Scripture Daily

Context No. 1528 of 4322 · Ezekiel

Context · Reflection

Ezekiel 18:24-32: in context

24“But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, should he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done will be remembered. In his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them he shall die. 25“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not equal.’ Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not equal? Aren’t your ways unequal? 26When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies in it, then he dies in his iniquity that he has done. 27Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he will save his soul alive. 28Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live. He shall not die. 29Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ House of Israel, aren’t my ways fair? Aren’t your ways unfair? 30“Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways,” says the Lord GOD. “Return, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so iniquity will not be your ruin. 31Cast away from you all your transgressions in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, house of Israel? 32For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn yourselves, and live!

In this chapter God insists that each person is judged by their own ways, not their ancestors'. The righteous who turns to sin will die in it; the wicked who turns from sin will live. When the people protest that the Lord's way is not fair, God turns it back on them: is my way unfair, or are yours? And he ends with a plea that shows his heart: I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, so turn, and live. Cast away your transgressions and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit; why will you die, house of Israel?

The words that reveal God's heart are these: I have no pleasure in the death of anyone; turn, and live. Behind all the talk of judgment in this chapter is a God who does not want to condemn, who takes no pleasure in the death even of the wicked, but longs for them to turn and live. His judgment is real, but it is not what he desires; what he desires is repentance and life. And so he pleads, twice, turn and live, why will you die? This is not the voice of a God eager to condemn, looking for reasons to destroy; it is the voice of a God who would far rather forgive, urging his people to repent so that he need not judge them. There is enormous mercy in that plea, and it reaches to anyone who fears they have gone too far. The door of repentance stands open; the wicked who turns from his wickedness will live, God says, and none of his former sins will be held against him. Whatever we have done, God's desire is not our death but our turning; he takes no pleasure in condemning, and he pleads with us to come back. The chapter that speaks so plainly of judgment ends not with a threat but with an appeal, an open hand: turn, and live. That is God's heart toward the sinner, revealed in his own words, a God who has no pleasure in our death and pleads with us to repent and live.

Do I picture God as eager to condemn, or can I hear his own words, that he takes no pleasure in the death of anyone but pleads, turn and live, and will I answer that appeal, turning from my sin to the God who would far rather forgive than condemn?

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