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840. Bible Study: Ezekiel 18 (The one who sins will die; Repent and Live!) · Faith by annm2705

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Ezekiel chapter 18. First, let's pray.
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Dear Lord, please let U.S. Open our eyes and ears to what
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you have to say. Open our hearts to this and be
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with us as we read through this like inspire us and bring our
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thoughts to you as we go through this and to fully grasp what you
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are saying here, we ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.
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So this is titled the one who sins will die in my study Bible.
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So chapter 18, the word of the Lord came to me, meaning
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Ezekiel. What do you people mean by
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quoting the proverb about the land of Israel?
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The parents eat sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on
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edge. As surely as I live, declares
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the sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in
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Israel for everyone. Everyone belongs to me, the
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parent as well as the child, both alike belong to me.
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The one who sins is the one who will die.
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And I think we're going to talk a little a lot more about this.
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So it may end up turning into a an additional podcast, but we'll
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see how much time we have. OK.
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Verse 5, suppose there is a righteous man who does what is
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just and right. He does not eat at the mountain
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shrines or look to the idols of Israel.
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He does not defile his neighbor's wife or have sexual
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relations with a woman during her period.
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He does not oppress anyone, but returns what he took in pledge
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for a loan. He does not commit robbery, but
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gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked.
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He does not lend to them at interest or make a profit from
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them. He withholds his hand from doing
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wrong and judges fairly between two parties.
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He follows my decrees and faithfully keeps my laws.
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That man is righteous. He will surely live.
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Did you notice that righteousness means following
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the decrees and faithfully keeping God's laws?
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So I just wanted to point that out.
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So this was, declares the sovereign Lord.
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Suppose he has a violent son who sheds blood, or does any of
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these other things, though the father has done none of them.
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He eats. This is referring to the son.
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He eats at the mountain shrines. He defiles his neighbors wife.
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He oppresses the poor and needy. He commits robbery.
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He does not return what he took and pledged.
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He looks to the idols. He does detestable things.
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He lends that interest and takes a profit.
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Will such a man live? He will not.
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And there's an exclamation point there because he has done all
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these detestable things. He is to be put to death.
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His blood will be on his own head.
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But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father
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commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such
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things. He does not eat at the mountain
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shrines or look to the idols of Israel.
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He does not defile his neighbor's wife.
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He does not oppress anyone or require a pledge for a loan.
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He does not commit robbery, but gives his food to the hungry and
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provides clothing for the naked. He withholds his hand from
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mistreating the poor and takes no interest or profit from them.
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He keeps my laws and follows my decrees.
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He will not die for his father's sin.
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He will surely live. But his father will die for his
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own sin because he practised extortion, robbed his brother
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and did what was wrong among his people.
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Yet you ask, why does the son not share the guilt of his
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father? Since the son has done what is
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just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees,
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he will surely live. The one who sins is the one who
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will die. The child will not share the
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guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of
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the child. The righteousness of the
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righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the
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wicked will be charged against them.
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But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they
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committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just
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and right, that person will surely live.
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They will not die. None of the offenses they have
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committed will be remembered against them.
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Pay attention to that. So here's somebody who is wicked
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and doing all these bad things, but they turn away from that
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stuff and then it says also none of the offenses they have
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committed will be remembered against them.
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Look at how merciful God is. Like none of the offenses they
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have committed will be remembered against them.
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Once we turn away from something that is from our past, God
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doesn't hold it over our head like in people relationships
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that could very easily happen. People don't forget, but God
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says specifically none of the offenses they have committed
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will be remembered against them. Now, this isn't something where
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somebody does something wrong to someone and does something wrong
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to God and then says, I'm, you know, I'm sorry about it.
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I'll try not to do it again. And then they do it again next
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week, and then they do it again next week and then next week.
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I mean, this is not what repentance is.
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Repentance is turning away from it.
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Repentance is stopping it, reflecting God's will.
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Like if God doesn't want you to do it, are you obedient to him
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or do you follow your own fleshly desires?
