Ezekiel 18

¹ The word of the LORD came to me: ² What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge”? ³ As I live, says the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. ⁴ Know that all lives are mine; the life of the parent as well as the life of the child is mine: it is only the person who sins that shall die.

⁵ If a man is righteous and does what is lawful and right — ⁶ if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period, ⁷ does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, ⁸ does not take advance or accrued interest, withholds his hand from iniquity, executes true justice between contending parties, ⁹ follows my statutes, and is careful to observe my ordinances, acting faithfully — such a one is righteous; he shall surely live, says the Lord GOD.

¹⁰ If he has a son who is violent, a shedder of blood, ¹¹ who does any of these things (though his father does none of them), who eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, ¹² oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination, ¹³ takes advance or accrued interest; shall he then live? He shall not. He has done all these abominable things; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself.

¹⁴ But if this man has a son who sees all the sins that his father has done, considers, and does not do likewise, ¹⁵ who does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, ¹⁶ does not wrong anyone, exacts no pledge, commits no robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, ¹⁷ withholds his hand from iniquity, takes no advance or accrued interest, observes my ordinances, and follows my statutes; he shall not die for his father’s iniquity; he shall surely live. ¹⁸ As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people, he dies for his iniquity.

¹⁹ Yet you say, “Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?” When the son has done what is lawful and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. ²⁰ The person who sins shall die. A child shall not suffer for the iniquity of a parent, nor a parent suffer for the iniquity of a child; the righteousness of the righteous shall be his own, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be his own.

²¹ But if the wicked turn away from all their sins that they have committed and keep all my statutes and do what is lawful and right, they shall surely live; they shall not die. ²² None of the transgressions that they have committed shall be remembered against them; for the righteousness that they have done they shall live. ²³ Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord GOD, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live? ²⁴ But when the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity and do the same abominable things that the wicked do, shall they live? None of the righteous deeds that they have done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which they are guilty and the sin they have committed, they shall die.

²⁵ Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair? ²⁶ When the righteous turn away from their righteousness and commit iniquity, they shall die for it; for the iniquity that they have committed they shall die. ²⁷ Again, when the wicked turn away from the wickedness they have committed and do what is lawful and right, they shall save their life. ²⁸ Because they considered and turned away from all the transgressions that they had committed, they shall surely live; they shall not die. ²⁹ Yet the house of Israel says, “The way of the Lord is unfair.” O house of Israel, are my ways unfair? Is it not your ways that are unfair?

³⁰ Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin. ³¹ Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? ³² For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord GOD. Turn, then, and live.

The eighteenth chapter of Ezekiel is one of the portions of Ezekiel that does get utilized in the readings of churches that follow the lectionary, particularly the first four verses combined with verses twenty-five through thirty-two. Many readers of the particular Ezekiel text have found the prophet advocating for an individualistic spirituality of responsibility, ignoring the corporate influence present throughout other portions of the book. In Ezekiel’s context where the destruction that comes in the aftermath of King Zedekiah’s rebellion against King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon appears imminent for those still in Jerusalem, the actions of individuals may seem futile. If society is going to be judged as wicked or bearing the sins of previous generations a malaise can set in where living according to the covenant seems pointless.

The theme of individuals attempting to live righteously in an unrighteous time is not new to Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 9 a scribal figure is sent out into the city of Jerusalem to mark the righteous and preserve them from judgment and in Ezekiel 14: 12-20 the themes of this chapter are prefigured when even Noah, Daniel, and Job can only save themselves by their righteousness. Here the prophet takes central ideas from the law (torah) and wrestles with the tradition. As Ellen Davis states,

Ezekiel appears primarily in conversation with the tradition. Like a creative archivist, he desires not only to preserve the treasures of the past but also to make them available and meaningful for the present. Even his disputation speeches are aimed as much at the tradition as at the people, purging it of its useless elements (12,22-28, 18.2-4) and correcting disastrous interpretations (33. 24-29. (Davis, 1989, p. 62)

The proverb spoken by the people about parents eating unripe grapes and the children’s teeth being blunted (or set on edge)[1] is also found in Jeremiah 31: 29-30 and both prophets answer in identical ways. Unlike Jeremiah, Ezekiel proceeds into a much longer discussion of the implications of righteousness and unrighteousness from a perspective of the law.

The proverb seems to derive from language of the second commandment:

You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:4-6; Deuteronomy 5: 8-10

This people attempting to make sense of the impending destruction probably understood that they were bearing the judgment of previous generations and that they were powerless in their actions to change the course of events for the nation or for their own lives. Yet, throughout this chapter the LORD’s response is that the life of the parent and child belongs to the LORD and the LORD will judge each by their actions. The word translated life throughout is the Hebrew nephesh which is not the Greek idea of soul (which English translations sometimes render it) but is that which is the essence of life. As Daniel Block helpfully states,

“life” is not merely the absence of judgment, any more than šālôm, “peace,” is simply the absence of war. Ezekiel holds out life in all its fullness and blessing to the righteous person, even for those who are exiles in Babylon. (Block, 1997, p. 574)

This promise of life for the righteous is not merely survival. Like Moses in Deuteronomy, Ezekiel holds out before the people a choice between a way that leads of condemnation and death and a way that leads to life. Yet, one of the crucial differences within Ezekiel is there is a provision for the righteous surviving in the midst of an unrighteous people.

