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Daily Devotions

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 
Day 
Day 185

"The soul who sins shall die"

Text: Ezekiel 18:20

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY

It was the Lord who warned of the danger of the sins of a man being visited upon the children to the third and fourth generation (Exodus 34:7). This declaration of the Lord was misunderstood and misapplied. It was time that Israel learned how to apply this knowledge revealed by God.

“Yet you say,
‘Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’
Because the son has done what is lawful and right,
and has kept all My statutes and observed them,
he shall surely live.
The soul who sins shall die.
The son shall not bear the guilt of the father,
nor the father bear the guilt of the son.
The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself,
and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”
Ezekiel 18:19-20

1. Argument that the children bear the guilt of the father.

a) This line of thought was falsely drawn from Exodus 34:7

b) The father sins but bears no guilt.

c) The son would bear the guilt of the father.

d) This was an incorrect understanding and application of the word of God.

2. The reason given.

a) If the son has done what is lawful and right.

b) If he has kept the commandments of God.

c) He will not bear the guilt of his father.

d) He will live, blessed by the Lord.

3. The soul that sins.

a) The soul of the father would bear his own guilt.

b) The soul of the son would similarly bear his own guilt.

4. The soul that is righteous.

a) He will be blessed because he is righteous.

b) It is not affected by the sins of another person.

5. The soul that is wicked.

a) The wicked person will bear his own guilt.

b) The guilt and penalty will not be transferred to another person.