profit exacted for the loan of money, “increase” that which
is taken for goods; both are forbidden Lev_25:36; Deu_23:19. The placing out of capital
at interest for commercial purposes is not taken into consideration. The case is that of
money lent to a brother in distress.
CLARKE, "10.
Hath not given forth upon usury - ‫יתן‬ ‫לא‬ ‫בנשך‬ beneshech lo yitten. ‫נשך‬ nasach
signifies to bite; usury is properly so termed, because it bites into and devours the
principal. Usury signifies, with us, exacting unlawful interest for money; and taking the
advantage of a man’s necessities to advance him cash on exorbitant profit. This bites the
receiver in his property, and the lender in his salvation.
11.
Neither hath taken any increase - In lending has not required more than was
lent; and has not taken that product of the cash lent, which was more than the value for
its use. This may be a part of the tenth article.
12.
That hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity - Never associates with those who
act contrary to justice and equity; his hand or influence being never found among evil
workers.
13.
Hath executed true judgment between man and man - Being neither swayed
by prejudice, fear, nor favor.
These thirteen points concern his social and civil relations.
GILL, "He that hath not given forth upon usury,.... Money, victuals, or any other
thing, which was forbidden the Jews to take of their brethren, though they might of
strangers, Deu_23:19;
neither hath taken any increase: or interest; or rather something over and above
the interest money or use, as a gratuity for lending it upon the said interest:
that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity; not only that now mentioned, but all
others; who, having inadvertently engaged in that which is sinful, as soon as it appears
97

98. to him to be so, gets out of it, and abstains from it as soon as possible:
hath executed true judgment between man and man; whether in office as a
judge, who sits on the bench for that purpose; or as an arbitrator chosen to decide
matters in controversy between one man and another, and that does everything just and
right between man and man.
JAMISON, "usury — literally, “biting.” The law forbade the Jew to take interest
from brethren but permitted him to do so from a foreigner (Exo_22:25; Deu_23:19,
Deu_23:20; Neh_5:7; Psa_15:5). The letter of the law was restricted to the Jewish
polity, and is not binding now; and indeed the principle of taking interest was even then
sanctioned, by its being allowed in the case of a foreigner. The spirit of the law still binds
us, that we are not to take advantage of our neighbor’s necessities to enrich ourselves,
but be satisfied with moderate, or even no, interest, in the case of the needy.
increase — in the case of other kinds of wealth; as “usury” refers to money (Lev_
25:36).
withdrawn ... hand, etc. — Where he has the opportunity and might find a
plausible plea for promoting his own gain at the cost of a wrong to his neighbor, he
keeps back his hand from what selfishness prompts.
judgment — justice.
COKE, "Ezekiel 18:8. Upon usury.— See Deuteronomy 23:19-20 : unto a stranger
thou mayest lend upon usury; whence it follows, that taking increase is not malum
per se; but agreeable to justice, if duly circumstanced. Every kind and degree of
usury was forbidden to the Israelites among each other, to promote a spirit of
mutual kindness. But this law was peculiar to them; like their not reaping the
corners of their fields, and their not gleaning their vine-trees and olive-trees.
Leviticus 19:9-10. Deuteronomy 24:19-22.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:8 He [that] hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken
any increase, [that] hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true
judgment between man and man,
Ver. 8. He that hath not given forth upon usury.] Of this sin, see what I have said
elsewhere. [Exodus 22:25 Psalms 15:5 Nehemiah 5:10]
Neither hath taken any increase.] Interest we call it now, after the French, who first
98

99. helped us to that fine word. (a) But let the patrons of usury consider that what
distinctions soever they bring for it, God alloweth here of no usury, but condemneth
both Neshec the biting, and Tarbith the toothless usury, as equally naught.
That hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity.] Whether it be injury to another,
revenge, raking together riches of unrighteousness, reaching after honours, &c.
Hath executed true judgment.] Without partiality or passion, whether he be a judge
or an arbitrator.
PULPIT, "Ezekiel 18:8
He that hath not given forth his money upon usury. The word "usury," we must
remember, is used, not, as with us, for exorbitant interest above the market rate, but
for interest of any kind. This was allowed in commercial dealings with foreigners
(Deuteronomy 23:20), but was altogether forbidden in the ease of loans to Israelites
(Exodus 22:25; Le Exodus 25:35, Exodus 25:37; Deuteronomy 23:19 : Isaiah 24:2).
The principle implied in this distinction was that, although it was, on strict
principles of justice, allowable to charge for the use of money, as for the use of lands
or the hire of cattle, Israel, as a people, was under the higher law of brotherhood. If
money was to be lent at all, it was to be lent as to a brother in went (Matthew 5:42;
Luke 6:35), for the relief of his necessities, and not to make profit. A brother who
would not help a brother by a loan without interest was thought unworthy of the
name. The ideal of the social polity of Israel was that it was to consist of a
population of small freeholders, bound together by ties of mutual help—a national
friendly society, rather than of traders and manufacturers; and hence the whole
drift of its legislation tended to repress the money making spirit which afterwards
became specially characteristic of its people, and ate like a canker into its life. The
distinction between the two words seems to be that "usury" represents any interest
on money; and "increase," any profit on the sale of goods beyond the cost of
production, as measured by the maintenance of the worker and his family. To buy
in the cheapest market and sell in the dearest was not to be the rule in a nation of
brothers, and it was wiser to forbid it altogether rather than to sanction what we
call a "reasonable rate" of interest or profit. Hath executed true judgment. The last
99

100. special feature in the description of the righteous man is that he is free from the
judicial corruption which has always been the ineradicable evil of Eastern social life
(1 Samuel 8:3; 1 Samuel 12:3; Amos 5:12; Isaiah 33:15).
9
He follows my decrees
and faithfully keeps my laws.
That man is righteous;
he will surely live,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
BARNES 9-13, "Live ... die - In the writings of Ezekiel there is a development of the
meaning of “life” and “death.” In the holy land the sanctions of divine government were
in great degree temporal; so that the promise of “life” for “obedience,” the threatening of
“death” for “disobedience,” in the Books of Moses, were regarded simply as temporal
and national. In their exile this could not continue in its full extent, and the universality
of the misfortune necessarily made men look deeper into the words of God. The word
“soul” denotes a “person” viewed as an “individual,” possessing the “life” which God
breathed into man when he became a “living soul” Gen_2:7; i. e., it distinguishes
“personality” from “nationality,” and this introduces that fresh and higher idea of “life”
and “death,” which is not so much “life” and “death” in a future state, as “life” and
“death” as equivalent to communion with or separation from God - that idea of life and
death which was explained by our Lord in the Gospel of John John 8, and by Paul in
Rom. 8.
100

101. CLARKE, "Hath walked in my statutes - Not only acknowledging them to be
right, but acting according to them. Especially in every thing that relates to my worship,
changing nothing, neglecting nothing.
And hath kept my judgments, to deal truly - Has attended to my Divine
direction, both with respect to things forbidden, and things commanded. These concern
men in their religious conduct.
He is just - ‫הוא‬ ‫צדיק‬ tsaddik hu. He is a righteous man; he has given to all their due;
he has abstained from every appearance of evil, and done that which was lawful and
right in the sight of God.
He shall surely live - He has lived to me, and he shall live with me.
GILL, "Hath walked in my statutes,.... Respecting the worship of God and true
religion; being observant of all laws and ordinances relating thereunto:
and hath kept my judgments to deal truly; in things moral and civil among men;
regarding all such laws of God as oblige to such things:
he is just; such a man is a just man, at least externally; and if he does all these things
from a right principle, without trusting to them for justification before God, and
acceptance with him, but looking to the righteousness of Christ for these things, he is
truly, and in the sight of God, a just man:
he shall surely live, saith the Lord God; spiritually and comfortably here, and an
eternal life hereafter; or rather he shall not be distressed with famine, sword, or plague,
or go into captivity; but shall live in his own land, and eat the good things of it; and this
shall be his case, let his father have been what he will, ever so great a sinner.
JAMISON, "truly — with integrity.
surely live — literally, “live in life.” Prosper in this life, but still more in the life to
come (Pro_3:1, Pro_3:2; Amo_5:4).
CALVIN, “We yesterday explained why the Prophet says that no one is just unless
he withdraw his hands from iniquity, because many occasions tempt us to injure
others: unless we restrain ourselves in a middle course we often hurt our neighbors.
Now among the virtues of a just man he puts, to judge according to truth: to act
truthfully, says he, between man and man. This seems indeed to be the proper duty
of judges who discharge a public office, but yet it is suitable to private persons; for
although no one argues his own cause except before some one endued with power to
101

102. decide it, yet we see that the inclinations of men often pervert equity and rectitude in
judgments. Again, many are chosen arbitrators who do not hold any public office.
The meaning is, that what Ezekiel previously sought concerning equity is extended
to the causes of others, that no one should turn aside from right and equity through
private friendship. Afterwards it follows, if he has walked in my statutes and kept
my judgments, in acting with truthfulness. Again, the Prophet returns to general
remarks: for he has recorded certain kinds of justice, as we said yesterday, whence
its nature may be more clearly perceived. Besides, because God’s law contains
within it more than the prophet has thus far mentioned; hence it was necessary to
add this clause, who has walked in my decrees, says he. It is too cold to restrict this
to ceremonies, as is sometimes done; hence I interpret it of edicts or decrees. The
metaphor of walking does not require a long explanation, as it is very common in
Scripture. Hence, to walk in God’s precepts is nothing else than to form his life and
morals according to the rule which has been prescribed by God; or, what is the
same thing, so to conduct oneself, that in desiring to be deemed just a man should
attempt nothing but what is agreeable to God’s precepts. But since the observance
of the law is difficult, first, because we are not only of a frail disposition, but prone
to sin; hence the word “serving” is added, by which the Prophet commends
diligence. Whoever wishes to direct his life according to God’s precepts should
attentively keep them, since nothing is more natural than to transgress and fall. He
now adds, for acting truthfully. Integrity is here denoted by the word truthfulness.
We gather, then, from this word the fruitful teaching, that the object of God’s whole
law is to conduct ourselves without deceit or fraud, and study to assist one another
in simplicity, and to conduct ourselves with sincerity in every duty. If any one, then,
asks the object of the law, the Prophet here describes it to us — the performance of
truth; and this is said rightly of the second table. But this may be adapted to the
former table, since the Scripture teaches us that no dissembling can be pleasing to
God. And we see also what Paul says when he briefly defines the end of the law to be
charity out of any pure heart, and faith unfeigned. (1 Timothy 1:5.) But the word
truth in this passage is, in my judgment, referred to that sincerity which we must
cultivate, so that no one should deceive another, nor act fraudulently or knowingly,
but be really simple and sincere. He adds, he is just, and in living he shall live, says
the Lord Jehovah. At length he pronounces, as we said, that he is just who has
faithfully observed God’s law; then that a recompense is prepared for all the just
who thus sincerely worship God. Now let us come to the second example.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:9 Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to
deal truly; he [is] just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.
102

103. Ver. 9. Hath walked in my statutes.] Qui leges iuraque servat. It is as if the prophet
had said There are many more characters of a righteous man, but I shall shut up all
with this: He that is right in his obedience for matter, manner, motive, and end, he is
the man I mean; "He shall surely live."
10 “Suppose he has a violent son, who sheds blood
or does any of these other things[a]
CLARKE, "If he beget a son - Who is the reverse of the above righteous character,
according to the thirteen articles already specified and explained.
GILL, "If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood,.... But if this just
man beget a son that is a thief and a murderer, as he may; for grace is not conveyed by
natural generation, though sin is: a good man has often bad children, even such as are
guilty of capital crimes, as a "robber", a "highwayman", a "breaker up", or "through", as
the word (e) signifies; one that breaks through walls, and into houses, and breaks
through all the laws of God and man; and sticks not to shed innocent blood in
committing his thefts and robberies, as these sins often go together; such an one was
Barabbas, whose name signifies the son of a father, and perhaps his father might be a
good man:
and that doeth the like to any one of these things; or that does anyone of these
things, whether theft or murder.
HENRY 10-18, "God, by the prophet, having laid down the general rule of judgment,
that he will render eternal life to those that patiently continue in well-doing, but
indignation and wrath to those that do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness
103

104. (Rom_2:7, Rom_2:8), comes, in these verses, to show that men's parentage and relation
shall not alter the case either one way or other.
I. He applied it largely and particularly both ways. As it was in the royal line of the
kings of Judah, so it often happens in private families, that godly parents have wicked
children and wicked parents have godly children. Now here he shows,
1. That a wicked man shall certainly perish in his iniquity, though he be the son of a
pious father. If that righteous man before described beget a son whose character is the
reverse of his father's, his condition will certainly be so too. (1.) It is supposed as no
uncommon case, but a very melancholy one, that the child of a very godly father,
notwithstanding all the instructions given him, the good education he has had and the
needful rebukes that have been given him, and the restraints he has been laid under,
after all the pains taken with him and prayers put up for him, may yet prove notoriously
wicked and vile, the grief of his father, the shame of his family, and the curse and plague
of his generation. He is here supposed to allow himself in all those enormities which his
good father dreaded and carefully avoided, and to shake off all those good duties which
his father made conscience of and took satisfaction in; he undoes all that his father did,
and goes counter to his example in every thing. He is here described to be a
highwayman - a robber and a shedder of blood. He is an idolater: He has eaten upon the
mountains (Eze_18:11) and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, which his good father
never did, and has come at length not only to feast with the idolaters, but to sacrifice
with them, which is here called committing abomination, for the way of sin is down-hill.
He is an adulterer, has defiled his neighbour's wife. He is an oppressor even of the poor
and needy; he robs the spital, and squeezes those who, he knows, cannot defend
themselves, and takes a pride and pleasure in trampling upon the weak and
impoverishing those that are poor already. He takes away from those to whom he
should give. He has spoiled by violence and open force; he has given forth upon usury,
and so spoiled by contract; and he has not restored the pledge, but unjustly detained it
even when the debt was paid. Let those good parents that have wicked children not look
upon their case as singular; it is a case put here; and by it we see that grace does not run
in the blood, nor always attend the means of grace. The race is not always to the swift,
nor the battle to the strong, for then the children that are well taught would do well, but
God will let us know that his grace is his own and his Spirit a free-agent, and that though
we are tied to give our children a good education he is not tied to bless it. In this, as
much as any thing, appears the power of original sin and the necessity of special grace.
(2.) We are here assured that this wicked man shall perish for ever in his iniquity,
notwithstanding his being the son of a good father. He may perhaps prosper awhile in
the world, for the sake of the piety of his ancestors, but, having committed all these
abominations, and never repented of them, he shall not live, he shall not be happy in the
favour of God; though he may escape the sword of men, he shall not escape the curse of
God. He shall surely die; he shall be for ever miserable; his blood shall be upon him. He
may thank himself; he is his own destroyed. And his relation to a good father will be so
far from standing him in stead that it will aggravate his sin and his condemnation. It
made his sin the more heinous, nay, it made him really the more vile and profligate, and,
consequently, will make his misery hereafter the more intolerable.
2. That a righteous man shall be certainly happy, though he be the son of a wicked
father. Though the father did eat the sour grapes, if the children do not meddle with
them, they shall fare never the worse for that. Here, (1.) It is supposed (and, blessed be
God, it is sometimes a case in fact) that the son of an ungodly father may be godly, that,
observing how fatal his father's errors were, he may be so wise as to take warning, and
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105. not tread in his father's tests, Eze_18:14. Ordinarily, children partake of the parents'
temper and are drawn in to imitate their example; but here the son, instead of seeing his
father's sins, and, as is usual, doing the like, sees them and dreads doing the like. Men
indeed do not gather grapes of thorns, but God sometimes does, takes a branch from a
wild olive and grafts it into a good one. Wicked Ahaz begets a good Hezekiah, who sees
all his father's sins which he has done, and though he will not, like Ham, proclaim his
father's shame, or make the worst of it, yet he loathes it, and blushes at it, and thinks the
worse of sin because it was the reproach and ruin of his own father. He considers and
does not such like; he considers how ill it became his father to do such things, what an
offence it was to God and all good men, what a wound and dishonour he got by it, and
what calamities he brought into his family, and therefore he does not such like. Note, If
we did but duly consider the ways of wicked men, we should all dread being associates
with them and followers of them. The particulars are here again enumerated almost in
the same words with that character given of the just man (Eze_18:6, etc.), to show how
good men walk in the same spirit and in the same steps. This just man here, when he
took care to avoid his father's sins, took care to imitate his grandfather's virtues; and, if
we look back, we shall find some examples for our imitation, as well as others for our
admonition. This just man can not only say, as the Pharisee, I am no adulterer, no
extortioner, no oppressor, no usurer, no idolater; but he has given his bread to the
hungry and covered the naked. He has taken off his hand from the poor; where he
found his father had put hardships upon poor servants, tenants, neighbours, he eased
their burden. He did not say, “What my father has done I will abide by, and if it was a
fault it was his and not mine;” as Rehoboam, who contemned the taxes his father had
imposed. No; he takes his hand off from the poor, and restores them to their rights and
liberties again, Eze_18:15-17. Thus he has executed God's judgments and walked in his
statutes, not only done his duty for once, but one on in a course and way of obedience.
(2.) We are assured that the graceless father alone shall die in his iniquity, but his
gracious son shall fare never the worse for it. As for his father (Eze_18:18), because he
was a cruel oppressor, and did hurt, nay, because, though he had wealth and power, he
did not with them do good among his people, lo, even he, great as he is, shall die in his
iniquity, and be undone for ever; but he that kept his integrity shall surely live, shall be
easy and happy, and he shall not die for the iniquity of his father. Perhaps his father's
wickedness has lessened his estate and weakened his interest, but it shall be no prejudice
at all to his acceptance with God and his eternal welfare.
JAMISON 10-13, "The second case is that of an impious son of a pious father. His
pious parentage, so far from excusing, aggravates his guilt.
robber — or literally, “a breaker,” namely, through all constraints of right.
doeth the like to any one — The Hebrew and the parallel (Eze_18:18) require us to
translate rather, “doeth to his brother any of these things,” namely, the things which
follow in Eze_18:11, etc. [Maurer].
CALVIN, “He has oppressed the poor and needy: he had simply said, He has
oppressed a man; but now to make the greatness of the crime appear, he speaks of
the poor and needy: for cruelty in oppressing them is less tolerable. Whatever the
105

106. condition of the person whom we treat, with injustice, our wickedness is in itself
sufficiently worthy of condemnation; but when we afflict the wretched, whose
condition ought to excite our pity, that, inhumanity is, as I have said, far more
atrocious. Hence this circumstance exaggerates what Ezekiel had formerly simply
expressed. In the phrase for seizing booty, the word for booty is in the plural: in the
next phrase he omits the word for debtor, because it is sufficiently understood: in
the next, he does not add “of the house of Israel” to the word “idols;” and in the last
clause the word “abomination” seems to refer to one kind of grossness only: but if
any wish to extend its meaning further, I do not, object; but since he lately used the
word in the plural, I rather take this word in its restricted sense. I pass thus rapidly
over this second example, as I shall over the third, because Ezekiel preserves the
same sentiments, and repeats almost the same words as he had just used. Hitherto
he has taught that life is laid up for all the just as the reward of their justice: but he
now sets before us a degenerate son, sprung from a just father, running headlong
into all kind of wickedness. He says, then, if a man who desires to obey the law beget
a son of a perverse disposition, who rejects the discipline of his father, and at the
same time violates the whole law of God, shall he surely live? No, says he, he shall
die, his blood shall be upon him; that is, he cannot escape God’s judgment;, because
his crimes cry out, and are heard. Hence none who turn aside from the right way
shall remain unpunished: this is the simple meaning of the Prophet. Let us now
come to the third member.
COFFMAN, "Verse 10
"If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth any one of
these things, and that doeth not any of those duties, but hath eaten upon the
mountains, and defiled his neighbor's wife, hath wronged the poor and needy, hath
taken by robbery, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the
idols, hath committed abomination, hath given forth upon interest, and hath taken
increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations;
he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him."
THE UNGODLY SON OF A JUST FATHER
106

107. If, as a number of scholars have suggested, there is a reference in these verses to
Hezekiah, Manasseh, and Josiah, then the place of murder first in this list that
pertained to Manasseh would be appropriate; because that monarch is said to have
filled Jerusalem with innocent blood. The variations in the list are not important.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:10 If he beget a son [that is] a robber, a shedder of blood, and
[that] doeth the like to [any] one of these [things],
Ver. 10. If he beget a son.] As he may; for grace is not hereditary. Heroum filii
noxae.
That is a robber.] Effractor. A breach maker, whether upon the laws of God, or of
men; one that is a pestilent son, as the Septuagint here have it, a plague to his
parents, and to his country.
And that doth the like to any one of these things.] Or, That doth to his brother
besides any of these, as there are mille artes nocendi.
BENSON, "Verses 10-13
Ezekiel 18:10-13. If he — The righteous man before described, who transmits his
human nature, but cannot transmit his graces and virtues to his son; beget a son
who is a robber, &c. — Who is guilty of any of the evil practices above mentioned;
and that doeth not any of those duties — That lives in the neglect of the just and
humane offices which have been mentioned, and which are commanded by the law;
he hath committed abomination — This may chiefly refer to the last two clauses of
Ezekiel 18:6. He shall not live — Namely, because of his father’s righteousness. He
shall not enjoy the divine favour and blessing here or hereafter: he shall not escape
punishment; namely, unless he turn to God in true repentance and reformation,
Ezekiel 18:21. He hath done, or, because he hath done, all these abominations —
Which have rendered him an object of the divine wrath; his blood shall be upon
him — He is the cause of his own destruction; the whole blame of it must lie at his
107

108. own door.
PETT, "Verses 10-13
The Wicked Son.
The purpose of the comparison is to refute the idea that a man suffers or benefits as
far as God is concerned because of his family connections. A man may naturally
benefit, or otherwise, as a result of his family environment, behaviour and wealth,
but in the end God’s dealings with him will be solely on the basis of his own moral
behaviour and attitude towards God.
“If he beget a son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and who does any one of
these things (i.e. those about to be described), and does not any of those (i.e those
previously described), but has even eaten on the mountains, and defiled his
neighbour’s wife, has wronged the poor and needy, has spoiled by violence, has not
restored the pledge, and has lifted up his eyes to the idols, has committed
abomination, has given forth on usury and has taken increase. Shall he then live?
He will not live. He has done all these abominations. He will surely die. His blood
will be on him.”
A son may turn out to be the exact opposite of his father. He may steal or obtain by
false means, he may use unnecessary violence, he may partake in idolatry, he may
misuse his neighbour’s wife, wrong the poor and needy, receive gain by violence,
misuse his debtors, demand high interest, and so on. And what will be the result? He
will not be protected in God’s eyes by the goodness of his father, or the uprightness
of his family. Because of his own behaviour God will judge him, and he will suffer
accordingly.
This was why Israel’s religion was unique in its day. Yahweh was concerned with,
and required, right moral behaviour. Other religions were concerned with doing
what the gods required, satisfying them with gifts and sacrifices and subservience,
108

109. and persuading them to give some assistance in matters of life with which they were
concerned. Moral behaviour was not seen as required by the gods, and indeed the
gods were often seen as worse behaved than men. But Yahweh was different. His
covenant regulated men’s behaviour as well as their religious activity.
Note the close connection between eating on the mountains and defiling the
neighbour’s wife. The two were regularly connected as men and women got drunk
and behaved licentiously in fertility rites under the guise of religious activity. Note
also ‘all these abominations’. Idolatry was ‘abominable’ because of the attitudes it
encouraged and the fruit that it produced. Almost any evil behaviour could be
justified from the behaviour of the gods. So when God condemned ‘abominations’ it
included all these things.
‘Shall he then live? He will not live. He has done all these abominations. He will
surely die. His blood will be on him.’ There is a clear indication here of a difference
between death and punitive death. In some way he comes under punishment.
Nothing is spelt out, but the impression is that in some way he will be positively
punished. He will forfeit all that is good, and his death will be final.
PULPIT, "Ezekiel 18:10
A robber. The Hebrew implies robbery with violence, perhaps, as in the Authorized
Version margin, the offence of the housebreaker. That doeth the like to any of these
things. The margin of the Revised Version, following the Chaldee paraphrase, gives,
who doeth to a brother any of these things. Others (Keil and Furst) render, "who
doeth only one of these things," as if recognizing the principle of James 2:10. On the
whole, there seems sufficient reason for keeping to the text.
11 (though the father has done none of them):
109

110. “He eats at the mountain shrines.
He defiles his neighbor’s wife.
GILL, "And that doeth not any of those duties,.... Before mentioned, which his
father did, but the reverse of them; and so the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it,
"and in the way of his righteous father does not walk"; does not tread in his steps, and
work righteousness as he did:
but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour's wife;
has been guilty of idolatry and adultery; See Gill on Eze_18:6.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:11 And that doeth not any of those [duties], but even hath
eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour’s wife,
Ver. 11. And that doth not any of these duties.] Bare omissions may undo a man.
Not robbing only, but the not relieving of the poor, was the rich man’s ruin.
PULPIT, "Ezekiel 18:11
The word "duties" is not in the Hebrew, but is legitimately introduced as expressing
Ezekiel's meaning, where the mere pronoun by itself would have been ambiguous.
In English we might say, "He does these things: he does not do those;" but this does
not fall in with the Hebrew idiom.
110

111. 12
He oppresses the poor and needy.
He commits robbery.
He does not return what he took in pledge.
He looks to the idols.
He does detestable things.
GILL, "Hath oppressed the poor and needy,.... Who are weak, and have none to
help them, and stand by them, and so are oppressed by such a man. This serves to
explain the clause, in Eze_18:7;
hath spoiled by violence; his neighbour's goods; taken them away from him by force:
hath not restored the pledge; to the borrower before sunset, but kept it for his own
use; taking the advantage of the poverty of him that borrowed of him:
and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols; whether of the Gentiles, or of the house of
Israel:
hath committed abomination; either idolatry, the sin just before mentioned, which
was an abomination to the Lord; or else approaching to a menstruous woman, since this
follows the other in Eze_18:6; and is not mentioned, unless it is designed here; and so
Kimchi interprets it; but Jarchi understands it of the abominable and detestable sin of
sodomy: it may regard any and every sin that is abominable in the sight of God.
JAMISON, "oppressed the poor — an aggravation to his oppressions, that they
were practiced against the poor; whereas in Eze_18:7 the expression is simply
“oppressed any.”
abomination — singular number referring to the particular one mentioned at the
end of Eze_18:6.
111

112. TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:12 Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by
violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath
committed abomination,
Ver. 12. Hath committed abomination.] Such is every of the sins here instanced,
whatsoever some can say in defence of them. Hath given forth upon usury, and all.
13
He lends at interest and takes a profit.
Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has
done all these detestable things, he is to be put to
death; his blood will be on his own head.
CLARKE, "Shall he then live? - Because his father was a righteous man, shall the
father’s holiness be imputed to him? No!
He shad surely die; his blood shall be upon him - He shall suffer for his own
crimes.
GILL, "Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase,.... Contrary to
the law of God; See Gill on Eze_18:8;
shall he then live? by virtue of his father's righteousness and goodness, free from
calamities, and in the quiet possession of the land of Israel, and the good things of it:
112

113. he shall not live; but go into captivity, and be destitute of the good things of life he has
enjoyed; and, without repentance, shall never have eternal life:
he hath done all these abominations; before mentioned; theft, murder, idolatry,
adultery, oppression of the poor, and usury, sins against both tables of the law:
he shall surely die; the death of affliction, or undergo temporal punishment; and not
only die corporeally, but eternally too, if grace prevent not: "in dying he shall die" (f); as
in the Hebrew text; he shall die both the first and second death; his father's goodness
shall not save him from either:
his blood shall be upon him; or "bloods" (g); the innocent blood he has shed, which
he must answer for being guilty of, and shall not escape righteous judgment, and his own
blood, the destruction of himself; he shall be the cause of his own ruin, and bring just
punishment on his own head.
JAMISON, "shall he ... live? — because of the merits of his father; answering, by
contrast, to “die for the iniquity of his father” (Eze_18:17).
his blood shall be upon him — The cause of his bloody death shall rest with
himself; God is not to blame, but is vindicated as just in punishing him.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:13 Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall
he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely
die; his blood shall be upon him.
Ver. 13. He hath done all these abominations.] Or, If he have done but one of them,
and undo it not again by true repentance.
He shall surely die.] Neither shall his father’s righteousness privilege him, or prevail
at all for him.
His blood shall be upon him.] He is felo de se, his own death’s man, and his mends
he hath in his own hands, as they say.
113

114. 14 “But suppose this son has a son who sees all the
sins his father commits, and though he sees them,
he does not do such things:
CLARKE, "Now, lo, if he beget a son that seeth all his father’s sins - and
considereth - Lays to heart the evil of his father’s life, and the dreadful consequences
of a life of rebellion against God.
And doeth not such like - Is quite a different man in moral feeling and character;
and acts up to the thirteen points already laid down.
GILL, "Now, lo, if he beget a son,.... That is, the wicked man before mentioned; if he
begets a son who proves a good man, which sometimes is the case, as Hezekiah the son
of Ahaz, and Josiah the son of Amon:
that seeth all his father's sins which he hath done; not every particular action,
but the principal of them; however, the several sorts and kinds of sin he was addicted to,
and which were done publicly enough, and obvious to view; and yet does not imitate
them, as children are apt to do:
and considereth: the evil nature and tendency of them; how abominable to God; how
contrary to his law; how scandalous and reproachful in themselves, and how pernicious
and destructive in their effects and consequences. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and
Arabic versions, read, "and feareth":
and doeth not such like; he fears God; and because the fear of God is before his eyes,
and on his heart, which was wanting in his father, therefore he cannot do the things he
did; the fear of offending him, the fear of his goodness, and of his judgments, both have
an influence to restrain from sin.
JAMISON 14-18, "The third case: a son who walks not in the steps of an unrighteous
father, but in the ways of God; for example, Josiah, the pious son of guilty Amon;
Hezekiah, of Ahaz (2Ki_16:1-20; 2Ki_18:1-37; 21:1-22:20).
114

115. seeth ... and considereth — The same Hebrew stands for both verbs, “seeth ... yea,
seeth.” The repetition implies the attentive observation needed, in order that the son
may not be led astray by his father’s bad example; as sons generally are blind to parents
sins, and even imitate them as if they were virtues.
CALVIN, “In this third example Ezekiel announces, that if a man be born of a
wicked father, he may nevertheless be pleasing to God, if he be unlike his father and
thus he refutes the proverb that was so common in Israel — that the father ate the
sour grapes, and the children’s teeth were set on edge. For if the sons were sufferers
through the father’s eating the sour grapes, then the pious who drew their origin
from wicked despisers of God would be freed from all their sins. Thus Ezekiel
would have been punished instead of his father, Ahaz, and Josiah instead of
Manasseh. But here the Prophet bears witness that the good, however they may
have been born from wicked parents, should receive the reward of righteousness no
less certainly and faithfully than if they had come down from heaven, and if their
family had always been without the commission of any crime. Since, therefore, God
does not punish them for their fathers’ crimes, it follows that the Israelites uttered
this taunt not only foolishly, but impiously, saying that their own teeth were set on
edge, because their fathers had eaten the sour grapes. Besides, as there is a
difference in the phrase, I shall notice briefly what is worthy of remark: if he begat
a son who saw all that his father had done, and was afraid. Here the Prophet teaches
that it needed the greatest attention for the son to forsake the example of a bad
father. For sons are blind to their fathers’ vices; and although, when duty is set
before them, they carelessly despise it, yet they fancy themselves held so far by pious
reverence, that they dare not condemn their fathers. Hence it happens that sons do
not acknowledge their fathers’ crimes, and thus a wicked father corrupts his son
willingly. Bad discipline, therefore, is added to this, so that it is not surprising if the
offspring is worse than his ancestors. For this reason the Prophet says, if he has
seen, that is, if a righteous child has observed his father’s sins, since sons shut their
eyes as much as possible to all their fathers’ crimes; nay, they embrace their vices
for the greatest virtues.
He then adds, if he has feared. It would not be sufficient to take notice of this
without adding the fear of God. It is true, indeed, that many were unlike their
parents, through being restrained by shame; for when they heard the reproaches of
their parents, they were touched with ingenuous modesty, so as to be on their guard
against such enormities. But all these followed the empty shadow of justice; and
here the serious observance of the law is treated, which cannot flow from anything
115

