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| This is the New King James text of the passages. |
Ezekiel 18-19 Listen 
Let's blame it on Daddy! (Ezekiel 18)
1 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying,
2 “What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying:
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
3 ¶ “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.
4 “Behold, all souls are Mine;
The soul of the father
As well as the soul of the son is Mine;
The soul who sins shall die.
5 But if a man is just
And does what is lawful and right;
6 If he has not eaten on the mountains,
Nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,
Nor defiled his neighbor’s wife,
Nor approached a woman during her impurity;
7 If he has not oppressed anyone,
But has restored to the debtor his pledge;
Has robbed no one by violence,
But has given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with clothing;
8 If he has not exacted usury
Nor taken any increase,
But has withdrawn his hand from iniquity
And executed true judgment between man and man;
9 If he has walked in My statutes
And kept My judgments faithfully—
He is just;
He shall surely live!”
Says the Lord GOD.
10 “If he begets a son who is a robber
Or a shedder of blood,
Who does any of these things
11 And does none of those duties,
But has eaten on the mountains
Or defiled his neighbor’s wife;
12 If he has oppressed the poor and needy,
Robbed by violence,
Not restored the pledge,
Lifted his eyes to the idols,
Or committed abomination;
13 If he has exacted usury
Or taken increase—
Shall he then live?
He shall not live!
If he has done any of these abominations,
He shall surely die;
His blood shall be upon him.
14 “If, however, he begets a son
Who sees all the sins which his father has done,
And considers but does not do likewise;
15 Who has not eaten on the mountains,
Nor lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,
Nor defiled his neighbor’s wife;
16 Has not oppressed anyone,
Nor withheld a pledge,
Nor robbed by violence,
But has given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with clothing;
17 Who has withdrawn his hand from the poor
And not received usury or increase,
But has executed My judgments
And walked in My statutes—
He shall not die for the iniquity of his father;
He shall surely live!
18 “As for his father,
Because he cruelly oppressed,
Robbed his brother by violence,
And did what is not good among his people,
Behold, he shall die for his iniquity.
19 ¶ “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live.
20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
21 ¶ “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
22 None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live.
23 Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord GOD, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
24 ¶ “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.
25 ¶ “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair?
26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies.
27 Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive.
28 Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
29 Yet the house of Israel says, “The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?
30 ¶ “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord GOD. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.
31 Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel?
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!”
The stage is set for this chapter in the first 3 verses. These exiled Jews insisted that they were being punished solely because of the sins of their forefathers and not their own. They had an old saying (a proverb, but not one of Solomon's), "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? (verse 2). Jeremiah repeats their old proverb as well in Jeremiah 31:29 (see notes) just before he outlines the New Covenant. It was a saying of conventional wisdom among these sinning Jews, even though it was not true in this situation - at least not to the extent to which they were applying it. Let's be clear about the incorrect nature of their assertion. They had absolved themselves of personal responsibility for God's wrath in the fall of Jerusalem; they claimed it happened because of the sins of their forefathers - not their own. Israel/Judah/Jerusalem had incorrectly applied the message of Exodus 20:4-5 (see notes) and Deuteronomy 5:9 (see notes).
Let's take a look at the words of Exodus 20:4-5 that were being incorrectly adopted by these exiles:
Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
Exodus 20:5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Never mind that they still had their own idols with which they could not seem to part. While it is true that the decisions made by our ancestors have an impact on our own lives, Ezekiel carefully (very carefully) goes through several scenarios in this chapter to hold these contemporary Jews personally responsible for their own sins, and thus the fall of the land into captivity and punishment. He explains that Exodus 20:5 was given as a logical consequence to sin, but was not intended to lock descendants into an impossible-to-do-right situation. These exiled Jews saw their beloved city, Jerusalem, destroyed because they themselves served other gods and idols. Ezekiel is very clear that he intends to put a stop to the use of this proverb when he speaks on behalf of God in verse 3, "'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.'" Ezekiel then sets the stage for three examples to illustrate the point in verse 4, "Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die." We're talking individual accountability for sin here when he proclaims, "The soul who sins shall die."
