Ezekiel 18:21

We have here another rule of judgment which God will go by in dealing with us, by which is further demonstrated the equity of his government. The former showed that God will reward or punish according to the change made in the family or succession, for the better or for the worse; here he shows that he will reward or punish according to the change made in the person himself, whether for the better or the worse. While we are in this world we are in a state of probation; the time of trial lasts as long as the time of life, and according as we are found at last it will be with us to eternity. Now see here,

I. The case fairly stated, much as it had been before (Eze 3:18, etc.), and here it is laid down once (Eze 18:21-24) and again (Eze 18:26-28), because it is a matter of vast importance, a matter of life and death, of life and death eternal. Here we have,

1. A fair invitation given to wicked people, to turn from their wickedness. Assurance is here given us that, if the wicked will turn, he shall surely live, Eze 18:21, Eze 18:27. Observe,

(1.) What is required to denominate a man a true convert, how he must be qualified that he may be entitled to this act of indemnity. [1.] The first step towards conversion is consideration (Eze 18:28): Because he considers and turns. The reason why sinners go on in their evil ways is because they do not consider what will be in the end thereof; but if the prodigal once come to himself, if he sit down and consider a little how bad his state is and how easily it may be bettered, he will soon return to his father (Luk 15:17), and the adulteress to her first husband when she considers that then it was better with her than now, Hos 2:7. [2.] This consideration must produce an aversion to sin. When he considers he must turn away from his wickedness, which denotes a change in the disposition of the heart; he must turn from his sins and his transgression, which denotes a change in the life; he must break off from all his evil courses, and, wherein he has done iniquity, must resolve to do so no more, and this from a principle of hatred to sin. What have I to do any more with idols? [3.] This aversion to sin must be universal; he must turn from all his sins and all his transgressions, without a reserve for any Delilah, any house of Rimmon. We do not rightly turn from sin unless we truly hate it, and we do not truly hate sin, as sin, if we do not hate all sin. [4.] This must be accompanied with a conversion to God and duty; he must keep all God's statutes (for the obedience, if it be sincere, will be universal) and must do that which is lawful and right, that which agrees with the word and will of God, which he must take for his rule, and not the will of the flesh and the way of the world.

(2.) What is promised to those that do thus turn from sin to God. [1.] They shall save their souls alive, Eze 18:27. They shall surely live, they shall not die, Eze 18:21. and again Eze 18:28. Whereas it was said, The soul that sins it shall die, yet let not those that have sinned despair but that the threatened death may be prevented if they will but turn and repent in time. When David penitently acknowledges, I have sinned, he is immediately assured of his pardon: "The Lord has taken away thy sin, thou shalt not die (Sa2 12:13), thou shalt not die eternally." He shall surely live; he shall be restored to the favour of God, which is the life of the soul, and shall not lie under his wrath, which is as messengers of death to the soul. [2.] The sins they have repented of and forsaken shall not rise up in judgment against them, nor shall they be so much as upbraided with them: All his transgressions that he has committed, though numerous, though heinous, though very provoking to God, and redounding very much to his dishonour, yet they shall not be mentioned unto him (Eze 18:22), not mentioned against them; not only they shall not be imputed to him to ruin him, but in the great day they shall not be remembered against him to grieve or shame him; they shall be covered, shall be sought for and not found. This intimates the fulness of pardoning mercy; when sin is forgiven it is blotted out, it is remembered no more. [3.] In their righteousness they shall live; not for their righteousness, as if that were the purchase of their pardon and bliss and an atonement for their sins, but in their righteousness, which qualifies them for all the blessings purchased by the Mediator, and is itself one of those blessings.

(3.) What encouragement a repenting returning sinner has to hope for pardon and life according to this promise. He is conscious to himself that his obedience for the future can never be a valuable compensation for his former disobedience; but he has this to support himself with, that God's nature, property, and delight, is to have mercy and to forgive, for he has said (Eze 18:23): "Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? No, by no means; you never had any cause given you to think so." It is true God has determined to punish sinners; his justice calls for their punishment, and, pursuant to that, impenitent sinners will lie for ever under his wrath and curse; that is the will of his decree, his consequent will, but it is not his antecedent will, the will of his delight. Though the righteousness of his government requires that sinners die, yet the goodness of his nature objects against it. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? It is spoken here comparatively; he has not pleasure in the ruin of sinners, for he would rather they should turn from their ways and live; he is better pleased when his mercy is glorified in their salvation than when his justice is glorified in their damnation.

