Unit: Ezekiel (Part 1)
Theme: Sin & Consequences
Lesson Text: Ezekiel 18:1-18, 22
Supplemental Text: 2 Corinthians 5:10; Psalm 18:20-27; 2 Peter 2:4-9
Aim: Repent and turn away from your sins.
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Download a PDF of this week’s lesson material (the Study by Mark Scott, Application by David Faust, and Discovery Questions by Micah Odor): LOOKOUT_August 21_2022.
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By Mark Scott
There is certainly some mystery in the Bible about family life. Many a parent has leaned into Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (English Standard Version). They read a proverb like a promise. Then, when junior becomes a prodigal son, the parent goes into a spiritual funk. In the Bible good kings sometimes had bad sons (2 Kings 23:25; 23:36-37), and bad kings sometimes had good sons (2 Kings 16:2; 18:3).
“Generational sin” is real. Who would doubt that the effects of systemic sin can be passed from one generation to the next—at least in terms of its results (Exodus 20:5; 34:7)? While parents can be intentional and cut their losses by working hard to pass their faith along to their children (Psalm 78:2-4), the sins of the fathers can be “visited” on the generations that follow. In this lesson text, however, the exilic prophet Ezekiel taught that the soul that sins is the one in trouble—the refrain in verses 4, 13, and 17 make that clear. Ultimately a child cannot pass the buck of blame for sin to mom or dad. Each individual must stand before God personally.
The Righteous Man
Ezekiel 18:1-9
Righteousness can best be passed along through family commitments. But so can unrighteousness. The word of the Lord that came to Ezekiel concerned a well-worn proverb (a short, pithy statement almost like a riddle). If parents eat sour grapes you would expect the tartness to affect them. But, no—the children’s teeth are set on edge. In other words, the parents’ activities did impact the children. But that is only half true. Since everyone (all souls) belongs to God (which of course included parents and children), then everyone has to stand before God—on their own merit.
The righteous man (labeled such in the bracket verses of 5 and 9) will stay to God’s standards. This person will do what is just and right. This person follows God’s decrees and faithfully (truthfully) keeps God’s laws. Righteousness partially consists of what one does positively. But righteousness can also consist of what one does not do.
Ezekiel listed at least six couplets that describe what the righteous man does not do. (1) He does not act idolatrously. This would include not bowing down to mountain shrines. (2) He does not engage in sexual misconduct. This would include not “polluting” his neighbor’s wife and having intercourse with a woman during her period. (3) He does not financially oppress (vex or destroy) anyone; instead, he returns items taken as pledges for loans. (4) He does not rob people by being stingy with food or clothing. (5) He does not charge exorbitant usury and then make an ungodly profit. (6) He does not make unfair judgments between two parties (man to man). We are defined by what we do and what we do not do.
The Violent Son
Ezekiel 18:10-13
A righteous man could have a violent son (robber or destroyer) who commits all of the above. Even though the father set a good example, it does not mean the son will follow in his father’s steps. The list is almost identical to what the father did not do. But this violent son embraced all of these wicked things. The list is a bit abbreviated due to being fleshed out in the previous paragraph.
Ezekiel asked the rhetorical question, “Will such a man live?” Heaven’s answer is no. The violent son committed these detestable (abominable) things. Without Christ’s anointing death on the cross, the unrighteous man’s blood will be on his own head. He will only have himself to blame for his eternal destiny.
The Good Grandson
Ezekiel 18:14-18, 22
Now the violent son sees the way his father acted and decided not to do such things. More than one child of an alcoholic determined never to even taste alcohol because of the carnage it caused in their home. The list of sins remained the same. This grandson followed God’s laws and decrees. The result he receives is life. He is not about to repeat his father’s extortion (oppression), robbery, and doing what was wrong among the people.
The last verse of our text (v. 22) held out the possibility that if a wicked person turned to the Lord and repented, then his offenses (transgressions) will not be remembered. God will regard righteous things (and certainly righteous things as reckoned in Christ in the new covenant) as a guarantee of life. To a group of people so oriented to communal living, this call to individual righteousness must have seemed strange.
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