Ezekiel 18:4 Komentář

Perhaps, in reading some of the foregoing chapters, we may have been tempted to think ourselves not much concerned in them (though they also were written for our learning); but this chapter, at first view, appears highly and nearly to concern us all, very highly, very nearly; for, without particular reference to Judah and Jerusalem, it lays down the rule of judgment according to which God will deal with the children of men in determining them to their everlasting state, and it agrees with that very ancient rule laid down, Gen 4:7, "If though doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?" But, "if not, sin," the punishment of sin,"lies at the door." Here is, I. The corrupt proverb used by the profane Jews, which gave occasion to the message here sent them, and made it necessary for the justifying of God in his dealings with them (Eze 18:1-3). II. The reply given to this proverb, in which God asserts in general his own sovereignty and justice (Eze 18:4). Woe to the wicked; it shall be ill with them (Eze 18:4, Eze 18:20). But say to the righteous, It shall be ill with them (Eze 18:4, Eze 18:20). But say to the righteous, It shall be well with them (Eze 18:5-9). In particular, as to the case complained of, he assures us, 1. That it shall be ill with a wicked man, though he had a good father (Eze 18:10-13). 2. That it shall be well with a good man, though he had a wicked father (Eze 18:14-18). And therefore in this God is righteous (Eze 18:19, Eze 18:20). 3. That it shall be well with penitents, though they began ever so ill (Eze 18:21-23 and Eze 18:27, Eze 18:28). 4. That it shall be ill with apostates, though they began ever so well (Eze 18:24, Eze 18:26). And the use of all this is, (1.) To justify God and clear the equity of all his proceedings (Eze 18:25, Eze 18:29). (2.) To engage and encourage us to repent of our sins and turn to God (Eze 18:30-32). And these are things which belong to our everlasting peace. O that we may understand and regard them before they be hidden from our eyes!

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 18 This chapter contains an answer to an objection of the Jews to the dealings of God with them in a providential way. The objection is expressed in a proverb of common use among them, and complained of as being without cause, Eze 18:1; however, for the future, no occasion should be given them to use it; for, though God could justify his proceedings upon the foot of his sovereignty, all souls being his; yet he was determined none but the sinner himself should suffer, Eze 18:3; and puts various cases for the illustration and vindication of his proceedings; as that a just man, who is described by his proper characters, as abstaining from several sins specified, and doing what is right and good, should surely live, Eze 18:5; but that the son of such a just man, being the reverse of his father's character, should surely die, Eze 18:10; and again, the son of such a wicked man, observing the heinousness of his father's sins, and abstaining from them, though his father should die in his iniquities, he should not die for them, but live, Eze 18:14; by which it appears that the dealings of God with the Jews were not according to the proverb used by them, but quite agreeable to his resolution; that the sinner, be he a father or a son, shall die for his own sins; and that the righteous man's righteousness shall be upon him, and the wicked man's sin upon him, and accordingly both shall be dealt with, Eze 18:19; which is further illustrated by a wicked man's turning from his sinful course, and doing righteousness, and living in that righteousness he has done; which is more agreeable to God that he should live, and not die in sin, Eze 18:21; and by a righteous man turning from his righteousness, and living a vicious life, and dying in it, Eze 18:24; from both which instances this conclusion follows, that God is to be justified; and that his ways are equal, and the Jews' ways were unequal, and their complaint unjust, Eze 18:25; and the same instances are repeated in a different order, and the same conclusion formed, Eze 18:26; upon which the Lord determines to judge them according to their own ways, their personal actions, good or bad; and exhorts them to repentance and reformation; and closes with a pathetic expostulation, with them, Eze 18:30.

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. (d) "ad stercoreos deos", Junius & Tremellius, Polanus; "ad stercora", Piscator, Cocceius.

The soul dies to the Lord, not through natural infirmity but through the sickness caused by guilt. This type of death is not the release from this life but is the fall resulting from sin.

There are three kinds of death. One is the death due to sin, concerning which it was written, the soul that sins shall itself die.” Another death is the mystical, when someone dies to sin and lives to God; concerning this the apostle likewise says, or we were buried with him by means of baptism into death. The third is the death by which we complete our lifespan with its functions—I mean the separation of the soul and body. Thus we perceive that the one death is an evil, if we die on account of sins, but the other, in which the deceased has been justified of sin, is a good, while the third stands in between, for it seems good to the just and fearful to most people; although it gives release to all, it gives pleasure to few.

Show me a body that has never been sick or one that is sure of enjoying good health forever after sickness, and I will show you a soul that has never sinned.