2. A fair warning given to righteous people not to turn from their righteousness, Eze 18:24-26. Here is, (1.) The character of an apostate, that turns away from his righteousness. He never was in sincerity a righteous man (as appears by that of the apostle, Jo1 2:19, If they had been of us, they would, no doubt, have continued with us), but he passed for a righteous man. He had the denomination and all the external marks of a righteous man; he thought himself one, and others thought him one. But he throws of his profession, leaves his first love, disowns and forsakes the truth and ways of God, and so turns away from his righteousness as one sick of it, and now shows, what he always had, a secret aversion to it; and, having turned away from his righteousness, he commits iniquity, grows loose, and profane, and sensual, intemperate, unjust, and, in short, does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does; for, when the unclean spirit recovers his possession of the heart, he brings with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself and they enter in and dwell there, Luk 11:26. (2.) The doom of an apostate: Shall he live because he was once a righteous man? No; factum non dicitur quod non perseverat - that which does not abide is not said to be done. In his trespass (Eze 18:24) and for his iniquity (that is the meritorious cause of his ruin), for the iniquity that he has done, he shall die, shall die eternally, Eze 18:26. The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways. But will not his former professions and performances stand him in some stead - will they not avail at least to mitigate his punishment? No: All his righteousness that he has done, though ever so much applauded by men, shall not be mentioned so as to be either a credit or a comfort to him; the righteousness of an apostate is forgotten, as the wickedness of a penitent is. Under the law, if a Nazarite was polluted he lost all the foregoing days of his separation (Num 6:12), so those that have begun in the spirit and end in the flesh may reckon all their past services and sufferings in vain (Gal 3:3, Gal 3:4); unless we persevere we lose what we have gained, Jo2 1:8.

II. An appeal to the consciences even of the house of Israel, though very corrupt, concerning God's equity in all these proceedings; for he will be justified, as well as sinners judged, out of their own mouths. 1. The charge they drew up against God is blasphemous, Eze 18:25, Eze 18:29. The house of Israel has the impudence to say, The way of the Lord is not equal, than which nothing could be more absurd as well as impious. He that formed the eye, shall he not see? Can his ways be unequal whose will is the eternal rule of good and evil, right and wrong? Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? No doubt he shall; he cannot do otherwise. 2. God's reasonings with them are very gracious and condescending, for even these blasphemers God would rather have convinced and saved than condemned. One would have expected that God would immediately vindicate the honour of his justice by making those that impeached it eternal monuments of it. Must those be suffered to draw another breath that have once breathed out such wickedness as this? Shall that tongue ever speak again any where but in hell that has once said, The ways of the Lord are not equal? Yes, because this is the day of God's patience, he vouchsafes to argue with them; and he requires them to own, for it is so plain that they cannot deny, (1.) The equity of his ways: Are not my ways equal? No doubt they are. He never lays upon man more than is right. In the present punishments of sinners and the afflictions of his own people, yea, and in the eternal damnation of the impenitent, the ways of the Lord are equal. (2.) The iniquity of their ways: "Are not your ways unequal? It is plain that they are, and the troubles you are in you have brought upon your own heads. God does you no wrong, but you have wronged yourselves." The foolishness of man perverts his way, makes that unequal, and then his heart frets against the Lord, as if his ways were unequal, Pro 19:3. In all our disputes with God, and in all his controversies with us, it will be found that his ways are equal, but ours are unequal, that he is in the right and we are in the wrong.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(21) If the wicked will turn.—The prophet now takes up the fourth and last case—that of a change in the individual character. This has necessarily two sub-divisions: (1) that of the wicked repenting and doing righteousness (Eze_18:21-23, and Eze_18:27-28), and (2) that of the righteous falling into wickedness, (Eze_18:24-26), which latter case is more briefly treated, because the object is to encourage hope in repentance. This case, in both its parts, is first treated in Eze_18:21-24, and then, for the sake of emphasis, repeated in reverse order in Eze_18:26-28.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze 18:21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Ver. 21. But if the wicked will turn, &c.] That is, saith Theodoret, so far am I from punishing one for the sins of another, that I am ready to receive a returning sinner, how far or how fast soever he hath run out.