116. else but, the fear of God, and this, as Scripture says, is the beginning of wisdom.
(Psalms 111:10; Proverbs 1:7.) A person thus may be blameless through his whole
life, and yet not touch on any part of justice, since righteousness flows from only one
principle — the fear of God. He afterwards adds, and has not done according to
them. We see, therefore, that those who implicate themselves in others’ crimes are
not otherwise deceived, unless they purposely stifle all difference between good and
evil; for if they had attended to this, they would doubtless have been touched with
some fear, and thus have governed their life according to God’s precepts: but
scarcely one in a hundred thinks of this, and hence every one mingles freely with his
neighbors, and so all perish together. He afterwards adds, he has not eaten upon the
mountains, has not raised his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel: we have
explained all these: and has not oppressed any one, and has not received a pledge.
We said that this ought not to be explained of every pledge; for it was lawful for any
one, on giving money, to receive a pledge for its return, but not from one who is
destitute of either garments or the necessary implements of trade: so I pass this by.
He has not received a prey, has distributed his bread to the hungry He adds, what
he had not touched on previously, he has withdrawn his hand from the poor. This
seems to differ from the opinion which we had in the sixteenth chapter, (Ezekiel
16:49.) Among the sins of Sodom, the Prophet there puts this also, that they
withdrew their hand from the poor and needy; and surely, when we stretch forth
the hand for the sake of help, it is a true proof of charity; but if we withdraw the
hand, it is a proof of cruelty, since we do not deign to aid a brother who ought to
obtain some favor from us. But we must bear in mind that there are two senses in
which the hand is either extended or withdrawn. If I extend my hand to the poor to
supply what is wanting, and to the weak to render him aid, this is the duty of
charity. If, on the contrary, I withdraw my hand, I unjustly turn away from him
who implores my confidence, and whose misery ought to win for him some favor.
But we extend the hand when we seize on a neighbor’s goods, and violently deprive
him of them, and despoil the innocent of their rights. On the contrary, he who
withdraws his hand is humane in sparing his brethren, and not enriching himself at
their expense, and profiting by their oppression. In this sense the Prophet now
enumerates withdrawing the hand from the poor in the list of virtues, because the
poor are subject to all kinds of injury. If, therefore, when we see booty already
prepared for us, and yet we refrain from it, this is a proof of true charity. But again,
we must remark upon what I treated but briefly yesterday, namely, that we must
withdraw our hands from the poor, because nothing is more easy than to be enticed
to make a gain of the poor; and wherever occasion and impunity offer themselves,
avarice so seizes us, that we neither discern nor consider what is right and fair.
Every one who wishes to preserve his self-restraint, and to subdue his affections,
ought to attend to this with all his strength and with constant struggling: thus the
116

117. Prophet says, we must withdraw the hand
COFFMAN, '"Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father's sins, which he
hath done, and feareth, and doeth not such like; that hath not eaten upon the
mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not
defiled his neighbor's wife, neither hath wronged any, hath not taken aught to
pledge, neither hath taken by robbery, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and
hath covered the naked with a garment; that hath withdrawn his hand from the
poor, that hath not received interest nor increase, hath executed mine ordinances,
hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall
surely live. As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and
did that which is not good among his people, behold, he shall die in his iniquity."
THE CASE OF THE GODLY GRANDSON
"That hath withdrawn his hand from the poor ..." (Ezekiel 18:17). "This is to be
understood in a good sense, to withhold his hand from oppressing the poor. He
withdraws the hand that was tempted to exact the full legal claim against the
poor."[12]
TRAPP, "Verse 14
Ezekiel 18:14 Now, lo, [if] he beget a son, that seeth all his father’s sins which he
hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like,
Ver. 14. Now, lo, if he beget a son that seeth.] And withal sigheth, his eye affecting
his heart with grief and dislike.
And considereth,] viz., Of the ill consequence of those courses, et cavet et pavet. And
consider and be frightened.
117

118. PETT, "Verses 14-17
The Righteous Grandson.
“Now, lo, if he beget a son who sees all his father’s sins which he has done, and fears
(an alternative reading is ‘considers’), and does not such things, who has not eaten
on the mountains, nor has lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, has
not defiled his neighbour’s wife, nor has wronged any, has not taken anything in
pledge, nor has spoiled others by violence, but has given his bread to the hungry,
and has covered those lacking in clothes with clothing, who has withdrawn his hand
from the poor, who has not received usury nor increase, has executed my
judgments, has walked in my statutes. He will not die for the iniquity of his father.
He will surely live.”
A further generation, the third generation, is now depicted. Here the grandson is in
opposition to his father’s evil way of life. He fears Yahweh and does not do things
which are against His will, but practises the good that Yahweh demands. He avoids
idolatry, sexual transgression, wronging others, taking pledges, using violence to
obtain his ends. Rather he feeds the hungry, provides necessities to those in need,
does not ill-use the poor, does not seek interest or a percentage of produce when
lending to those in need.
‘Has executed my judgments, has walked in my statutes.’ Compare Leviticus 18:4.
See also Deuteronomy 26:16-19; De uteronomy 30:15-20. This man seeks to
please God. He obeys His word and His laws, and follows His ways continually. In
the words of Micah 6:8, he ‘does justly, loves mercy and walks humbly with God’.
Thus his way of life and his end are different.
‘He will not die for the iniquity of his father. He will surely live.’ The sentence that
hangs over his father will not hang over him. Rather he will live (compare Leviticus
18:5). We cannot ascribe to Ezekiel simply the idea that all good men live long lives
and all men die abruptly for it is, and was, patently not so. And while he probably
118

119. had in mind the destruction of Jerusalem and the deaths that would result, even that
does not satisfy his words, for he was referring to a number of generations. The idea
was clearly that in some way the righteous ‘live’ in a way that the unrighteous do
not, enjoying the blessing of God within in the inner spirit, finding the way more
smooth with Someone to call on, enjoying a resulting improved prosperity. And yet
having said that it certainly also looks forward to man’s end. The righteous die in
blessing, the unrighteous under judgment (compare Psalms 73 where the ideas are
expanded).
15
“He does not eat at the mountain shrines
or look to the idols of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor’s wife.
GILL, "That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his
eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour's wife.
See Gill on Eze_18:6; where the same things are mentioned as here, and in the same
order; only that clause, "neither hath come near to a menstruous woman", is here
omitted.
16
119

120. He does not oppress anyone
or require a pledge for a loan.
He does not commit robbery
but gives his food to the hungry
and provides clothing for the naked.
GILL, "Neither hath oppressed any,.... See Gill on Eze_18:7.
hath not withholden the pledge; or, hath not pledged the pledge (h). The meaning
is, not that he had not given one, but had not taken one. So the Targum,
"the pledge he hath not taken;''
or, if he did, he did not keep it beyond the time the law directs, but restored it to him
whose it was;
neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and
hath covered the naked with a garment. The rest of the verse is the same with
Eze_18:7.
17
He withholds his hand from mistreating the poor
and takes no interest or profit from them.
120

121. He keeps my laws and follows my decrees.
He will not die for his father’s sin; he will surely
live.
CLARKE, "He shall not die for the iniquity of his father - He shall no more be
affected by his father’s crimes, than his father was benefited by his grandfather’s
righteousness.
GILL, "That hath taken off his hand from the poor,.... When he perceived it lay
heavy upon him, withdrew it from hurting him, and forbore to do it when it was in his
power, and perhaps eased him of the hardships his father had laid upon him; which was
very kind and humane:
that hath not received usury nor increase; See Gill on Eze_18:8;
hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; had not only
negative, but positive holiness: not only abstained from things sinful, but did that which
was just and right, both with respect to God and man; observed the worship of God, and
did justice to mankind:
he shall not die for the iniquity of his father; or be punished for his father's sins,
with sword, famine, pestilence, or captivity; shall not die a corporeal death, and much
less eternal death, on that account:
he shall surely live; in his own land, and in the enjoyment of the good things of life;
and having the grace and fear of God, and acting from gracious principles, with a view to
the glory of God, he shall live eternally, though the son of a wicked man.
CALVIN, “Now at last he concludes: he shall not die through his father’s iniquity;
he shall surely live. He does not repeat that this is just, yet we must understand it so;
but he stops at the immediate effect, since God’s blessing awaits all the just, as
Isaiah says surely there is a reward to the just, (Isaiah 3:10;) and the Prophet
exclaims as if it were believed with difficulty: for, since we see all things revolving
121

122. promiscuously in the world, we directly imagine either that God is at rest in heaven,
or that chance governs all things here on earth. But we must strive against this
perverse supposition, and determine, as Isaiah teaches, that there is a reward for the
just. The Prophet now expresses this, while a difficult question arises from the
passage; for he says that he is just who has kept the law, and so God will bestow a
recompense upon. him: hence these two things are connected together, and the
question which I mentioned arises from the former clause; for the whole Scriptures
teach that no one is just, and that none can be justified by the law. But these things
are contrary to each other; to be just and worthy of reward through keeping the
law, since none is just, all are transgressors, all devoid of justice, and so but one
remedy remains — that of seeking our safety from the gratuitous mercy of God. But
although, at first sight, this kind of it consistency disturbs the rude and partially-
exercised commentator, yet this solution is easy, since, strictly speaking, justice is the
observance of the law. If any one asks, then, what justice is, the proper definition is,
the observance of law. Why so? Because the law, as I said yesterday, lays down the
solid rule of justice; whoever observes it will be esteemed just; and thus justification
is properly said to be placed in works. But, on the other hand, Scripture pronounces
what is very true, and entirely confirmed by experience, that no one can satisfy the
law, and, on account of this defect, we are all deprived of justification by works.
What I have said may be made much clearer by many testimonies of Scripture. Not
the hearer of the law, says Paul, in the second chapter of the epistle to the Romans,
but the doer of the law, shall be justified, (Romans 2:13.) There Paul speaks
naturally, that those are just who conform their whole life to the obedience of God’s
law. So also John, in his canonical epistle: He who does righteousness is righteous. (1
John 3:7.) Now, if any one asks whether any perfect observer of the law can be
found, or one who does justice in every respect, the answer is at hand, that we are
all by nature very far gone from all righteousness, and all our senses and affections
are enemies which contend against God’s law, as Paul teaches: The whole soul of
man is perverse, and we are not fit to think anything of ourselves, and that all our
sufficiency is of God, since we are slaves of sin. (Romans 8:7; 2 Corinthians 3:5;
Romans 11:0.) But it would be superfluous to heap together many testimonies. Let it
suffice, then, that we are by nature all together rebels against God, so that not the
slightest particle of good can be found in us. As far as concerns the faithful, they
aspire indeed to righteousness, but lamely, and at a great distance from their aim;
they often wander from the way, and they often fall, so that they do not satisfy the
law, and hence require God’s pity. Hence we must come to the second kind of
righteousness, which is improperly so called, namely, that which we obtain from
Christ. He who does righteousness is righteous. (l John 3:7.) None of us does it; but
Christ, who fulfilled the law, is esteemed just before God. Hence it is necessary that
we should be approved by God through his righteousness; that is, it is imputed to
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123. us, and we are accepted through his righteousness. Hence justification by faith, as it
is called, is not properly righteousness; but on account of the defect of true
righteousness, it is necessary to fly to this as to a sacred anchor; and Paul, in the
tenth chapter to the Romans, explains this briefly and clearly. The righteousness of
the law, says he, thus speaks: He who has done these things shall live in them; but
the righteousness of faith says, He who has believed shall be just. The Apostle here
speaks of a double righteousness — that of the law and of faith: he says, that the
righteousness of the law is situated in works, since no one is thought just unless he
fulfills the law. (Romans 10:5.) Since all are far distant from this standard, another
is added and substituted, namely, that we may embrace the righteousness of Christ
by faith, and so become just, by another righteousness without us: for if any one
again objects that justification by the law is superfluous, I answer, that it profits us
in two ways; first, because the law brings in those convicted of their own
unrighteousness to Christ. This, then, is one fruit of the law, that we renounce our
own righteousness, when our iniquity so discloses itself, that it compels us to be
silent before God, as we formerly saw. A more fruitful result follows; because, when
God regenerates his elect, he inscribes a law on their hearts and in their inward
parts, as we have elsewhere seen, and shall see again in the thirty-sixth chapter.
(Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26.) But the difficulty is not yet solved; because the
faithful, even if regenerated by God’s Spirit, endeavor to conform themselves to
God’s law, yet, through their own weakness, never arrive at that point, and so are
never righteous: I answer, although the righteousness of works is mutilated in the
sons of God, yet it is acknowledged as perfect, since, by not imputing their sins to
them, he proves what is his own. Hence it happens, that although the faithful fall
back, wander, and sometimes fall, yet they may be called observers of the law, and
walkers in the commandments of God, and observers of his righteousness. But this
arises from gratuitous imputation, and hence also its reward. The works of the
faithful are not without reward, because they please God, and pleasing God, they
are sure of remuneration. We see, then, how these things are rightly united, that no
one obeys the law, and that no one is worthy of the fruits of righteousness, and yet
that God, of his own liberality, acknowledges as just those who aspire to
righteousness, and repay them with a reward of which they are unworthy. When,
therefore, we say that the faithful are esteemed just even in their deeds, this is not
stated as a cause of their salvation, and we must diligently notice that the cause of
salvation is excluded from this doctrine; for, when we discuss the cause, we must
look nowhere else but to the mercy of God, and there we must stop. But although
works tend in no way to the cause of justification, yet, when the elect sons of God
were justified freely by faith, at the same time their works are esteemed righteous by
the same gratuitous liberality. Thus it still remains true, that faith without works
justifies, although this needs prudence and a sound interpretation; for this
123

124. proposition, that faith without works justifies is true and yet false, according to the
different senses which it bears. The proposition, that faith without works justifies by
itself, is false, because faith without works is void. But if the clause “without works”
is joined with the word “justifies,” the proposition will be true, since faith cannot
justify when it is without works, because it is dead, and a mere fiction. He who is
born of God is just, as John says. (1 John 5:18.) Thus faith can be no more
separated from works than the sun from his heat yet faith justifies without works,
because works form no reason for our justification; but faith alone reconciles us to
God, and causes him to love us, not in ourselves, but in his only begotten Son. Now,
therefore, that question is solved, when the Prophet teaches that life is reposed in the
just, even if they are born of wicked and unholy parents.
Lastly, we must notice the word “life,” since the word “living” ought not to be
understood only of life on earth, but looks to eternal life: and here some expositors
are mistaken: for because they could not free themselves from those difficulties
which I lately explained, they interpreted the words of Moses in a civil sense — He
who has done these things shall live in them. But Moses is speaking of life eternal.
Hence we must hold, not only that a reward is promised in this life to the just
observers of the law, but that eternal life is also a promised reward. Besides, as I
have said, since we are all destitute of righteousness, so we thought not to hope for
any reward, since we are all under the law and under the curse, as Paul says:
neither is there any means of escape, as Paul again says, (Galatians 3:10,) unless we
fly with complete and abject faith to the mercy of God alone, and to the satisfaction
by which Christ has reconciled us to his Father. Here I shall finish.
18 But his father will die for his own sin, because
he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did
what was wrong among his people.
124

125. GILL, "As for his father,.... It shall be otherwise with him:
because he cruelly oppressed; or, "oppressed an oppression"; or, "with an
oppression" (i); oppressed the poor, and had no mercy on them, but used them in the
most rigorous manner:
spoiled his brother by violence; took away the spoil of his brother; spoiled him of
his substance; did injury to his person and property, and all the mischief that lay in his
power:
and did that which is not good among his people; neighbours, citizens, and
countrymen; did nothing which was good, as he ought to have done; but everything that
was bad, which he should not have done:
lo, even he shall die in his iniquity: and for it; it shall not be forgiven him; he shall
be punished for it with death, with the death of affliction; and with corporeal death, as a
punishment for sin; and with eternal death, dying in his sins, and in a state of
impenitence. These instances, put every way, most clearly show the equity of God; the
justness of his proceedings in providence; and how inapplicable the proverb in Eze_18:2
was to them; and that such that sin, and continue therein, shall die for their own
iniquities, and not for the sins of others.
CALVIN, “He inculcates the same thing more at length, not for the sake of
ornament so much as to refute that impious saying in which the Israelites so
perniciously persisted. Since then it was difficult to tear from their minds what was
so deeply rooted in them, the Prophet often exclaims that no one was punished
except he deserved it for his crimes. He adds in the next verse what seems
superfluous and absurd: for the Israelites did not contend with God for sparing the
innocent: but here Ezekiel represents them speaking as if they wished the innocent
son to be punished equally with the wicked father. But he does not mean that they
contended about the right, but about the fact, as we usually say. For since they were
imbued with that error, that punishments extended beyond the criminals, on the
other hand he pronounces that the just were not absolved by their own goodness, if
they sprang from impious parents, although the people supposed so; for they were
buried under their own depraved judgment, otherwise they must have perceived
that justice is never deprived by God of its reward of life.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:18 [As for] his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his
brother by violence, and did [that] which [is] not good among his people, lo, even he
125

126. shall die in his iniquity.
Ver. 18. Spoiled his brother by violence.] A man had as good deal with a Cossack or
a cannibal as with a truly covetous criminal. "They hunt every man his brother with
a net." [Micah 7:2]
And did that which is not good among his people.] It should be every man’s care to
be some way serviceable to God and profitable to men. Let no man turn himself into
a cipher, nay, into an excrement, that lives in the world to no purpose, yea, to bad
purpose. Oh it is good to do something whereby the world may be the better, and
not to come hither merely as rats and mice, only to devour victuals, and to run
squeaking up and down.
PETT, "Verse 18
“As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and
did what is not good among the people, behold he will die in his iniquity.”
The grandson’s goodness will not protect his father. His father will be brought to
account for his sins. He will take responsibility for his own actions. Nor will the
righteousness of his father save him. Everyone is finally individually accountable.
A Summary.
Note the positiveness of the whole passage. Had the prevailing position been totally
in mind the contrast would have been between two wicked and one righteous. But
the concentration is here on the blessing of the righteous, and the attitude is positive.
The threefold generations may well have in mind the idea that Israel began well,
sank into sin and now have the opportunity to repent resulting in full restoration.
126

127. Furthermore it does away with the fatalism of those who felt that they were at the
mercy of their fathers’ doings. Let them but arise and change and all will be
different. Each man is responsible for his own sin and his own life, and finally
determines his own destiny. The future can be rosy, but only if they go forward with
their hand in the hand of God.
Ezekiel was not questioning the continuity of the effects of sin. The consequences of
sin often go on long after the sin is forgiven, and sadly embrace others, often to the
third and fourth generation. The life of David was constantly beset by the
consequences of his forgiven sin, and he was finally refused the privilege of building
the temple because of them. And his manner of life badly affected his sons. But
Ezekiel is stressing final individual responsibility, and that God can compensate for
a man’s background, and will not hold it against him where he seeks to do the right.
19 “Yet you ask, ‘Why does the son not share the
guilt of his father?’ Since the son has done what is
just and right and has been careful to keep all my
decrees, he will surely live.
BARNES, "Why?... - Rather, “Why doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father?”
GILL, "Yet say ye, why?.... Why do you say so? why do you go on to assert that which
is not fact, or which is contrary to fact, contrary to what we feel and experience every
day, to say that children are not punished for their parents' sins? these are the words of
the murmuring, complaining, and blaspheming Jews, quarrelling with the prophet, and
with the Lord himself:
127

128. doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? have not we proof of it every day
we live? are not our present case and circumstances a full evidence of it? or the words
may be rendered, "why does not the son bear the iniquity of the father?" so the
Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions; or, as the Targum,
"why is not the son punished for the sins of the father?''
and so they are an objection, which is foreseen might be made, and is here anticipated,
to which an answer is returned; and so the Syriac version introduces it, "but if they said",
&c. then adds, "tell them", as follows:
when, or "because"
the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my
statutes, and hath done them: this is the reason why he shall not bear his father's
sins, or be punished for them; intimating that they had not done these things that made
the complaint, or put the, question; but had committed the same sins their fathers had,
and so were punished, not for their fathers' sins, but their own: for otherwise the man
that does what is just and right with God, and between man and man,
he shall surely live; See Gill on Eze_18:17.
HENRY 19-20, "He appeals to themselves then whether they did not wrong God with
their proverb. “Thus plain the case is, and yet you say, Does not the son bear the
iniquity of the father? No, he does not; he shall not if he will himself do that which is
lawful and right,” Eze_18:19. But this people that bore the iniquity of their fathers had
not done that which is lawful and right, and therefore justly suffered for their own sin
and had no reason to complain of God's proceedings against them as at all unjust,
though they had reason to complain of the bad example their fathers had left them as
very unkind. Our fathers have sinned and are not, and we have borne their iniquity,
Lam_5:7. It is true that there is a curse entailed upon wicked families, but it is as true
that the entail may be cut off by repentance and reformation; let the impenitent and
unreformed therefore thank themselves if they fall under it. The settled rule of judgment
is therefore repeated (Eze_18:20): The soul that sins shall die, and not another for it.
What direction God has given to earthly judges (Deu_24:16) he will himself pursue: The
son shall not die, not die eternally, for the iniquity of the father, if he do not tread in the
steps of it, nor the father for the iniquity of the son, if he endeavour to do his duty for the
preventing of it. In the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, which is
now clouded and eclipsed, the righteousness of the righteous shall appear before all the
world to be upon him, to his everlasting comfort and honour, upon him as a robe, upon
his as a crown; and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him, to his everlasting
confusion, upon him as a chain, upon him as a load, as a mountain of lead to sink him to
the bottomless pit.
JAMISON, "Here the Jews object to the prophet’s word and in their objection seem
to seek a continuance of that very thing which they had originally made a matter of
128

129. complaint. Therefore translate, “Wherefore doth not the son bear the iniquity of his
father?” It now would seem a consolation to them to think the son might suffer for his
father’s misdeeds; for it would soothe their self-love to regard themselves as innocent
sufferers for the guilt of others and would justify them in their present course of life,
which they did not choose to abandon for a better. In reply, Ezekiel reiterates the truth
of each being dealt with according to his own merits [Fairbairn]. But Grotius supports
English Version, wherein the Jews contradict the prophet, “Why (sayest thou so) doth
not the son (often, as in our case, though innocent) bear (that is, suffer for) the iniquity
of their father?” Ezekiel replies, It is not as you say, but as I in the name of God say:
“When the son hath done,” etc. English Version is simpler than that of Fairbairn.
COFFMAN, ""Yet say ye, Wherefore doth not the son bear the iniquity of the
father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my
statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. The soul that sinneth, it shall die:
the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the
iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the
wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him."
Here it is stated both positively and negatively that God's government and God's
justice are eternally equitable and fair. Again, if the example here has any reference
to Josiah, there is a special significance that, "he hath kept all my statutes." This
sheds light upon the false notion that only the moral considerations, not the
ceremonial commandments, were involved in determining who was, or was not,
righteous. Josiah, it will be recalled, brought Israel once more to their duty of
observing the passover!
TRAPP, "Verse 19
Ezekiel 18:19 Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father?
When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, [and] hath kept all my
statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.
Ver. 19. Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father?] Thus
these unreasonable refractories will not be said, but continue chatting against God,
quasi dicant, certe tu non potes negare, &c. (a) Some are ατοποι; [2 Thessalonians
3:2] they have no topics; there is no talking to them; they will not be set down with
129

130. right reason.
When the son hath done that is lawful and right.] What a meek, sweet, and
satisfactory answer doth God make to these importunate complainers against him!
Here we have their replication and his duplication; as Ezekiel 18:25, we have their
triplication and his quadruplication. Oh the infinite patience of our good God!
BENSON, "Verse 19-20
Ezekiel 18:19-20. Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the
father? — God here puts into the prophet’s mouth what he knew the Jews would
object (at least in their minds) to the foregoing declarations, namely, that they would
deny what the prophet had said on this head, and would appeal to facts and
experience that the son did bear the iniquity of the father; so that the sense of the
first clause of the verse is, Why do you affirm this? does not experience show that
the son bears the iniquity of the father? Is it not plain and undeniable,
notwithstanding your fine discourse to the contrary? To be sure, we feel the truth of
it in our own cases. To this cavil God makes answer in the following words,
affirming that this was no otherwise so than when the son followed the example of
his father’s iniquity; for that, when the son did that which was lawful and right, and
kept God’s statutes, or lived a life of true piety and virtue, he should surely live, that
is, should not be punished, or cut off, on account of the iniquity of his father. The
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him — That is, the righteous shall
receive the reward of his righteousness. And the wickedness of the wicked shall be
upon him — That is, the reward of his wickedness. As certainly as it shall be well
with the righteous, because he shall eat the fruit of his doings, so certainly shall
woful punishment be executed upon the wicked who persist in their wickedness: see
Isaiah 3:10-11.
PETT, "Verse 19
-20 “When the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes,
and has done them, he will surely live. The person who sins, he will die. The son will
130

131. not bear the iniquity of the father, nor will the father bear the iniquity of the son,
the righteousness of the righteous will be on him (the righteous one), and the
wickedness of the wicked will be on him (the wicked one).”
God’s reply was that each will be judged on his own merits, on the basis of what he
reveals himself to be by his life. None will be condemned for the behaviour and
attitudes of another. He who honours God and obeys His commands will live. He
who by his sin and by his life reveals that He despises God and His ways will die.
Once again the words go deeper than mere life and death, containing some idea of
quality of life as well as awfulness of judgment. ‘The one who has done right will
surely live, -- the one who sins will die.’ The sinner will die in himself before he
finally faces the judgment, and then the judgment will lie before him, the dreadful
end, the judgment of death and dishonour. While the afterlife was as yet an
unknown doctrine some trace of it lies behind the words, an instinct not yet put into
words, although Daniel would enunciate it in Daniel 12:2-3.
‘The son will not bear the iniquity of the father, nor will the father bear the iniquity
of the son, the righteousness of the righteous will be on him (the righteous one), and
the wickedness of the wicked will be on him (the wicked one).’ The contrast is
deliberately stark in order to establish the principle. It ignores the shades of
difference that would arise the levels of righteousness and wickedness. It was the
principle that mattered. Each is responsible for himself and will receive accordingly.
Elsewhere it would be revealed that the fully righteous would only be so because of
the activity of God in their lives, for none were fully righteous in themselves. But
here that was not under consideration. What was in question here was the basis and
fairness of the judgment of the God who held each responsible for himself, and
judged each one face to face only for his own sins.
PULPIT, "Ezekiel 18:19
131

132. Why? doth not the son, etc.? The words are better taken, with the LXX; Vulgate,
Revised Version, and most critics, as a single question, Why doth not the son bear,
etc.? What is the explanation of a fact which seemingly contradicts the teaching of
the Law? The answer to the question seems at first only an iteration of what had
been stated before. The son repents, and therefore does not bear his father's
iniquity. A man is responsible for his own sins, and for those only. To think
otherwise is to think of God as less righteous than man.
20 The one who sins is the one who will die. The
child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will
the parent share the guilt of the child. The
righteousness of the righteous will be credited to
them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be
charged against them.
CLARKE, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die - Hitherto we have had to do with
the simple cases or the righteous and the wicked; of him who lived and died a holy man,
and of him who lived and died a wicked man. But there are two cases behind:
1. That of the wicked man, who repents and turns to God.
2. That of the righteous man, who backslides, and does not return to God by
repentance. On both these cases God decides thus: -
132