(Verse 3-4) As I live, says the Lord, there will not be for you any longer this parable as a proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine: the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine. The soul that sins, it shall die. (LXX: As I live, says the Lord Adonai, if it will continue to be said, this parable in Israel, because all souls are mine. Just as the soul of the father, so the soul of the son is mine. The soul that sins, it shall die.) What this means, 'I live,' says the Lord, and [it is] a parable or proverb, we have explained more fully above: which will never be said in Israel, but among those who do not have knowledge of God, nor can perceive the truth. 'All,' he says, 'are souls of mine;' according to [their] nature, not according to merit: as Moses was called a man of God, about whom it is written: 'The prayer of Moses, man of God' (Deut. XXXIII, 1). And Elijah, who spoke to the prince of fifty men: 'And if I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven upon you, and upon fifty men' (IV Kings I, 12). But a man who is guilty of sin and a son of iniquity is not called a man of God, just as servants and slaves of God are called, of whom it cannot be said, 'Everyone who commits sin is a servant of sin' (John 8:34). And again, 'For by whom a person is overcome, of him also he is the servant' (2 Peter 2:19). Just as the sins of children do not harm their fathers, so the sins of fathers do not pass on to their children; but the soul that sins, it shall die: not by the abolition of its substance, but by its separation from Him who says, 'I am the life' (John 14:6). And elsewhere he says: Everyone who lives and believes in me will not die forever (John 11:26). And: Amen, amen I say to you: whoever keeps my word will not see death forever (John 8:51). For our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3); and that will be fulfilled which is written: Amen, amen I say to you: whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me, has eternal life; and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life (John 5:24). But, that which is said by Balaam, 'Let my soul die among the souls of the just' (Numbers 23:10), has this meaning: that he desires to die to the world and to sin, and to live with the souls of the just, whose life is Christ, and they can sing: 'I will please the Lord in the land of the living' (Psalm 114:9). For God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matthew 22:32). And if Balaam, as is likely, translated into our language, sounds empty to the people: it is clear that the empty people of the nations prior desire to have fellowship with the souls of the just, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are called upright and just. And so the Book of Genesis took its name from their word.

The soul therefore that has not sinned shall live. Neither the virtues nor the vices of parents are imputed to their children. God takes account of us only from the time when we are born anew in Christ.

The spiritual penalty always pertained only to the sinner.

This whole passage is so constructed as to show that bad children are not given relief because of good parents or good children oppressed because of bad parents. So having first established this absolutely true and rock-firm principle on our own account, we go on now to examine what our obligations are in our relations with others; and here we must be very careful to distinguish between the effect of salvation, which we must seek for ourselves, and the consideration that we must show to our neighbors. If you are good, you are good with your own goodness, not with someone else’s. And yet through that goodness of yours with which you are good you also rejoice over another’s goodness together with him, not by exchanging goodnesses but by exchanging love.

The Jews, in Ezekiel's time, complained of God's dealing hardly with them in punishing them for the sins of their forefathers, Eze 18:1, Eze 18:2; their temporal calamities having been long threatened as the consequence of the national guilt, (Jer 15:4, etc.); and, from the general complexion of this chapter, it appears that the Jews so interpreted the second commandment of the Decalogue and other passages of like import, as if the sins of the forefathers were visited upon the children, independently of the moral conduct of the latter, not only in this world, but in that which is to come. To remove every foundation for such an unworthy idea of the Divine government, God assures them, with an oath, that he had no respect of persons, Eze 18:3, Eze 18:4; strongly intimating that the great mysteries in Providence, (mysterious only on account of the limited capacity of man), are results of the most impartial administration of justice; and that this would be particularly manifested in the rewards and punishments of another life; when every ligament that at present connects societies and nations together shall be dissolved, and each person receive according to his work, and bear his own burden. This is illustrated by a variety of examples: such as that of a just or righteous man, Eze 18:5-9; his wicked son, Eze 18:10-13; and again the just son of this wicked person, Eze 18:14-20. Then a wicked man repenting, and finding mercy, whose former wickedness shall be no impediment to his salvation, Eze 18:21-23; and a righteous man revolting, and dying in his sins, whose former righteousness shall be of no avail, Eze 18:24. The conduct of the Divine Providence is then vindicated, Eze 18:25-29; and all persons, without any exception, most earnestly exhorted to repentance, Eze 18:30, Eze 18:31; because the Lord hath no pleasure in the death of the sinner, Eze 18:32. As the whole of this chapter is taken up with the illustration of a doctrine nearly connected with the comfort of man, and the honor of the Divine government, the prophet, with great propriety, lays aside his usual mode of figure and allegory, and treats his subject with the utmost plainness and perspicuity.

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.

THE PARABLE OF THE SOUR GRAPES REPROVED. (Eze. 18:1-32) 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."

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 32:18-19) 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 (Kg2 23:25-26). 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. soul that sinneth, it shall die--and it alone (Rom 6:23); not also the innocent.