And keep all my statutes.] For the best and rightest repentance is a new life, saith Luther.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze 18:21-23. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins — That is, repent and bring forth fruit worthy of repentance. He shall surely live — He shall escape punishment: he shall be pardoned, and it shall be well with him in time and in eternity; as if he had said, So far is God from punishing the sins of guilty parents on their innocent children, as is objected above, that it is certain he does not punish even the guilty for their own sins, when they repent of and forsake them. Our God, who mercifully pardons the penitent for their own sins, will not, cannot for a moment, be supposed to charge innocent children, or any others, with the sins that are not their own. All his transgressions — That is, not one of all his transgressions; shall be mentioned unto him — Or remembered against him; that is, imputed to or punished on him; they shall be as if they were forgotten. God is said in Scripture to remember men’s sins when he punishes them, and not to remember them when he pardons them: see Jer 14:10; Jer 31:34. Have I any pleasure, &c., that the wicked should die? — “Is it any pleasure to me that men should be wicked; or that those who are now wicked men, should die everlastingly? Is it not rather my desire that men should repent, and that the repentant should live? Is not this the very sum of my gospel, which I send into the world? Do I not call, and cry, and sue to men, that they would return from their sins, and be saved?” — Bishop Hall. It is not in the nature of God, which is infinitely holy and gracious, to have any pleasure in the unholiness and misery of any of his creatures. It does not comport with the wisdom and rectitude of the eternal lawgiver and sovereign ruler of the world, to take delight in seeing his laws violated, the rights of his government infringed, and his subjects punished. And it cannot consist with the boundless love of the almighty Father of the universe to take pleasure in witnessing the wretchedness of his offspring; or with the infinite mercy of the Redeemer and Saviour of the fallen race of Adam, to delight in seeing those perish for whose salvation he gave his Son to die. On the contrary, he willeth all men to be saved, and, in order thereto, to come to the knowledge of the truth, and is not willing that any should perish, 1Ti 2:4; 2Pe 3:9. It is true that God has determined to punish sinners continuing in sin; his justice calls for it; and, pursuant to that, impenitent sinners will lie for ever under his wrath and curse. This is the will of his decree, his consequent will, but it is not his antecedent will, the will of his delight and good pleasure. For though the righteousness of his government requires that sinners should die, yet the goodness of his nature causes him to choose far rather that they should turn from their ways and live; and he is unspeakably better pleased when his mercy is glorified in their salvation than when his justice is glorified in their damnation. Hence that affectionate wish, Deu 5:29, O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, &c., always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(Eze_18:21-26.)

EXEGETICAL NOTES.—The ways of life and death are here for all set forth. A man’s own sins even, provided they are forsaken, will not exclude him from salvation. “The proof that every one must bear his sin did not contain an exhaustive reply to the question—in what relation the righteousness of God stood to the sin of man? For the cases supposed in Eze_18:5-20 took for granted that there was a constant persistence in the course once taken, and overlooked the instances, which are by no means rare, when a man’s course of life is entirely changed. It still remained, therefore, to take notice of such cases as these, and they are handled in Eze_18:21-26. The ungodly man who repents and turns, shall live; and the righteous man, who turns to the way of sin, shall die.”—(Keil.)

Eze_18:21. “But if the wicked will turn.” This was the real point of the controversy. God deals with each man as one who is capable of renouncing evil and choosing good, i.e., He deals with each individual as a moral being.

Eze_18:22. “They shall not be mentioned unto Him.” They shall not be remembered against him (Jer_31:34). The guilt is blotted out of remembrance, though for the purposes of a salutary discipline the chastisements of God may be allowed to continue (Heb_12:10; 2Sa_12:13-14), “In his righteousness that he hath done he shall live” Not, for his righteousness, as if that is to be regarded as the procuring cause of his acceptance; but in it, righteousness being regarded as the fruit of his true conversion (Eze_20:11).

Eze_18:23. “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” God had declared even that concerning the sacrificial victims He “had no pleasure in them.” (Psa_40:6). He had no absolute and final pleasure in them, for they were ordained only to shadow forth the one sacrifice for sin. The providing of that sacrifice would be the highest proof that God willed not the death of the sinner. “The motive for the pardon of the repenting sinner is here given, in the declaration that God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, but desires his conversion, that he may live. God is therefore not only just, but merciful and gracious, and punishes none with death but those who either will not desist from evil, or will not persevere in the way of His commandments. Consequently the complaint, that the way of the Lord, i.e., His conduct toward men, is not weighed, i.e., is not just and right, is altogether unfounded, and recoils upon those who make it. It is not God’s ways, but the sinner’s that are wrong.”—(Keil).

Eze_18:24. “In his trespass.” Referring to his present condition, which determines his real state. He “hath trespassed,”and is therefore still “in his trespass.”

Eze_18:25. “Yet ye say, the way of the Lord is not equal.” They affirmed that God worked by no regular and uniform law or method. They repeat the charge in Eze_18:2, complaining that some were punished while others were spared, and hence they regarded the way of God as marked by caprice and not the result of a just law of working. “Your ways.” The prophet is continually urging his hearers to reflect and consider their “own ways” (Eze_16:61; Eze_20:43; Eze_36:31).

Eze_18:26. “And dieth in them.” Heb. “Dieth upon them.” They are the footing upon which he stands when he is called to appear before God.

HOMILETICS

THE EQUITY OF GOD’S GOVERNMENT

The unbelievers still imprudently contended that God’s ways were not equal, though the contrary had been declared by the mouth of the prophet. The equity of God’s dealings is re-asserted, and fresh instances and considerations are given by way of proof.

