Context No. 3719 of 4322 · Ezekiel

Ezekiel 18:18-23: in context

18As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, robbed his brother, and did that which is not good among his people, behold, he will die in his iniquity. 19“Yet you say, ‘Why doesn’t the son bear the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done that which is lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes, and has done them, he will surely live. 20The soul who sins, he 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 on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him. 21“But if the wicked turns from all his sins that he has committed, and keeps all my statutes, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live. He shall not die. 22None of his transgressions that he has committed will be remembered against him. In his righteousness that he has done, he shall live. 23Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” says the Lord GOD, “and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?

God addresses a complaint that children were suffering for their parents' sins, and he sets out a principle of personal responsibility: the soul who sins shall die; the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor the father the son's. Each person stands before God for his own life.

And then comes the great promise of grace: if the wicked turns from all his sins and does what is right, he shall surely live; none of his transgressions shall be remembered against him. God does not lock anyone into their past; the one who repents finds his sins forgotten and his life restored. And the very heart of God is revealed in a question: have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? God takes no delight in judgment; his deepest desire is that people turn and live. This is the heart of the God who judges sin: not eager to condemn, but longing for the sinner to repent and find life.

Do I know the heart of a God who takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but longs for them to turn and live, and have I turned from my sin to find the life he offers?

Sources

Ezekiel 18:23: "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? says the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?"
Ezekiel 18:21: "But if the wicked turns from all his sins... he shall surely live. He shall not die."
Ezekiel 18:22: "None of his transgressions that he has committed will be remembered against him."