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That's why, you know, Paul talks about crucifying the flesh.
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That's why Jesus talks about picking up your own cross.
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There is pain involved with repentance because it's not
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doing our will, but doing God's will.
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And that's the way we show God that we love him.
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And that's what God is after. He is after person, after his
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own heart, someone who loves him back.
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He loves us, he's merciful for us, He forgives us.
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He'll even like stop remembering what we did to him prior and and
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we have a we become a new creation.
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So I mean, this is just like if people could understand this,
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because I really don't think that there, well, I think that
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there are many people are who are confused by all of this.
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And I also think that there are churches who don't fully express
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this. And, and I really think this is
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such an important chapter because I do believe that this
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effects where we end up in eternity.
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And I think it's really important for people to know
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this, know this, know this truth, and not be deceived by
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somebody repeating certain pieces of the Bible, but not all
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the pieces of the Bible. And so that's why it's so
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important for each of us to go into the Bible, no matter who
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says it, and double check what anyone is saying.
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And often, if we hear something that we like, we really don't
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want to double check it because we're like, oh, somebody in
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authority said this, and they're in authority.
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And they said, you know, what I'm doing is OK.
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And we don't check it because we don't want to find the opposite
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answer. But the truth is found in the
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Bible. And so it's not what somebody
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else in authority says. We have to remember that humans
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are fallible. Humans make mistakes.
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Humans, they may be doing it to the best of their ability and or
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they could be deceptive. We don't know.
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But just because a human being says something and even someone
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in authority says something does not mean that you should
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immediately believe. Listen to what they say and
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double check it with the Bible because there's a lot of people
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who are misinterpreting the Bible because the Bible repeats
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itself throughout the Old Testament all the way to the New
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Testament. From Genesis to Revelation.
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It tells the same story and people try to say the Old
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Testament is different than the New Testament.
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No, it's not. God does not change.
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He is the same. He's not a different God.
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He's the same God and what he said, I mean, Jesus even said,
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you know, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will
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not. You know, the words will remain.
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So the word is our Scripture and that's going to say what God has
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said. And this is God speaking to
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Ezekiel. So God is saying a righteous
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person will live and a wicked person will die.
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That's a wicked person who has not repented, has not repented,
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is one who keeps doing the same sin.
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Someone who's reported stops it. If we try to do it in our own
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power, we're not so successful with it.
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But Jesus is loving to us and will send the Holy Spirit who
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will work in us to change us. And I can tell you I've
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absolutely experienced this because things that are even the
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way I used to think is not the way I think today.
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And it's come specifically not from what I heard from others,
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but from reading the Bible and seeing what God said.
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Because I don't really trust others.
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Because I found the people that I trusted that were in authority
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didn't tell me the truth in religion.
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And and so I just want what does God say?
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And I'm not going to trust anyone who says they're in
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authority because I know that humans make mistakes.
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But I want to, I'll wrestle with what they said and go back to
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the Bible to find it. And every single one of us
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should do the same. Even, you know, I'm not even
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what I say like double check me, but I'm really confident that
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you're going to find the same thing.
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If you if you really seek and you pray to God, you're going to
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find the same thing that I did because I wasn't necessarily
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looking to find conviction by any means, but I did find it.
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OK, let's continue on. So let's see verse 22.
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I'll just say none of the offenses they have committed
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will be remembered against them because of the righteous things
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they have done. They will live.
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Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked, Declares
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the Lord the sovereign Lord? Rather, am I not pleased when
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they turn from their ways and live?
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God does not want people to perish.
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God does not want that for people.
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But he doesn't force us to do His will.
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That is a choice. Love is a choice, not a feeling.
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We choose to do God's will versus our will or we choose not
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to do that. So it's a choice.
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Do we love God or do we not love God?
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Do we love ourselves more than God?
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Do we want to satisfy our own selfishness or do we want to
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submit to what God says is right and wrong and follow it?
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Be obedient to him. Verse 24 But if a righteous
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person turns from their righteousness and commits sin
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and does the same detestable things of the wicked person,
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will they live? None of the righteous things
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that person has done will be remembered.