I. The case of the repentant sinner. He is dealt with not on the score of his past transgressions, but on the ground of his new obedience. When the sinner forsakes his way, the mercy of God steps in and accepts his repentance.

1. Repentance, of itself, has no efficacy to procure pardon. Whatever it might do to set us right in the future, it could not possibly undo the past. For that we should still have to reckon.

2. Repentance is accepted through the mercy of God. God is willing to forget the past and to receive the sinner. The pardon of sin is a special revelation, for nature teaches no doctrine of the forgiveness of sins. We transgress her laws and we are punished. We are not excused on the ground of ignorance. But God in His mercy accepts a genuine repentance. He will not punish the righteous man for his father’s sins; and will not even remember against a man his own sins, if he repents. “Scripture represents forgiveness as the result, not of repentance, but of the death of Christ, ‘in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of our sins,’ repentance being essential, not to the efficacy of His death, but to the appropriation of the benefits secured by it. Even if repentance, however, could save us, natural religion is unable to produce it. It is, in the evangelical true meaning of the term, such sorrow for sin as flows from a sense of the love and reverence due to God, and of the heinousness of sin against Him. The sorrow of the world is no such feeling. It is, on the contrary, blended with fears and impressions which make it impossible to love God or draw near to Him.”—(Angus).

II. The case of the man, once righteous, who abandons his righteous course. Such a man in his backsliding will not be supported by his early righteousness. It can have no merit to weigh against his faults. The integrity of the past cannot save him. Each man will be judged by himself, and in that state in which he is found.

III. God’s motive in granting pardon to the repentant transgressor. “Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God, and not that he should return from his ways, and live?” (Eze_18:23). It is the pleasure of God that man should live and not die. God is not only just, but also merciful and gracious. He punishes none with death but those who will not abandon their sins, or who will not persevere in the way of His commandments.

IV. God only requires from man what is just and reasonable. It is surely just to render Him obedience, and to repent of our sin when we have wronged Him. We ought to be ready to accept what is offered to us through His mercy. Thus the complaint of these sinners against God was altogether unfounded, and only recoiled upon their own heads. And it is only just that repentance should be thorough. The unrighteous man must forsake “all” his sins (Eze_18:21), making no reservation in favour of “heart-idols” (Eze_14:4). The will must be subdued “if the wicked man will turn from all his sins,” etc. Thus it is not God’s ways, but the sinner’s, that are wrong, for God shows, in all His dealings with man, His abhorrence of sin and His love of righteousness.

REPENTANCE NOT EFFICACIOUS

We do not know what the whole natural or appointed consequences of vice are; nor in what way they would follow, if not prevented, and therefore can in no sort say, whether we could do anything which would be sufficient to prevent them. Our ignorance being thus manifest, let us recollect the analogy of Nature or Providence. For though this may be but a slight ground to raise a positive opinion in this matter, yet it is sufficient to answer a mere arbitrary assertion, without any kind of evidence, urged by way of objection against a doctrine, the proof of which is not reason, but revelation. Consider then: people ruin their fortunes by extravagance; they bring diseases upon themselves by excess; they incur the penalties of civil laws; and surely civil government is natural; will sorrow for these follies past, and behaving well for the future, alone and of itself, prevent the natural consequences of them? On the contrary, men’s natural abilities of helping themselves are often impaired; or if not, yet they are forced to be beholden to the assistance of others, upon several accounts, and in different ways; assistance which they would have no occasion for, had it not been for their misconduct; but which, in the disadvantageous condition they have reduced themselves to, is absolutely necessary to their recovery, and retrieving their affairs. Now, since this is our case, considering ourselves merely as inhabitants of this world, and as having a temporal interest here, under the natural government of God, which, however, has a great deal moral in it; why is it not supposable that this may be our case also; in our more important capacity, as under His perfect moral government, and having a more general and future interest depending? If we have misbehaved in this higher capacity, and rendered ourselves obnoxious to the future punishment which God has annexed to vice, it is plainly credible that, behaving well for the time to come may be—not useless; God forbid!—but wholly insufficient, alone and of itself, to prevent that punishment; or to put us in the condition which we should have been in had we preserved our innocence. And though the efficacy of repentance itself alone, to prevent what mankind had rendered themselves obnoxious to, and recover what they had forfeited, is now insisted upon, in opposition to Christianity; yet, by the general prevalence of propitiatory sacrifices over the heathen world, this notion of repentance alone being sufficient to expiate guilt, appears to be contrary to the general sense of mankind. The great doctrines of a future state, the danger of a course of wickedness, and the efficacy of repentance, are not only confirmed in the Gospel, but are taught—especially the last is—with a degree of light to which that of nature is but darkness.—Butler’s Analogy.

(Eze_18:25.)