To wrestle with this multigenerational judgment outline in the commandment Ezekiel goes to another portion of Deuteronomy:

Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their parents; only for their own crimes may persons be put to death. Deuteronomy 24: 16

This portion of the law meant to restrain human judgments is now applied to God’s working with humanity. On one hand this is a surprising use of the law of interpersonal judgments in the relationship between God and the people. On the other hand, the justice of God is expected to be at least as fair as the justice of humanity. Now this pattern is examined over three hypothetical generations.

The first generation is a prototypical righteous man according to the law. Eating on the mountains was probably associated with the worship of the idols.[2] Defiling a neighbor’s wife would violate the commandment on adultery. Ezekiel shares the Levitical view of menstruation in particular (and blood in general) causing uncleanness. (Leviticus 18:19) The concerns for the proper economic treatment of the neighbor: not oppressing, restoring the pledge, not robbing, giving food and clothing to the needy, not taking interest, and living in justice are present throughout the law (for example Deuteronomy 24:6-22) and this is the pattern of a wise and righteous life. Ezekiel is following both the pattern of the law and wisdom literature which differentiate between wise choices that lead to life and foolish choices that lead to death.

The wise father has an unwise son who does all the things the father does not do in addition to being violent. The violations of idolatry, the neighbor’s household, and economic justice all are characteristics of an unrighteous life that leads to death. These are the type of people Ezekiel was informed he would have to warn at the Chebar River. (Ezekiel 2:17-21) Yet the sins of the father do not dictate the life of the child. When a third generation sees the folly of their parents and returns to the way of righteousness they are promised life.

Ezekiel and Jeremiah engaged in the deconstruction of a Zion theology which focused on Jerusalem, the temple, the Davidic king, and the land as central symbols of the LORD’s relationship with Israel. Yet, the reorganization of faith without these central symbols was challenging and probably involved multiple attempts to reconstruct faith in the aftermath of disaster. The Deuteronomic history attempts to understand the destruction of Jerusalem and the loss of the land in terms of this multigenerational pattern of unfaithfulness, and this attempt to make sense of their world probably brought comfort to the people attempting to reorganize their life and faith as exiles in a strange land. In verse nineteen there appears to be resistance to Ezekiel’s message of a path forward for individuals who are righteous and a return to the way of thinking behind the proverb. The rhetorical question “should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?”  may seem strange to our individualistic mindset but it may have brought some comfort for people attempting to understand the time they were navigating. Blaming their situation on their ancestors also allowed the current generation to avoid an examination of their own practices. If God’s justice was unjust to them, but fair over the course of the generations, then they only had to wait for God’s wrath to pass and endure. Yet, Ezekiel is calling them to a path of examination in light of the covenant expectations. Ezekiel clings to the pattern of Deuteronomy 24:16 and presses forward with his claims that God’s ways are just.

The actions of individuals will not turn away the armies of Babylon from the walls of Jerusalem or save the temple, nor will they save the lives of the entire people. Ezekiel is committed to the idea of God delivering the righteous individuals from this situation and providing for them in the time of exile. Yet, the provision of God is dependent upon the actions of the individual in this portion of Ezekiel, and people are called to choose the way of life. Surprisingly, they are called to get for themselves a new heart and a new spirit, an action that will be God’s work in other parts of Ezekiel. Yet, the LORD as presented here is not a God who wants judgment, but who desires the people of Israel to individually and collectively adopt the practices of righteousness that will lead them to life.

Sometimes modern believers can break apart two ideas that ancient people had no problem holding together. I was formed by the Lutheran tradition of Christianity where there is a heavy focus on God’s gracious action and a discomfort with anything that seems to be legalistic or require a person to work out their own salvation. Other traditions focus exclusively on a person’s actions to be in a right relationship with God. Individual responsibility is a heavy focus of our modern age while corporate responsibility is often obscured. Ezekiel, like most authors of scripture, hold both God’s action and personal responsibility together as well as individual and corporate responsibility. At some points they may lift up one aspect, while at others they will lift up another. Sometimes multiple aspects can appear together baffling modern theological systems like Philippians 2: 2-13

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Ezekiel can appeal to the people to get a new heart and new spirit here, and then can point to God’s action to place a new heart and new spirit in the people. (Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26) Sometimes people need to hear, in Luther’s terms, law that causes them to take responsibility for their own actions and sometimes they need gospel to give them hope in their hopelessness of God’s actions. Ezekiel attempts to get his hearers to claim their own agency in how they live their life despite the destruction occurring around them. There is promise that if they persist in righteousness they individually can find life even if their society corporately is choosing unrighteousness and death. In all this Ezekiel want to demonstrate the justice of God in a way that highlights many previous themes in the prophet’s imagery.

 

[1] The Hebrew qaha is a rarely used word and outside of this proverb is only used in Ecclesiastes 10:10 for iron being blunt. (Block, 1997, p. 558)

[2] Again, Ezekiel’s derogatory term gillum which Block and others argue means something like “shit gods.” See comments in Ezekiel 6.