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So that's another thing that I think does not get communicated
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in churches that satisfy that make the feel good churches
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where they just they don't help us changing from being righteous
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into doing wicked things and people like in the Christian
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world call it backsliding. I sometimes wonder if the people
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who are quote backsliding were ever saved to begin with.
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Honestly, I really do question that because and, and what God
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says is that none of the righteous things that a person
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has done will be remembered. So he doesn't just respond
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favorably to the wicked who turn and become righteous, but he
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treats the righteous the same way.
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If they become wicked, no, they will die too.
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And so then it says because of the unfaithfulness they are
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guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they
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will die. And, and could this be the enemy
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think, you know, letting us feel comfortable in continual sin to
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say, oh, it's OK, you have grace.
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You know, that's a perfect little lie from the enemy.
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And the enemy just seeks to destroy, kill and destroy.
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So if we listen to that because it sounds good to us and because
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it doesn't cause us any any change, it doesn't make anything
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hard for us. It is we don't have to pick up
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our cross like Jesus said. Then people start, they just
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listen to it. It says, you know, it does say
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that there will be people will tend to go to what they're
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itching ears want to hear. Like they won't put up with
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sound doctrine in in certain times.
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There will come a time when people don't put up with sound
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doctrine and they will just seek out whatever fits the narrative
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that they want it to be. And they'll say, well, it's
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coming from authority. This is a church and the church
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is affirming what I want it to say.
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So I'm going to believe this. But that's deception, right?
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There's deception. That's why we need the Bible.
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So verse 25 says, yet you say the way of the Lord is not just.
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Have you Israelite here? You Israelites, is my way
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unjust? Is it not your ways that are
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unjust? If a righteous person turns from
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their righteousness and commits sin, they will die.
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Because of the sin they have committed, they will die.
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But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they
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have committed and does what is just and right, they will save
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their life because they consider all the offenses they have
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committed and turn away from them.
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That person will surely live. They will not die.
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So think about this, because they consider all the offenses
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they committed. So it's like recognizing the
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things that we have done and everyone is guilty of this.
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So it's not just pointing fingers at one person.
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Every single person on this earth is that way.
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So but we have to reflect on ourselves and what offenses have
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we done? What things do we do that God is
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not happy with? What things would we be
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embarrassed if God put out in public and put a spotlight on us
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and shined a light on something that we were doing?
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What if that happened? Is there anything in our in our
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life if God put a spotlight on us?
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Would we say, Oh, I wouldn't want that to be known?
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Well, if that, if there's something like that, that means
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that's probably the conviction of the Holy Spirit saying that's
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something we need to address in our life and the Holy Spirit
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will help us. But we have to make the choice.
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It's not I wit, you know, seriously, I wanted the Holy
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Spirit to just make it easy on me.
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Just just make me do whatever God wants me to do.
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And so I don't have to deal with it, you know, like I just want
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the Holy Spirit to take over. But God gives us free will it he
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doesn't do that, the Holy Spirit doesn't ever force us.
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So we still get that choice. And then it's a testing of our
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own self when we're faced with that choice, are we going to
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heed to God's will or will we follow through with our own
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desires when they are contrary to God?
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So verse 28, because they consider all the offenses they
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have committed and turned away from them, that person will
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surely live. They will not die.
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Yet the Israelites say the way of the Lord is not just.
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Are my ways unjust? People of Israel, is it not your
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ways that are unjust? Therefore, you Israelites, I
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will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the
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sovereign Lord. Repent.
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This is something that a lot of churches don't say and and it's
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all over the Old Testament and the New Testament.
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I mean the direction given to the disciples, I believe are to
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the people. I can't remember who said this,
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if it was Peter or Jesus, but repent and be baptized.
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So repent has been a message that people, you know, shove
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under the rug today in some churches, they don't ever want
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to talk about repenting because that doesn't make people feel
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good about themselves. Like they're confronted.
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I don't For me personally, when I would go to a church and they
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would be talking about something that convicted me, it would
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cause me to to cry in church. You know, that was like
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embarrassing. So you sit in the far back.