Some may fancy, from some expressions used in this chapter, that the prophet is laying down a new law of God’s dealings, as though the Almighty had been acting up to that time upon a certain principle, and now, hence-forward, He were about to act upon a new and different principle. It is easy to put the subject in such a light that all difficulty will vanish. This is one end I have in view. But I have the further end of drawing from the subject some useful thoughts with respect to God’s government in the world in these our days, and our own duties as creatures living under a government which at present we cannot wholly understand. The Jews complained of the law under which they lived as unjust; because it spoke of the sins of the father being visited upon the children: they used this proverb, “that the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” The punishment which ought to have fallen upon the father fell upon his guiltless children. They complained that God’s ways were not equal, not fair, not righteous. It was not as a mere piece of philosophical speculation that they held this language. There was a practical consequence belonging to the spread of the proverb of the sour grapes, which was of the highest importance. It was not a few unbelieving, acute, clever students of the law, who had detected this injustice in it. Had it been so, probably the prophet Ezekiel would not have made the discovery the subject of a general address; no, the thing had passed into a proverb, it was in the mouth of the people at large, and the practical consequence was that it held back the people from thinking of their sins which had brought them into trouble; and from repenting of those sins. Instead of this they would look upon themselves as victims of an unjust law—as persecuted rather than punished. The good effect of any punishment depends very much upon the criminal himself feeling and admitting that he is punished justly. Let a man feel this, and he may be led to sorrow and good resolutions for the time to come. But if he fancies that the law is in fault and not himself, that he is an injured man—the victim of cruel legislation—then punishment may make him sullen and obstinate, but it can never make him sorry for his fault. This was just the case with the Jews. They were punished for not keeping God’s law. Ezekiel would have them see in their punishment the result of their own sins; would endeavour to lead them to that “Godly sorrow” which works repentance: but the devil, and those amongst men who did the devil’s work, had a different version of the history. According to them, the law which the priests and prophets would fasten upon them was an unjust law, one which did not deserve their obedience. They would argue that from its own principles the people were not in need of repentance, for the law spoke of children suffering for their father’s sins, and who could say but that this very chastisement might be the punishment of sins committed long ago? Who could say but that their teeth were being set on edge, because their fathers had eaten sour grapes many years before?

It is clear that the proverb had a very direct bearing upon the conduct of the people. If the proverb generally found favour in their eyes, then it was of no use that Ezekiel should talk of sin and its punishment, and the need of repentance. Therefore Ezekiel protested against the proverb as wicked and profane; and he lays down the great truth which should destroy the effect of the lying proverb, that of the necessary punishment of sin: “the soul that sinneth it shall die.” That was the truth which God had told man when He first made him, and the truth of all religion in all times.

Let us see what ground the Jews had to stand upon their proverb. It is evident that there was something which gave it colour and likelihood. Satan, as we know, can quote Scripture for his purpose, and Satan might have made a very good Scriptural defence of this proverb of the sour grapes. “I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me, and shew mercy unto thousands in them that love Me and keep My commandments.” Now, the Jews might say that their proverb only expressed as much as this passage. And it is to be observed, that the passage sets forth the mercy of God, because the three or four generations over which His curse extends are contrasted with the thousands to which He shews His love. The Jews might answer that still it did contain the principle of children suffering for sins which they had not committed, that this was unjust, and that it was no qualification of the injustice to say that in a vast number of instances children received rewards for good deeds which not they but their fathers had done. Now, how is this to be met? It is quite clear that the commandment does recognise the principle of the proverb, and that the people were smarting under it. The punishment which fell upon them was the result of a long course of national wickedness and idolatry, not the consequence of sins committed in their time only. How can we meet the objection and vindicate God’s ways?

There were two mistakes in the view which the Jews took when they used the proverb.

(1.) They took the expressions of God’s law to mean, not that the character of sin was such that it sometimes extended beyond the actual doer of it, and brought grief upon others besides himself, but that it brought grief upon others instead of himself; as though when Adam sinned he had not brought death upon himself and his posterity, but had brought it upon his posterity and not upon himself. They would have it that the children alone suffered for what their fathers had done.