133. GILL, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die,.... This is repeated from Eze_18:4, for
the further confirmation of it:
the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear
the iniquity of the son; that is, as the Targum paraphrases it,
"the son shall not be punished for the sins of the father, nor shall the father be punished
for the sins of the son.''
This is to be understood of adult persons, and of actual sins; for of such only the prophet
speaks throughout the whole chapter, or of temporal, and not of eternal punishment:
the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him; he shall be rewarded with
temporal good things in this life, according to his righteousness; which, as the Targum
says, shall "remain" upon him; see Psa_112:9; he shall eat of the fruit of his own doings,
Isa_3:10; this is true of a man that is evangelically righteous, or is so through the
imputation of Christ's righteousness to him; which is upon him as a robe to clothe him,
and will always remain on him, being an everlasting righteousness, and will answer for
him in a time to come:
and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him; and not another; his sin
shall remain on him unatoned for, unexpiated, not taken away or forgiven; the
punishment of it shall be on him, and abide upon him.
JAMISON, "son shall not bear ... iniquity of ... father — (Deu_24:16; 2Ki_
14:6).
righteousness ... wickedness — that is, the reward for righteousness ... the
punishment of wickedness. “Righteousness” is not used as if any were absolutely
righteous; but, of such as have it imputed to them for Christ’s sake, though not under the
Old Testament themselves understanding the ground on which they were regarded as
righteous, but sincerely seeking after it in the way of God’s appointment, so far as they
then understood this way.
CALVIN, “Ezekiel still pursues the sentiment which we have explained, namely,
that God is a just judge and treats every one according to his conduct; as Paul says,
As each has lived in the flesh, so God lays up a reward for him. (Romans 8:13.) But
he more clearly refuted the proverb, that the sons should suffer for their fathers’
sins. He says, then, that each when he comes before God’s tribunal should be judged
by his works. As far then as the general sentiment is concerned, it is in accordance
with common sense that God should exact punishment of the wicked, and that they
should receive the just reward of their works. But in the next clause, the question
arises how the Spirit here pronounces that the son should not pay the penalty due to
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134. the father, when God so often declares that he visits the sins of the fathers upon the
children unto the third and fourth generation. (Exodus 20:5.) That sentiment often
occurs: but there are two passages peculiarly remarkable, where it is annexed to the
second precept of the law, (Deuteronomy 5:9,) and then in that remarkable vision
which occurred to Moses, God pronounces the same thing as before, namely, that
the iniquity of the fathers should fall upon the sons. (Exodus 34:7.) These passages
seem opposed to each other, but it will be easy to remove the contradiction by
beginning with the fall of Adam, since if we do not consider the whole race fallen in
Adam, we can scarcely extricate ourselves from that difficulty which we often feel as
causing pungent scruples. But the principle of one universal fall in Adam removes
all doubts. For when we consider the perishing of the whole human race, it is said
with truth that we perish through another’s fault: but it is added at the same time,
that every one perishes through his own iniquity. If then we inquire into the cause of
the curse which presses upon all the posterity of Adam, it may be said to be partly
another’s and partly our own: another’s, through Adam’s declension from God, in
whose person the whole human race was spoiled of righteousness and intelligence,
and all parts of the soul utterly corrupted. So that every one is lost in himself, and if
he wishes to contend with God, he must always acknowledge that the fountain of the
curse flows from himself. For before the child was born into the world, it was
corrupt, since its menial intelligence was buried in darkness, and its will was
perverse and rebellious against God. As soon as infants are born they contract
pollution from their father Adam: their reason is blinded, their appetites perverted,
and their senses entirely vitiated. This does not immediately show itself in the young
child, but before God, who discerns things more acutely than we do, the corruption
of our whole nature is rightly treated as sin. There is no one who during the course
of his life does not perceive himself liable to punishment through his own works; but
original sin is sufficient for the condemnation of all men. When men grow up they
acquire for themselves the new curse of what is called actual sin: so that he who is
pure with reference to ordinary observation, is guilty before God: hence Scripture
pronounces us all naturally children of wrath: these are Paul’s words in the second
chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians, (Ephesians 2:3.) If then we are children of
wrath, it follows that we are polluted from our birth: this provokes God’s anger and
renders him hostile to us: in this sense David confesses himself conceived in sin.
(Psalms 51:5.) He does not here accuse either his father or his mother so as to
extenuate his own wickedness; but, when he abhors the greatness of his sin in
provoking the wrath of God, he is brought back to his infancy, and acknowledges
that he was even then guilty before God. We see then that David, being reminded of
a single sin, acknowledges himself a sinner before he was born; and since we are all
under the curse, it follows that we are all worthy of death. Thus, the son properly
speaking shall not die through the iniquity of his father, but is considered guilty
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135. before God through his own fault.
Now let us proceed further. When God pronounces that the iniquity of the father
returns into the bosom of the son, we must remember that when God involves the
son in the same death with the father, he does so principally because the son of the
impious is destitute of his Spirit: whence it happens that he remains in the death in
which he was born. For if we do not consider any other punishments than those
which are openly inflicted, a new scruple will again arise from which we cannot free
ourselves, since this inquiry will always recur, how can the son perish by his own
fault, if he can produce good fruit and so reconcile himself to God? But the first
punishment with which God threatens the reprobate is that which I have mentioned,
namely, that their offspring are destitute and deprived of spiritual gifts, so that they
sink deeper and deeper into destruction: for there are two kinds of punishment, the
one outward and the other inward, as we express it. God punishes the transgressors
of his law by either the sword, or by famine, or by pestilence, as he everywhere
denounces: he is also armed with other means of slaughter for executing his wrath,
and all these punishments are outward and openly apparent. But there is another
sort inward and hidden, when God takes away the spirit of rectitude from the
reprobate, when he gives them up to a reprobate mind, subjects them to foul desires,
and deprives them of all his gifts hence God is said to cause the fathers’ iniquity to
recoil upon the children not only when he outwardly punishes the little ones, but
because he devotes a cursed offspring to eternal destruction, through being destitute
of all the gifts of the Spirit,. Now we know that God is the fountain of life, (Psalms
36:9,) whence it follows that all who are separated from him are dead. Now
therefore it is evident how God throws the iniquity of the fathers upon the children,
since when he devotes both father and son to eternal destruction, he deprives them
of all his gifts, blinds their minds, and enslaves all their appetites to the devil.
Although we may, in one word, embrace the whole matter of the children suffering
for the fathers when he leaves them to simple nature, as the phrase is, since in this
way he drowns them in death and destruction. But outward punishments also follow
afterwards, as when God sends lightning upon Sodom many young children
perished, and all were absorbed with their parents. (Genesis 19:24.) If any one asks
by what right they perished, first they were sons of Adam and so were accursed, and
then God wished to punish the Sodomites through their offspring, and he could do
so deservedly. Concerning the young who thus perished with their fathers, it is said,
happy is he who dashes thy young ones against the stones or the pavement. (Psalms
137:9.) At first sight, indeed, that atrocity seems intolerable that a child whose age
and judgment is thus tender should be so cruelly slain: but as we have already said,
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136. all are naturally children of wrath. (Ephesians 2:2.) No wonder, therefore, that God
withdraws his favor from the offspring of the reprobate, even if he executes these
outward judgments. But how will this now be suitable, shall not the son bear the
iniquity of the father? for Ezekiel here speaks of adults, for he means that the son
shall not bear his father’s iniquity, since he shall receive the reward due to himself
and sustain his own burden. Should any one wish to strive with God, he can be
refuted in a single word: for who can boast himself innocent? Since therefore all are
guilty through their own fault, it follows that the son does not bear his father’s
iniquity, since he has to bear his own at the same time. Now that question is solved.
He now adds, the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the impiety
of the impious shall be upon him. We said that this was the legal sentence: if God
used the same language everywhere, no hope of safety would be left to us. For who
would be found just if his life were judged strictly by the law? But it has already
been said, speaking accurately, that God rewards those worshipers who observe his
law, and punish those who transgress it. But since we are all far from perfect
obedience, Christ is offered to us, from whom we may partake of righteousness, and
in this way be justified by faith. Meanwhile it is true, according to the rule of the
law, that the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, since God will not
disappoint any, but will really perform what he has promised. But he promises a
reward to all who observe his law. If any one object that this doctrine is useless and
superfluous, we have an answer at hand, that it is in many ways useful, since, first of
all, we acknowledge that God, although he owes us nothing, yet willingly binds
himself to be reconciled to us; and thus his surprising liberality appears. Then we
again collect, that by transgression we cannot profit or obtain any advantage when
God offers a reward to all who observe his law. For what can we demand more
equitable than that God should of his own accord be our debtor? and should reward
us while he holds us bound to himself, and completely subject to him with all our
works? And that pattern of Christ must be considered, When you have done all that
was commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants. (Luke 17:10.) Why so? for
we return nothing but what God has justly required of us. We gather, then, from
this sentence, that we cannot expostulate with God, or complain of anything while
the fault of our own condemnation resides in us for not keeping the law. Thirdly, we
acknowledge another instance of God’s mercy in his clothing us in the righteousness
of his Son, when he sees us in want of a righteousness of our own, and altogether
destitute of everything good. Fourthly, we said that they are esteemed just who do
not satisfy the law, since God does not impute their sins to them. Hence the
righteousness of the law is not without fruit among the faithful; since on account of
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137. that blessedness which is described in Psalms 32:2, their works are taken into
account and remunerated by God. So the righteousness of the righteous is upon him,
just as the impiety of the impious is upon him, and it shall recoil upon his own head.
It follows —
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the
iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked
shall be upon him.
Ver. 20. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father.] The innocent son shall
not, unless it be in temporals only, and that in some cases. [Deuteronomy 24:16 2
Kings 14:6 2 Chronicles 15:4] It was the cruel manner of Uladus, prince of Valachia,
together with the offender, to execute the whole family, yea, sometimes the whole
kindred. (a) A like cruelty was used in Scotland by the Pope’s appointment upon the
kindred of those that had slain David Beaton, in revenge of the death of that
butcherly bishop. (b) Lavater (c) telleth us here, out of the annals of the Switzers,
his countrymen, that when Albertus, the son of Rodolphus Caesar, was slain by his
nephew John Hapsburg and some other nobles, his children, Duke Leopold and
Agnes Queen of Hungary, put to death not the murderers only, but their children
and kinsfolk also not a few, and utterly overturned divers strongholds in
Switzerland. But this was not the way of God, nor did it prosper in their hand.
Cruelty calleth aloud for vengeance.
The righteousness,] i.e., It shall be well with the righteous, and woe with the wicked.
[Isaiah 3:10-11]
NISBET, "PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die.’
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138. Ezekiel 18:20
I. Does Holy Writ really affirm, despite the sound of certain familiar but isolated
texts and the use that has been made of them, that we must all die, and die for ever,
because of Adam’s transgression?—On the contrary, in a thousand different ways,
and by the whole spirit of its teaching, it affirms that every man shall be judged
according to his own deeds, whether good or bad, and answer for himself alone to
the great Master before Whom we must all stand or fall, but Who is in very deed
able to make us stand. It meets the old godless and inveterate tradition, ‘The fathers
have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge,’ with the flat
contradiction, ‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity
of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness
of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon
him!’ Nay, rising high above the rigours of strict law, it adds the merciful assurance,
‘But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all
My statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not
die: all his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not (so much as) be
mentioned unto him; for his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.’ The
eighteenth chapter is nothing else than an eloquent and heart-piercing application of
the truth contained in these words.
II. Our text is the first, or one of the first, assertions of the truth that man is more
than the circumstances of which he is a part, that in God’s sight he is single and
free.—In these days this truth cannot be two frequently reiterated; for if science
insists upon it that we are bound through our brains and bodies to those who have
preceded us, and to those whom we leave behind us, the Word of God assures us
that man’s nature has within it a personal life apart from and higher than that
nature. So there remains the hidden self, and it is free. It has always the power of
rising from its past. You say it is impossible? With man perhaps it is impossible. But
with God all things are possible. For that freedom of mine, however feeble and
broken, is not alone. There is another free and sovereign power waiting for it, and
acknowledging it as His own image, welcoming it, coming down upon it with His
own strength and power. When I use my freedom, I meet and touch the freedom of
the sovereign grace of God Himself.
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139. Illustration
‘The eighteenth chapter of Ezekiel contains a full and interesting specimen of that
“reasoning together” to which God in mercy united a backsliding people. The chief
wonder in that reasoning is, that it does not rise from earth to heaven, but descends
from heaven to earth. It is not man reasoning to set himself right with God, but God
reasoning to set Himself right with man. Jehovah places Himself before the bar of
His creature, and condescends to plead His own cause. This is a strange sight—the
Judge pleading before the culprit to justify Himself. Whence this anomaly? What
has so violently reversed all former precedent? What has turned the world upside
down? It is mercy—mercy unwearied, inexhaustible, has been here. The
transgressions of Israel were like mountains great; but there is a mercy heaven-high
that has overtopped them all. It was not necessary for His own glory that God
should, by reasoning, satisfy the transgressors that His ways were equal. This will be
done when He is revealed in flaming fire, taking vengeance on His enemies. But
judgment then will be judgment without mercy. God has more in view than to
justify Himself. He would save sinners. He would have them to see His justice now,
that they may not feel it for ever. It is the same power—love to the lost—that has
printed this chapter in the Bible, and brought the Lord Jesus from heaven to earth.’
21 “But if a wicked person turns away from all
the sins they have committed and keeps all my
decrees and does what is just and right, that
person will surely live; they will not die.
CLARKE, "But if the wicked will turn from all his sins - And afterwards walk
according to the character of the righteous already specified shall he find mercy, and be
for ever saved? Yes.
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140. GILL, "But if the wicked,.... So far is the Lord from punishing the sins of one man
upon another, that he will not punish a man for his own sins: if he
will turn from all his sins that he hath committed: if he truly repents of them,
and thoroughly forsakes them; for it must not be one sin only, but all; every sin is to be
loathed and mourned over, and sorrow expressed for it, and to be forsaken; not one sin
is to cherished and retained, but all to be relinquished: or the repentance and conversion
may be justly questioned whether they be sincere:
and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right; as the
repentance and turning from sin must be general, so also obedience to the commands of
God, both moral and positive; respect is to be had to all his ordinances, which are all of
them to be esteemed as right and lawful, and to be observed: this is bringing forth fruits
meet for repentance:
he shall surely live, he shall not die; he shall live in his own land, and not go into
captivity. Kimchi's note is, he shall live in this world, and not die in the world to come;
so Ben Melech.
HENRY 21-24, "We have here another rule of judgment which God will go by in
dealing with us, by which is further demonstrated the equity of his government. The
former showed that God will reward or punish according to the change made in the
family or succession, for the better or for the worse; here he shows that he will reward or
punish according to the change made in the person himself, whether for the better or the
worse. While we are in this world we are in a state of probation; the time of trial lasts as
long as the time of life, and according as we are found at last it will be with us to eternity.
Now see here,
I. The case fairly stated, much as it had been before (Eze_3:18, etc.), and here it is laid
down once (Eze_18:21-24) and again (Eze_18:26-28), because it is a matter of vast
importance, a matter of life and death, of life and death eternal. Here we have,
1. A fair invitation given to wicked people, to turn from their wickedness. Assurance is
here given us that, if the wicked will turn, he shall surely live, Eze_18:21, Eze_18:27.
Observe,
(1.) What is required to denominate a man a true convert, how he must be qualified
that he may be entitled to this act of indemnity. [1.] The first step towards conversion is
consideration (Eze_18:28): Because he considers and turns. The reason why sinners go
on in their evil ways is because they do not consider what will be in the end thereof; but
if the prodigal once come to himself, if he sit down and consider a little how bad his state
is and how easily it may be bettered, he will soon return to his father (Luk_15:17), and
the adulteress to her first husband when she considers that then it was better with her
than now, Hos_2:7. [2.] This consideration must produce an aversion to sin. When he
considers he must turn away from his wickedness, which denotes a change in the
disposition of the heart; he must turn from his sins and his transgression, which
denotes a change in the life; he must break off from all his evil courses, and, wherein he
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141. has done iniquity, must resolve to do so no more, and this from a principle of hatred to
sin. What have I to do any more with idols? [3.] This aversion to sin must be universal;
he must turn from all his sins and all his transgressions, without a reserve for any
Delilah, any house of Rimmon. We do not rightly turn from sin unless we truly hate it,
and we do not truly hate sin, as sin, if we do not hate all sin. [4.] This must be
accompanied with a conversion to God and duty; he must keep all God's statutes (for the
obedience, if it be sincere, will be universal) and must do that which is lawful and right,
that which agrees with the word and will of God, which he must take for his rule, and not
the will of the flesh and the way of the world.
(2.) What is promised to those that do thus turn from sin to God. [1.] They shall save
their souls alive, Eze_18:27. They shall surely live, they shall not die, Eze_18:21. and
again Eze_18:28. Whereas it was said, The soul that sins it shall die, yet let not those
that have sinned despair but that the threatened death may be prevented if they will but
turn and repent in time. When David penitently acknowledges, I have sinned, he is
immediately assured of his pardon: “The Lord has taken away thy sin, thou shalt not
die (2Sa_12:13), thou shalt not die eternally.” He shall surely live; he shall be restored to
the favour of God, which is the life of the soul, and shall not lie under his wrath, which is
as messengers of death to the soul. [2.] The sins they have repented of and forsaken shall
not rise up in judgment against them, nor shall they be so much as upbraided with them:
All his transgressions that he has committed, though numerous, though heinous,
though very provoking to God, and redounding very much to his dishonour, yet they
shall not be mentioned unto him (Eze_18:22), not mentioned against them; not only
they shall not be imputed to him to ruin him, but in the great day they shall not be
remembered against him to grieve or shame him; they shall be covered, shall be sought
for and not found. This intimates the fulness of pardoning mercy; when sin is forgiven it
is blotted out, it is remembered no more. [3.] In their righteousness they shall live; not
for their righteousness, as if that were the purchase of their pardon and bliss and an
atonement for their sins, but in their righteousness, which qualifies them for all the
blessings purchased by the Mediator, and is itself one of those blessings.
(3.) What encouragement a repenting returning sinner has to hope for pardon and life
according to this promise. He is conscious to himself that his obedience for the future
can never be a valuable compensation for his former disobedience; but he has this to
support himself with, that God's nature, property, and delight, is to have mercy and to
forgive, for he has said (Eze_18:23): “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should
die? No, by no means; you never had any cause given you to think so.” It is true God has
determined to punish sinners; his justice calls for their punishment, and, pursuant to
that, impenitent sinners will lie for ever under his wrath and curse; that is the will of his
decree, his consequent will, but it is not his antecedent will, the will of his delight.
Though the righteousness of his government requires that sinners die, yet the goodness
of his nature objects against it. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? It is spoken here
comparatively; he has not pleasure in the ruin of sinners, for he would rather they
should turn from their ways and live; he is better pleased when his mercy is glorified in
their salvation than when his justice is glorified in their damnation.
2. A fair warning given to righteous people not to turn from their righteousness, Eze_
18:24-26. Here is, (1.) The character of an apostate, that turns away from his
righteousness. He never was in sincerity a righteous man (as appears by that of the
apostle, 1Jo_2:19, If they had been of us, they would, no doubt, have continued with
us), but he passed for a righteous man. He had the denomination and all the external
marks of a righteous man; he thought himself one, and others thought him one. But he
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142. throws of his profession, leaves his first love, disowns and forsakes the truth and ways of
God, and so turns away from his righteousness as one sick of it, and now shows, what
he always had, a secret aversion to it; and, having turned away from his righteousness,
he commits iniquity, grows loose, and profane, and sensual, intemperate, unjust, and, in
short, does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does; for, when the
unclean spirit recovers his possession of the heart, he brings with him seven other
spirits more wicked than himself and they enter in and dwell there, Luk_11:26. (2.) The
doom of an apostate: Shall he live because he was once a righteous man? No; factum
non dicitur quod non perseverat - that which does not abide is not said to be done. In
his trespass (Eze_18:24) and for his iniquity (that is the meritorious cause of his ruin),
for the iniquity that he has done, he shall die, shall die eternally, Eze_18:26. The
backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways. But will not his former professions
and performances stand him in some stead - will they not avail at least to mitigate his
punishment? No: All his righteousness that he has done, though ever so much
applauded by men, shall not be mentioned so as to be either a credit or a comfort to him;
the righteousness of an apostate is forgotten, as the wickedness of a penitent is. Under
the law, if a Nazarite was polluted he lost all the foregoing days of his separation (Num_
6:12), so those that have begun in the spirit and end in the flesh may reckon all their past
services and sufferings in vain (Gal_3:3, Gal_3:4); unless we persevere we lose what we
have gained, 2Jo_1:8.
JAMISON 21-24, "Two last cases, showing the equity of God: (1) The penitent sinner
is dealt with according to his new obedience, not according to his former sins. (2) The
righteous man who turns from righteousness to sin shall be punished for the latter, and
his former righteousness will be of no avail to him.
he shall surely live — Despair drives men into hardened recklessness; God
therefore allures men to repentance by holding out hope [Calvin].
To threats the stubborn sinner oft is hard,
Wrapt in his crimes, against the storm prepared,
But when the milder beams of mercy play,
He melts, and throws the cumbrous cloak away.
Hitherto the cases had been of a change from bad to good, or vice versa, in one
generation compared with another. Here it is such a change in one and the same
individual. This, as practically affecting the persons here addressed, is properly put last.
So far from God laying on men the penalty of others’ sins, He will not even punish them
for their own, if they turn from sin to righteousness; but if they turn from righteousness
to sin, they must expect in justice that their former goodness will not atone for
subsequent sin (Heb_10:38, Heb_10:39; 2Pe_2:20-22). The exile in Babylon gave a
season for repentance of those sins which would have brought death on the perpetrator
in Judea while the law could be enforced; so it prepared the way for the Gospel
[Grotius].
CALVIN, “In this sentence God proposes the hope of pardon, and invites and
exhorts to penitence all the transgressors of his law. But this doctrine is specially
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143. worthy of notice, that God extends his arms, and is prepared to meet and receive all
who betake themselves to good fruits: for despair hurls us into madness, and then
hardens our hearts by abandoned obstinacy. Hence it is necessary that God should
extend his hand towards us, and animate us to penitence. This is the meaning of this
passage of the Prophets, as soon as the impious is turned away from his impiety,
God will be at peace with him. Now we see that no excuse remains for us if this
humane invitation of God does not stir us up when he bears witness that he is
propitious to us when we heartily desire to be reconciled to him. But he here
requires serious repentance when he says, if the impious has turned away from his
impiety, and has kept my statutes, and done justice and judgment, he shall live, says
he. For a sort of half conversion is discerned in many who think that in this way
they are safe before God, but they are greatly deceived; for many mingle virtues
with vices, and imagine their guilt blotted out, if they can only bring forward
something as worthy of praise. But this is just as if any one should offer muddy will
to his master, because he had mixed it not only with dregs, but even with filth: so
are all the works of those who do not put away all depraved desires, and strive to
free themselves from all the corruption’s of the flesh. Thus what is here taught is
worthy of notice, namely, that the beginning of conversion is, when any one
renounces himself and his own lusts. But it is necessary to add another part of duty,
that when any one bids farewell to his vices, he must devote himself obediently to
God. The Prophet joins the two together, therefore, since one cannot be separated
from the other. Hence the Spirit here shortly defines what true and legitimate
conversion is. He says, that when any one is thus converted, that his life is prepared
for God, since God will forget all his sins. This is a confirmation of the doctrine; for
God cannot be entreated as long as he imputes our sins to us: hence, that we may
determine him to be propitious to us, he promises, as soon as we repent, that all our
sins shall be buried, and no longer come into remembrance. But this is the
incomparable goodness of God, since he deigns to forget all our sins as soon as he
sees us earnestly desirous of returning to him. On the whole, Ezekiel pronounces
that all the penitent pass at once from death to life, since God blots out all their
transgressions by voluntary oblivion. It afterwards follows —
COFFMAN, ""But if the wicked turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and
keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he
shall not die. None of his transgressions that he hath committed shall be
remembered against him: in his righteousness that he hath done, he shall live. Have
I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? saith the Lord Jehovah; and not rather
that he should turn from his way and live? But when the righteous turneth away
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144. from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the
abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds
that he hath done shall be remembered, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them
shall he die."
"Keep all my statutes ..." (Ezekiel 18:21). Note the word all. Again, we see the truth
that God is not merely concerned with moral requirements of the holy Law, but
with the strict human observance of all of it.
The strong inference here that the passage may indirectly refer to Manasseh occurs
in the fact that despite his being such an evil monarch, at the end of his days,
Manasseh turned from his sins and returned to the true God.
Regarding Ezekiel 18:21, here, Beasley-Murray stated that, "A man is not only free
from the sins of his father, but he may also be free from his own sins, if he so wishes;
he can repent and turn away from them."[13]
This passage regarding the possibility of a man becoming free from his own sins has
been called, "the most precious word in the whole Book of Ezekiel."[14]
What is God's ultimate objective for human life? It certainly is not the destruction
of the wicked. As an apostle said, "God is longsuffering to you-ward, not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). "God's
pleasure is that the wicked should turn from his evil way, and live."[15]
The Calvinistic nonsense that a person "once saved is always saved" encounters
here a shocking refutation in the behavior of the righteous man, "who turns away
from his righteousness and commits iniquity and all the abominations that the
wicked man doeth (Ezekiel 18:24)." Could such a thing occur? Is the Word of God
true?
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145. TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath
committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall
surely live, he shall not die.
Ver. 21. But if the wicked will turn, &c.] That is, saith Theodoret, so far am I from
punishing one for the sins of another, that I am ready to receive a returning sinner,
how far or how fast soever he hath run out.
And keep all my statutes.] For the best and rightest repentance is a new life, saith
Luther.
BENSON, "Verses 21-23
Ezekiel 18:21-23. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins — That is, repent and
bring forth fruit worthy of repentance. He shall surely live — He shall escape
punishment: he shall be pardoned, and it shall be well with him in time and in
eternity; as if he had said, So far is God from punishing the sins of guilty parents on
their innocent children, as is objected above, that it is certain he does not punish
even the guilty for their own sins, when they repent of and forsake them. Our God,
who mercifully pardons the penitent for their own sins, will not, cannot for a
moment, be supposed to charge innocent children, or any others, with the sins that
are not their own. All his transgressions — That is, not one of all his transgressions;
shall be mentioned unto him — Or remembered against him; that is, imputed to or
punished on him; they shall be as if they were forgotten. God is said in Scripture to
remember men’s sins when he punishes them, and not to remember them when he
pardons them: see Jeremiah 14:10; Jeremiah 31:34. Have I any pleasure, &c., that
the wicked should die? — “Is it any pleasure to me that men should be wicked; or
that those who are now wicked men, should die everlastingly? Is it not rather my
desire that men should repent, and that the repentant should live? Is not this the
very sum of my gospel, which I send into the world? Do I not call, and cry, and sue
to men, that they would return from their sins, and be saved?” — Bishop Hall. It is
not in the nature of God, which is infinitely holy and gracious, to have any pleasure
in the unholiness and misery of any of his creatures. It does not comport with the
wisdom and rectitude of the eternal lawgiver and sovereign ruler of the world, to
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146. take delight in seeing his laws violated, the rights of his government infringed, and
his subjects punished. And it cannot consist with the boundless love of the almighty
Father of the universe to take pleasure in witnessing the wretchedness of his
offspring; or with the infinite mercy of the Redeemer and Saviour of the fallen race
of Adam, to delight in seeing those perish for whose salvation he gave his Son to die.
On the contrary, he willeth all men to be saved, and, in order thereto, to come to the
knowledge of the truth, and is not willing that any should perish, 1 Timothy 2:4; 2
Peter 3:9. It is true that God has determined to punish sinners continuing in sin; his
justice calls for it; and, pursuant to that, impenitent sinners will lie for ever under
his wrath and curse. This is the will of his decree, his consequent will, but it is not
his antecedent will, the will of his delight and good pleasure. For though the
righteousness of his government requires that sinners should die, yet the goodness of
his nature causes him to choose far rather that they should turn from their ways
and live; and he is unspeakably better pleased when his mercy is glorified in their
salvation than when his justice is glorified in their damnation. Hence that
affectionate wish, Deuteronomy 5:29, O that there were such a heart in them, that
they would fear me, &c., always, that it might be well with them, and with their
children for ever!
PETT, "Verse 21-22
“But if the wicked turn from all his sins which he has committed, and keep all my
statutes, and do what is lawful and right, he will surely live, he will not die. None of
his transgressions which he has committed will be remembered against him. In his
righteousness that he has done he will live.”
But the course of no man is set in stone. In God’s goodness there is always place for
repentance. If a man turns from his sin to the way of righteousness he will receive
life. Then all his sins will be forgiven him. They will be remembered no more for
ever. Because he has been restored to God’s way he will live.
This assumes, of course, his returning to God’s covenant and coming to God
through the means of propitiation and mercy He has provided. That was part of His
statutes and laws. Righteousness included righteousness towards God and towards
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147. man. It is the attitude of a truly repentant man who receives forgiveness from God
through the blood of sacrifice shed for him, and in trust and obedience as a forgiven
sinner lives a new life within the covenant. This had to be so for the sake of the
righteous as well, for they were most conscious of the fact that they were sinners.
PULPIT, "Ezekiel 18:21, Ezekiel 18:22
But if the wicked will turn, etc. Here, however, there is a distinct advance. The
question is carried further into the relations between the past and the present of the
same man, between his old and his new self. And in answering that question also
Ezekiel becomes the preacher of a gospel. The judgment of God deals with each man
according to his present state, not his past. Repentance and conversion and
obedience shall cancel, as it were, the very memory of his former sins (Ezekiel's
language is necessarily that of a hold anthropopathy), and his transgressions shall
not be mentioned unto him (comp. Ezekiel 33:16; Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 64:9;
Jeremiah 31:34). Assuming the later date of Isaiah 40-66, the last three utterances
have the interest of being those of nearly contemporary prophets to whom the same
truth had been revealed.
22 None of the offenses they have committed will
be remembered against them. Because of the
righteous things they have done, they will live.
CLARKE, "All his transgressions - Shall be so completely forgiven by God’s
mercy, that they shall not be even mentioned to him; and if he live and die in this
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148. recovered state, he shall live with God to all eternity. And why? Hear the reason: -
GILL, "All his transgressions that he hath committed,.... Before his repentance,
conversion, and obedience:
they shall not be mentioned unto him; they shall not be charged upon his
conscience, or brought against him in providence; he shall not be upbraided with them,
or punished for them; but they shall be forgiven him, at least in such sense as to prevent
temporal calamity and ruin:
in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live; he shall live "in" it, though
not "for" it; this will be the fruit and consequence of his obedience and righteousness,
that he shall live and not die, in the sense that has been already given, according to the
tenor of the law, Lev_18:5.
JAMISON, "in his righteousness ... he shah live — in it, not for it, as if that
atoned for his former sins; but “in his righteousness” he shall live, as the evidence of his
being already in favor with God through the merit of Messiah, who was to come. The
Gospel clears up for us many such passages (1Pe_1:12), which were dimly understood at
the time, while men, however, had light enough for salvation.
CALVIN, “He confirms the same sentiment in other words, that God desires
nothing more earnestly than that those who were perishing and rushing to
destruction should return into the way of safety. And for this reason not only is the
Gospel spread abroad in the world, but God wished to bear witness through all ages
how inclined he is to pity. For although the heathen were destitute of the law and the
prophets, yet they were always endued with some taste of this doctrine. Truly
enough they were suffocated by many errors: but we shall always find that they
were induced by a secret impulse to seek for pardon, because this sense was in some
way born with them, that God is to be appeased by all who seek him. Besides, God
bore witness to it more clearly in the law and the prophets. In the Gospel we hear
how familiarly he addresses us when he promises us pardon. (Luke 1:78.) And this
is the knowledge of salvation, to embrace his mercy which he offers us in Christ. It
follows, then, that what the Prophet now says is very true, that God wills not the
death of a sinner, because he meets him of his own accord, and is not only prepared
to receive all who fly to his pity, but he calls them towards him with a loud voice,
when he sees how they are alienated from all hope of safety. But the manner must be
noticed in which God wishes all to be saved, namely, when they turn themselves
from their ways. God thus does not so wish all men to be saved as to renounce the
difference between good and evil; but repentance, as we have said, must precede
pardon. How, then, does God wish all men to be saved? By the Spirit’s condemning
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149. the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment at this day, by the Gospel, as he
did formerly by the law and the prophets. (John 16:8.) God makes manifest to
mankind their great misery, that they may betake themselves to him: he wounds
that he may cure, and slays that he may give life. We hold, then, that; God wills not
the death of a sinner, since he calls all equally to repentance, and promises himself
prepared to receive them if they only seriously repent. If any one should object —
then there is no election of God, by which he has predestinated a fixed number to
salvation, the answer is at hand: the Prophet does not here speak of God’s secret
counsel, but only recalls miserable men from despair, that they may apprehend the
hope of pardon, and repent and embrace the offered salvation. If any one again
objects — this is making God act with duplicity, the answer is ready, that God
always wishes the same thing, though by different ways, and in a manner
inscrutable to us. Although, therefore, God’s will is simple, yet great variety is
involved in it, as far as our senses are concerned. Besides, it is not surprising that
our eyes should be blinded by intense light, so that we cannot certainly judge how
God wishes all to be saved, and yet has devoted all the reprobate to eternal
destruction, and wishes them to perish. While we look now through a glass darkly,
we should be content with the measure of our own intelligence. (1 Corinthians
13:12.) When we shall be like God, and see him face to face, then what is now
obscure will then become plain. But since captious men torture this and similar
passages, it will be needful to refute them shortly, since it can be done without
trouble.
God is said not to wish the death of a sinner. How so? since he wishes all to be
converted. Now we must see how God wishes all to be converted; for repentance is
surely his peculiar gift: as it is his office to create men, so it is his province to renew
them, and restore his image within them. For this reason we are said to be his
workmanship, that is, his fashioning. (Ephesians 2:10.) Since, therefore, repentance
is a kind of second creation, it follows that it is not in man’s power; and if it is
equally in God’s power to convert men as well as to create them, it follows that the
reprobate are not converted, because God does not wish their conversion; for if he
wished it he could do it: and hence it appears that he does not wish it. But again
they argue foolishly, since God does not wish all to be converted, he is himself
deceptive, and nothing can be certainly stated concerning his paternal benevolence.
But this knot is easily untied; for he does not leave us in suspense when he says, that
he wishes all to be saved. Why so? for if no one repents without finding God
propitious, then this sentence is filled up. But we must remark that God puts on a
twofold character: for he here wishes to be taken at his word. As I have already
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150. said, the Prophet does not here dispute with subtlety about his incomprehensible
plans, but wishes to keep our attention close to God’s word. Now, what are the
contents of this word? The law, the prophets, and the gospel. Now all are called to
repentance, and the hope of salvation is promised them when they repent. this is
true, since God rejects no returning sinner: he pardons all without exception:
meanwhile, this will of God which he sets forth in his word does not prevent him
from decreeing before the world was created what he would do with every
individual: and as I have now said, the Prophet only shows here, that when we have
been converted we need not doubt that God immediately meets us and shows himself
propitious. The remainder tomorrow.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not
be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
Ver. 22. All his transgressions.] So true is that of an ancient, Quem poenitet
peccasse, poene est innocens - Penitence is nearly as good as innocence.
In his righteousness.] Or, For his righteousness, tanquam ob causum sine qua non,
et ob promissionem Dei, (a) not of merit, but mercy and free grace.
23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the
wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am
I not pleased when they turn from their ways and
live?
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151. CLARKE, "Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? - No! That
is foreign to him whose name is love, and whose nature is mercy. On the contrary he
“wills that he should return from his evil ways and live.”
And if God can have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, he cannot have made a
decree to abandon him to the evil of his nature, and then damn him for what he could
not avoid: for as God can do nothing with which he is not pleased, so he can decree
nothing with which he is not pleased. But he is “not pleased with the death of a sinner,”
therefore he cannot have made a decree to bring him to this death.
GILL, "Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord
God,.... Perish by sword, famine, or pestilence, or go into captivity; this, though the
Lord's will and work, yet is his strange work; mercy is his delight. This is to be
understood not absolutely; for the Lord does take pleasure in these things, as they fulfil
his word, secure the honour of his truth and holiness, and glorify his justice, and
especially when they are the means of reclaiming men from the evil of their ways; but
comparatively, as follows:
and not that he should return from his ways, and live? that is, it is more
pleasing to God that a man should repent of his sins, and forsake his vicious course of
life, and enjoy good things, than to go on in his sins, and bring ruin on himself, here and
hereafter.
JAMISON, "(1Ti_2:4; 2Pe_3:9). If men perish, it is because they will not come to the
Lord for salvation; not that the Lord is not willing to save them (Joh_5:40). They
trample on not merely justice, but mercy; what farther hope can there be for them, when
even mercy is against them? (Heb_10:26-29).
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith
the Lord GOD: [and] not that he should return from his ways, and live?
Ver. 23. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?] No, verily; for then
he should do nothing but do and undo, make a world and unmake it again, since we
provoke him continually; but he is longsuffering.
“ Atque dolet quoties cogitur esse ferox. ”
And not that he should return.] Had not I rather pardon than punish? Is not this
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152. last my work, my strange work [Isaiah 28:21]
PETT, "Verse 23
“Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” says the Lord Yahweh, “and not
rather that he should return from his way and live?”
These words should be seared on all our hearts. God has no desire for, or pleasure
in, the death of the wicked. He does not want any to be lost in the judgment. But
inevitably it must be so for they choose that way themselves. Their wills are turned
against Him and they will not repent. But God would rather that they returned to
Him and found mercy, so that He might give them life.
These words were an offer to those in Jerusalem, even in their last extremity. God
had no pleasure in what He was about to bring on Jerusalem. He longed that they
might respond and be saved. They were a cry to the exiles too. If they would but
hear there was a way back. Any who responded would be saved. That was why
Jeremiah had been sent among them. That was why Ezekiel was now speaking the
words of Yahweh. Hope was there. If it had happened in Nineveh (Jonah 3) it could
happen in Jerusalem. And yet all the while the inexorable message of judgment on
Jerusalem revealed that it would not be. God knew that on the whole they would
continue to reject Him, is spite of His offer of mercy. But when they did so it would
not be because He had not sought them.
PULPIT, "Ezekiel 18:23
Have I any pleasure, etc.? Ezekiel's anticipations of the gospel of Christ take a yet
wider range, and we come at last to what had been throughout the suppressed
premise of the argument. To him, as afterwards to St. Paul (1 Timothy 2:4) and St.
Peter (2 Peter 3:9), the mind of God was presented as being at once absolutely
righteous and absolutely loving. The death of the wicked, the loss, i.e; of true life, for
a time, or even forever, might be the necessary consequence of laws that were
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153. righteous in themselves, and were working out the well being of the universe; but
that death was not to be thought of as the result of a Divine decree, or contemplated
by the Divine mind with any satisfaction. If it were not given to Ezekiel to see, as
clearly as Isaiah seems to have seen it, how the Divine philanthropy was to manifest
itself, he at least gauged that philanthropy itself, and found it fathomless.
BI, "Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?
A summons to repentance
If we spare not our sins, but slay them with the sword of the Spirit, God will spare us.
The words are uttered by a figurative interrogation, in which there is more evidence and
efficacy, more life and convincing force. For it is as if He had said, Know ye not that I
have no such desire? or think ye that I have any desire? or dare it enter into your
thoughts that I take any pleasure at all in the death of a sinner? When the interrogation
is figurative the rule is, that if the question be affirmative, the answer to it must be
negative; but if the question be negative, the answer must be affirmative. For example:
Who is like unto the Lord? the meaning is, none is like unto the Lord. Whom have I in
heaven but Thee? that is, I have none in heaven but Thee. On the other side, when the
question is negative, the answer must be affirmative; as: Are not the angels ministering
spirits? that is, the angels are ministering spirits; and, Shall the Son of man find faith?
that is, the Son of man shall not find faith. Here, then, apply the rule, and shape a
negative answer to the first member being affirmative, thus: I have no desire that a
sinner should die; and an affirmative answer to the negative member, thus: I have a
desire that the wicked should return and five; and ye have the true meaning and natural
exposition of this verse. But here some cast a dark mist, which hath caused many to lose
their way. How (say they) do we maintain that God desireth not the death of a sinner,
who before all time decreed death for sin, and sin for death? This mist in part is
dispelled by distinguishing of three sorts of God’s decrees—
1. There is an absolute decree and resolute purpose of God, for those things which
He determineth shall be.
2. There is a decree of mandate, or at least a warrant for those things which He
desireth should be.
3. There is a decree of permission for such things, as if He powerfully stop them not,
will be. Of the first kind of decree or will of God, we are to understand those words of
the Psalmist (Psa_135:6), and of our Saviour (Joh_17:24). To the second we are to
refer those words of the apostle (Rom_9:19; Eph_1:5; 1Ti_2:4; 2Pe_3:9; 1Th_4:3;
Rom_12:2). If ye rightly apply these distinctions, ye may without great difficulty
loosen the knots above tied: the first whereof was, whether God decreed sin original
or actual. Ye may answer according to the former distinctions, that He decreed
effectually all the good that is joined with it, or may come by it, or it may occasion;
but He decreed permissively only the obliquity or malignity thereof: He neither doth
it, nor approveth of it when it is done, but only permitteth it and taketh advantage of
it for the manifestation of His justice.
To the second question, which toucheth the apple of the eye of this text, whether God
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154. decreeth the death of any? ye may answer briefly, that He doth not decree it any way for
itself, as it is the destruction of His creature, or a temporal or eternal torment thereof;
but as it is a manifestation of His justice.
1. Doth God take no pleasure in the death of the wicked that daily transgresseth His
law, ungraciously abuse His mercy, and slightly regard His judgments? Doth He use
all good means to reclaim them, and save them from wrath to come? Is the life of
every man so precious in His eyes? Doth He esteem of it as a rich jewel engraven
with His own image? How careful, then, and chary ought we to be, who are put in
trust with it (locked up in the casket of our body), that we lose it not.
2. If judges, and all those who sit upon life and death, did enter into a serious
consideration thereof, they would not so easily (as sometimes they do) cast away a
thing that is so precious, much less receive the price of blood.
3. If a malefactor arraigned at the bar of justice should perceive by any speech,
gesture, sign, or token, an inclination in the judge to mercy, how would he work
upon this advantage?—what suit? what means would he make for his life? how would
he importune all his friends to entreat for him? how would he fall down upon his
knees and beseech the judge for the mercies of God to be good unto him? Ho, all ye
that have guilty consciences, and are privy to yourselves of many capital crimes,
though peradventure no other can appeach you! behold, the Judge of all flesh makes
an overture of mercy, He bewrayeth more than a propension or inclination, He
discovereth a desire to save you! Why do ye not make means unto Him? Why do ye
not appeal from the bar of His justice to His throne of grace? Why do ye not fly from
Him, as He is a terrible Judge? to Him, as He is a merciful Father? (D. Featly, D. D.)
God and the soul
One of the masters of Old Testament theology, a student of singular nobility of mind and
penetration of judgment, Dr. A.B. Davidson, has said of this and of the kindred 33rd
chapter: “Perhaps there are hardly any more important passages in the Old Testament
than those two chapters of Ezekiel.” And why? Because, as he says, “there we may say
that we see the birth of the individual mind taking place before our eyes.” It was the first,
or one of the first, assertions of the truth that man is more than the circumstances of
which he is a part; that in God’s sight he stands single and free. We can best understand
the force of this particular chapter if we remember the historical circumstances out of
which it came. Nebuchadnezzar, the ruthless conqueror, had laid waste Jerusalem. “He
carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, and all
the craftsmen, and none remained save the poorest of the people of the land.” That band
of exiles, among whom was the young Ezekiel, was carried to Babylon, and there the best
of them lay astonished at the crushing blow which God had dealt to them. Jerusalem, the
inviolable hill of Jehovah, spoiled and degraded, within eleven years laid waste and
desolate, abandoned of God. It seemed to them that they were involved in the
punishment of the sins of their fathers. There could be no escape, no penitence in the
land of their exile could disentangle their souls from the ruin in which the sins of their
forefathers had engulfed them. It was natural that their thoughts should run in such a
channel. Hebrew religion tended to merge, the individual in the state or family. The
covenant of God was made not with the individual so much as with the State. The
dealings and punishments of God with His people embraced not only the person, but his
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155. whole family, to the third and fourth generation; and so it seemed to them that they
could not, for all their anguish, escape the consequences of their fathers’ sins. It was the
object of Ezekiel to lift the burden of despair from his fellow exiles. He discerned in the
very breaking up of the national life a call to the individual to become deeper and more
personal in his obedience and faith. He sought to disentangle the person from the nation
and the family, to make him realise his own freedom and separate responsibility in the
sight of God. God is sovereign over the dispensations of His own laws. He treats every
man, at every moment, precisely as that man is by virtue of his own separate and solitary
responsibility. Man is free morally, whatever the chain that may bind him to his
ancestors. God is free morally, and judges every man by virtue of that freedom. But the
prophet carried the truth a stage further. Among these exiles there were doubtless
individual men and women who felt that the chain that bound them, bound them to an
irreversible destiny, was not the chain of their fathers’ sins, but of the sins they
themselves had committed. They remembered the law of Jehovah which they had
despised, the worship of their fathers in the temple, which they had ignored or polluted
by their idolatry. It seemed to them that their cup was full; they could not escape the
punishment of the sins of the past. They were shut up to the impotence of unavailing
remorse. To them the prophet’s message was like that which he gave to his community.
He reminded each of them that still, in spite of their sins and shortcomings, there was
within a separate life, a freedom which could arise from the past impenitence and return,
and that matching that freedom there was also the sovereign grace of Almighty God.
That was the prophet’s message to his own day. I wonder if any of you have discerned
with what singular force it applies to our own? The place which was taken when Ezekiel
wrote, by the customary habits and traditions and principles of Hebrew religion, is taken
today by the characteristic teaching of modern science. The old words of the covenant of
God’s punishment of men to the third and fourth generation have given place to the new
words of “heredity” and “environment.” But the principle is the same. Science has been
teaching us wonderfully, beautifully, terribly, with what a subtlety and closeness of tie
we are bound through our brains and bodies to the ancestors from whom we sprang, the
circumstances under which we live, the progeny which we leave behind us; we know that
our character is the product of a thousand influences of climate, of scenery, of sights and
sounds, of food, of tendencies in the blood, of faculties and perversions of the brain, and
we accept the truth. It gives a very wonderful and real, as well as a very solemn, aspect to
this universe of which we are part. We build upon it. It is the truth that is the main-
spring of all our zeal for education, of all our efforts for social reform; to that truth we
turn when we wish to measure the fulness of our social responsibility. But is it the last
and only word? Is man nothing but the product of these circumstances, the creature of
invisible laws? If it be so, then before long we may come to that feeling of despair which
lay upon the breast of these exiles of Jerusalem. We must balance that truth with the
other which Ezekiel recovered for his contemporaries—the truth that man’s nature,
though it is inwoven by the influences of blood and surroundings, yet has within it a
personal life higher than, and apart from, that nature. It is free—it is capable, when
aroused, of moulding that nature to its own will. God Himself is something more than an
union of irreversible and irresistible laws. He is, He remains, a sovereign moral
Personality, caring as a Father for the children that He has made, knowing them as
individuals, dealing with them man by man in the separateness of their own single
freedom and responsibility. I ask you to consider the basis which Ezekiel is teaching us
in its reference to our lives as members of a community and as personal beings.
1. First of all, there is a message to us as members of a community. Sometimes the
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156. Hebrew took joy from the thought that he was bound with his fathers and children in
the bonds of the covenant of the will of God. And sometimes we take joy in the
thought that we are bound together by those subtle and intricate ties to the nature
which surrounds us, and to our fellow beings in long distances of the past and future.
But when the Hebrew realised God’s punishment in the waste of Jerusalem, he was
filled with the chill of despair. No doubt, for a time, the thought that man is the
product of his circumstances fills us with the energy of reform. It makes us, perhaps,
with even greater zest, turn to every effort to improve the condition of the
environment of the people. But when we try, how long the task seems, how thick and
obstinate the difficulties, how impossible it seems to compass it within the short
generation in which the necessities of life permit us to labour. And meanwhile, what
have we to say to the individual men, women, and children who are living under
these conditions? Think for a moment of those atoms of social waste whom we call
the unemployable. You see them as they pass before your eyes, the product, indeed,
of circumstances—the sins of their fathers written in the marks of disease, the sins of
their own youth written in the furtive glance of the eyes and the shambling gait, the
sins, it may be, of the community which has failed to find a place for them, in the
hopelessness and futility of every effect that they may make. And yet, what are we to
say to them? Are we to say to them with the mere teaching of determinist science:
“Your transgressions and your sins are upon you, and you pine away in them, why
should you live?” Yet apart from some vast, at present as it seems, inconceivable
change of our industrial conditions, are they not hopeless? If science says the last
word, surely they are. Yet when you find yourself placed face to face with an
individual man of these multitudes, can you use that language? Can you turn to them
and say: “You are the doomed product of a bad environment; there is no hope for
you. You must stay as you are”? Nay! rather you make it your one object to
disentangle the man from the mesh in which he is placed. You seek to find out
somewhere the springs of the real man within him. You desire to create some
emotion, some motive, some interest, by which that self of his, that manhood of his,
may be aroused, re-created, and go forth and be strong. And you can venture upon
that effort because you believe, with an instinct that is stronger than a one-sided
theory, that somewhere or other in that poor, broken life there remains dormant and
hidden the germ of a freedom of his own that he can arouse and use, if only there is
sufficient strength and motive power given to him. You try to reach and touch and
find the man within him; and that instinct of yours restores the balance of the truth.
Science is true. There is this product of the environment. We must work and labour
with unremitting toil to change and improve it. But the one inevitable, indispensable
factor of social reform is the individual freedom and responsibility of the man. Even
when you change his circumstances, this alone will be powerless unless you have
changed the whole man’s will so that he cooperates with the change in his
circumstances; and therefore every scheme of charity which neglects this truth,
which belittles this factor of the man’s own individual freedom and power and
responsibility, is a real danger.
2. Secondly, the prophet’s message is to the personal life. There were men to whom
Ezekiel spoke who felt the burthen upon them, not of the load of their fathers’ sins,
but of their own. It may be that among the men to whom I speak there are some who
are conscious of the same impotence of remorse. The sins of your body have
immeshed your body and mind in the bondage of evil habit. You can think of some
mistake that you made, irreversible now, which has spoilt your life. You are tied up
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157. in the doom of your destiny. Or, perhaps, there are others, who have not gone so far,
but when there comes to them the prompting of some better impulse they meet it
with such replies, expressed or unexpressed, as this: “It is no good, it is too late; my
nature is made, I cannot change. These heights are for others, I cannot attain unto
them. Like Sir Lancelot, the quest is not for me. I am what my life has made me, and
it is too late to change.” And so when these better impulses come they are avoided,
they are refused. Possibly they gradually die out, and the prison gates begin to close.
Now, in this there is a truth which cannot be gainsaid. We cannot escape, not even
God Himself can enable us to escape, from the actual consequences of our sins. That
is true; we cannot quarrel with the teaching both of science and conscience. But it is
not the whole truth. There remains that hidden self, that inner man, and it is free. It
has always the power of rising from its past and going forth to a new future. You say
it is impossible. With man perhaps it is impossible. But with God all things are
possible. For that freedom of mine, however feeble and broken, is not alone; there is
another free and sovereign power waiting for it, acknowledging it as His own image,
welcoming it, coming down upon it, with His own strength and power. When I use
my freedom I meet and touch the freedom of the sovereign grace of God Himself. If
only we act upon that impulse which is the sign of the persistence of our better self,
we find somehow that that strength comes down upon us. It may be a miracle. Our
Lord asks the unanswerable question whether it is easier to say to the sick of the
palsy, “Arise and walk,” or to say, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” I know not what
mystery may be behind that truth, but truth it is if only we will act upon it; if only
that will, broken and feeble as it may be, will emerge from the ruins of its past, and
act for itself in the spirit of return. Then it will find that the freedom of God’s grace is
at its hand, and will come to it and strengthen it. We must, it is true, continue to bear
our sins, but there is all the difference in the world between that and being borne by
them. When we bear them, our recovered spirit is master of them. Even remorse can
be a continual reminder of the long-suffering of God. The weakness, baffling and
humiliating to the end, can be the occasion for the triumph of the strength of God.
You have seen sometimes the coast when the tide is far out. It looks a mere barren
tract of sand and stone, but somewhere far out in the deep a movement takes place.
The tide turns, and soon the water covers the waste land. So my life, when I look
back upon it, may be the barren tract of sand, the grave of lost opportunities, strewn
with stones of stumbling and rocks of offence. But if only in the great deep, where the
Spirit of God touches the spirit of man, my free self can go out to Him, then there is
the turning of the tide, and sooner or later that full tide of God’s refreshing and
restoring grace will cover the waste places. I am—in my own personal self; God is—in
His own sovereign Personality; and on these two truths we can all base the perpetual
hope of a new beginning. (Bishop Lang.)
Sin slays the sinner
Manton says: “The life of sin and the life of a sinner are like two buckets in a well—if the
one goeth up, the other must come down. If sin liveth, the sinner must die.” It is only
when sin dies that a man begins truly to live. Yet we cannot persuade our neighbours
that it is so, for their hearts are bound up in their sins, and they think themselves most
alive when they can give fullest liberty to their desires. They raise up their sins, and so
sink themselves. If they could be persuaded of the truth, they would send the bucket of
sin to the very bottom that their better selves might rise into eternal salvation. (C. H.
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158. Spurgeon.)
God’s solemn inquiry of Gospel hearers
I. The evidence in every Christian country of God’s having no pleasure at all in the death
of sinners.
1. A true penitent is readily forgiven. Two striking illustrations suggested here: a
rebellious father’s repentant son (verse 14, etc.) , and a man once rebellious who
amends (verses 21, 22). In each instance his soul is saved. None can fairly meditate
on the promptness of such pardons without perceiving God’s delight in mercy (Mic_
7:18).
2. The reason why the righteous God can so promptly pardon (Tit_3:4-7; Joh_3:16;
Rom_8:32).
3. God has appointed a class of men to urge on the unworthy His unspeakable gift
(2Co_5:20). Did He wish the destruction of the Ninevites when He sent Jonah to
them? He has as little pleasure in the death of the wicked now (Rev_22:17).
II. The one simple duty of hearers is to return (verse 32).
1. With the turning of true repentance, which involves a thorough change of service.
Note details of practical love in this chapter (verse 17), and see conduct of
Thessalonians (1Th_1:9).
2. With the turning of trust (in the appointed Mediator) for all the needed mercy and
grace. (See the description in 1Pe_2:24-25.)
3. With the turning quickened by the Holy Spirit (Joh_16:8), which should be
fostered by prayer (Psa_80:18-19).
4. With the turning which issues in life; the life of the acquitted and holy (Rom_
5:1-21:l, 2), which is a sure earnest of life everlasting (Joh_6:40). (D. D. Stewart, M.
A.)
And not that he should return from his ways, and live?—
The best return
St. Austin, lying on his death bed, caused divers verses of the penitential psalms to be
written on the walls of his chamber, on which he still cast his eyes, and commented upon
them with the fluent rhetoric of his tears. But I could wish of all texts of Scripture that
this of the prophet Ezekiel were still before all their eyes who mourn for their sins in
private. For nothing can raise the dejected soul but the lifting-up of God’s countenance
upon her; nothing can bring peace to an affrighted and troubled conscience but a free
pardon of all sins, whereby she hath incurred the sentence of death, which the prophet
tendereth in the words of the text. I will endeavour to open two springs in my text—the
one a higher, the other a lower; the one ariseth from God and His joy, the other from
ourselves and our salvation. That the conversion of a sinner is a joy and delight to God, I
need not to produce arguments to prove, or similes to illustrate; He that spake as never
man spake, hath represented it unto us by many exquisite emblems (Luk_15:4; Luk_
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159. 15:8; Luk_15:10; Luk_15:32). Scipio (as Livy writeth) never looked so fresh, nor seemed
so beautiful in the eyes of his soldiers, as after his recovery from a dangerous sickness
which he took in the camp; neither doth the soul ever seem more beautiful than when
she is restored to health after some dangerous malady. The Palladium was in highest
esteem both with the Trojans and Romans, not so much for the matter or workmanship,
as because it was catched out of the fire when Troy was burnt. And certainly no soul is
more precious in the eyes of God and His angels than that which is snatched out of the
fire of hell and jaws of death. I have opened the first spring, and we have tasted the
waters thereof; I am now to open the second, which is this, That as our repentance is joy
unto God and His angels, so it is grace and salvation to ourselves. As repentance is called
repentance from dead works, so also repentance unto life. For God pawns His life for the
life of the penitent: “As I live, saith the Lord, I desire not the death of a sinner, but rather
that he should return and live.” Pliny writeth of a fountain in Africa, in which torches
that are blown out being dipped are kindled again: such is the fountain of tears in the
eyes of a penitent sinner; if the light of his faith be extinguished to his sense and all
outward appearance, yet dipped in this fountain it is kindled again, and burns more
brightly than ever before. The Scripture furnisheth us not with many examples in this
kind, lest any should presume; yet some we find that none might despair. To comfort
those that are wounded in conscience, the good Samaritan cured him that was wounded
between Jerusalem and Jericho, and left half-dead; to comfort them that are sick in soul,
He recovered Peter’s wife’s mother lying sick in her bed; to comfort them that have
newly, as it were, given up the ghost, He raised Jairus’s daughter; to comfort them that
have been sometimes dead in sins and transgressions, He raised the widow’s son; to
comfort them that have been so long dead in sins that they begin to putrify, He raised up
Lazarus stinking in His grave. Therefore, if we have grievously provoked God’s justice by
presumption, let us not more wrong His mercy by despair; but hope even above hope in
Him whose mercy is over all His works. Against the number and weight of all our sins,
let us lay the infiniteness of God’s mercy, and Christ’s merits, and the certainty of His
promise confirmed by oath: “As I live, I desire not the death of a sinner; if he return, he
shall live.” It is a most sovereign water which will fetch a sinner again to the life of grace,
though never so far gone. It is not well water springing out of the bowels of the earth,
nor rain poured out of the clouds of passion, but rather like a dew falling from heaven,
which softeneth and moisteneth the heart, and is dried up by the beams of the Sun of
Righteousness. “Turn and live.” Should a prisoner led to execution hear the judge or
sheriff call to him, and say, Turn back, put in sureties for thy good behaviour hereafter,
and live—would he not suddenly leap out of his fetters, embrace the condition, and
thank the judge or sheriff upon his knees? And what think ye if God should send a
prophet to preach a sermon of repentance to the devils and damned ghosts in hell, and
say, Knock off your bolts, shake off your fetters, and turn to the Lord and live? Would
not hell be emptied and rid before the prophet should have made an end of his
exhortation? This sermon the prophet Ezekiel now maketh unto us all. (D. Featly, D. D.)
24 “But if a righteous person turns from their
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160. righteousness and commits sin and does the same
detestable things the wicked person does, will they
live? None of the righteous things that person has
done will be remembered. Because of the
unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of
the sins they have committed, they will die.
CLARKE, "When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness -
Here is the second case. Can a man who was once holy and pure fall away so as to perish
everlastingly? Yes. For God says, “If he turn away from his righteousness;” not his self-
righteousness, the gloss of theologians: for God never speaks of turning away from that,
for, in his eyes, that is a nonentity. There is no righteousness or holiness but what
himself infuses into the soul of man, and as to self-righteousness, i.e., a man’s supposing
himself to be righteous when he has not the life of God in his soul, it is the delusion of a
dark and hardened heart; therefore it is the real righteous principle and righteous
practice that God speaks of here. And he tells us, that al man may so “turn away from
this,” and so “commit iniquity,” and “act as the wicked man,” that his righteousness shall
be no more mentioned to his account, than the sins of the penitent backslider should be
mentioned to his condemnation; and “in the sin that he” this once righteous man, “hath
sinned, and in the trespass that he hath trespassed, in them shall he die.” O, how awful a
termination of a life once distinguished for righteousness and true holiness! So then,
God himself informs us that a righteous man may not only fall foully, but fall finally. But
to such righteous persons the devil will ever preach, “Ye shall not surely die; ye shall be
as God.” Touch, taste, and handle; ye cannot ultimately fall. Thus we find, by the manner
of treating these two cases, that God’s way is equal, Eze_18:25; just, merciful, and
impartial. And to prove this, he sums up his conduct in the above cases, in the following
Eze_18:26-29. And then, that the “wicked may not die in his sins,” and that the
“backslider may return and find mercy,” he thus exhorts: -
GILL, "But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness,.... This
is to be understood, not of a truly righteous man; for no man can be so denominated
from his own righteousness; but from the righteousness and obedience of Christ; and
such a man cannot turn from his righteousness; for that is the righteousness of God, and
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161. can never be lost; and is an everlasting one, and will always endure; and with which
eternal life is inseparably connected: but this is to be interpreted of one that is reckoned
so from his own righteousness, what he himself has done, and not from another, from
the righteousness of Christ, which he has wrought out; he is one that is righteous in his
own esteem, and in the account of others; who is outwardly righteous before men; who
trusts in himself that he is righteous, and trusts to his own righteousness; see Eze_
33:13; whose righteousness is not an evangelical one, but either a ceremonial
righteousness, or at most a mere moral one, consisting of some negative holiness, and a
few moral performances, as appears from Eze_18:5; and from such a righteousness as
this a man may turn, commit iniquity, sin and die; see 2Pe_2:20; and is no proof or
instance of the apostasy of real saints, true believers, or truly righteous men; besides,
this man is represented as a transgressor, or "prevaricator", as the word signifies; a
hypocrite, a man destitute of the truth of grace, and of true righteousness:
and committeth iniquity; makes a trade of sinning; goes into a vicious course of life,
and continues in it; which a truly gracious man, one that is born again, and has true faith
in Christ's righteousness, by which he is justified, can never do, 1Jo_3:8;
and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth;
such as theft, murder, adultery, idolatry, oppression of the poor, and giving upon usury,
Eze_18:10;
shall he live? in his own land, in peace and prosperity, enjoying all manner of good
things? he shall not; much less shall he live an eternal life, so living and dying:
all his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: or, "all his
righteousnesses" (k); all the good works which he has done will never come into any
account, or be of any avail; as they merited nothing, they will meet with no reward; they
will not preserve him from present calamity, which his now sinful life exposes him to,
nor secure him from eternal ruin; these may be mentioned and pleaded by himself, but
to no purpose; God will not mention them, nor take any notice of them, nor the Judge at
the great day of account, Mat_7:22;
in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in
them shall he die; or, for his hypocrisy, "prevarication" (l), and vicious course of life
he now lives in, a death of affliction shall come upon him; great calamities and distresses
in this world; and, if grace prevent not, eternal death in the other; if he dies in his
trespasses and sins, he will die the second death.
JAMISON, "When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness.
The evil of apostasy
1. There is a righteousness which men may turn from. There is an opinionative
righteousness (Luk_18:9; Mat_23:28); many think themselves righteous, and
appear so to others: there is also a duty, a moral, or legal righteousness, such as Paul
had (Php_3:6); and from these righteousnesses men may and do turn daily. Many
attain to a duty righteousness under the Gospel, but yet fall off again (Mat_13:20-22;
1Ti_5:15; Joh_6:66; 2Pe_2:2; 1Ti_4:1). Take heed, therefore, of trusting in or to any
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162. righteousness of your own.
2. It is not sufficient to begin well unless we proceed: fair beginnings without
progress come to nothing. Consider the arguments which lie here in the text, to keep
you from falling off, and encourage you to persevere in God.
(1) If you do turn back you will fall into iniquity; you will commit iniquity, the
frame, bent, and set of the heart will be that way; the thoughts, studies, counsels,
motions, endeavours will be towards and in iniquity, you will be an evil-doer, a
worker of iniquity.
(2) He lies obvious to all manner of sin; what will not the man do that turns from
his holy profession?
(3) Whatever good he hath formerly done shall be all forgotten: if he have done
much good to his family or friends, it shall be all laid aside, buried in the dark,
and not once be mentioned unto him.
(4) He shall die, and that eternally, in his apostasy, and the guilt, not of one sin,
but all his sins, shall be upon him. (W. Greenhill, M. A.)
The danger of relapse
Presumption and desperation are two dangerous maladies, not more opposite one to the
other, than to the health of the soul; presumption overprizeth God’s mercy, and
undervalueth our sins; and on the contrary, desperation overprizeth our sins, and
undervalueth God’s mercy. Both are most injurious to God; the one derogateth from His
mercy, the other from His justice, both band against hearty and speedy repentance; the
one opposing it as needless, the other as bootless Presumption saith, thou mayest repent
at leisure, gather the buds of sinful pleasures before they wither, repentance is not yet
seasonable; desperation saith, the root of faith is withered, it is now too late to repent.
The life of a Christian is not unfitly compared to a long and dangerous sea voyage; the
sea is this present world, the barques are our bodies, the sailors our souls, the pilot our
faith, the card God’s Word, the rudder constancy, the anchor hope, the mainmast the
cross of Christ, the strong cables our violent affections, the sails our desires, and the
Holy Spirit the good wind which filleth the sails and driveth the barque and mariners to
the fair haven which is heaven. Now, in our way which lieth through many temptations
and tribulations, there are two dangerous rocks, the one on the right hand, the other on
the left; the rock on the right hand to be avoided is presumption, the rock on the left
threatening shipwreck is despair; between which we are to steer our ship by fear on the
one side and hope on the other. To hold us in a solicitous fear that we touch not upon
presumption, let us have always in the eye of our mind—
1. The glorious and most omnipotent majesty of God.
2. His all-seeing providence.
3. His impartial justice.
4. His severe threatenings against sin.
5. The dreadful punishments He inflicteth upon sinners.
6. The heinousness of the sin of presumption, which turneth God’s grace into
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163. wantonness.
7. The difficulty of recovery after relapses.
8. The uncertainty of God’s offer of grace after the frequent refusal thereof.
To keep us in hope, that we dash not upon the rock of despair on the contrary side, let us
set before our troubled and affrighted consciences these grounds of comfort—
1. The infiniteness of God’s mercy.
2. The price and value of Christ’s blood.
3. The efficacy of His intercession.
4. The virtue of the Sacraments.
5. The universality and certainty of God’s promises to the penitent.
6. The joy of God and angels for the conversion of a sinner.
7. The communion of saints, who all pray for the comfort of afflicted consciences,
and the ease of all that are heavy laden with their sins.
8. The examples of mercy showed to most grievous sinners.
But to confine my meditations to the letter of my text. The words divide themselves into
(first) a supposition, when, or, if the righteous forsake; secondly, an inference, his
former righteousness shall not be remembered, etc. The supposition is dangerous, the
inference is pernicious.
1. Of the supposition, when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness. No
man ever made question but that a truly regenerate man may depart from his actual
righteousness, and commit iniquity, and do according to all the abominations that
the wicked doth; and that if he should die without repentance, that his former
righteousness should stand him in no stead, but that he should suffer the pain of
eternal death, which is all that the letter of this text enforceth our assent unto. Our
motions to God-ward, and proceedings in a sanctified course of life, are like the
rowing of a small boat against a strong wind and tide (the blasts of the evil spirit, and
the propension of our corrupt nature), much labour and sweat is required, and very
little is done with much ado; and if we slack our hands, and miss but one stroke, we
are carried down with the stream, and cast farther back than we can fetch again with
many strokes. What a foul and shameful thing is it with the dog to return to your
vomit of luxury, and with the swine to your wallowing in the mire of sensual
pleasures. As in the diseases of the body, so also much more of the soul, all relapses
are dangerous, and in some diseases altogether incurable; the reason whereof alleged
by some learned physicians is this, that when we first take our bed the malignity of
the disease worketh upon corrupt humours in the body, which when they are purged,
and we restored to health, if after by any distemper we fall into the same malady, the
malignity of the disease worketh upon our vital spirits; in like manner the malignity
of sin before our conversion worketh but upon our corrupt nature, but after upon the
graces of God’s Spirit. We find in Scripture many desperately sick, yet cured the first
time by our Saviour; but where do we read in all the Gospel of any blind man’s eyes
twice enlightened? of any deaf ears twice opened? of any tied tongue twice loosened?
of any possessed with devils twice dispossessed? of any dead twice raised? No doubt
Christ could have done it, but we read not that ever He did it, that we should be most
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164. careful to avoid relapses into our former sins, the recovery whereof is always most
difficult, and in some cases (as the Apostle teacheth us) impossible (Heb_6:4-8). (D.
Featly, D. D.)
CALVIN, “As in the last lecture the Prophet offered to sinners a sure hope of
pardon if they heartily repented, and promised that God would be propitious to
them as soon as they shall seek reconciliation with him: so now, on the other hand,
he pronounces,if the just shall decline from his justice, whatever he has hitherto
done, shall not come into the account before God. He urged sinners to repentance
when he assured them that God was prepared to pardon them: but he now frightens
those who profess for the occasion to be pure and sincere worshipers of God, if they
fall back in the midst of their course: as Paul says, Let him who stands take heed lest
he fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12.) Besides, we gather from this passage, as Christ
teaches, that those only are happy who persevere, (Matthew 24:13;) since a
temporary righteousness will never profit those apostates who afterwards turn aside
from God. We see, then, how these two clauses unite together, namely, that God
invites all who are in danger of perdition with extended arms, and promises them
salvation if they heartily return to him. Again, that he may restrain within the
bounds of duty those who have made some progress, and correct their sloth and stir
up their anxiety, he threatens, that unless they pursue the course of a holy and pious
life to the end, their former righteousness will not profit them. But here a question
arises, Can a truly just person deflect from the right way? for he who is begotten of
God is so free from the tyranny of sin that he devotes himself wholly to
righteousness: and then if any do turn aside, they prove that they were always
strangers to God. If they had been of us, says John, they would never have gone out
from us. (1 John 2:19.) And regeneration is an incorruptible seed: so we must
determine that the faithful who are truly regenerate never fall away from
righteousness, but are retained by God’s unconquered power: for God’s calling in
the elect is without repentance. (Romans 11:29.) Hence he continues the course of
his grace even to the end. Nor are they to be listened to, who, in contradiction to
Scripture, teach that faith is extinct in the elect, when, through its barrenness, they
bring forth no fruit. In what sense, then, does Ezekiel mean that the just fall away?
That question is easily answered, since he is not here treating of the living root of
justice, but of the outward form or appearance, as we commonly say. Paul reminds
us that God knows us, but adds, that this seal remains. (2 Timothy 2:19.) God
therefore claims to himself alone the difference between the elect and the reprobate,
since many seem to be members of his Church who are only outwardly such. And
that passage of Augustine is true, that there are many wolves within, and many
sheep without. (227) For before God demonstrates his election, the sheep wander,
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165. and seem altogether strangers to the hope of salvation. Meanwhile many hypocrites
make use of the name of God, and openly boast themselves pre-eminent in the
Church, but inwardly they are wolves. But because it often happens that some make
the greatest show of piety and justice, the Prophet very properly says, that if such
fall away, they cannot boast of their former righteousness before God, since its
remembrance will be bloated out.
In fine, we see that the word righteousness is referred to our senses, and not to
God’s hidden judgment; so that the Prophet does not teach anything but what we
perceive daily: for those who seem to excel others desert their calling, shake off
every yoke, and cast away the fear of God, and sometimes rush on with diabolical
fury. When this result occurs we hear what the Spirit pronounces by the mouth of
the Prophet, that none of their righteousness shall be taken into account. But weight
is added to his words when he says, if you have turned aside from righteousness,
and done according to all the abominations of the impious, (or wicked,) shall he
live? For the Prophet separates those who desert God and rush into every
wickedness from those who fall through infirmity or want of thought, and from
those also who would fall headlong into ruin, unless God preserved them, yet do not
utterly cast off his fear, and the desire of living piously and righteously. For
example: every one is occasionally off his guard; and hence, in numberless ways, we
offend God through error: and hence David exclaims, Who can understand his
faults? (Psalms 19:12.) We fall of our own accord, since we are often conquered by
temptations, even when our consciences accuse us; so that, although sanctified, we
decline from the path of uprightness through ignorance, and depart from duty
through infirmity. But what is far worse, the saints sometimes rush headlong, as
though utterly desperate. For the example of David shows that the elect, although
regenerated by God’s Spirit, not only sin to a small extent, but, as I have said,
plunge into the very lowest abyss. David became a perfidious homicide, and a traitor
to the army of God; then that wretched king fell into a series of crimes: yet he failed
in only one thing, and showed that God’s grace was only suffocated within him, and
not altogether extinguished. For as soon as Nathan reproves him, he confesses that
he had sinned, and is prepared to undergo any punishment which God may inflict.
Since, therefore, the saints sometimes fall, the Prophet here stretches forth his hand,
lest they should despair, and bears witness that God does not reject them unless they
turn aside from their righteousness and commit all the abominations which the
impious do. By these words, as we see, he expresses a complete revolt, and he so
mitigates the severity of the sentence, lest the minds of those who had only partially
relapsed should despond. Now we see the meaning of this language: If he has done
165