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So nobody else saw you. You know, now I can go to church
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and can hear these things and I don't cry anymore.
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It's like I, I'm aware of these things.
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I've turned away from them and it doesn't have that effect on
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me. That's the freedom that's found
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in Christ. When Christ is in US and we've
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been forgiven of our sins and we've turned away from them, we
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don't have that that guilt feeling anymore because
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everybody hates that guilt felt feeling.
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But the guilt feeling is good because it leads us to
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repentance. If we don't have the guilt
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feeling, then we're probably in trouble because we've maybe
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crossed over to the line where we don't even care anymore.
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But that guilty feeling, as much as we hate it, is a good thing
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if it leads us to repentance. So turn away from all your
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offenses. Then sin will not be your
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downfall. Rid yourself of all the offenses
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you have committed. So repentance, it says, rid
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yourself of all the offenses you have committed.
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Rid yourself of all the offenses you have committed, and get a
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new heart and a new spirit. This is the Old Testament
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talking about the Holy Spirit. Isn't that interesting?
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You will find the Holy Spirit from the very beginning, the
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book of Genesis hovering over the waters, the Spirit of God.
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And then you will see the Spirit of God, you know, coming down on
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Jesus after he was baptized. And I think it was that God had
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shared that with Isaiah. I, I think I have some verses
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about that he had foretold that event would happen to Isaiah and
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and then it was recorded in the New Testament when it did happen
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with Jesus. So the Spirit, this is always
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like the sequence of events. And I was trying to figure out
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because the Holy Spirit, just to understand the Holy Spirit more
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because you know, some will say as soon as you believe you
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receive the Holy Spirit. And yes and no, because
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Scripture kind of contradicts that.
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It it does say that in one place, but it also says that
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they that the laying on of hands is when the Spirit came.
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So I'll read other parts of Scripture when that happens.
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And then it also the very first, I guess the first fruits of the
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Holy Spirit came at Pentecost when God sent, or I guess Jesus
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sent because he had ascended at that point, he was glorified.
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And so he sent the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit appeared as
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tongues of fire over the very first disciples of Jesus.
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And then my question is, does then the Holy Spirit gets get
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transferred by the laying on of hands?
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That's a question that I have because it talks about in the
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Bible when Simon the sorcerer saw that the Holy Spirit was
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giving given at the laying on of hands, he wanted it.
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And, and you see that in certain, certain denominations,
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they do that and others they don't.
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And, and others just think, you know, I mean, I can definitely
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tell a difference or see a difference.
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And I think there's, there's signs of the Holy Spirit within
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a person. And like I said, I'm going to
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get into that. We're about 20 minutes into this
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podcast. So I think I might need to do a
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separate podcast for this because I have questions and
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answers to read from the study Bible.
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So we'll go back to the tech to the, the Scripture.
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So the last, OK, this is the last verse 30.
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Well 31 and 32, I'll read it again.
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Rid yourself of all the offenses you have committed and get a new
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heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of
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Israel, for I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares
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the Lord. Repent and live.
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Repentance is so important. All right, 1st chapter 18.
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There are some questions and answers that I'll read.
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What did the people mean by this proverb?
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Eating unripe grapes leaves an unpleasant after taste.
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The point of this proverb is that Judah claimed that they,
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the children, were unfairly enduring the consequences of
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their ancestors or their parents deeds.
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Their thinking was wrong, for they had followed in the
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footsteps of their ancestors and they were receiving the just
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punishment for their own sins. Why was it wrong to have sexual
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relations with a woman during her period?
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In ancient Jewish law, a woman was considered ceremonially
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unclean and unable to participate in worship during
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her menstrual cycle. A man who lay with her was also
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ceremonially unclean and could not participate in worship.
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The regulation was partly hygienic and partly based on
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God's desire for purity in worship and relationships.
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Is it wrong to lend money with interest?
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Christians disagree on whether or not this prohibitation or
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prohibition still applies today. In the Old Testament period, it
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was wrong to charge interest on money loaned to a fellow Jew.