(2.) The other error was this, that they seemed to have taken for granted that they were fair judges as to who was punished and who not. They assumed that the fathers had not suffered for the sour grapes which they had eaten; whereas they were manifestly not sufficient judges as to what amount of punishment had been meted out, or would be meted out to different men. The apparent prosperity of vice, and the apparent suffering of goodness and virtue, have always been difficult to understand. David found the difficulty in his day, and could not overcome it until he went into the sanctuary of God. Then it was that he was able to take a higher view of God’s dealings with mankind, and so to understand the end of those men whose prosperity had so much astonished him. Ezekiel did not meet the proverb by telling the Jews that in future things should be ordered differently. He asserts the justice of God’s ways, but he gives them a new truth to reflect upon, a truth not inconsistent with the principle asserted in the Second Commandment, but which must needs be borne in mind to guard against the perversion of that principle. Ezekiel asserts the truth which God spoke to Adam in the days of his purity—“In the day that thou eatest thou shalt die!” That was the great practical truth upon which every human soul stood before God. God sends us all into the world with a conscience to tell us what is right and what is wrong, with certain commands to keep, a certain path to walk in; and He says to us all, “do these things that your soul may live.” He may say to us at the same time, do these things that it may be well with you, and with your children after you; but whether this be said or not, still the responsibility for his own actions lies on the head of each man: if he sins, he dies; and no wrath which he may bring upon his children can save him from the consequences of his own sin. God did not say to Adam, if you disobey you will bring death upon your children; He only said—“In the day that thou sinnest, thou shalt die.” Yet, though the consequence was not threatened the consequence came, and Adam’s sin, which was to bring death to himself, brought death to his posterity besides. Ezekiel was not introducing any new principle of government, he was only asserting a principle as old as the creation. What he wished the people to believe was this—that although it had been held out as a warning against disobedience and an encouragement to obedience, that those who sinned were bringing in a curse which would affect others besides themselves, and that contrariwise those who were holy and good were bringing a blessing down upon their children, still this was not supposed to be in opposition to the great law of every man standing or falling by his own deeds, being “judged by the things done in the body, whether good or bad.” There followed at once this practical consequence, that when they found themselves suffering under God’s judgments they were not to speculate as to what sin it was of their fathers which had brought this grief upon them, but they were to look into their own hearts and examine their own conduct. Ezekiel would say to them, “Do not look to your fathers, but look to yourselves: you say that they sinned, and you are suffering for it; well, but think whether you do not deserve to suffer? Are you really better than your fathers? Have you no sins to repent of, no idolatry to forsake, no ungodliness to make you ashamed?” “Indeed,” he might go on to say, “is not this itself a sufficient proof of the wicked state of your hearts, that you venture to attribute unrighteousness to God? You say that the ways of the Lord are not equal, but may it not be that His ways seem unequal just because your own are not equal themselves? The ways of God seem to you dark and confused, but may not the defect be in your own eyes?” He would assure them that, whatever unworthy thoughts Satan might put in their minds, yet certainly God loved them and had no pleasure in their death. “Make you a new heart, and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God, wherefore turn yourselves and live ye.” Those words would cut through all the speculative doubts of God’s justice which the devil had raised; they would put religion upon the true practical ground of trusting in God’s love, and therefore obeying His commands; and they would encourage men to walk in the narrow path of duty, leaving all difficulties to be solved by those wise words of Abraham, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

There is something repugnant to our idea of justice in the law that the sins of the fathers should be visited upon the children. But this principle was not all peculiar to the Jewish law. It is manifestly the principle upon which the world is governed. We see numberless instances in which, as a matter of fact, the son does suffer for what the father has done amiss. We say, “Of course it is so, it cannot be otherwise.” Yes; but why of course? Why must it be so? Why cannot it be otherwise? And how comes it that we are linked together in such a mysterious manner, that we cannot help being affected by those over whom we have no control? Do you not see that this is God’s doing? We may call it natural, or necessary, but after all it is the Lord’s doing, however wonderful it may be in our eyes. And yet, when we see this law of God’s government we see nothing to surprise us, because we cannot imagine it otherwise. And we do not find that persons have any difficulty in practice because they suffer for their parent’s faults. No one thinks it necessary to be idle and to starve, because his father was idle before him. No one doubts but that he has his own work to do, his own food to seek, his own soul to save, and that if his father forgot his duty, that is the very best warning to him not to do the like. And what follows? why this: that the same way of looking upon our condition here is to be applied in all cases. God did not put us here to explain difficulties, but to work out our salvation. God does not require us to shew how all His doings are the best and wisest that could be, but He requires us to do His will. Of all things that we have to learn, this is one of the chief and greatest, that our life here is to be a scene of active work. We are encompassed with mystery, above, below, and around us, and there is much in this world which our philosophy can never reach. God’s ways are too deep to fathom, too large to measure. And who does not conclude that in the meanwhile he has great positive duties to fulfil, which no speculative difficulties can prevent him from fulfilling? “The soul that sinneth it shall die,” though it was proved by the fall of Adam, was still more strikingly proved by the death of the spotless Lamb of God, the great offering for sin; and the truth that God wills not the death of a sinner, was then proved in the most wonderful manner when God spared not His only Son that He might be able to pardon those who repent of their sins. The Old Testament denunciation, “the wages of sin is death,” has this New Testament addition made to it, “but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”—Goodwin’s “Parish Sermons.”