166. according to all the abominations of the wicked, shall he live? says he; all the
righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered, because he shall perish.
Here the Prophet shows that: a mere temporary righteousness will not profit us
unless we persevere unto the end in the fear of God.
Here again the contrast is worthy of notice, because it enables us to refute a fiction
which is current in the schools of the papacy. They say that guilt is remitted by God,
but the punishment is retained. Now what says our Prophet? If the impious turn
away from his impiety, I will no longer remember any of his iniquities. Here the
papists thrust for-ward the foolish distinction, that God does not remember them as
to their guilt, but he does as to their punishment. But what follows a little
afterwards? If the just turn away from his justice, his justice shall not be taken into
account. But if they do not come into the account as to merit, and yet do as to
reward, what is the meaning of the passage? how will the Prophet’s meaning stand?
But it is necessary thus to receive what the Prophet says; because, if the distinction
of guilt and punishment avails, that of merit and reward will avail also. Hence it will
follow, that as to merit God forgets all acts of righteousness; but as far as reward is
concerned, they are remembered since they are not abolished. Since, then, it is
sufficiently clear that the righteousness of the backslider is not taken into account,
so as to lead him to hope for reward, it follows, on the other hand, that his sins are
abolished not only as to guilt, but also as to punishment. It now follows —
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:24 But when the righteous turneth away from his
righteousness, and committeth iniquity, [and] doeth according to all the
abominations that the wicked [man] doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that
he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in
his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
Ver. 24. But when the righteous.] He that is good in his own eyes, and passeth for
good in the esteem of others, but yet is not really righteous, if such a one do utterly
fall away, and lose that little that he seemed to have, what wonder? Comman grace
can never hold out, or stretch to eternity. Bellarmine saith well, That which is true
grace, veritate essentiae, only may be lost: not that that is true veritate firma
soliditatis, with the truth of firm solidity; which latter, being rightly understood,
may be called special, as the other common grace.
166