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Interest could be charged when lending money to foreigners.
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That's found in Deuteronomy chapter 23.
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When a loan was made, a service charge was usually included.
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Usury was condemned because it was an annual percentage rate on
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both the loan and the service charge.
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Charging interest becomes a sin when the charges are excessive
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and motivated by a desire for personal gain.
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Why does the father not share the Why does the son not share
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the guilt of his father? The Old Testament teaches that
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individuals sometimes suffer the consequences of their parents
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deeds. The Lord warned His enemies that
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their sin would have an adverse effect on their families through
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their lifetimes in Exodus 20 verse 5.
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But the people of Jerusalem were using that teaching as an excuse
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to avoid personal responsibility for their own sins.
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Ezekiel reminded them that each individual is held accountable
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by God for his or her own personal behavior.
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So sometimes because of ancestors sins, there are sins
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that are never dealt with. And when children are raised,
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they see the sins of their parents.
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It's never dealt with. So they repeat them.
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So you can see why there would be repetition in behavior by
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people, by whomever they were raised.
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They may pick up the character of their parent, but God was
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clarifying this, that you don't have to remain under that,
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making the same mistakes as your parents.
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You may have learned those mistakes, but you can stop it.
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Each person is responsible for their own sin.
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They can't blame. We can't blame other people for
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how we act. We are not puppets.
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Nobody has control of every single aspect of us.
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God created us to be free. We are influenced spiritually
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either by evil or by good. Whether we have God's Holy
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Spirit or we have the evil spirits of the world, God's
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enemy influencing us because like Scripture says, be alert
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and of sober mind because the devil is looking for his next
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victim. If we are, if we don't have a
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sober mind, if we have affected our mind with whatever it may
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be, any kind of drug, liquid alcohol, whatever effects our
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mind. If we get to a state where we're
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not thinking clearly, apparently that is an entry opening for an
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evil 1 to influence us because it says, you know, he's he's
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looking for his next prey. I mean, you can't fight him off
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when you are not thinking correctly.
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How many times when somebody is, you know, under the influence of
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something, do they do something that in their sober self they
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would say, I would have never done that, but I did it because
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I was under the influence. I mean, there's just so many
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examples of that. We can, we can see that.
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So is that the enemy taking advantage of somebody like that?
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It says the devil prowls looking for his next victim, and the
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devil seeks to destroy. How many people's lives get
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destroyed because they don't get a handle on not letting their
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mind be affected? I mean, not staying sober, you
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know, be not letting their mind be alert so their mind gets
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dull. It's not sober.
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They do it to seek, you know, comfort, I guess.
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But in doing that, the enemy comes and makes it worse than
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what they would have had if they just dealt with whatever was
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leading them to that place. So just very interesting when
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you read Scripture and notice these things.
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So then let's see, what else did Israel have a chance to avoid
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judgement? Yes, there are unspecified
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promises within prophetic words of judgement.
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One example is Jonah's message to Nineveh. 40 more days and
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Nineveh will be overthrown. That's in John chapter 3 verse
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4. In that instance, there was no
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promise given for reprieve if the people repented.
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However, when they did repent, the Lord pulled back His
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judgment. This is the case throughout the
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prophets. There is always the potential
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for repentance and renewal. And then the last part is
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repentance, all that's needed to renew one's heart.
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When people truly repent of their sins, they allow God to
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take their hearts of stone and and by grace, the power given to
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us through the Holy Spirit create a new heart.
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A new heart is the fruit of repentance.
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It is God's sovereign grace at work in the believer.
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And that ends chapter 18. And I will do another podcast
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that just talks about the Holy Spirit and some verses in
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Scripture that I think relate to this.
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You know, to God's when he said, rid yourself of all the offenses
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you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit.
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God can give someone the new spirit.
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And I want to talk more about that because this has been on my
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mind the last few days. But it's really important for us
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because Jesus said we need to be born again.
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We need to get a new spirit to enter the Kingdom of God.
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So I think it's really important for all of us.