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

Turning to good leads to life; turning to evil is followed by death. - Eze 18:21. But if the wicked man turneth from all his sins which he hath committed, and keepeth all my statutes, and doeth right and righteousness, he shall live, and not die. Eze 18:22. All his transgressions which he hath committed, shall not be remembered to him: for the sake of the righteousness which he hath done he will live. Eze 18:23. Have I then pleasure in the death of the wicked? is the saying of Jehovah: and not rather that he turn from his ways, and live? Eze 18:24. But if the righteous man turn from his righteousness, and doeth wickedness, and acteth according to all the abominations which the ungodly man hath done, should he live? All the righteousness that he hath done shall not be remembered: for his unfaithfulness that he hath committed, and for his sin that he hath sinned, for these he shall die. Eze 18:25. And ye say, "The way of the Lord is not right." Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right? Eze 18:26. If a righteous man turneth from his righteousness, and doeth wickedness, and dieth in consequence, he dieth for his wickedness that he hath done. - The proof that every one must bear his sin did not contain an exhaustive reply to the question, in what relation the righteousness of God stood to the sin of men? For the cases supposed in vv. 5-20 took for granted that there was a constant persistence in the course once taken, and overlooked the instances, which are by no means rare, when a man's course of life is entirely changed. It still remained, therefore, to take notice of such cases as these, and they are handled in Eze 18:21-26. The ungodly man, who repents and turns, shall live; and the righteous man, who turns to the way of sin, shall die. "As the righteous man, who was formerly a sinner, is not crushed down by his past sins; so the sinner, who was once a righteous man, is not supported by his early righteousness. Every one will be judged in that state in which he is found" (Jerome). The motive for the pardon of the repenting sinner is given in Eze 18:23, in the declaration that God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, but desires his conversion, that he may live. God is therefore not only just, but merciful and gracious, and punishes none with death but those who either will not desist from evil, or will not persevere in the way of His commandments. Consequently the complaint, that the way of the Lord, i.e., His conduct toward men, is not weighed (יתּכן, see comm. on Sa1 2:3), i.e., not just and right, is altogether unfounded, and recoils upon those who make it. It it not God's ways, but the sinner's, that are wrong (Eze 18:25). The proof of this, which Hitzig overlooks, is contained in the declarations made in Eze 18:23 and Eze 18:26, - viz. in the fact that God does not desire the death of the sinner, and in His mercy forgives the penitent all his former sins, and does not lay them to his charge; and also in the fact that He punishes the man who turns from the way of righteousness and gives himself up to wickedness, on account of the sin which he commits; so that He simply judges him according to his deeds. - In Eze 18:24, ועשׂה is the continuation of the infinitive שׁוּב, and וחי is interrogatory, as in Eze 18:13.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

18:21-24 Ezekiel introduces two more case studies. Wicked people who turn away from their sins can experience God’s forgiveness, and righteous people who begin sinning will be judged.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He joineth the observation of the commandments with repentance: for none can repent in deed, except he labor to keep the Law.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Two last cases, showing the equity of God: (1) The penitent sinner is dealt with according to his new obedience, not according to his former sins. (2) The righteous man who turns from righteousness to sin shall be punished for the latter, and his former righteousness will be of no avail to him.

he shall surely live--Despair drives men into hardened recklessness; God therefore allures men to repentance by holding out hope [CALVIN].

To threats the stubborn sinner oft is hard,

Wrapt in his crimes, against the storm prepared,

But when the milder beams of mercy play,

He melts, and throws the cumbrous cloak away.

Hitherto the cases had been of a change from bad to good, or vice versa, in one generation compared with another. Here it is such a change in one and the same individual. This, as practically affecting the persons here addressed, is properly put last. So far from God laying on men the penalty of others' sins, He will not even punish them for their own, if they turn from sin to righteousness; but if they turn from righteousness to sin, they must expect in justice that their former goodness will not atone for subsequent sin (Heb 10:38-39; Pe2 2:20-22). The exile in Babylon gave a season for repentance of those sins which would have brought death on the perpetrator in Judea while the law could be enforced; so it prepared the way for the Gospel [GROTIUS].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 21. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins] And afterwards walk according to the character of the righteous already specified; shall he find mercy, and be for ever saved? YES.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