167. BENSON, "Ezekiel 18:24. But when the righteous turneth away from his
righteousness, &c. — “The question here,” say some commentators, “is not whether
truly righteous men ever do thus apostatize.” No? Surely it is the question, and the
sole question: for if the truly righteous (of whom alone the prophet is speaking, and
not of the hypocritically righteous, or mere professors of righteousness) do never
apostatize, why does the prophet suppose that they do? Nay, why does he expressly
affirm it, saying, When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and
committeth iniquity? &c. Which is repeated Ezekiel 18:26, with the addition, And
dieth in them; for the iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Surely these words are
utterly irreconcilable with the notion, that the truly righteous never fall away. They
who maintain this position may, on similar grounds, maintain, and, to be consistent
with themselves, ought to maintain, in contradiction to the 21st and 27th verses, that
the truly wicked never turn from their wickedness, never truly repent, and save
their souls alive. For both events are equally supposed by the prophet frequently to
take place, and it is affirmed in similar terms that both do take place. See note on
Ezekiel 3:20. Nor is this prophet singular in teaching this doctrine, or this the only
passage of Scripture in which it is taught: it is abundantly and explicitly declared
and attested in other parts of holy writ, and by other inspired writers, especially
those of the New Testament, and even by Christ himself, as the reader may see, if he
will take the trouble of consulting the passages quoted in the margin. All his
righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned — For, better had it been for
him not to have known the way of righteousness, than after he hath known it, to
turn aside from the holy commandment, 2 Peter 2:21. Such a one sins against a
clearer light, and greater convictions, and withal is guilty of the highest ingratitude
in doing despite unto the Spirit of grace.
PETT, "Verse 24
“But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity,
and does according to all the abominations which the wicked man does. Shall he
live? None of his righteous deeds which he has done will be remembered. In his
trespass that he has trespassed and in his sin that he has sinned, in them will he
die.”
167

168. God has no pleasure in the death of anyone. But if a righteous man turns away from
his righteous living and takes up the way of wickedness, following in the
abomination of flagrant disobedience of God’s laws, as illustrated in Ezekiel
18:10-12, his past righteousness will not save him. Thus once for all is done away the
theory that a man will be measured in scales, the good against the bad. His righteous
deeds will not be remembered. There will be nothing to put in the scales. He will be
condemned for his current life. Present submission to God’s covenant and obedience
to His requirements alone can make a man right with God. There is no room for
presumption.
Note the differing words used for sin. Here ‘iniquity’ is ‘wl speaking of behaving
unjustly, doing wrong. ‘Trespass’ is m‘l signifying acting counter to one’s duty to
God. ‘Sin’ is chata’ meaning to miss the way or the goal, or the mark aimed at. To
fall short. (See Judges 20:16 where it means to aim and not miss).
PULPIT, "Ezekiel 18:24
In the previous argument (Ezekiel 18:21) the truth that the individual character
may change had been stated as a ground of hope. Here it appears as a ground, for
fear and watchfulness. The "grey-haired saint may fail at last," the apostle may
become a castaway (1 Corinthians 9:27), and the righteousness of a life may be
cancelled by the sins of a year or of a day. Whether there was an opening for
repentance, even after that fall, the prophet does not say, but the law that a man is
in spiritual life or death according to what he is at any given moment of his course,
seems to require the extension of the hope, unless we assume that the nature of the
fall in the case supposed fetters the freedom of the will, and makes repentance
impossible (Hebrews 6:4-7; 2 Peter 2:20).
BI, "When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness.
The evil of apostasy
1. There is a righteousness which men may turn from. There is an opinionative
righteousness (Luk_18:9; Mat_23:28); many think themselves righteous, and
appear so to others: there is also a duty, a moral, or legal righteousness, such as Paul
had (Php_3:6); and from these righteousnesses men may and do turn daily. Many
attain to a duty righteousness under the Gospel, but yet fall off again (Mat_13:20-22;
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169. 1Ti_5:15; Joh_6:66; 2Pe_2:2; 1Ti_4:1). Take heed, therefore, of trusting in or to any
righteousness of your own.
2. It is not sufficient to begin well unless we proceed: fair beginnings without
progress come to nothing. Consider the arguments which lie here in the text, to keep
you from falling off, and encourage you to persevere in God.
(1) If you do turn back you will fall into iniquity; you will commit iniquity, the
frame, bent, and set of the heart will be that way; the thoughts, studies, counsels,
motions, endeavours will be towards and in iniquity, you will be an evil-doer, a
worker of iniquity.
(2) He lies obvious to all manner of sin; what will not the man do that turns from
his holy profession?
(3) Whatever good he hath formerly done shall be all forgotten: if he have done
much good to his family or friends, it shall be all laid aside, buried in the dark,
and not once be mentioned unto him.
(4) He shall die, and that eternally, in his apostasy, and the guilt, not of one sin,
but all his sins, shall be upon him. (W. Greenhill, M. A.)
The danger of relapse
Presumption and desperation are two dangerous maladies, not more opposite one to the
other, than to the health of the soul; presumption overprizeth God’s mercy, and
undervalueth our sins; and on the contrary, desperation overprizeth our sins, and
undervalueth God’s mercy. Both are most injurious to God; the one derogateth from His
mercy, the other from His justice, both band against hearty and speedy repentance; the
one opposing it as needless, the other as bootless Presumption saith, thou mayest repent
at leisure, gather the buds of sinful pleasures before they wither, repentance is not yet
seasonable; desperation saith, the root of faith is withered, it is now too late to repent.
The life of a Christian is not unfitly compared to a long and dangerous sea voyage; the
sea is this present world, the barques are our bodies, the sailors our souls, the pilot our
faith, the card God’s Word, the rudder constancy, the anchor hope, the mainmast the
cross of Christ, the strong cables our violent affections, the sails our desires, and the
Holy Spirit the good wind which filleth the sails and driveth the barque and mariners to
the fair haven which is heaven. Now, in our way which lieth through many temptations
and tribulations, there are two dangerous rocks, the one on the right hand, the other on
the left; the rock on the right hand to be avoided is presumption, the rock on the left
threatening shipwreck is despair; between which we are to steer our ship by fear on the
one side and hope on the other. To hold us in a solicitous fear that we touch not upon
presumption, let us have always in the eye of our mind—
1. The glorious and most omnipotent majesty of God.
2. His all-seeing providence.
3. His impartial justice.
4. His severe threatenings against sin.
5. The dreadful punishments He inflicteth upon sinners.
169

170. 6. The heinousness of the sin of presumption, which turneth God’s grace into
wantonness.
7. The difficulty of recovery after relapses.
8. The uncertainty of God’s offer of grace after the frequent refusal thereof.
To keep us in hope, that we dash not upon the rock of despair on the contrary side, let us
set before our troubled and affrighted consciences these grounds of comfort—
1. The infiniteness of God’s mercy.
2. The price and value of Christ’s blood.
3. The efficacy of His intercession.
4. The virtue of the Sacraments.
5. The universality and certainty of God’s promises to the penitent.
6. The joy of God and angels for the conversion of a sinner.
7. The communion of saints, who all pray for the comfort of afflicted consciences,
and the ease of all that are heavy laden with their sins.
8. The examples of mercy showed to most grievous sinners.
But to confine my meditations to the letter of my text. The words divide themselves into
(first) a supposition, when, or, if the righteous forsake; secondly, an inference, his
former righteousness shall not be remembered, etc. The supposition is dangerous, the
inference is pernicious.
1. Of the supposition, when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness. No
man ever made question but that a truly regenerate man may depart from his actual
righteousness, and commit iniquity, and do according to all the abominations that
the wicked doth; and that if he should die without repentance, that his former
righteousness should stand him in no stead, but that he should suffer the pain of
eternal death, which is all that the letter of this text enforceth our assent unto. Our
motions to God-ward, and proceedings in a sanctified course of life, are like the
rowing of a small boat against a strong wind and tide (the blasts of the evil spirit, and
the propension of our corrupt nature), much labour and sweat is required, and very
little is done with much ado; and if we slack our hands, and miss but one stroke, we
are carried down with the stream, and cast farther back than we can fetch again with
many strokes. What a foul and shameful thing is it with the dog to return to your
vomit of luxury, and with the swine to your wallowing in the mire of sensual
pleasures. As in the diseases of the body, so also much more of the soul, all relapses
are dangerous, and in some diseases altogether incurable; the reason whereof alleged
by some learned physicians is this, that when we first take our bed the malignity of
the disease worketh upon corrupt humours in the body, which when they are purged,
and we restored to health, if after by any distemper we fall into the same malady, the
malignity of the disease worketh upon our vital spirits; in like manner the malignity
of sin before our conversion worketh but upon our corrupt nature, but after upon the
graces of God’s Spirit. We find in Scripture many desperately sick, yet cured the first
time by our Saviour; but where do we read in all the Gospel of any blind man’s eyes
twice enlightened? of any deaf ears twice opened? of any tied tongue twice loosened?
of any possessed with devils twice dispossessed? of any dead twice raised? No doubt
170

171. Christ could have done it, but we read not that ever He did it, that we should be most
careful to avoid relapses into our former sins, the recovery whereof is always most
difficult, and in some cases (as the Apostle teacheth us) impossible (Heb_6:4-8). (D.
Featly, D. D.)
25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’
Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not
your ways that are unjust?
BARNES, "Equal - literally, “weighed out, balanced.” Man’s ways are arbitrary,
God’s ways are governed by a self-imposed law, which makes all consistent and
harmonious.
GILL, "Yet ye say,.... Notwithstanding these plain instances, which show the equity of
God in his proceedings, and vindicate his justice in the dispensations of his providence;
yet such was the blindness and stupidity of these people, or rather their stubbornness,
obstinacy, and impudence, that they still insisted upon it that
the way of the Lord is not equal; just and right; is not even, according to the rules of
justice and equity; or is not ordered aright, is not steady, and firm, and consistent with
himself, and the declaration of his will; a very bold and blasphemous charge, and yet the
Lord condescends to reason with them about it:
hear now, O house of Israel; the ten tribes that were now in captivity; or the Jews
that were carried captive with Jeconiah, with those that were still in Jerusalem and
Judea; these are called upon to hear the Lord, what he had to say in vindication of
himself from this charge, as it was but just and reasonable they should:
is not my way equal? plain and even, constant and uniform, according to the obvious
rules of justice and truth? can any instance be given to the contrary? what is to be said to
support the charge against me? bring forth your strong reasons if you cart, and prove
what is asserted:
171

172. are not your ways unequal? it is plain they are; your actions, your course of life, are
manifest deviations from my law, and from all the rules of righteousness and goodness;
it is you that are in the wrong, and I in the right.
HENRY 25-29, "II. An appeal to the consciences even of the house of Israel, though
very corrupt, concerning God's equity in all these proceedings; for he will be justified, as
well as sinners judged, out of their own mouths. 1. The charge they drew up against God
is blasphemous, Eze_18:25, Eze_18:29. The house of Israel has the impudence to say,
The way of the Lord is not equal, than which nothing could be more absurd as well as
impious. He that formed the eye, shall he not see? Can his ways be unequal whose will is
the eternal rule of good and evil, right and wrong? Shall not the Judge of all the earth do
right? No doubt he shall; he cannot do otherwise. 2. God's reasonings with them are very
gracious and condescending, for even these blasphemers God would rather have
convinced and saved than condemned. One would have expected that God would
immediately vindicate the honour of his justice by making those that impeached it
eternal monuments of it. Must those be suffered to draw another breath that have once
breathed out such wickedness as this? Shall that tongue ever speak again any where but
in hell that has once said, The ways of the Lord are not equal? Yes, because this is the
day of God's patience, he vouchsafes to argue with them; and he requires them to own,
for it is so plain that they cannot deny, (1.) The equity of his ways: Are not my ways
equal? No doubt they are. He never lays upon man more than is right. In the present
punishments of sinners and the afflictions of his own people, yea, and in the eternal
damnation of the impenitent, the ways of the Lord are equal. (2.) The iniquity of their
ways: “Are not your ways unequal? It is plain that they are, and the troubles you are in
you have brought upon your own heads. God does you no wrong, but you have wronged
yourselves.” The foolishness of man perverts his way, makes that unequal, and then his
heart frets against the Lord, as if his ways were unequal, Pro_19:3. In all our disputes
with God, and in all his controversies with us, it will be found that his ways are equal,
but ours are unequal, that he is in the right and we are in the wrong.
JAMISON, "Their plea for saying, “The way of the Lord is not equal,” was that God
treated different classes in a different way. But it was really their way that was unequal,
since living in sin they expected to be dealt with as if they were righteous. God’s way was
invariably to deal with different men according to their deserts.
CALVIN, “The Prophet here shows that those who used the vulgar taunt — that the
children’s teeth were set on edge, because their fathers had eaten sour grapes — had
broken away from all restraint; and nothing further remained to hinder them from
uttering their blasphemies arrogantly against God: but their insolence and madness
now increases when they say that God’s ways are not equal. And this is discerned in
almost all hypocrites: at first they indirectly find fault with God, and yet pretend
not to do so: while they endeavor to excuse themselves, they accuse him of injustice,
172

173. and of too much rigor, yet they do not openly break out into such impiety as to dare
to charge God with this crime: but after they profit nothing by their double dealing,
the devil inflames them to such a pitch of boldness that they hesitate not openly to
condemn God himself. The Prophet refers to this when he says that this disgraceful
saying was bandied about among the Israelites, that the ways of the Lord are
unequal. Lest, therefore, we should happen to resist God, and to contend with him,
let us learn to restrain our rashness in good time before he becomes enraged against
us. As soon as any thoughts spring up, tending to reflect upon the character of the
Almighty, let us quickly restrain them; for if we do not, they will entangle us by
degrees, and draw us into the extremity of folly, and then no sense of either religion
or shame will deter us from open rebellion against God. But it is worth while
noticing the source of this impiety: first of all, when we think of men’s relation to
God, they should be ashamed to rise up against their Maker: for the clay does not
cry out against the potter; and we are a hundredfold more insignificant than the
clay, with reference to God. (Isaiah 45:9; Romans 9:20.)
But let us come to another consideration. We know with how much greater
clearness the angels are able reverently to adore God’s wisdom than the human
race. What, therefore, must we do? Not only is God’s wisdom incomprehensible, but
his justice is the most perfect rule of all justice. Now, if we desire to pass opinions
upon God’s works according to our own perceptions, and to weigh them in our
balance, what else are we doing but passing judgment upon him? But we must
remember that passage of Isaiah, As I live, says Jehovah, every knee shall bend
before me, and every tongue shall swear by me. (Isaiah 45:23.) Paul, too, is a faithful
interpreter of this sentiment, when he forbids mortals to judge arrogantly, by
saying, we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ (Romans 14:10.) Since,
then, it will be necessary for us to render an account before Christ heavenly
tribunal, we must now acquiesce in God’s judgments; because, when at length our
license has entirely spent itself, and our petulance has had its full scope, God will be
our judge. We see, therefore, that when men claim to themselves the right of daring
to pronounce their own opinions on God’s work, they first subject his wisdom to
their own fictions, and then feel too much hostility and contempt towards his justice.
But this one thing ought to be sufficient, that men are too forgetful of their own
condition when they dare to open their mouth against their Maker, not only to
murmur, but openly to condemn him, as if they were his superiors. Let us then obey
the contrary rule; let us with sobriety and modesty learn to look upon those works
of God which are unknown to us, and to concede to him the praise of supreme
wisdom, although his counsels seem at first sight contradictory. Hosea also briefly
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174. reminds us of this. For after God had promised that he would be merciful to the
people, and when he had discoursed on the slaughter which he had inflicted, he says,
that at length he would heal them: he adds, Who is wise, and he shall understand
these things? (Hosea 14:9;) because many might have thought it inconsistent to
remit so many sins for the abandoned people; and others might object that what
they heard was utterly incredible and absurd, since God suffered the people to be
utterly torn to pieces, so that no hope remained. For this reason, then, the Prophet
exclaims, that we have need of rare and singular prudence to comprehend and
embrace that teaching. When he says, “who is wise?” it signifies that the number is
but small of those who will wait patiently till God really fulfills his promises. Yet he
adds, because the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them; but
the impious shall stumble and perish. When he speaks here of the ways of the Lord,
he does not mean only precepts, though the Scriptures often take the word in this
sense; but he means the whole order of government which God upholds, and all the
judgments which he exercises. He says, therefore, that all the ways of the Lord are
right, and the just shall walk in them, since the just will give God the glory calmly,
and with the proper docility; and when they are agitated by various doubts, and
through their infirmity are ever in a ferment through the force of many temptations,
yet they will always repose on the providence of God, and briefly determine, by
cutting off every occasion for long and perplexing and thorny questions, that God is
just. Thus the just walk in the ways of the Lord, because they submit to all his
works.
He says also, that the impious stumble and fall; for as soon as they begin to think
that God does not act rightly or prudently, they are rebellious, and are carried away
by blind impulse, and their pride at length hurries them headlong into madness.
Thus they stumble in the ways of the Lord: because, as we see in this passage, they
vomit forth their blasphemies against God. Hence we ought, to be influenced by this
course of action, namely, adoring with humility the counsel of God, although to us
incomprehensible, and attributing the praise of justice to all his works, though in
our opinion they may not correspond, or be consistent with each other. — This,
then, is the sum of the whole. Although the Prophet speaks of the penalties which
God inflicts on the reprobate, and of the reward which he has laid up for the just,
yet we ought to ascend still higher; and if God in his deeds seems to pervert the
whole course of justice, yet we should always be sustained by this bridle — he is
just; and if his deeds are disapproved by us, it arises from our error and ignorance.
For example, we not only contend with God when he seems not to repay us a just
reward for our good works, or when he seems too severe towards us; but when his
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175. eternal election is discussed, we immediately roar out, because we cannot penetrate
to so great a height: the pious, indeed, are not altogether free from perplexing
doubts which disturb them, but they restrain themselves directly as I have said. But
some restive men break out in this way, — I do not comprehend — I do not
understand: hence God is unjust. We see how many blusterers in the present day
betray their desperate impudence, whence this teaching should recur to our
minds —the ways of God are right. But since we do not perceive how it is so,
another clause is added, that our ways are not right; that is, that all our senses are
defective, and our intellect blinded, and that we are all so corrupt that our judgment
is perverted. If, therefore, we conclude with the Prophet, that our ways are not
right, the glory of God’s justice will remain untarnished and entire. Afterwards he
adds —
COFFMAN, ""Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of
Israel: Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? When the righteous man
turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth therein; in
his iniquity that he hath done, shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth
away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful
and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth and turneth away
from all his transgressions, he shall surely live, he shall not die."
"The earnestness with which Ezekiel here pleads with Israel concerning the
righteousness and justice of God's ways shows that he is addressing people who
simply do not want to believe it, as witness Ezekiel 18:25,29."[16]
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O
house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
Ver. 25. Yet ye say.] Ye will still hold your own, and no reason shall persuade you. A
stubborn man standeth as a stake in a stream, lets all pass by him, but he standeth
still where he was.
Is not my way equal?] This he had said before but he saith it again, Dις και τρις τα
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176. καλα. Cicero, aggravating the fact of a parricide, useth these words, Matrem tuam
occidisti: quid dicam amplius? Matrem tuam occidisti - Thou hast killed thy mother,
man: what should I say more? then hast killed thy mother, I tell thee.
Are not your ways unequal?] They are so, and that apparently: but that your mouth
is out of taste, and ye cannot relish truth; your eyes are sore, and ye cannot behold
the sunbeams; you are prejudiced, biased, perverted.
BENSON, "Verses 25-29
Ezekiel 18:25-29. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal, &c. — Yet ye allege
that I do not act according to the strict rules of justice and equity: but “the
declarations I have so often repeated concerning the eternal rewards and
punishments allotted to the righteous and the wicked, are sufficient to vindicate the
justice of my proceedings against all your objections.” When a righteous man
turneth away from his righteousness, &c. — “It is an opinion that prevails among
the Jews, even till this day, that at the day of judgment a considerable number of
good actions shall overbalance men’s evil ones. See Ezekiel 33:13. So they thought it
a hard case for a man who had been righteous the far greater part of his life, if he
did at last commit iniquity, that his former righteousness should avail him nothing.
In opposition to this doctrine, God here declares that a righteous man sinning and
not repenting, should die in his sins; and that a wicked man, upon his repentance,
should save his soul alive.” — Lowth. Again, when the wicked man, &c. — These
verses are, as it were, a repetition of what had been said before; or rather, the
conclusion of the matter, or the whole of the chapter summed up and brought to a
point; namely, that men suffer the divine punishments only on account of their sins;
that they cannot enjoy the divine favour while they continue in sin; and that, in
order to obtain it, it is indispensably necessary that they should turn from all their
transgressions and become new creatures, and that even former righteousness
cannot obtain for them, or preserve to them, the favour of God, while they relapse
into and continue in subsequent iniquity. In a word, that sin and wickedness are the
sole objects of God’s aversion and indignation, and holiness and righteousness of his
favour and approbation.
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177. SIMEON, "EQUITY OF GOD IN HIS JUDGMENTS
Ezekiel 18:25-30. Ye say, the way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of
Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? When a righteous man
turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them;
for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth
away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful
and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away
from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not
die. Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of
Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal? Therefore I will judge
you, 0 house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent,
and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
THERE is a general disposition in man to reply against God; and rather to arraign
his justice, than to condemn himself. Occasion was taken for this by the Jews of old,
even from the declarations of the law and the prophets. The law had said, that God
would “visit the sins of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth
generation;” and the prophets had frequently declared, that the iniquities of
Jeroboam, Manasseh, and others, should be visited on their descendants. From
hence the Jews profanely characterized the Divine procedure by this proverb, “The
fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge [Note: ver.
2.].” They did not consider, that they themselves were sinners like unto their fathers,
and merited for their own iniquities every judgment which God had threatened to
lay upon them; nor did they ever consider, that if God was pleased to exercise
forbearance towards some, he was not necessitated to continue it towards all, when
he saw that the very exercise of it emboldened men the more to sin against him: nor
did they ever consider, that the menaces, which were uttered in reference to
temporal judgments, were erroneously interpreted, when they were applied to the
judgments of the eternal world. The prophet therefore was instructed to expostulate
with them on their misinterpretation of God’s word; and to declare to them, that
though in this world children must unavoidably participate in the judgments of
their fathers, it should not be so in the world to come: there the son should not bear
in any respect the iniquity of the father, nor the father of the son; but “the soul that
sinned, it should die.” In confirmation of this truth, the prophet argues with them in
this chapter, wherein the whole plan of the Divine proceedings, in reference to the
177

178. different characters of mankind, is stated, vindicated, and improved. It is,
I. Stated—
If the righteous man turn away from his righteousness, and die in his sins, he shall
perish—
[This is a solemn truth, which men strive by every possible method to evade. When
Christian principles are insisted on, they will speak of practice: but here, when
practice is spoken of, they will recur to principles, and deny that a righteous man
can so turn away from his righteousness as to perish in his sins. They are like the
Samaritan woman, who, when our Lord reproved her for her adulteries, had
recourse immediately to controversial matters, and inquired, who were right, the
Samaritans, or the Jews, as to the place where Divine worship ought to be
performed? Ungodly professors of religion now fly off from what comes home to
their own bosoms, and enter on controversy in order to avoid the awful truth that is
brought to their ears. But it is a fact, that a righteous man may depart from his
righteousness: Demas did [Note: 2 Timothy 4:10.]: Paul was constrained to use the
utmost possible care, lest he should [Note: 1 Corinthians 9:27.]: and all are
commanded to take heed to themselves, lest they should do so too [Note: 1
Corinthians 10:12. Hebrews 3:12-13.]. As to God’s secret decrees, no man knows
what they are, as relating to his own person, or to the person of any individual
whatever: nor is there a man in the whole universe that is warranted in saying, I
never can fall; at least, can never so fall as to perish. David, and Solomon, and Peter,
display sufficiently the instability of man; and, if they were restored, their
restoration does not shew that they could not have perished, but only, that God, for
the magnifying of his own grace and mercy, did not leave them to perish. They
might have perished, and would have perished, as much as Judas, if they had been
left to themselves: it was not any gracious principle which they had in them, and
that was in itself indefectible, that recovered them, but God’s unbounded grace and
mercy, vouchsafed to them according to the good pleasure of his own will.
Hear this then, ye professors of religion, ye who are accounted righteous, and who
think yourselves righteous; ye may turn away from your righteousness, and perish.
178

179. O let this consideration lead you to the utmost vigilance, and stimulate you to the
most unremitting exertions in the path of duty!]
On the other hand, if the wicked man turn from his iniquity, and do what is lawful
and right, he shall live—
[Delightful reflection! Hear it, ye sinners of every description: it is the declaration of
the Most High God. You must turn indeed from your iniquities, and especially from
your besetting sin, mourning over it, fighting against it, bringing it into subjection.
You must also be doing all that God requires of you in his blessed word. You must
flee to Christ for refuge from the wrath of an avenging God: you must trust
altogether in his meritorious death and passion: you must renounce every other
hope; and must seek “to be found in Him, not having your own righteousness which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is
of God by faith.” You must also, in dependence on his Holy Spirit, endeavour to
fulfil the whole will of God, and to “walk in every thing as Christ walked.” And if
indeed ye act thus, we declare, in the name of Almighty God, that “ye shall never
perish, but shall have eternal life.” As the foregoing characters entertain too little
fear, so you are apt to indulge too much; and, because things have been ill, you are
ready to suppose they never can be such as to warrant an expectation of the Divine
favour. To remove these apprehensions, God repeats his gracious assertions
respecting you, and declares that you, if you turn to him in the way before specified,
“shall surely live; you shall not die.” Whatever your sins may have been, they shall
all be blotted out as a morning cloud; nor shall so much as one of them ever be
remembered against you: though they may have been of a crimson dye, you shall, in
the sight of God himself, be white as snow. As the righteousness of the righteous
shall never be remembered, when once he departs from it; so neither shall the
wickedness of the wicked, when once he turns from it. The present character of
every individual is that which shall determine his eternal state.
One would think that such a procedure as this should not stand in any need of
vindication: but men, not with standing the obvious and undoubted equity of it, will
complain of it as unjust.]
179

180. In our text however it is,
II. Vindicated—
Inequality indeed there is in abundance on the part of men—
[Every description of sinners is chargeable with injustice towards God. The profane
sinner accounts it very hard that his sins are to be visited with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the Lord. What has he done that deserves such a
sentence as this? Why did God give him passions, if he is to be punished to all
eternity for the indulgence of them? and, supposing his conduct to be sinful, what
proportion do the sins of a few days or years bear to the everlasting torments of
hell? He cannot believe that God will ever be so unmerciful and unjust as to execute
on men the threatenings of his word. The proud formalist thinks it strange indeed
that he is to perish. What! must he, who has been so sober, so moral, so regular, so
observant of all his duties to God and man, must he perish, because he does not
adopt the principles, and imitate the practice, of a few wild enthusiasts? No: he
hates fanaticism; and will never believe that God requires all that strictness which
some enthusiasts speak of; and much less that he will ever banish from his presence
those whose whole lives have been so blameless as theirs. The hypocritical professor,
who can talk of Christ, and exert himself zealously to promote the Gospel, cannot
imagine, that he should be obnoxious to the Divine displeasure, or that God could be
at all just in condemning him. True indeed, he does not always adhere to truth, and
perhaps is not very strictly just in his dealings: his cares about the world too engross
almost all his thoughts; nor has he any pleasure in the duties of the closet: evil
dispositions too are unhappily very prevalent in him; pride, anger, envy, hatred,
malice, evil-speaking, uncharitableness, retain more or less the ascendant over him;
perhaps too intemperance and impurity, if not indulged to such an extent as to
expose him to public disgrace, are far from being mortified so as to give way to the
habitual exercise of the opposite virtues. But can it be that God should reject him,
when all his confidence is in Christ, and in the covenant which God has made with
us in Christ?
Such are their modes of arguing on the subject of God’s final judgment. But we ask,
180