Ezekiel very specifically lists three scenarios to make his point about individual accountability:
Ezekiel sums up these scenarios in verses 5-17 the same way he introduced them in verse 4 by saying in verse 20, "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself." In other words, sons don't pay for fathers' sins, and fathers don't pay for sons' sins; everyone pays for their own sins. If you're looking for the bottom line of this chapter, read verse 30, "'Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,' says the Lord GOD. 'Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.'" The exiles were paying for their own sins and not the sins of their ancestors.
He concludes this discussion of their sin by answering their criticism regarding God's consistency in verse 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?" These wicked Jews apparently are forwarding the proposition that wickedness was more prevalent during the time of their ancestors, yet they did not fall into captivity; that's not fair! In verse 29 Ezekiel tells them that they should not be pointing their fingers at God's inconsistency when they, themselves, are the inconsistent ones - the unequal ones. God's solution is seen in verse 30, "'Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,' says the Lord GOD. 'Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.'"
Incidentally, many people (who fail to rightly divide the word of truth) have taken this chapter out of the context of the fall of Jerusalem and tried to maintain that there is a universal message of spiritual salvation and loss of salvation here for New Testament believers. They take the physical death and punishment spoken of here in chapter 18 and convert the concept from physical to spiritual death. You'll find in nearly all of these misuses of this passage that they have no clue about the specifics of which Ezekiel is really speaking here. Likewise they have done the same with Ezekiel's comments about his responsibility to warn the Jews in Ezekiel 3 (see notes) and Ezekiel 33 (see notes). One only needs to read the list of sins identified in verses 5-9 to realize that it is improper to abuse this passage by identifying it with Christians living today. Again to clarify, the exiles are being told that their nation has been terminated because of their own wickedness before God - not the wickedness of their forefathers.
Israel as a lioness (Ezekiel 19:1-9)
1 “Moreover take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2 and say:
“What is your mother? A lioness:
She lay down among the lions;
Among the young lions she nourished her cubs.
3 She brought up one of her cubs,
And he became a young lion;
He learned to catch prey,
And he devoured men.
4 The nations also heard of him;
He was trapped in their pit,
And they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt.
5 “When she saw that she waited, that her hope was lost,
She took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.
6 He roved among the lions,
And became a young lion;
He learned to catch prey;
He devoured men.
7 He knew their desolate places,
And laid waste their cities;
The land with its fullness was desolated
By the noise of his roaring.
8 Then the nations set against him from the provinces on every side,
And spread their net over him;
He was trapped in their pit.
9 They put him in a cage with chains,
And brought him to the king of Babylon;
They brought him in nets,
That his voice should no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel.
Ezekiel does a lion metaphor on Israel. Israel is the lioness. Ezekiel's metaphor is very specific here as he implicates the last kings of Judah. The first whelp was Jehoahaz (verses 3-4) - placed on the throne by the Judeans following the death of his father, Josiah (II Kings 23:31-33, see notes). Verse 3 identifies him as an evil king, and verse 4 mentions his fate, death after being taken as a prisoner to Egypt by Pharaoh Neco in 609 B.C. The second whelp (verse 5) was Jehoiakim’s son, Jehoiachin, (II Kings 24:8-17; II Chronicles 36:8-10, see notes). He was evil also (verses 6-7) and was taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 B.C. (verses 8-9). Confusing? Take a look at the brief summary of the last five kings of Judah found in the next paragraph for clarification.
So, to recap the last kings of Judah and put this prophecy into perspective, note the following reigns in Judah:
Ezekiel is prophesying here around 592/591 B.C. during the reign of Zedekiah, based upon the fact that his prophecies are listed sequentially. Ezekiel 8 (see notes) is dated 592 B.C. and Ezekiel 20 (see notes) is dated 591 B.C.
Israel as a vine (Ezekiel 19:10-14)
10 “Your mother was like a vine in your bloodline,
Planted by the waters,
Fruitful and full of branches
Because of many waters.
11 She had strong branches for scepters of rulers.
She towered in stature above the thick branches,
And was seen in her height amid the dense foliage.
12 But she was plucked up in fury,
She was cast down to the ground,
And the east wind dried her fruit.
Her strong branches were broken and withered;
The fire consumed them.
13 And now she is planted in the wilderness,
In a dry and thirsty land.
14 Fire has come out from a rod of her branches
And devoured her fruit,
So that she has no strong branch— a scepter for ruling.’ ” ¶ This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.
Then the imagery turns to a vine in verse 10.