181. What equity is there in such expectations as these? Is it equitable that a man who
lives altogether without God in the world, should be placed on the same footing with
one who devotes himself entirely to God? Is it equitable that a man who possesses no
more than a form of godliness, should find the same favour with God as one who
lives under the continued influence of its power? Is it equitable that a professor of
religion who in no respect adorns his holy profession, should be honoured of God
like one who is a bright pattern of every virtue, and daily increasing in a conformity
to his Lord and Saviour? We ask, Is there any equity in such things? Will any
reasonable being venture to say, that such a procedure is becoming a God of
holiness and truth?]
But on the part of God there is no such inequality—
[The moral and religious character of men will be the one ground of all his decisions
in the day of judgment: “According to your ways and according to your doings will
he judge you, O house of Israel.” “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with
him; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings: but woe unto the wicked! it shall be
ill with him; for the reward of his hand shall be given him [Note: Isaiah 3:10-11.]”
This is what in God’s name we are authorized and commanded to declare. Respect
indeed will be had to the means and opportunities which different persons enjoyed;
and on this principle, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day
of judgment, than for the Jews, who rejected the ministry of our Lord: but still
there will be one test to which every man will be brought, namely, How did you
improve the privileges you enjoyed, and how did you act up to the principles you
professed? No favour will be shewn to any man because he was a Jew, nor will any
man be despised because he was a Gentile: “the uncircumcision of the Gentile will
be reckoned to him for circumcision, if he keep the law; and the circumcision of the
Jew be reckoned for uncircumcision, if he break the law.” The conformity of every
man to the mind and will of God, as far as he had an opportunity of knowing it, will
be the object of inquiry; much or little being required of him in proportion to what
has been committed to him: and according as he has neglected or improved his
talent, shall be the sentence passed upon him; regard being had, not to the state of a
man at any former period of his life, but to his state at the time that he is summoned
to the judgment-seat. Now can any man condemn this as unequal or unjust? Twice
does God appeal even to the very people that presumed to accuse him; and twice
does he challenge them to say, on whose part inequality is chargeable, their own, or
181

182. his?]
The prophet, assuming that after this statement there must be an end of the
controversy, shews how these determinations of God should be,
III. Improved—
It is to no purpose that God has declared these truths, if they have not a practical
operation on our minds.
The prophet therefore improves the subject for us, by a word,
1. Of direction; “Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions”—
[Repentance is necessary for every child of man: “God commandeth all men every
where to repent.” But it is not a partial repentance that will suffice: we must “turn
from all our transgressions: there must be no exceptions, no reserves; no right eye,
which we will not pluck out; no right hand, which we will not cut off. The profane
sinner must abandon all his evil ways, and turn unto God with his whole heart. The
proud formalist must renounce all his self-dependence, and must live a life of faith
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and a life of entire devotedness of heart to God. The
inconsistent professor also must be brought to a sense of his peculiar guilt and
danger; and must become like his blessed Lord and Saviour in all his tempers and
dispositions, in all his spirit and deportment towards God and man.
True it is, that these things cannot be done by any power of our own: but this is no
reason that we should not address ourselves to the work; nor will it be any excuse
for not accomplishing the work, since God has promised to give his Holy Spirit unto
all that ask him, and has assured us that his grace shall be sufficient for us. This
then is the direction which all must follow; and the foregoing statement clearly
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183. shews how important it is that we should follow it earnestly and without delay.]
2. Of encouragement; “So iniquity shall not be your ruin”—
[Iniquity must be our ruin, if we do not thus repent: nothing can save us: God
himself, if we may so speak, cannot save us; because he cannot depart from the rules
which he has prescribed to himself for his procedure in the last day. However much
he may desire to extend mercy to us, he will not do it to the dishonour of his own
perfections, and to the destruction of all the established principles of his moral
government. No: “except we repent, we must all” inevitably and eternally “perish.”
But if we thus repent, all will be well: our iniquities, whatever they may have been,
shall all be put away from us, as far as the east is from the west. Hear the
declaration of the Most High God: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have
mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon [Note: Isaiah
55:7.].” O let this sink down into our ears: let it encourage us to put away all our
hard thoughts of God, and to seek him with our whole hearts. Let us search and try
our ways: let us bring ourselves to the touchstone of God’s unerring word: let us
now so “judge ourselves, that we may not hereafter be judged of the Lord:” and, if a
fear arise in our minds that our sins are too great to be forgiven, let this thought
comfort us, that “where sin has abounded, grace shall much more abound; and that,
as sin has reigned unto death, even so shall grace reign through righteousness unto
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”]
PETT, "Verse 25
“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not equal’.”
The unusual use here of ‘the Lord’ by itself (see also Ezekiel 18:29 and contrast the
usual ‘Lord Yahweh’) suggests that this had become a standard grievance of the
people, so much so that it had taken a stereotyped form. They considered that God
was not being fair to them. What they meant was that He was not fitting into the
norms that they had laid down. They considered that guilt belonged to the group,
183

184. and therefore to everyone in the group. And no doubt they considered that the
group to which they belonged was of the better sort.
But they did not like God facing each of them up with their own sin. Of what benefit
then was it that they had righteous forebears? Of what benefit that their family had
a name as being ‘respectable’ and ‘religious’? Of what benefit that they walked in
the way of their fathers, honouring them by doing as they did? Of what benefit that
they were the people of the covenant, even if they had only followed it half-
heartedly? God’s reply was ‘none’, and they did not like it. They did not like being
faced with personal responsibility, and they considered it unfair.
26 If a righteous person turns from their
righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it;
because of the sin they have committed they will
die.
GILL, "When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness,.... This
is repeated for the further confirmation of it, and to raise their attention to it; to make it
more plain and manifest to them, and to fix it upon their minds:
and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them: or, "he shall die for them" (m); both
for his turning away from his righteousness, and for his committing iniquity:
for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die; in both respects. This is repeated
to denote the certainty of it.
JAMISON 26-28, "The two last instances repeated in inverse order. God’s emphatic
statement of His principle of government needs no further proof than the simple
184

185. statement of it.
in them — in the actual sins, which are the manifestations of the principle of
“iniquity,” mentioned just before.
CALVIN, “The Prophet repeats what we formerly saw, namely, that the state of the
case turned upon this, Whether the people had any cause of complaint when God
absolves those who repent, and condemns the just who desert the course of a pious
and holy life? Now, we must always return to this cardinal point, that God rewards
every one according to his works, since he offers mercy to all the lost, and demands
nothing else but a sincere and hearty return to him. Since, then, God treats the
impious with such clemency, and is so ready to pardon them, what is the reason why
men contend with him? If the just should retrace his steps, and after having shown
some signs of the fear of God, throw off all obedience, who can object when God
punishes him, and blots out the remembrance of his former righteousness? God,
therefore, determines the result fairly in each case. We have explained how the
phrase, the just should turn aside from their righteousness, ought to be understood,
not that the elect ever utterly fall away, as many think their faith is extinguished,
and every root of piety also in the sons of God; that is too absurd, because, as I have
said, the gift of regeneration has perseverance always annexed to it: but here that
righteousness which mankind recognize is intended. But we know how frequently it
happens that what seemed entirely pure and perfect is deficient. Now, God
pronounces that he would punish all who fall away from him, and would be
accessible and propitious to miserable sinners who desire to be reconciled to him;
and he repeats again, if the wicked have seen and turned away from his wickedness.
We must mark this phrase, for it shows that thinking rightly is the commencement
of repentance; because, though the reprobate knowingly and willingly transgress
God’s law, it is certain that they labor under blindness and madness, so that the
Scripture does not call them foolish and beside themselves in vain. He does not
extenuate their faults, as if they sinned ignorantly; but he means that they were so
blinded by diabolical madness as to think of nothing; for surely horror would
immediately possess their minds if they only perceived God to be their adversary,
and themselves to be making war with him. For this reason, therefore, when the
Prophet describes to us the conversion of the wicked, he says, if he has seen; that is,
if at length he has returned to a sound mind, and collected his senses, so that he may
not rush on madly, as he has been accustomed to do, but may look upon both God
and himself. It now follows —
185

186. COKE, "Verse 26-27
Ezekiel 18:26-27. When a righteous man— A very false and very dangerous opinion
prevailed among the Jews, that at the day of judgment a considerable number of
good actions would overbalance men's evil ones. In opposition to this doctrine, God
here declares, that a righteous man, sinning and not repenting, should die in his
sins; and that the wicked man repenting should certainly save his soul alive. See
Lowth.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:26 When a righteous [man] turneth away from his
righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he
hath done shall he die.
Ver. 26. When a righteous man turneth,] q.d, Shall I say the selfsame over again to
you? I had need do so surely, and all little enough.
And dieth in them,] sc., In his wicked ways: this undoeth him. It is not falling into
the water that drowneth a man, but long lying under it.
PETT, "Verses 26-28
“When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity,
and dies in it, for the iniquity that he has done will he die. Again, when the wicked
man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed, and does what is
lawful and right, he will save himself alive. Because he considers and turns away
from all his transgressions which he has committed, he will surely live. He will not
die.”
God again summarises His position. Each man is responsible for his own attitudes
and doings, and for continuation in the right way. If he becomes a wicked man, any
amount of previous righteousness will not save him, but if a man awakens to his
186

187. sinfulness, repents of his wickedness, and begins to live his life in obedience to God
and His ways, he will be forgiven and will find life and not death. So God is
concerned with a man’s present attitude and response. That alone is the proof that a
man is right with God, and that alone determines his present wellbeing.
27 But if a wicked person turns away from the
wickedness they have committed and does what is
just and right, they will save their life.
GILL, "Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that
he hath committed,.... Repents of his sins, and forsakes the vicious course of life he
has lived:
and doeth that which is lawful and right; or "judgment" and "righteousness" (n);
that which is agreeable to the law and will of God, and is just and right between man and
man:
he shall save his soul alive; from famine, pestilence, the sword, or captivity; he shall
be preserved, and not be involved in calamities and distress: or, "shall quicken his own
soul" (o); which, in a spiritual sense, is only done by the Spirit and grace of God, and not
by man himself; nor is the enjoyment of eternal life by the works of men, but through the
grace of God, and righteousness of Christ.
JAMISON, "he shall save his soul — that is, he shall have it saved upon his
repentance.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:27 Again, when the wicked [man] turneth away from his
wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he
shall save his soul alive.
187

188. Ver. 27. Again, when the wicked man turneth away.] This also he had said before,
[Ezekiel 18:21-23] but men had need to hear this sweet promise over and over,
because there is in the best a natural Novatianism to doubt and question pardon for
sins, if great and grievous ones especially.
BI 27-28, "When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath
committed.
The conversion of a sinner
I. The wicked ought to reform.
1. Sin is contrary to reason.
(1) A sinful action is discreditable to any person whatsoever.
(2) It is grievous, painful, and intolerable to bear the effects of wicked and sinful
actions, and to vary from right.
2. Being such, it cannot be justified. As the palsy-motion, which seems to be quicker
than other; but it is not from strength but from weakness: no man can justify a sinful
action; but to a bad conscience, or before an unrighteous judge; who is either
ignorant or partial, or himself as bad, by undue principles, corrupt interest, or an
abuse of power.
3. Every sinful action, however we may stand to it, or may be countenance here in
the world, will be discountenanced sooner or later, whether we will or no.
4. If we do not repent of that which we have done sinfully, it will lie upon us as the
blackest spot, as the heaviest judgment, and as the worst malady.
5. There is no expectation either of God’s pardon, or of help from Him, but in the
way of repentance. For who can promise himself anything out of the terms of the
covenant of grace; namely, repentance from all dead works, resolution of obedience
to God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
6. We are all under obligation to repent, though there would no good come to us by
it. For we are God’s creatures, and held of Him; from whence it follows, that we
ought to serve Him, and to do His will, and to be at His command.
II. Through the grace which God doth afford, we may repent of all evil done, and make
application to God; and deprecate His displeasure, and leave off to sin, and return to our
duty, and so obtain His pardon. Neither let any man say, that the text signifies no more
than if one should say to an impotent man, remove this mountain, and thou shalt have
such or such a reward; or to bid a man to comprehend the ocean in the hollow of his
hand, and it shall so or so be done unto him. These ways of speaking must not be put
upon God, nor in any ease attributed unto Him. When God saith to the sinner, repent
and turn from your wickedness, and you shall save your soul alive, it doth suppose that
either He is able or that He will make Him so. But here some may be ready to interpose,
and say: surely God is not in good earnest, because He might if He would; for who can
resist the Divine will? It doth not follow, that because God doth not enforce, that
therefore He doth not enable. That God should force agrees neither with the nature of
188

189. God, nor with the nature of man; but that God should enable, this is natural to the
relation we stand in to God, who is original to our being. Wherefore be resolved in this
matter, that God is with us, and that He is ready to afford His grace and assistance. Now,
that you may not lose this great argument and principle of reformation, and true and
solid ground of encouragement, to leave off to sin, and to return to God, because of His
gracious aid and assistance, I will give you assurance further by these six particulars.
1. It was never God’s intention, when He made man at first, to put him into a state of
absolute independency, or self-sufficiency. And therefore whosoever assumes it to
himself doth assume that which never did belong to a creature-state.
2. Could man allege either necessity of evil, or impossibility of doing good, it would
be a plea when God calls us to an account, and admits us to reason with Him.
3. Where there is excellency of nature there is always readiness to communicate,
supply, and gratify.
4. We cannot say worse of God than that His calls and monitions to His creatures are
not serious and in good earnest, and out of love and good mind.
5. To assert our impotency and disability, and that God is wanting in necessary
assistance, is to expose us to an invincible temptation; and that in these three
particulars.
(1) To entertain hard thoughts of God, and such as are unworthy of Him.
(2) To throw off the use of all means, and to take no care at all in this great affair.
(3) To despair. And we wrong God more by desperation than by presumption.
6. God hath done so much on His part, that He hath given us all reason to believe,
and think that He is well minded towards us; and that He is resolved in the matter of
our recovery; upon terms that are made easy and possible.
(1) Take into consideration the length of God’s patience; for were God for our
destruction, He would take us at the first advantage and opportunity, as enemies
are wont to do.
(2) The checks of our own consciences.
(3) The abundant provision that God hath made for our recovery. There is
expiation of sin; and the assistance of His grace and Spirit, for the recovering of
us.
(4) The nature and quality of the things that God, upon account of religion, does
require of us, namely, those things whereof religion doth consist; and they are
internal good dispositions and acts that are suitable, and do of their own accord
follow.
(5) The equal consideration that we meet with at the hands of God, in respect of
our present weakness, shows that God is ready and willing to do us good.
(6) Though God begin with less, He will go on with more. So that, let no man be
discouraged though that which he now hath be not sufficient for to carry him
through that which he hath before him; for as his work shall increase and grow
greater, God will furnish him with that assistance that shall be suitable and
sufficient for what He calls him unto.
189

190. (7) God speaketh absolutely, positively, and without any reservation; that when a
sinner turneth away from his wickedness he shall save his soul alive.
(8) The repentance of a sinner, and his turning to God, is a thing so acceptable
and well pleasing to God that He will greatly reward those that have any hand in
it. (Dan_12:3.) (B. Whichcote, D. D.)
The conversion of a sinner
I. The time when the wicked turneth away from his wickedness. It is indefinitely spoken,
and doth not exclude late time, which may be an encouragement to everyone, be his case
never so desperate. But then, this is not spoken to encourage men’s delays and put-offs;
for there are four great evils consequent upon that.
1. It were to ill resent the goodness of God thus to requite His grace and favour, that
we continue in sin because God is gracious.
2. It were to abuse ourselves, and do ourselves more and more harm.
3. It would make the work which is necessary to our happiness much more hard and
difficult. For ill use doth contract bad habits; and bad habits contracted by long use
and custom are with great difficulty left off.
4. Continuance in sin doth expose us to far greater danger.
(1) Because of the great uncertainty of life, for who can promise himself another
day, nay another moment?
(2) Because of the devil’s repeated and continued assaults, by which he will still
get the more advantage upon us; and so it will become the more difficult to get
him out of possession.
(3) In respect of the insinuations of bad company, and converse.
(4) All the while you stand out you are in a way of resistance of the Holy Spirit,
and fight against the motions of God Almighty; which are necessary to bring you
to good, and to qualify you for eternal life.
II. The quality of the person. Scripture doth not denominate persons wicked, or sinners,
or workers of iniquity, from weaknesses, failings, or from error of judgment, or from
indisposition at times, from sudden passion or surprisal; nor from the irregularity of the
first motion, that is so troublesome and grievous unto us all. But they are called sinners
and wicked persons who voluntarily consent to known iniquity.
III. When a man may be said to turn from his wickedness.
1. The negatives are these.
(1) A man is not said to turn away from his iniquities when his sin rather leaves
him, than he leaves it; either through age and disability of body; or through
weakness and infirmity; so that he cannot bear to do as he has formerly done.
(2) Such men as are not at their own liberty; but under tutors and governors,
whom they dare not disobey; who are as it were shut up, and not suffered to
ramble abroad.
190

191. (3) Nor when sin is made bitter to men, by suffering the had consequences that
follow upon it.
2. But then affirmatively, in three particulars.
(1) When we leave sin out of sense and judgment of its vileness and impurity.
(2) When we leave sin out of respect to God, in obedience unto His laws, and
love to Him.
(3) A man cannot be said to return from his wickedness unless he doth conceive
displeasure at it, and resolve never to have to do with it again.
IV. An account of lawful and right. Here are two words for one and the same thing; and
the one is explicatory of the other. Now this is that which we all ought to do; and there is
no pretence of power and privilege to the contrary. And if everybody did confine himself
to that which is right, just, and fit, we should have a new world; and there would be
nothing of wrong or hard measure found among us: we should then be the better one for
another. There is a rule of right in all cases, and it is the charge of all persons in the use
of Power, to judge and determine according unto that rule.
1. I will begin with the relation that is between parents and children, and show you
what is right for parents to do with their children, and children to their parents.
2. I go to the relation of husbands and wives; there is the right of the case between
them.
3. Then for masters and servants. Masters, render to your servants what is right, that
which is equal, fair, and reasonable. Then for servants, there is the right of the case
for them also, and that is to obey their masters in all things, and to be true and
faithful to them.
4. Then in our common converse, we ought to use all humanity, courtesy, and
affability, giving all respect, despising nobody.
5. To descend to the creatures below us, there is a right of the case here also. We
must not abuse any.
V. The happiness that follows upon renovation, repentance, and turning to God. He that
doth so shall save his soul alive. From this we may understand of how great benefit the
good use and improvement of our time is. How many are there that overlook the
business, purpose, and intention of life! We are here to run a race, and so to run that we
may obtain; and therefore we are to watch over ourselves, both as to the things of our
mind and body; and so to keep under our bodies, and bring them into subjection, that
we may not ruin and undo ourselves. Therefore I advise every man that is serious to ask
himself these questions.
1. Will this that I have done, or am doing, be accountable when God shall call me to a
reckoning?
2. That which Abigail put to David (1Sa_25:1-44), “This will be no grief of heart, nor
offence, unto thee.”
3. What shall I think of this when I shall lie upon my death bed?
4. How remediless will the consequence of evil be, when I shall have the least relief
by my reason, and be least capable of advice; and when I shall have the least
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192. assistance of God’s grace and Spirit? (B. Whichcote, D. D.)
Of the conversion of a sinner
I. The nature of repentance; to turn away from wickedness, and to do that which is
lawful and right.
1. To turn from wickedness; this the negative part according to that, Let him eschew
evil and do good. And that according to the very morality of the heathens, virtus est
vitium fugere, etc. Not to be vicious is the rudiment of virtue, and ‘tis the beginning
of wisdom to leave off playing the fool. Now this turning from wickedness being a
very hard work, nothing more difficult than to throw off habits once contracted. Let
us therefore by a gradual deduction show the right way of proceeding, what course a
new convert, that turns from his wickedness, usually takes.
(1) To fortify the reason or understanding with all arguments against it: for
conviction is supposed as the very bottom of this work of repentance. The
arguments to convince a man’s self are partly moral, partly civil and external;
such as are the vileness of thy lusts, which make thee live a life not suitable to the
excellency of thy nature, the ill consequence of it, in provoking God and making
Him thy enemy, and in exposing thy soul to eternal ruin. Again, the discredit and
disparagement; the damage and loss of time, health, estate, they run thee into;
the trouble and vexation they procure thee, and the little satisfaction they give
thee in lieu of all those inconveniences, of all those hazards and dangers they put
thee upon.
(2) To wean the affections; and this will not be very difficult, when the
understanding is once convinced. But here’s the fault (Hos_4:6). Upon this
conviction will naturally follow a loathing and detestation of thy sin.
(3) Shunning all occasions. A man then will set a guard upon himself, stop all the
avenues of sin, and resist the devil, who is likely most busy at men’s conversion.
He that is truly convinced will do so; else he but dissembles with God, and his
own soul.
(4) At least since he finds it so very hard to master his thoughts, and evil
concupiscence is ever working and boiling up in unlawful desires; yet he will
bridle himself from committing the gross act. For if after his conversion he come
so far back, as to act the same wickedness over again, then he is to begin all his
work anew, and his repentance itself is to be repented of, as having not been
sound and sincere.
2. The other is positive, to do that which is lawful and right.
(1) He doth by degrees inure himself to the contrary virtues. Habits are acquired
by single acts frequently repeated, and though difficult at first, yet by use and
custom are made easy and familiar, till at last they become natural.
(2) As a Christian; he frequents those spiritual exercises wherein grace is
promised and improved; prayer, meditation, reading, hearing, receiving, etc.,
whereof some are to instruct him in his rule, and to give him directions; others to
fetch in help and assistance: and he that thus seeks God in His own ordinances
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193. and methods, will be sure to find Him.
(3) To be sure he keeps himself employed, that his sin may not find him at
leisure; that idleness may give the Evil One no advantage against him.
II. The consequent of thus doing is, that he shall save his soul alive.
1. By turning thus from his wickedness, and doing that which is right, he shall be so
accepted of God, that his sins shall never prejudice him, as to his eternal estate,
whoever the person be, whatever his former life hath been.
2. His thus doing prepares and disposes him for God’s grace, whereby he may be
enabled to do more, till he work out his salvation; and God’s grace will perfect that
good work which has been begun in him.
3. This reformation and amendment evidences a justifying and a saving faith, and
shows a man to be, to the glory of God’s grace, a truly pious man, and one who may
fairly entertain very good assurances of happiness in the life to come. For though by
Christ alone, as the meritorious cause, and by faith alone, as the instrumental cause,
we are justified and saved; yet that faith itself will do us no good, no, nor Christ
Himself stand us in any stead, unless it be accompanied with repentance from sin,
and amendment of life.
I might from hence draw several inferences of vulgar mistakes about this necessary work
of repentance; let me but mention two.
1. As to the first act, to turn from his wickedness that he hath committed. Some
think it enough to turn from some sins, and indulge themselves in others, or at least
to turn off one sin, and take up another in its stead. But such must know, that they
are still in captivity; they do but alter their prison.
2. As to the second act, to do that which is lawful and right. There are those, who
seem to resolve all religion into hearing; that they look on as the soul-saving
ordinance; for by that comes faith. Be it so; but let not good works be thrown aside
as unnecessary, as dangerous. For what says the apostle? Not the hearers, but the
doers shall be justified.
III. The possibility of the duty as to its performance: for else all were to no purpose.
1. God has a kindness for all the souls of men. He is a faithful Creator; His mercy is
over all His works, and He hates nothing that He hath made.
2. There’s no bar then, as on God’s part, against any soul’s happiness. We say,
unfortunate persons were born under an ill planet, but whatever force the stars may
have upon men’s estates and successes, they have none upon their minds and wills.
Here ‘tis thy own will that writes thy destiny; there’s no fatality upon thee, but what
thou bringest upon thyself. There’s no irreversible decree in our way, to exclude us, if
we do not exclude ourselves. Thy destruction is of thyself, O Israel. God made no
man purposely to damn him. Death was one of man’s own inventions, and will be the
reward of his own evil actions.
3. God allows everyone such a sufficiency of means, as will at least render him
inexcusable. In the parable of Talents, they had everyone more or less. Even where
the means are denied or withdrawn, ‘tis out of mercy upon foresight of the abuse.
These are certain truths, that every man may do better than he does, and may have
more grace to do better, if he seek it. If the advantages of the Gospel, the assistances
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194. of grace, the influences of the Spirit, the admonitions of conscience will not prevail
with men, God will be justified when He judges, even in their condemnation.
4. God having thus furnished us with helps, and being ready further to enable us,
expects and requires our own serious endeavours in the working out of our own
salvation, nor can we look to be saved otherwise. This passeth for current doctrine in
all worldly affairs, that men’s industry and diligence are the only arguments to build
their assurance of success upon. And this much more in spiritual and eternal
concerns. A man is not to lie in a ditch, and think to get out only by crying, God help
me. The carter in the fable, when he called for Hercules’ assistance, was bid to set his
own shoulder first to the wheel. It is a proverb, that the world is made for the
presumptuous; which Christ seems to have consecrated to pious encouragement,
when He tells us, The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by
force. And thus much to evince as the obligation, so the possibility of this duty of
repentance and conversion, that as it ought to be in the sinner’s will, so ‘tis partly in
his power.
We shall now show how far that power will lead him.
1. A man may, if he will, forbear the gross act of sin.
2. A man may, if he will, shun the occasion of his sin, and get out of the devil’s way,
and keep guard at his weak place. A vessel may run foul in a dark night, and strike
upon a secret, unseen rock; but if the pilot have any the least care, he will beware
places of known danger.
3. A man may, if he will, by degrees draw off his affections, and estrange himself to
his sin.
4. A man may, if he will, use his reason; and he doth not deserve the name of man,
that will not do that. He may so fortify his understanding, and even natural
conscience (for we are now within the compass of nature) that he may at length
arrive at a full perfect resolution against his sin.
Then as to do that which is lawful and right.
1. He may, if he will, keep himself well employed, and so not be at leisure for his sin.
Good exercise is an expedient for health of soul, as well as body.
2. He may, if he will, go to church, to his closet, read, hear, pray, meditate, and
frequent those religious duties wherein God has promised to bestow grace, and pious
persons are wont to improve it.
3. He may, if he will, inure himself by good acts as to the substance of them, to the
contrary virtues. I still speak of moral actions performable by the strength of nature;
so that yet we are not come within the sphere of grace’s activity. Hitherto a man may
go of himself, if he will; and certainly he is in a very hopeful condition that goes thus
far. I shall not fear to tell you, that he is gone a good part of his way to heaven, and
there’s no going to heaven but this way. He has turned from his wickedness, and now
does that which is lawful and right; therefore he shall save his soul alive.
And how’s that? That’s on God’s part; for though we must work out our salvation, yet by
grace we are saved still: ‘tis the gift of God, when all’s done.
1. God accepts such an one, as He did the devout centurion.
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195. 2. God further enables him; so as with His grace to prevent him and assist him, as
again in Cornelius his case.
3. God justifies him (his sins that he had done shall be mentioned no more), and will
finally reward him; his soul shall live.
I shall conclude with two or three cautions, which may quicken us, that we do not put off
this necessary work upon this presumption, that ‘tis in our power to repent when we
will.
1. That the longer ‘tis deferred, the more difficult it will be. Our sins will grow
stronger, our powers and resolutions weaker, and the grace and favour of God less
easy to be obtained, if we neglect the time when He may be found.
2. That though true repentance be never too late, yet late repentance is seldom true.
‘Tis a shrewd sign of our insincerity, when we are unwilling to leave our lusts till they
leave us.
3. That our intentions, though never so good, if we defer to put them in execution,
when we have time to do it, will not find so gracious an acceptance at God’s hands.
4. That everyone has a day of grace, and ‘tis a thing of extreme danger to hazard the
loss of that; to let the measure of our iniquities be filled up, and so to have the things
of our peace at last hid from our eyes, and repentance itself put out of our power.
(Adam Littleton, D. D.)
Practical intention of the Gospel
I. The first step to salvation is here described to be the relinquishment of former evil
practices. That sin is to be forsaken by the seeker of God’s favour, requires no proof. But
how is it to be effected? There are many who think that prayer and good resolutions are
sufficient. That both of these are indispensable, is most certain, and nothing can be done
without them; but they are not always effectual. To them must be added the turning
away from the besetting sin; the keeping out of the way of temptation. Probably the
virtue and goodness of the best consist more in resisting temptation than is commonly
believed by the looker-on. At the close of the day, what, we may ask, excites our grateful
emotions to God? That we have had grace to resist this sin and the other; not that we
have been positively good, but that we have not been positively bad. One main source of
the obedience, then, for instance, of the man whose besetment is love of the world,
consists in his keeping out of it, in his turning away from it, as much as he possibly can.
And this direction is equally applicable to all other sins. You wish to give up sin; then
studiously, self-denyingly, watchfully, prayerfully, turn away from the very atmosphere
of the temptation that would lead you to sin; and dream not of safety upon any other
terms.
II. After this relinquishing known sin, the next step is, “to do that which is lawful and
right.” We know well the difficulty of reconciling the sovereign power of God with the
agency of helpless man. But let us consider, for the practical view of the question, that
the same God who made the body and its powers made also the soul and its powers.
Now, we feel no hesitation in speaking about the freedom of motion of the limbs of the
body; yet the whole power to move arm, or leg, or hand, is derived as directly from God
as is the power of the mind to think. And notwithstanding this, we feel no hesitation in
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196. attributing to man a perfect mastery over all the motions of his own limbs, though it be
true that “in God he lives, and moves, and has his being.” When you tell a man to walk,
in effect you only tell him to use the power of body which God has given him. He walks,
not because he gave himself the power to do so, but because God gave it to him. Now we
know the limits under which this can be applied to the soul. Sin has cast its chain, so to
speak, about the legs and arms of the soul. If you wish to walk to a neighbouring place,
we know of no impediment to your motions; but if you wish to walk to heaven, the case
is different. But who gave you the unshackled limbs? God. And if He gives the like power
to the soul, why may we not, in like manner, exhort you to make use of it, without being
misconstrued? But what is the “lawful and right,” the Christian obedience, required of
you? Repentance, faith, holiness. But these imply a thousand particulars, without
understanding many of which, it is but giving dark counsel. We spoke of repentance
first; but how is a man to perform this “lawful and right” act? How are you to feel sorrow
for your sins? You cannot give this sorrow to yourselves; nor can any human being give
it you. How then is it to be obtained? In the use, we reply, of God’s appointed means.
“Do” them, for they are the “lawful and right” means. Now, we think the appointed way
of obtaining repentance is by looking closely at and to Jesus Christ, in connection with
what you know of yourselves relative to the past and the present, and what you justly
suspect of yourselves for the future. Not that we suppose that any view you can take of
Jesus Christ, in connection with His dreadful sufferings for your sins, could move you to
real sorrow; but our belief is, that this is the appointed effect of this particular means: if
you once look at Christ in this light, He will at the same time regard you for the most
merciful of all purposes. Is not every spiritual blessing to be traced up, instrumentally, to
Jesus Christ? Repentance certainly is a spiritual blessing; and therefore the proper
means are, to come to Him, in the hope that He, by His Spirit, will awaken it within you.
If you wait until you are a penitent before you seek for the remedy of the Gospel, you are
inverting the only safe order. Come to Jesus Christ in prayer for the gift of repentance:
this, we say, is the appointed means. For we are only asking you to exert the power
which is given you by God to use His own means, that you may obtain His own blessing.
But we pass on to the second act spoken of as “lawful and right” for the salvation of the
soul—faith in Jesus Christ. And certainly if repentance is a necessary act of obedience, so
is a reliance on the meritorious sacrifice of Jesus Christ. But then what can you do, you
yourselves do, in the way of obedience to this injunction? You cannot give yourself faith
in Christ, but you can pray for it. You can read the history of His sufferings and death for
your sins, with a thoughtful mind; and in that same book in which they are recorded, you
can read the only valuable and true history in the world of yourselves. If you desire to see
the faithful representation of your countenance, you go to the looking glass; and if you
want to see the only real picture of your soul’s condition, read God’s Word for this
express purpose, for you will find it nowhere else. By thus using the plain means, so easy
of access, for learning what you can of Jesus Christ, and what you can of yourself, you
meet God, as it were, in the right road; you go as far as you can go. And as little do we
expect that God will go out of His way to withhold His suns, and rains, and winds, for
maturing the seed put into the ground with all care, in the use of His own appointed
means, as we believe He will withhold the suns, and winds, and rains of His Holy Spirit
to bring to ripeness the graces connected with “saving the soul alive” in those who thus
do their part towards obtaining them. (J. E. Golding.)
Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions.
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197. Repentance
I. He considereth. The blind, hardened man walks about thinking, speaking, acting,
without considering how the Almighty God is regarding him, what are to be the
consequences of all his thoughts, words, and ways, to what end he is to come. He
considers not what he owes to his God, his Maker, his Redeemer, his Sanctifier, his great
Benefactor. He considers not that he shall one day “stand before the judgment seat of
Christ, to receive the things done in the body,” to give account of the manner in which he
has “rendered unto God the things which are God’s,” the honour, the faithful service, the
adoring and grateful love which are due to Him from all His rational creatures. Oh what
unspeakably great and glorious things are often poured about the ears of hardened
people, without making the least impression on their hearts! Divine justice, creating,
redeeming love, the death of Christ the Son of God, the coming of the Holy Ghost, the
grand events of the judgment day, heaven, hell, eternity, such things as fully
comprehended would fill the whole soul of man, and make him stand motionless with
admiration and amazement. See an awakened man, a man “whose heart God hath
touched.” The terrible voice of the most just judgment of God has reached him. It has
pierced his soul. It has roused him from his deadly lethargy. It has made him think. He
exercises his thoughts upon his condition and his prospects. His life is brought before
him. He sees how he has lived without God in the world. His sins now begin to appear to
him in an awful light. He stands amazed at his dreadful situation. He considereth. How
he is to escape the wrath to come. How he is to be restored to the favour of his offended
God. How he is to master his sinful nature. How he is to acquire the faith and love, the
“holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” All his heart is now engaged in
those great considerations; and so vast, so overwhelming they appear, that everything
else seems a trifle compared with them. He considers that God is even yet his Maker,
that He may still have a regard to the work of His hands; that He has indeed given His
Son, that He might be merciful to him. Then he falls down with such feelings as he never
before experienced before his God, and pours out of the fulness of his heart confessions
of sin, cries for mercy, hopes of pardon, repetitions of God’s promises, prayers for grace
and a change of heart, and resolutions of amendment.
II. He turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed. He forthwith
begins “in the strength of the Lord,” trusting that His grace will be with him, to leave off
every kind of iniquity of language and conduct, to avoid all ungodly society, to check his
bad tempers, to resist his vile passions, to devote himself to pious practices, to d course
of real, earnest, heartfelt prayer, to diligent, thoughtful, and devout reading of the
Scriptures, and to all the duties which he owes to his neighbour. He is not like so many,
who “return, but not the Most High;” who make some confessions, offer some prayers,
leave off some sins, who are “almost persuaded to be Christians,” who go a little way
toward God, but will not go all the way to God, will not become His faithful, consistent,
devoted servants. He that really returns to God, really devotes himself to the service of
the Lord, considers that he is not his own master, to pick and choose what duty he will
do, and what he will leave undone, when he will do his duty, and when he will leave it
undone; he considers, that he is “not his own, for he is bought with a price, and must
glorify God,” by leaving off every sinful practice, and by the faithful, regular, and
consistent discharge of every duty. (R. L. Cotton, M. A.)
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198. 28 Because they consider all the offenses they
have committed and turn away from them, that
person will surely live; they will not die.
GILL, "Because he considereth,.... Being come to himself, and in his right mind, he
considers the evil of his ways; what they lead to; what they deserve at the hand of God;
and what he may expect, should he continue in them; see Eze_18:14;
and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed; not
only repents of them, but reforms from them; and that not from one, or a few of them,
but from them "all"; which shows the truth, reality, and sincerity of his repentance; there
being a change of mind, a change of actions and conversation follows:
he shall surely live, he shall not die; See Gill on Eze_18:21. Jerom interprets the
just man turning from his righteousness, of the Jews leaving the author of
righteousness, denying the son of God, and smiting the heir; and the wicked man
turning from his wickedness, of the Gentiles, and of their conversion of faith.
JAMISON, "considereth — the first step to repentance; for the ungodly do not
consider either God or themselves (Deu_32:29; Psa_119:59, Psa_119:60; Luk_15:17,
Luk_15:18).
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his
transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
Ver. 29. Because he considereth.] Consideration necessarily precedeth conversion.
[Psalms 119:59 Lamentations 3:40 Jeremiah 8:6] The prodigal came to himself first,
and then went home to his father. See on Ezekiel 18:14.
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199. 29 Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is
not just.’ Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is
it not your ways that are unjust?
GILL, "Yet saith the house of Israel, the way of the Lord is not equal,....
Though the case was put so many ways, and the thing was made so clear and plain, by
the instances given; as, if a man was a just man, let his father be what he would, he
should live; but, if his son was a wicked man, he should die; yet, if his son should do
well, he should not die for his father's sins, his father only should suffer for his iniquity;
and then again, on the one hand, if a seemingly righteous man become an apostate, he
should be treated as such; but, on the other hand, if a wicked man repented and
reformed, things would go well with him; by all which it most clearly appeared that God
did not, and would not, punish children for the sins of their fathers, unless they
themselves were guilty of the same; and that the methods of Providence in dealing with
men in this world, as they were good or bad, were equal and right, and to be justified:
O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal? This is
an appeal to their own consciences, upon the evidence before given.
JAMISON, "Though God’s justice is so plainly manifested, sinners still object to it
because they do not wish to see it (Mic_2:7; Mat_11:18, Mat_11:19).
CALVIN, “Here God briefly shows how furious those are who dare to rebel against
him even when his justice is manifest: for what can be desired more justly than that
God should punish all the transgressors of his law? and also, if sinners repent, that
he should be prepared to pardon them? But if it seems hard that punishment should
overtake the just if they fall away, common sense dictates that no virtue can be
approved without perseverance. Since, therefore, it is very clear throughout this
course of action, that God is just and without blame, what madness it is to vomit
forth blasphemies against him, as if his ways were unjust! But God shows in one
word, as I have mentioned, that the Israelites had no excuse for such dishonesty and
impudence; and he repeats what he had formerly said, that men would always be
guilty of rashness in insolently cursing God when their own ways are found oblique
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200. and perverse: but God will sufficiently vindicate his own ways. But we must add
what follows —
COFFMAN, ""Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O
house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal? Therefore I will
judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord
Jehovah. Return ye, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity
shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, wherein ye have
transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O
house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord
Jehovah: wherefore turn yourselves and live."
"The way of the Lord is not equal ..." (Ezekiel 18:29). This was an unqualified
slander on the part of apostate Israel. We cannot agree with Howie who said, "This
kind of an outcry against the Lord is understandable when we remember how great
was the suffering of the people."[17] The people were well aware of their
consummate wickedness, but the national pride and arrogant conceit of ancient
Israel knew no restrictions nor boundaries. They thought that God owed them the
world with a ribbon on it, no matter how morally corrupt they became. They were
not only totally wrong in this slander, God's response to it was prompt and positive.
"Therefore, I will judge you!" (Ezekiel 18:30).
"Make you a new heart and a new spirit ..." (Ezekiel 18:31). O no, a man cannot
create in himself a new heart; but he can so order his behavior that God will indeed
create in him a new heart. God commands men to "Save yourselves from this
wicked generation" (Acts 2:40); but men cannot "save themselves," except in the
sense that they can comply with the conditions that will enable God to save them!
Men cannot "create" a new heart in themselves, but they can repent of their
wickedness and turn to God who will then "give them" a new heart. As Leal put it:
"Man cannot indeed create either a new heart or a new spirit; God only can give
them to anyone. But a man can and should come to God to receive them; he can
repent and turn to God and thus allow both heart and spirit to be renewed by the
Spirit of God."[18]
200

201. TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:29 Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not
equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?
Ver. 29. Yet saith the house of Israel.] Yet; for all that I can say to the contrary.
They will still hold their own; they will be dicti sui domini, &c., such was their
impudence and petulance. God therefore gives over the confutation, and comes to
the conclusion of this contestation.
PETT, "Verse 29
“Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not equal.’ Oh house of Israel,
are my ways not equal? Are your ways not unequal?”
God challenges Israel to recognise that in fact it is they whose ways are unequal and
unfair. They would condemn a man for what he could do nothing about, being a
‘victim’ of the behaviour of his group. God will only condemn a man for what he
himself is responsible for. Of course that would include blaming him for condoning
the sins of others. That was the sin of the relatives of Achan (Joshua 7:24-25). But
where he had stood firm for God and His covenant, he would be guiltless.
BI, "O house of Israel, are not My ways equal?
Scripture appealing to the reason and conscience of man
This is one among the many instances to be found in Scripture where the rational and
moral nature of man is appealed to in justification of the Divine conduct. Christianity
must be felt by us to be true before it can be felt by us to be binding on our consciences.
And who is to be the judge of its truth or falsehood? Where and what is the tribunal
before which its credentials are to be produced, examined, and decided on? What is it, or
what can it be, but the reason of man,—Reason in her high seat of purity and power,
lifted up above the tainted and corrupting atmosphere of worldly passions and
prejudices, and calmly and serenely engaged in the consideration and contemplation of
truth. This is one of the first and plainest rules to be adopted for our intellectual
guidance. It is regarded as an axiom by all sober thinkers, that every proposition or
statement which is found to be self-contradictory or irrational is at once to be regarded
as incredible. This, of course, imposes upon man the heavy responsibility of using his
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202. reason fairly, of judging not according to the appearance, but of judging righteous
judgment. With this condition it will be the surest and safest light to our feet and lamp to
our path. There is another and a similar proposition to the one just mentioned, which I
shall now proceed to enforce, having respect not so much to our intellectual as to our
moral nature. In the Scriptures, appeal is not only made to our reason, our
understanding, for the truth of their declarations, but to our moral feelings and
convictions, And accordingly I would lay down this principle as akin to the one already
touched upon, namely, that any representations of God, and of the character of God,
which went to the subversion or destruction of those primary and essential distinctions
of truth, justice and goodness, which have been established by the common consent of
the wise and good of all ages,—any such representations, assuming what pretensions
they may, are to be met with instant and utter rejection. When the Scriptures address
our consciences, when they speak of the law written on the heart, when they ask us to
judge of ourselves what is right, and when God appeals to us for the justice of His
proceedings, saying, “Are not My ways equal?”—they take for granted that we have that
within us which is capable of forming sound moral judgments, and of coming to right
moral conclusions. So again, when the Scriptures speak to us of the goodness and the
loving kindness and the mercy of God, they do not begin with defining the sense in
which they use these terms. They suppose that we have already a general and sufficiently
accurate knowledge of them. They take for granted the existence of these qualities
among men, as arising out of the very constitution of their moral nature, wherever the
faculties of that nature have been suffered in any degree to develop and expand
themselves. What is goodness in man is the same that we mean by goodness in God. And
so with justice, faithfulness, and mercy. These qualities, which we ascribe to God, we
have first gotten a knowledge of by our own feelings and experience as human beings. If
the Divine mercy and benignity mean not something like this, if they have no
resemblance to kindred qualities existing in our own bosoms, what are we to understand
by them? They become mere sounds and nothing else, words to which there attaches no
significance, and all our conceptions of the character of God are reduced to the greatest
possible vagueness and obscurity. Once overrule and bid defiance to the clearest dictates
of the understanding, once set at naught and despise the deepest and most universal of
our moral sentiments, and the mind is fitted and prepared for the belief of any opinion,
however absurd, for the reception of any sentiment, however cruel and revolting.
Demand of me anything but the surrender of my intellectual and moral guides. Require
of me to give heed to the evidence you may tender in favour of a proposition, however
strange, however remote from my present views and apprehensions, and it may be my
duty to attend, to ponder, and at length to believe. But require me to give audience to
assertions and statements in behalf of self-evident contradictions and palpable moral
incongruities, and I revolt from the rashness of the attempt. I feel it to be an affront to
the nature which God has given me. If we have no faith in the fundamental principles of
human reason, and in the primary and essential moral feelings of the human heart, the
foundations of all rational conviction are destroyed, and we are let loose to be driven
about by every wind of doctrine, to be the victims of the wretchedest fanaticism, or of the
most deadening and depressing scepticism. I am aware that, in answer to these remarks,
we shall be reminded of our profound ignorance of the nature of God, and of the utter
inadequacy of the human intellect to take unto itself the measure of the Divine. Most
true it is that there is much belonging to the nature of God of which, in this dim twilight
of our being, we have scarcely more than a mere glimpse. This is especially the case with
what are called the natural attributes of God. We know but little, and can know but little,
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203. of what Infinity is, and Omnipotence and Eternity. Our apprehension of them may not
come up to the fulness and completeness that distinguish them; but still, as far as it goes,
it seems to be clear, definite, and exact. While much obscurity, perhaps, attaches to what
we may term our metaphysical notions of God, we have no resting place on which the
mind can repose, but the moral conceptions of God. That resting place, therefore, let us
never abandon. Rather let us cleave to it, and guard and protect it as the home of our
affections and the sanctuary of our consolations. But it may be asked, Do you mean,
then, to exalt reason and conscience above the Word of God? Do you mean that that
Word should submit itself to our erring human judgments? What we contend for is
simply this, that no doctrine deduced from Scripture by human interpretation, which is
at war with the intellectual and moral nature of man, which is at variance with the first
and plainest directions of the understanding and the conscience, can be the Word of
God, and entitled to the authority thence arising. We have no ideas of God clearer than
those belonging to our moral conceptions of Him. When we say, Lo, God is good, we
have a distinct understanding of what we mean by it. And so we have when we say that
He is just and kind and merciful. These are properties with which reason and Scripture
agree to invest Him. Fortified by these authorities, we take into our minds, and cherish
as our greatest treasure, corresponding moral views of the Divine character. There they
are lodged firmly and abidingly. From them our thoughts and hopes should never be
separated. If, therefore, I perceive anything in the Scriptures which at first sight appears
to be discordant with these views of the character of God I endeavour, by wider inquiry
and deeper search, to find out a more consistent sense; but if that cannot be found, I say
not that God is not the benignant and merciful Being that I took Him to be, but that
from some cause or other I understand not the passage before me. In this way it is that I
would meet and object to the doctrines of Calvinism. They begin with setting aside the
clearest deductions of reason, and then with sweeping away every notion of justice and
goodness that had fixed its habitation in my soul. Why are the most impressive appeals
made to us in the Scriptures in behalf of the loving kindness and tender mercy of our
God, if neither the reason nor the conscience of man can understand and feel what, as
respects the Divine Being, goodness and mercy are? In that case goodness and mercy
may mean anything or nothing; and to draw from them any reasons for consolation and
trust must be vain and useless. Our belief will be a belief in a God unknown, and our
worship will be the worship of we know not what. Fear not, then, to use your reason,
your understandings, on the subject of religion; but beware of using them for purposes
of display, for the gratification of your vanity, and the exercise of your skill. Consider
them as talents, for the faithful employment of which you will have to render an account
at the bar of Almighty Justice. Feed the immortal lamp within you by meditation and
prayer, and elevate your souls to heaven; and then reason, in union with the Word of
God, will guide you into the ways of wisdom, and her ways are the ways of pleasantness,
and her paths are the paths of peace. (T. Madge.)
30 “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of
you according to your own ways, declares the
203

204. Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your
offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.
CLARKE, "Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions -
There is still life; still a God that has no pleasure in the death of a sinner. one who is ever
ready to give his Holy Spirit to all them that ask him; therefore “repent and turn, so
iniquity shall not be your ruin.”
GILL, "(Eze 18:30) Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according
to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your
transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
HENRY 30-32, "We have here the conclusion and application of this whole matter.
After a fair trial at the bar of right reason the verdict is brought in on God's side; it
appears that his ways are equal. Judgment therefore is next to be given; and one would
think it should be a judgment of condemnation, nothing short of Go, you cursed, into
everlasting fire. But, behold, a miracle of mercy; the day of grace and divine patience is
yet lengthened out; and therefore, though God will at last judge every one according to
his ways, yet he waits to be gracious, and closes all with a call to repentance and a
promise of pardon upon repentance.
I. Here are four necessary duties that we are called to, all amounting to the same: - 1.
We must repent; we must change our mind and change our ways; we must be sorry for
what we have done amiss and ashamed of it, and go as far as we can towards the undoing
of it again. 2. We must turn ourselves from all our transgressions, Eze_18:30 and again
Eze_18:32. Turn yourselves, face about; turn from sin, nay, turn against it as the enemy
you loathe, turn to God as the friend you love. 3. We must cast away from us all our
transgressions; we must abandon and forsake them with a resolution never to return to
them again, give sin a bill of divorce, break all the leagues we have made with it, throw it
overboard, as the mariners did Jonah (for it has raised the storm), cast it out of the soul,
and crucify it as a malefactor. 4. We must make us a new heart and a new spirit. This
was the matter of a promise, Eze_11:19. Here it is the matter of a precept. We must do
our endeavour, and then God will not be wanting to us to give us his grace. St. Austin
well explains this precept. Deus non jubet impossibilia, sed jubendo monet et facere
quod possis et petere quod non possis - God does not enjoin impossibilities, but by his
commands admonishes us to do what is in our power and to pray for what is not.
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205. II. Here are four good arguments used to enforce these calls to repentance: - 1. It is the
only way, and it is a sure way, to prevent the ruin which our sins have a direct tendency
to: So iniquity shall not be your ruin, which implies that, if we do not repent, iniquity
will be our ruin, here and for ever, but that, if we do, we are safe, we are snatched as
brands out of the burning. 2. If we repent not, we certainly perish, and our blood will be
upon our own heads. Why will you die, O house of Israel? What an absurd thing it is for
you to choose death and damnation rather than life and salvation. Note, The reason why
sinners die is because they will die; they will go down the way that leads to death, and
not come up to the terms on which life is offered. Herein sinners, especially sinners of
the house of Israel, are most unreasonable and act most unaccountably. 3. The God of
heaven has no delight in our ruin, but desires our welfare (Eze_18:32): I have no
pleasure in the death of him that dies, which implies that he has pleasure in the recovery
of those that repent; and this is both an engagement and an encouragement to us to
repent. 4. We are made for ever if we repent: Turn yourselves, and live. He that says to
us, Repent, thereby says to us, Live, yea, he says to us, Live; so that life and death are
here set before us.
JAMISON 30-32, "As God is to judge them “according to their ways” (Pro_1:31),
their only hope is to “repent”; and this is a sure hope, for God takes no delight in judging
them in wrath, but graciously desires their salvation on repentance.
I will judge you — Though ye cavil, it is a sufficient answer that I, your Judge,
declare it so, and will judge you according to My will; and then your cavils must end.
Repent — inward conversion (Rev_2:5). In the Hebrew there is a play of like sounds,
“Turn ye and return.”
turn yourselves, etc. — the outward fruits of repentance. Not as the Margin, “turn
others”; for the parallel clause (Eze_18:31) is, “cast away from you all your
transgressions.” Perhaps, however, the omission of the object after the verb in the
Hebrew implies that both are included: Turn alike yourselves and all whom you can
influence.
from all ... transgressions — not as if believers are perfect; but they sincerely aim
at perfection, so as to be habitually and willfully on terms with no sin (1Jo_3:6-9):
your ruin — literally, “your snare,” entangling you in ruin.
BI 30-32, "Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall
not be your ruin.
Preservative from ruin
I. The assumption of an awful fact. Iniquity induces ruin. The term “ruin” occurs but
seldom in the sacred Scriptures. It is, however, one of awful import and aspect; a word
ever used in an evil sense to describe the fearful disaster which has befallen him who was
the subject of it. In the text the word is employed to describe the eternal misery of the
soul.
1. He who is ruined has lost something of which he was formerly in possession.
When an individual meets with sudden reverses of a painful character in his
circumstances, and is called to sustain an extensive deprivation of property, we are
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206. accustomed to say, that such an one is ruined. But of all the loss and forfeiture which
men can sustain, none can possibly be compared with that which is experienced by
him who is ruined by his iniquity.
2. We apply this term to the demolition or destruction of a fabric. In hell there is
nothing witnessed but ruin. Some of the finest and most noble intelligences ever
formed, are there irreparably and eternally ruined. “Morning stars” which once sang
for joy around the Almighty’s throne are in a state of wretchedness and perdition.
This ruin is:
(1) Indescribably great. It is the ruin of man; a dignified, exalted, and intelligent
being.
(2) Incapable of reparation. Cities may be rebuilt, and the waste of ages
redeemed; habitations and palaces may be renovated, and shine forth in pristine
magnificence and glory; but the ruin adverted to in the text cannot be repaired.
The Most High would have accomplished this for sinners while they were on
“this” world, and in a state of probation; but they “set at nought all His counsel,
and would none of His reproof”; therefore: Pro_1:25-27.
(3) Punitive and painful. The ruin of a building made with hands is the ruin of
unconscious, inactive, and unfeeling matter, utterly insensible of the desolation
that reigns around. When man is ruined, there are inflicted pain and destruction
of the most fearful description.
II. The efficacy of a divine admonition.
1. Repentance implies the existence of that which is sinful and erroneous (Rom_
3:10-12; Rom_3:23).
2. Repentance comprises a consciousness of having done wrong, a conviction of
sinfulness. We are so accustomed to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to
think, that we need pray earnestly to God to show us what we are, and to open our
eyes to “behold wondrous things out of His law” (Psa_119:18).
3. Repentance includes also sorrow for sin; a “godly sorrow” (2Co_7:10), a sorrow
wrought in the heart by the Spirit of God.
4. Repentance is attended with confession of sin. This may be performed in a two-
fold sense: first to God, and secondly to man. (R. Treffry.)
Breaking the entail of sin
I. The ruin which sin brings on the sinner.
1. Great.
2. Irreparable.
3. Awfully painful.
4. Inevitable.
II. The means by which ruin may be prevented.
1. Conviction of sin.
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207. 2. Contrition for sin.
3. Confession of sin.
4. Departure from sin.
5. An earnest desire, etc. (E. R. Derby.)
God’s vindication of Himself
I. A serious exhortation.
1. The grounds on which it proceeds. Judgment shall be given according to our ways.
2. The exhortation—to repentance. Turn away from what is useless, hurtful,
loathsome. There must be no reserve.
II. An earnest remonstrance. “Why will ye die?”
1. Is it because your sins are too great to be pardoned?
2. Is it because God commands you to make new hearts and you cannot do it?
3. No, the reason is, the love of sin.
III. An encouraging declaration.
1. “So iniquity shall not be your ruin.” What a God of mercy is here!
2. “I have no pleasure,” etc. Judgment is His “strange act”; He holds off from striking
till vengeance can slumber no longer. (John D. Lane, M. A.)
A call to the impenitent
I. The characters that are addressed. Such as are still the subjects of an evil nature, and
are still living in sin against God.
II. The danger that is indicated. Iniquity is represented as inducing and exposing to
ruin. We know what it is for a man to be ruined in his property—to be reduced from
affluence to poverty—what it is for a man to be ruined as regards his health and
constitution, and, consequently, in those enjoyments that are dependent on health. We
know what it is for a man to be ruined in his character and credit, and everything that
renders him respectable in society; but all the notions we can form of ruin, as referring
to these external circumstances, will give us a very inadequate idea indeed of the ruin
that sin induces—the ruin of the soul. The ruin of the soul implies exquisite, positive
suffering, such as no language can describe—its final condemnation under the curse and
wrath of God; a condemnation that cannot be repealed; a state of banishment from
God’s presence and the glory of His power; final and eternal banishment. It is worth
while to turn our thoughts to this, and to consider how it is that iniquity induces ruin, at
once so dreadful and so awful. In the first place, I would say it operates in this way,
inasmuch as it naturally produces the effect I have noticed, in robbing the soul of all its
excellence. Again, it induces ruin, inasmuch as it operates in separating the soul
immediately from God, who is the source of felicity, the fountain of good.
III. The only remedy accessible to sinners is repentance. Do not confound it, I would
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208. say, with the sorrow of the world. A man may be in grief, and may be the subject of great
sorrow. This may not be repentance: sorrow it is; but, you know, there is the sorrow of
the world as well as a sorrow of a godly sort. I would say, do not confound repentance
with the mere fear of punishment. I would say, again, it is not a mere transitory
impression of grief, on account of sin. True repentance, let me say, implies a knowledge
of sin. It is the Holy Spirit alone that can give us right views on such a subject as this,
and can make the Law a schoolmaster, to bring us to Christ—who can reveal to us the
holiness of the law, the extent of its demands, as it applies not merely towards the
actions, but to the thoughts and intents of the heart. And, in addition to this, repentance
also implies the conviction of sin. The charge is fixed on his conscience, and he cannot
throw it off. He feels that he is in this situation, and he cries, “What must I do to be
saved?” Let me say, too, that conviction will be followed, where it is genuine, by suitable
impressions and emotions. (J. Hill.)
Escape from ruin
I. God will judge us, everyone according to his ways: not according to our plan of our
ways, but according to His. All men will hereafter be judged according to the
dispensation they have been under. Those who are under the law will be judged by the
law; sin in them will be the transgression of their law. Those who are without the law—
that is, without a written law—will be judged without a written law—by the law of nature
written upon their hearts. But those who have been under the Gospel will be judged by
the Gospel.
II. If under this dispensation we are found impenitent sinners we shall be ruined. Ah! it
is a touching thing to witness what we call ruin, even in this life; to see wringing of
hands, and wringing of hearts, and hopeless grief; but ruin for eternity is infinitely worse
than this; for the grave will soon end earthly sorrows, but the resurrection from the
grave is only the beginning of eternal ruin.
III. If we are found repentant we shall not be ruined. Repentance has a different
character according to the different conditions of men; but it always implies a change of
mind, issuing in change of conduct, which change of conduct must needs have respect to
the dispensations of religion under which God has brought men. If the Jewish nation, in
a matter that threatened national ruin, repented and turned to God, according to their
law, they obtained deliverance from that ruin that otherwise was coming upon them. If
Christians under the Gospel turn to the provisions under that Gospel, they turn to
Christ, and they obtain eternal life through Him. Conviction of sin, and misery on
account of sin, is not repentance. (T. Snow.)
CALVIN, “Here God precisely points out that he would discharge the office of
judge, and then he reduces the Israelites to order, and refutes their audacity: for, as
long as men do not feel God’s judgments hanging over them, and are not held
completely in cheek, they grow restive in their petulance. We see how ferocious and
wanton the reprobate are, because they are not held in by the fear of punishment,
nor do they dread the judgments of God. Hence that he may take away every vestige
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209. of excuse, he says, I will be your judge: plead now; but I will decide your strives in
one word, since each of you shall be judged by my will. It is certain, then, that God
here asserts for himself the praise of justice and rectitude; but at the same time he
brings forward his own authority, that he may strike terror into those who thus
madly dare to oppose his sway, and call upon him to render an account. Now,
therefore, we understand in what sense he says that he will judge them all according
to their ways; that is, although you do not confess yourselves worthy of destruction,
it is sufficient that I, as the lawful judge, pronounce you so. I will judge you justly,
therefore, since I pronounce sentence according to your ways and to my supreme
power, that all your complaints and murmurs may cease. He afterwards exhorts
them to repentance, and signifies that they have no other remedy than being
dissatisfied with their sins, and deprecating his wrath. Hence we collect that men
rebel so extravagantly against God, while they wander away from themselves, since,
if they descended within themselves, and sincerely examined their whole life, they
would be instantly humbled before God; hence that thought should stimulate them
to repentance: but because their conscience is stupid, and they are willingly brutish,
they boldly blaspheme God. On the other hand, God now offers a remedy on their
repentance and return from their wickedness. The word being converted, or return,
refers to the renovation of the mind and heart: for this also is the beginning of
repentance, that we should be inwardly renewed in mind, as Paul says, and so be
made new men. (Ephesians 4:22.) And this deserves notice, because many, when
repentance is spoken of, fix their eyes only on the outward fruits of penitence. But
we must begin at the root, as the Prophet teaches, by saying be you converted. But
he afterwards adds, ‫,והשיבו‬ veheshibu, and return. This second word ought to be
referred to the fruits of penitence; for as interior conversion comes first in order,
when we leave off our peculiar vices, and renounce flesh and blood, the fruits and
proofs of repentance thought to follow, as John said, Bring forth fruits as witnesses
to your repentance. (Matthew 3:8; Luke 3:8.) We see, then, that the Prophet begins
with purity of heart, and then comes to hands, as the Scripture elsewhere says, flint
is, to outward works. He says, from all your iniquities or crimes, to show that a
partial repentance is not approved by God. It is true, indeed, that even those who
strive with all their might to act rightly, do not succeed in discharging their duty
without many faults remaining; but we are not treating here of perfection, but only
of sincere affection and serious endeavors. Let us then only strive seriously to return
into the way, and to humble ourselves calmly and sincerely: this is the integrity
which the Prophet now requires.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one
209

210. according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn [yourselves] from all
your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
Ver. 30. Therefore I will judge you.] I will word it no longer with you, but clear up
and vindicate my justice, which you have calumniated, in your deserved destruction,
except ye repent.
Repent and turn yourselves.] Or, Others. Lay aside your complaints and
contumelies against me, and take notice that the best thing you can do is to "take
hold of my strength that ye may make peace with me, and ye shall make peace with
me." [Isaiah 27:5]
BENSON, "Verse 30-31
Ezekiel 18:30-31. Therefore will I judge you, O house of Israel, every one according
to his ways, &c. — You complain of the injustice of my ways or proceedings; but if I
judge you according to the desert of your ways, you will certainly be all found
guilty: and nothing but repentance, and a real turning to God in heart and life, can
avert that ruin to which your sins have exposed you. Cast away from you all your
transgressions — Here God, in a most tender and pathetic manner, exhorts the
Israelites, and in them all sinners, to comply with those terms on which alone he
could or can take men into favour, and save them from destruction, namely, the
casting away or forsaking all their sins, whether of omission or commission, all their
sinful tempers, words, or works; and giving up themselves sincerely and heartily to
his love and service. And to show that a mere attendance on modes of worship, and
an external obedience to the precepts of God’s law, are not sufficient, nor can be
accepted without internal purity and holiness, he adds, Make you a new heart and a
new spirit — Which words imply, both that a new heart and a new spirit are
absolutely necessary in order to salvation, and that means must be used by us in
order to the attainment of these blessings. It must be well observed, that what is here
commanded as our duty, to show the necessity of our endeavours in the use of
means, is elsewhere promised as God’s gift, (see Ezekiel 36:26; Ezekiel 11:19,) to
show man’s inability to perform this duty, without the special grace of God, which,
however, will not be denied to those who sincerely and earnestly seek it, in the way
210

211. God has prescribed, namely, the way of prayer, watchfulness, self-denial, attention
to and faith in the word and promise of God, assembling with his people, and
carefully shunning the appearance of evil. For, as Lowth well observes, the
difference of expression is thus to be reconciled, “that although God works in us to
will and to do, and is the first mover in our regeneration, yet we must work together
with his grace, and not quench or resist its motions:” see notes on Jeremiah 31:18;
Jeremiah 31:33-34. To the same purpose are the words of Calmet here: “We can do
nothing well of ourselves; we have of ourselves nothing but sin: all our power comes
from God, and with the aid of his grace we can do all things. But if, on the one hand,
we ought to humble ourselves on account of our impotence, on the other hand we
ought to hope in him, who giveth to all liberally, and who willeth not our death, but
our conversion. He informs us of our freedom of will, by enjoining us to make us a
new heart: he would have us to do what we can, and to ask of him what we cannot.”
PETT, "Verse 30
God’s Final Offer and Plea.
“Therefore I will judge you, Oh house of Israel, every one according to his ways,”
says the Lord Yahweh, “Return you, and turn yourselves from all your
transgressions, so will they not be a stumblingblock of iniquity to you.”
It is unquestionable that this was a new emphasis for the house of Israel. Of course,
in the past men had been responsible for their own sins, and had been judged
accordingly. This is clear from many incidents in the past. But their main emphasis
had been on Israel as a whole, and the behaviour of their kings and leaders, and
their response to it. They had been as one within the covenant. They had seen
themselves judged as groups and as a nation.
Now the emphasis was to be on each individual and each family, and how they
responded towards God and the covenant. Those who sinned would die. Those who
responded to Him and walked in His ways would live. It had become a personal
thing in preparation for the new covenant which would transform individual lives.
211

212. It was the beginning of a new perspective.
The house of Israel would still be judged, but man by man instead of as one. Each
could return to God and turn from their transgressions, thus removing the
stumblingblock caused by their iniquity, by their wrong and unjust behaviour. None
would be blamed for the sinful actions of the group unless they participated in them.
It was a firm movement towards individual accountability which would later result,
among other things, in the teachings of the Pharisees and the teaching of Jesus and
the early church.
PULPIT, "Ezekiel 18:30, Ezekiel 18:31
That work was to produce repentance, hope, and fear. The goodness and severity of
God alike led up to that. For a man to remain in his sin will be fatal, but it is not the
will of God that he should so remain. What he needs is the new heart and the new
spirit, which are primarily, as in Ezekiel 11:19, God's gift to men, but which men
must make their own by seeking and receiving them. So iniquity shall not be your
ruin; better, with the margin of the Revised Version, so shall they not be a
stumbling block (same word as in Ezekiel 3:20; Ezekiel 7:19; Ezekiel 14:3) of
iniquity unto you. Repented sins shall be no more an occasion of offence. Men may
rise on them to "higher things," as on "steppingstones of their dead selves."
31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have
committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit.
Why will you die, people of Israel?
212

213. CLARKE, "Cast away - With a holy violence, dash away every transgression and
incentive to it.
Make you a new heart - Call upon God for it, and he will give it: for as sure as you
earnestly call on God through Christ to save you, so surely you shall be saved; and the
effect will so speedily follow, that God is pleased to attribute that in some sort to
yourselves, which is done by his grace alone; because ye earnestly call upon him for it,
come in the right way to receive it, and are determined never to rest till you have it.
For why will ye die - Who should you go to hell while the kingdom of God is open to
receive you? Why should you be the devil’s slaves, when ye may be Christ’s freemen!
Why Will Ye Die? Every word is emphatic.
Why - show God or man one reason. Will - obstinacy alone, - a determination not to be
saved, or a voluntary listlessness about salvation, - can prevent you. Ye - children of so
many mercies, fed and supported by a kind God all your life; ye, who are redeemed by
the blood of Jesus Christ; ye, who have made many promises to give up yourselves to
God; ye, who have been dedicated to the ever-blessed Trinity, and promised to renounce
the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the
sinful lusts of the flesh; why will Ye die? Die! - what is this? A separation from God and
the glory of his power for ever! Die! - forfeiting all the purposes for which your immortal
souls were made! Die - to know what the worm is that never dieth, and what that fire is
which is never quenched! Why will ye die?
GILL, "Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby ye have
transgressed,.... As unprofitable and pernicious, to be abhorred and abstained from,
and to be cast off, as loads and burdens upon them. Kimchi interprets it of the
punishment of their sins, which might be cast off, or escaped, by repentance; perhaps it
is best to interpret it of the casting away of their idols, by which they transgressed; see
Eze_20:7;
and make you a new heart and a new spirit; which the Lord elsewhere promises
to give, and he does give to his own elect; See Gill on Eze_11:19; and if here to be
understood of a regenerated heart and spirit, in which are new principles of light, life,
and love, grace and holiness, it will not prove that it is in the power of man to make
himself such a heart and spirit; since from God's command, to man's power, is no
argument; and the design of the exhortation is to convince men of their want of such a
heart; of the importance of it: and which, through the efficacious grace of God, may be a
means of his people having it, seeing he has in covenant promised it to them. The
Targum renders it,
"a fearing heart, and a spirit of fear;''
that is, a heart and spirit to fear, serve, and worship the Lord, and not idols; and so the
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214. amount of the exhortation is, yield a hearty reverential obedience to the living God, and
not to dumb idols; or that they would be hearty and sincere in their national repentance
and reformation they are here pressed unto:
for why will ye die, O house of Israel? which is to be understood, not of an eternal
death; since the deaths here spoken of was now upon them, what they were complaining
of, and from which they might be recovered, Eze_18:2; but temporal calamity and
affliction, as in 2Co_1:10; and so in the following words.
JAMISON, "Cast away from you — for the cause of your evil rests with yourselves;
your sole way of escape is to be reconciled to God (Eph_4:22, Eph_4:23).
make you a new heart — This shows, not what men can do, but what they ought to
do: what God requires of us. God alone can make us a new heart (Eze_11:19; Eze_36:26,
Eze_36:27). The command to do what men cannot themselves do is designed to drive
them (instead of laying the blame, as the Jews did, elsewhere rather than on themselves)
to feel their own helplessness, and to seek God’s Holy Spirit (Psa_51:11, Psa_51:12).
Thus the outward exhortation is, as it were, the organ or instrument which God uses for
conferring grace. So we may say with Augustine, “Give what thou requirest, and (then)
require what thou wilt.” Our strength (which is weakness in itself) shall suffice for
whatever He exacts, if only He gives the supply [Calvin].
spirit — the understanding: as the “heart” means the will and affections. The root
must be changed before the fruit can be good.
why will ye die — bring on your own selves your ruin. God’s decrees are secret to us;
it is enough for us that He invites all, and will reject none that seek Him.
CALVIN, “Ezekiel again exhorts the people to leave off complaining, and to
acknowledge that there is no remedy for their evils but to be reconciled to God. But
that cannot be done unless they repent. For God was not hostile to them in vain; nor
did he, after the manner of men, persecute with hatred the innocent, and those who
did not deserve it. Hence it was necessary to seek God’s pardon suppliantly. Ezekiel
had already touched upon this, but he now confirms it more at length. He says,
therefore, that they not only lost their labor, but increased the flame of God’s wrath
by striving with him, and complaining that they were unworthily treated by him:
cast forth, says he, your iniquities from you. He shows that the cause of all evils is
within themselves: so that they have no excuse. But he afterwards expresses more
clearly that they were entirely imbued with contempt of God, impiety, and depraved
desires. For if he had only spoken of outward wickedness, the reproof would have
been partial, and therefore lighter; but after he commanded them to bid farewell to
their sins, he adds, make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. He requires,
therefore, from them a thorough renewal, so that they should not only conform their
life to the rule of the law, but should fear God sincerely, since no one can produce
good fruit but from a living root. Outward works, then, are the fruits of repentance,
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215. which must spring from some root; and this is the inward affection of the heart.
What is added is to refute their impiety, for they wished their destruction to be
ascribed to God. Here God takes up the character of a mourner, saying, Why will ye
die, O house of Israel? while the next verse confirms this more clearly.
COKE, "Ezekiel 18:31. Make you a new heart and a new spirit— The prophets
often exhort the Jews to an inward purity and holiness, that they might not rely
upon an outward legal righteousness, and a scrupulous exactness in the observance
of the ritual parts of the law. By thus instructing them in a more excellent way of
serving God than the ceremonial law directly prescribed, they prepared their minds
for receiving those truths which would be more fully displayed by the Gospel.
Calmet says excellently upon this verse, "We can do nothing well of ourselves; we
have of ourselves nothing but sin: all our power comes from God; and with the aid
of his grace we can do all things. But if, on the one hand, we ought to humble
ourselves on account of our impotency, on the other hand we ought to hope in Him,
who giveth to all liberally, and who willeth not our death, but our conversion."
We learn from this useful chapter, that God is perfectly just as well as good, that he
never condemns men for any but their own sins, though it sometimes happens that
the children are involved in the temporal evils with which God punishes the sins
committed by their fathers. How exquisitely gracious the declaration, that God is
always ready to pardon, even those who have committed the greatest crimes,
provided they forsake them, embrace the covenant of grace, and for the future keep
his commandments! There cannot be a stronger incitement to repentance; the
absolute necessity whereof we hence learn, as well as the nature of that repentance
to which the promise of pardon is annexed. In a word, the Lord declares, that
repentance will then only be effectual, when by grace through faith it produces a
new heart and a change of inclinations, accompanied with actual amendment and
reformation. See Ostervald's Reflections on the Bible.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, We have here,
1. The insolent and impious proverb in use among the Jews, The fathers have eaten
sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge; which implied a charge of
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216. injustice and cruelty in God, as if he punished them for the sins of their fathers, and
they had themselves done nothing to provoke the wrath under which they lay. It was
true indeed, that, as a nation, their fathers' sins came into remembrance; but the
insinuation was false, that for them alone they suffered: had they not copied after
their forefathers' wickedness, they had never gone into captivity. Note; When
sinners find fault with God, it is a sure symptom that their heart is yet hardened,
and unhumbled under their sufferings.
2. The reproof which God gives them hereupon. What mean ye, that ye use this
proverb? with such a blasphemous insinuation. God therefore will silence them; and
swears by himself, that they shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb.
He will inflict immediate judgment on the sinners, and not defer it to another
generation; and will make it manifest to themselves and others, that their sufferings
are no more than their deserts.
3. He lays down the equitable method of his procedure. He, as the eternal sovereign,
indeed, is not bound to give us any account of his matters. All souls are his, the work
of his hands, accountable to him; and, as in mercy they have received their being
from him, they may be assured that he will do them no wrong. He waves, however,
his right of sovereignty, and establishes a rule of judgment to which none can
reasonably object.
[1.] The soul that sinneth, it shall die, be exposed to temporal judgments in this life,
and the punishment not be deferred to another generation; and, if he continue
impenitent, he shall die eternally, separated from the blissful presence of God, and
consigned to the place of torment. Let impenitent sinners hear and tremble.
[2.] The just man shall live: and that we may not mistake, God gives his character in
several particulars, both negatively and positively. Happy for us will it be, if we can
through grace call the character our own. (1.) He is no idolater: neither joins in the
worship nor gives the least countenance to the service, hating both the idols and the
things sacrificed to them, never deigning to lift his eyes to the one, nor to sit down to
feast on the other. (2.) He is no adulterer, nor lewd person. (3.) He is not oppressive;
he neither by force nor fraud deprives his neighbour of what is his just due; nor
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217. takes advantage of his necessity; but restores to the debtor his pledge when the
redemption-money is paid; and, since the law had forbidden him to take usury of his
brethren, lending freely, hoping for nothing again. (4.) He is charitable to the extent
of his power, feeding the hungry and clothing the naked; willing to give, glad to
distribute; and this not as depending on his works as meritorious, but actuated by a
principle of love. (5.) He withdraws his hand from iniquity; will have no fellowship
or connection with wicked men or their deeds; and, if he has been inadvertently
drawn into evil, he hastily returns, with grief and shame, to the right way. (6.) In all
his dealings, either as a magistrate, a witness, a referee, or a man in business, he
pays the strictest regard to truth and justice; and according to his power desires
that every man may enjoy his right. (7.) To finish his character; he is not only just
and merciful towards man, but pious towards God, walking in God's statutes,
making them the rule of his conduct; constant in his worship and ordinances, and
keeping God's judgments to deal truly; never deviating from the line of justice
which God has marked out. He is just: such a conversation is an evidence to men of
that righteousness which by faith he possesses before God. And he shall surely live,
saith the Lord God, happy in the enjoyment of God's favour, exempted from the
plagues which are the portion of the ungodly; and, continuing to the end to walk
with God, shall shortly live eternally with him in glory.
2nd, God, having laid down his method of procedure, applies it to particular cases,
demonstrating the justice of his dealings, and the injustice of their censures.
1. For the justice of his dealings he observes,
[1.] That an ungodly son, though sprung from a pious father, shall bear his own
burden. The case is not uncommon; for grace does not run in the blood, nor is the
most careful education always successful; the best of men have, to their grief, beheld
the most ungodly children. Dreadful are the sins here supposed; and, indeed,
usually they grow most abandoned who sin against the greatest light and warnings.
This wicked son is described as the very reverse of all goodness; a robber, a
murderer, an idolater, an adulterer, an oppressor, an usurer, in short devoted to
every abomination; the consequence of which must be, that he shall not live in the
enjoyment of God's favour, or in peace in his possessions; he shall surely die, given
up to the sword of the enemy, or led captive, and, if he die impenitent, consigned to
the eternal death of body and soul in hell; his blood shall be upon him, he has only
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218. himself to blame for his destruction, his sins the more aggravated and inexcusable,
and his misery the more intolerable, through the abuse of the mercies that he has
enjoyed.
[2.] The gracious son of a wicked father shall never fare the worse for his descent
from him. And a happy thing it is when a child, instead of being influenced by his
parents' ill example to imitate it, sees, considers, and takes warning to shun those
vices to which they were addicted. His character is the same as described before; for
all just men walk by the same rule, and mind the same things; and, being found in
the same way, have the same blessed end, he shall surely live, and shall not die for
his father's iniquity; but his graceless father, whose ways were perverse before God,
oppressive, unjust, and negligent of every good work, shall bear his own iniquity,
and perish under it.
2. Hence he infers the injustice of their censures. Yet say ye, Doth not the son bear
the iniquity of the father? No, in no wise. He that doeth that which is lawful and
right, shall surely live; but the soul that sinneth, it shall die, whether father or son:
the son shall not be chargeable with his father's iniquity; nor the father, when he
has discharged his duty towards him, be answerable for the conduct of his ungodly
son. This is the settled rule of God's judgment: the righteousness of the righteous
shall be upon him, the faithful soul shall have the present and eternal comfort of
well-doing; and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him, crushing him down
under temporal judgments, and sinking him at last into the belly of hell.
3rdly, The equity of the divine government is here farther demonstrated. As God
will not punish one man for the sins of another, neither will he be rigorous to mark
the transgressions of those who return to him. The finally impenitent only shall
perish.
1. The sinner who repents, and turns to God, shall surely live. Not that of himself by
his own natural powers he is able to turn and change his own heart. The work is
God's to give repentance: and this he does, [1.] By leading the sinner to consider his
ways, giving him an enlightened knowledge of the evil and danger of sin, and
opening his eyes to a discovery of that guilt to which he was before a stranger; in
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219. consequence of which, [2.] He turns from ALL his sins, hating and forsaking them,
and makes no allowed reserve of the least sin. [3.] His obedience is sincere and
universal, keeping all God's statutes, and doing that which is lawful and right,
according to his best knowledge of God's word, in simplicity and truth. And, when
this is the case, he has, [4.] An assured evidence of his pardon and acceptance with
God. His transgressions shall not only be forgiven, but as it were forgotten, not so
much as mentioned unto him. [5.] He shall surely live, he shall not die. He shall be in
a great measure exempted from temporal calamities; which blessing seems to have
been eminently promised to the pious under the Mosaic dispensation; and,
persevering in righteousness and true holiness, he shall have the enjoyment of God's
love and favour both here and for ever.
2. God encourages sinners, from the views of his rich grace and mercy, to return to
him. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God. No:
vengeance is his strange work, but mercy is his delight. And though his justice is
glorified in the punishment of the obstinately rebellious, yet he would rather glorify
his grace in pardoning them, when they return from their ways and live. Note; The
soul that perishes will have only itself to blame for its damnation.
3. The righteous man who turns apostate, will perish. If any commit iniquity
according to all the abominations of the wicked, joining with them, and in practice
like them, shall such live? No. Their good deeds, however many, will not be
mentioned in their favour. They turn back unto perdition, and die in their sins, and
for them.
4. God appeals to their consciences for the equity of his ways and the injustice of
their reflections. Yet ye say the way of the Lord is not equal. Impudently and
blasphemously they dared to arraign the divine justice at the bar of their partial
self-love; though the procedure was so evidently equal and just: nor could it
possibly be otherwise; the judge of all the earth must needs do right. The inequality
therefore was in themselves, not in him: he was righteous, but they had done
wickedly; his judgments altogether just, their murmuring under them wicked as
unreasonable.
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220. 4thly, The case being thus fairly stated, God's methods of procedure appear fully
vindicated. I will judge you according to your ways, giving to every man as his work
is. Yet, as their works and ways would so ill bear the severity of his inquiry, he
lengthens their day of grace, and gives them yet space to repent, and an earnest
invitation to engage them thereunto.
1. He invites them to repent and live, turning from all their transgressions with
shame and rooted aversion, and casting them away, with full purpose of heart never
to return to them again. And he calls on them to make them a new heart and a new
spirit, thoroughly changed in all their tempers and dispositions; which though
indeed their duty, yet God must give the power to enable them for what he does
command, and he is willing so to do: see chap. Ezekiel 11:19 and by his grace,
preventing and following the word of exhortation, it becomes effectual to the
conversion of every sinner who will accept of the offers of mercy.
2. He enforces his invitation with various arguments. [1.] So iniquity shall not be
your ruin, as otherwise it infallibly would be; for, except we repent we must perish.
[2.] God has no delight in the sinner's death, and therefore expostulates, Why will ye
die, O house of Israel? It is as pleasing to him to see the sinner turned from the evil
of his ways, as it is unspeakably advantageous to ourselves. They who refuse
therefore to give him this satisfaction, sin against their own mercies, and die because
they will die. [3.] Immortal life and glory are before us, if we truly turn to God.
Turn yourselves, and live ye. And what can engage us, if these considerations are
ineffectual?
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye
have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die,
O house of Israel?
Ver. 31. Cast away from you, &c.] And so evidence the soundness of your
repentance. He that repenteth with a contradiction, as continuing in his sins, shall
be pardoned with a contradiction - that is, cast into hell.
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221. All your transgression.] All, as well as any; else ye do but take pains to go to hell.
Gideon’s one bastard slew all his seventy sons; so will one bastardly sin, reserved
and allowed, slay the soul. Men should do by their sins as our forefathers did by the
Danes here, make an utter riddance of them; and as the Sicilians did by the French
among them, whom they not only massacred to a man, but also ripped up all their
own women that were with child by the French, that not one drop of French blood
might remain among them.
Make you a new heart.] Wait upon God for it in the constant use of means, that ye
may bring forth fruits meet for repentance.
PETT, "Verse 31-32
“Cast away from you all your transgressions, by which you have transgressed, and
make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, Oh house of
Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies,” says the Lord Yahweh,
“For which reason turn yourselves and live.”
These remarkable verses must be seen in the light of Ezekiel 36:26 (see also
Jeremiah 32:39). The call of God assumes His willingness to work in them what is
required. If they were willing to turn from their sins, God was willing to work in
them a new heart and a new spirit. What would later be promised for the future,
was here promised in the present if they would respond. They could be born from
above by the Spirit of God. They could be inwardly renewed. But it required a
change of heart and mind about their rebellion against the covenant, and about
their sinfulness and abominations.
God’s plea was heartfelt. He did not want them to have to die. He did not want to
bring His judgment on them. ‘Why will you die?’, He pleaded, as only the strong
could. ‘I have no pleasure in it.’ He was waiting and ready to forgive. He was
waiting to receive them again and make them fully His own.
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222. ‘Cast away your rebellion.’ The words are strong. At the root of the word for
‘transgressions’ lies the thought of rebellion. So they are to fling from them their
rebellion of heart, and the acts that reveal that rebellion.
And it is always the same. God is longsuffering and merciful. Until the moment
when it is too late He is always ready to accept our repentance and forgive. But what
would follow in Ezekiel also reminds us that at some time the point is reached when
it is too late. Then there can only be wailing and gnashing of teeth. This is not a
question of whether a man can be saved and then lost. It is the question of the test as
to whether a man is truly saved. For the man who is truly saved will persevere to the
end.
These pleas of God in Ezekiel reveal the human side of salvation. It is up to Israel
whether they will repent or not. The choice is theirs. They must exercise their wills
and respond, believing that God on His side will renew them and put His Spirit
within them, or they must receive the consequences of a failure to do so. It was the
same call to believe as would be exercised in the ministry of Jesus and the Apostles.
Yet the whole book reveals that only within the sovereignty of God would they
respond. That is why this great movement of the Spirit awaited the future. Though
He called them they would not respond. Jerusalem would be destroyed. In the end it
is only when God makes the first move and brings about His will on those whom He
will call, that response will come.
32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone,
declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!
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223. CLARKE, "For I have no pleasure - God repeats what he had so solemnly
declared before. Can ye doubt his sincerity? his ability? his willingness? the efficacy of
the blood of his covenant?
Wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye - Reader, now give God thy heart.
Though every man comes into the world with a fallen nature - a soul infected with sin,
yet no man is damned on that account. He who refuses that grace which pardons sin and
heals infected nature, who permits the evil principle to break out into transgression, and
continues and dies in his iniquity and sin, and will not come unto Christ that he may
have life; he, and he only, goes to perdition. Nor will the righteousness of a parent or
relation help his sinful soul: no man can have more grace than is necessary to save
himself; and none can have that, who does not receive it through Christ Jesus. It is the
mercy of God in Christ which renders the salvation of a sinner possible; and it is that
mercy alone which can heal the backslider. The atoning blood blots out all that is past;
the same blood cleanses from all unrighteousness. Who believes so as to apply for this
redemption? Who properly thanks God for having provided such a Savior?
GILL, "For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth,.... Which is not to
be interpreted simply and absolutely, and with respect to all persons afflicted and
punished by him; for he does take delight in the exercise of "judgment" and
"righteousness", and "laughs" at the "calamity" of wicked men, Jer_9:24; but
comparatively, as in Hos_5:6. The sense is, that he takes no pleasure in the afflictions,
calamities, and captivity of men, which are meant by death here; but rather that they
would repent and reform, and live in their own land, and enjoy the good things of it;
which shows the mercy and compassion of God to sinners:
wherefore, he renews his exhortation,
turn yourselves, and live ye; or, "ye shall live" (r); I take no delight in your present
deaths, your captivity; it would be more agreeable to me would you turn from your evil
ways to the Lord your God, and behave according to the laws I have given you to walk by,
and so live in your own land, in the quiet possession of your goods and estates.
JAMISON, "(Lam_3:33; 2Pe_3:9). God is “slow to anger”; punishment is “His
strange work” (Isa_28:21).
CALVIN, “We see, therefore, how God throws off that false reproach from himself
with which the children of Israel taunted him, saying, that they perished by his
immoderate rigor, and could find no reason for his severity against them. He
announces, on the other hand, that the cause of death rested with themselves; and
then he points out the remedy, that they should amend their life, not only in
outward appearance, but in sincerity of heart: and at the same time he testifies of
his willingness to be entreated; nay, he meets them of his own accord, if they only
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224. repent heartily and unfeignedly. We now understand the Prophet’s meaning. We
said, that we are admonished in this way, that if we desire to return to God we must
begin at the beginning, namely, renewal of the heart and spirit; because, as
Jeremiah says, he looks for truth and integrity, and does not value outward
disguises. (Jeremiah 5:3.) But it may seem absurd for God to exhort the Israelites to
form their hearts anew: and men badly trained in the Scriptures erect their crests
under the pretense of this passage, as if it were in the power of man’s free will to
convert himself. They exclaim, therefore, either that God here exhorts his people
deceitfully, or else that when alienated from him we can by our own movement
repent, and return into the way. But the whole Scripture openly refutes this. It is not
in vain that the saints so often pray that God would renew them; (Psalms 51:12, and
very often elsewhere;) for it would be a feigned and a lying prayer, if newness of
heart were not his gift. If any one requests of God what he is persuaded that he has
already, and by his own inherent virtue, does he not trifle with God? But nothing
occurs more frequently than this mode of entreaty. Since therefore, the saints pray
to God to renew them, they doubtless confess that to be his peculiar gift; and unless
he moves his hand, they have no strength remaining, so that they can never rise
from the ground. Besides, in many passages God claims the renewal of the heart as
peculiar to himself. We noticed that remarkable passage in the eleventh chapter of
this Prophet, (Ezekiel 11:19,) he will repeat the same in the thirty-sixth chapter,
(Ezekiel 36:26;) and we know what Jeremiah says in his thirty-first chapter,
(Jeremiah 31:33.) But Scripture is everywhere full of testimonies of this kind, so that
it would be superfluous to heap together many passages; nay, if any one denies that
regeneration is a gift of the Holy Spirit, he will tear up by the roots all the principles
of piety. We have said that regeneration is like another creation; and if we compare
it with the first creation, it far surpasses it. For it is much better for us to be made
children of God, and reformed after his image within us, than to be created mortal:
for we are born children of wrath, corrupt and degenerate; (Ephesians 2:3;) since
all integrity was lost when God’s image was removed. We see, then, the nature of
our first creation; but when God re-fashions us, we are not only born sons of Adam,
but we are the brothers of angels, and members of Christ; and this our second life
consists in rectitude, justice, and the light of true intelligence.
We now see that if it had been in man’s free will to convert himself, much more
would be ascribed to him than to God, because, as we have said, it was much more
valuable to be created sons of God than of Adam. It ought, then, to be beyond all
controversy with the pious that men cannot rise again when they are fallen, and
turn of themselves when alienated from God; but this is the peculiar gift of the Holy
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225. Spirit. And the sophists, who in all ways endeavor to obscure God’s grace, confess
that half the act of conversion is in the power of the Holy Spirit: for they do not say
that we are simply and totally converted by the motion of our own free will, but they
imagine a concurrence of grace with free will, and of free will with grace. Thus they
foolishly represent us as cooperating with God: they confess, indeed, that God’s
grace goes before and follows; and they seem to themselves very liberal towards God
when they acknowledge this twofold grace in man’s conversion. But God is not
content with that partition, since he is deprived of half his right: for he does not say
that he would assist men to renew themselves and to repent; but he attributes the
work to himself entirely: I will give you a new heart and a new spirit. (Ezekiel
36:26.) If it is his to give, it follows that the slightest portion of it cannot be
transferred to man without diminishing something from his right. But they object
that the following precept is not in vain, that men should make for themselves a new
heart. Now their deception arises through ignorance, from their judging of the
powers of men by the commands of God; but the inference is incorrect, as we have
said elsewhere: for when God teaches what is right, he does not think of what we are
able to do, but only shows us what we ought to do. When, therefore, the power of
our free will is estimated by the precepts of God, we make a great mistake, because
God exacts from us the strict discharge of our duty, just as if our power of
obedience was not defective. We are not absolved from our obligation because we
cannot pay it; for God holds us bound to himself, although we are in every way
deficient.
They object again, God then deludes men when he says, make yourselves a new
heart. I answer, we must always consider to what purpose God thus speaks, namely,
that men convicted of sin may cease to throw the blame on any one else, as they
often endeavor to do; for nothing is more natural than to transfer the cause of our
condemnation away from ourselves, that we may seem just, and God appear unjust.
Since, then, such depravity reigns among men, hence the Holy Spirit demands from
us what all acknowledge they ought to pay: and if we do not pay it, still we are
bound to do so, and thus all strife and complaint should cease. Thus, as it concerns
the elect, when God shows them their duty, and they acknowledge that they cannot
discharge it, they fly to the aid of the Holy Spirit, so that the outward exhortation
becomes a kind of instrument which God uses to confer the grace of his Spirit. For
although he gratuitously goes before us, and does not need outward channels, yet he
desires exhortations to be useful to this end. Since, therefore, this doctrine stirs up
the elect to deliver themselves up to be ruled by the Holy Spirit, we see how it
becomes fruitful to us. Whence it follows, that God does not delude or deceive us
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226. when he exhorts each of us to form his heart and his spirit afresh. In fine, Ezekiel
wished by these words to show that pardon would be prepared for the Israelites if
they seriously repented, and showed its effects through their whole life. That was
most true, because the elect did not embrace this doctrine in vain, when at the same
time God worked in them by his Spirit, and so turned them to himself. But the
reprobate, though they do not cease to murmur, yet they are rendered ashamed,
since all excuse has been removed, and they must perish through their own fault,
since they willingly remained in their wickedness, and by self-indulgence they
cherished the old man within themselves, — a fountain of all injustice. Whenever
such passages occur, let us remember that celebrated prayer of Augustine: grant us
what you command, and command what you wish, (Epist. 24;) for otherwise, if God
should lay upon us the slightest burden, we should be unable to bear it. Besides, our
strength will be sufficient to fulfill his requirements, if only he supply it, and we are
not so foolish as to think anything comprehended in his precepts which he has not
granted to us; because, as I have said before, nothing is more perverse than to
measure the angelic righteousness of the law by our strength. By the wordheart, I
understand him to mean the seat of all the affections; and by spirit, the intellectual
part of the soul. The heart is often taken for the reason and intelligence; but when
these two words are joined together, the spirit relates to the mind, and so it is the
intellectual faculty of the soul; but the heart is taken for the will, or the seat of all
the affections. Hence we see how very corrupt the Israelites were, since they could
not be otherwise reconciled to God, unless by being renewed in both heart and
mind. Hence also we my gather the general doctrine, that nothing in us is sound and
perfect, and hence all entire renovation is necessary that we may please God.
The subjoined phrase, why will ye die, O house of Israel? suggests many questions.
Here unskillful men think that God speculates on what men will do, and that the
salvation or destruction of each depends on themselves, as if God had determined
nothing concerning us before the foundation of the world. Hence they set him at
naught, since they fancy that he is held in suspense and doubt as to the future end of
every one, and that he is not so anxious for our salvation, as to wish all to be saved,
but leaves it in the power of every one to perish or to be saved as he pleases. But as I
have said, this would reduce God to a specter. But we have no need of a long
dispute, because Scripture everywhere declares with sufficient clearness that God
has determined what shall happen to us: for he chose his own people before the
foundation of the world and passed by others. (Ephesians 1:4.) Nothing is clearer
than this doctrine; for if there had been no predestination on God’s part, there had
been no deity, since he would be forced into order as if he were one of us: nay, men
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227. are to a certain extent provident, whenever God allows some sparks of his image to
shine forth in them. If, therefore, the very smallest drop of foresight in men is laid
hold of, how great must it be in the fountain itself? Insipid indeed is the comment, to
fancy that God remains doubtful and waiting for what will happen to individuals, as
if it were in their own power either to attain to salvation or to perish. But the
Prophets words are plain, for God testifies with grief that he willeth not the death of
a mortal. I answer, that there is no absurdity, as we said before, in God’s
undertaking a twofold character, not that he is two-faced himself, as those profane
dogs blurt out against us, but because his counsels are incomprehensible by us. This
indeed ought to be fixed, that before the foundation of the world we were
predestinated either to life or death. Now because we cannot ascend to that height, it
is needful for God to conform himself to our ignorance, and to descend in some way
to us since we cannot ascend to him. When Scripture so often says that God has
heard, and inquires, no one is offended: all pass over those forms of speech securely,
and confess them adopted from human language. (Genesis 16:11, and often.) Very
often, I say, God transfers to himself the properties of man, and this is admitted
universally without either offense or controversy. Although this manner of speaking
is rather harsh: God came to see, (Genesis 11:5,) when he announces that he came to
inquire about things openly known; it is easily excused, since nothing is less in
accordance with his nature: for the solution is at hand, namely, that God speaks
metaphorically, and adapts his speech to the convenience of men. Now why will not
the same reasoning avail in the present case? for with respect to the law and the
whole teaching of the prophets, God announces his wish that all should be saved.
And surely we consider the tendency of the heavenly teaching, we shall find that all
are promiscuously called to salvation. For the law was a way of life, as Moses
testifies, This is the way, walk you in it: again, Whosoever has done those things
shall live in them: and, again, This is your life. (Deuteronomy 30:15; Deuteronomy
32:47; Leviticus 18:5; Isaiah 30:21.) Then of his own accord God offers himself as
merciful to his ancient people, so that this heavenly teaching ought to be life-giving.
But what is the Gospel? It is God’s power unto salvation to every believer, says
Paul. (Romans 1:16.) Therefore God delighteth not in the death of him who dieth, if
he repent at his teaching. But if we wish to penetrate to his incomprehensible
counsel, this will be another objection: Oh! but in this way God is chargeable with
duplicity; — but I have denied this, though he takes up a twofold character, because
this was necessary for our comprehension. Meanwhile Ezekiel announces this very
truly as far as doctrine is concerned, that God wills not the death of him that
perishes: for the explanation follows directly afterwards, be you converted and live.
Why does not God delight in the death of him who perishes? Because he invites all
to repentance and rejects no one. Since this is so, it follows that he is not delighted
by the death of him who perishes: hence there is nothing in this passage doubtful or
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228. thorny, and we should also hold that we are led aside by speculations too deep for
us. For God does not wish us to inquire into his secret. Counsels: His secrets are
with himself, says Moses, (Deuteronomy 29:29,) but this book for ourselves and our
children. Moses there distinguishes between the hidden counsel of God, (which if we
desire to investigate too curiously we shall tread on a profound abyss,)and the
teaching delivered to us. Hence let us leave to God his own secrets, and exercise
ourselves as far as we can in the law, in which God’s will is made plain to us and to
our children. Now let us go on.
TRAPP, "Ezekiel 18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith
the Lord GOD: wherefore turn [yourselves], and live ye.
Ver. 32. For I have no pleasure.] See on Ezekiel 18:23; Ezekiel 33:11.
PULPIT, "Turn yourselves, etc. As in Ezekiel 14:6, but there is no ground for the
rendering of "turn others," suggested in the margin of the Authorized Version.
So we close what we may rightly speak of as among the noblest of Ezekiel's
utterances, that which makes him take his place side by side with the greatest of the
prophets as a preacher of repentance and forgiveness. In the next chapter he returns
to his parables of history after the fashion of those of Ezekiel 17:1-24.
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