In this sentence God proposes the hope of pardon, and invites and exhorts to penitence all the transgressors of his law. But this doctrine is specially worthy of notice, that God extends his arms, and is prepared to meet and receive all who betake themselves to good fruits: for despair hurls us into madness, and then hardens our hearts by abandoned obstinacy. Hence it is necessary that God should extend his hand towards us, and animate us to penitence. This is the meaning of this passage of the Prophets, as soon as the impious is turned away from his impiety, God will be at peace with him. Now we see that no excuse remains for us if this humane invitation of God does not stir us up when he bears witness that he is propitious to us when we heartily desire to be reconciled to him. But he here requires serious repentance when he says, if the impious has turned away from his impiety, and has kept my statutes, and done justice and judgment, he shall live, says he. For a sort of half conversion is discerned in many who think that in this way they are safe before God, but they are greatly deceived; for many mingle virtues with vices, and imagine their guilt blotted out, if they can only bring forward something as worthy of praise. But this is just as if any one should offer muddy will to his master, because he had mixed it not only with dregs, but even with filth: so are all the works of those who do not put away all depraved desires, and strive to free themselves from all the corruption’s of the flesh. Thus what is here taught is worthy of notice, namely, that the beginning of conversion is, when any one renounces himself and his own lusts. But it is necessary to add another part of duty, that when any one bids farewell to his vices, he must devote himself obediently to God. The Prophet joins the two together, therefore, since one cannot be separated from the other. Hence the Spirit here shortly defines what true and legitimate conversion is. He says, that when any one is thus converted, that his life is prepared for God, since God will forget all his sins. This is a confirmation of the doctrine; for God cannot be entreated as long as he imputes our sins to us: hence, that we may determine him to be propitious to us, he promises, as soon as we repent, that all our sins shall be buried, and no longer come into remembrance. But this is the incomparable goodness of God, since he deigns to forget all our sins as soon as he sees us earnestly desirous of returning to him. On the whole, Ezekiel pronounces that all the penitent pass at once from death to life, since God blots out all their transgressions by voluntary oblivion. It afterwards follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

All his transgressions that he hath committed,.... Before his repentance, conversion, and obedience:

they shall not be mentioned unto him; they shall not be charged upon his conscience, or brought against him in providence; he shall not be upbraided with them, or punished for them; but they shall be forgiven him, at least in such sense as to prevent temporal calamity and ruin:

in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live; he shall live "in" it, though not "for" it; this will be the fruit and consequence of his obedience and righteousness, that he shall live and not die, in the sense that has been already given, according to the tenor of the law, Lev 18:5.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Penance. The end determines all. If a person be then found just or unjust at his departure, he will be treated accordingly. (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

So far is God from punishing the sins of guilty parents on innocent children, as in the last instance, Eze 18:14 to the end of Eze 18:20, appears, that he doth not punish the guilty for their own sins which they repent of and forsake. Our God, who mercifully pardoneth the penitent all their own sins, will not, cannot be supposed to charge innocent ones with the sins which are not their own.

The wicked; or a wicked man, any wicked man among you, O Jews! who charge me with such severity, if the most notorious sinner.

Turn, i.e. repent, for it is expressed by that word which implies repentance, and by the subsequent fruits of repentance.

From all; it must be a total renouncing of sin.

His sins that he hath committed; the penitent are most afflicted with the remembrance of their own sin, that which they committed, and watch most against it for the future.

Keep all my statutes; resolve to endeavour seriously and diligently, for in God’s merciful judgment a gracious penitent soul keeps what he would keep, keeps all his statutes, in that he would transgress none of them.

He shall surely live; he shall be pardoned, escape punishments, it shall be well with him: and this is the constant method of God’s proceedings with his people; he calls them to himself by promises of pardon, he never frights them from him by threatening to punish others’ faults on their backs. Leave your own, and you shall never suffer for others’ sins.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 21, 22. But if the wicked will turn, etc. Here, however, there is a distinct advance. The question is carried further into the relations between the past and the present of the same man, between his old and his new self. And in answering that question also Ezekiel becomes the preacher of a gospel. The judgment of God deals with each man according to his present state, not his past. Repentance and conversion and obedience shall cancel, as it were, the very memory of his former sins (Ezekiel"s language is necessarily that of a hold anthropopathy), and his transgressions shall not be mentioned unto him. (comp. Eze_33:16; Isa_43:25 Isa_64:9; Jer_31:34) Assuming the later date of Isaiah 40-66, the last three utterances have the interest of being those of nearly contemporary prophets to whom the same truth had been revealed.

Vers. 21-29. Moral transformations and their consequences.

if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes," etc. In this paragraph the vindication of the moral government of God is advanced another stage. Already it has been shown that the son does not die for his father"s sins, or live for his father"s righteousness. Only the soul that sinneth shall die; only the soul that is righteous shall live. Now the prophet proceeds to show that "so far from the sins of his fathers excluding from salvation, not even his own do this, if they be penitently forsaken." Or, as Matthew Henry expresses it, "The former showed that God will reward or punish according to the change made in the family or succession, for the better or for the worse; here he shows that he will reward or punish according to the change made in the person himself, whether for the better or the worse.

I A DESIRABLE MORAL TRANSFORMATION.

1. Its nature. Several stages of it which are here specified will make this clear.

(1) Serious consideration. "He" (i.e. the wicked man) "considereth" (ver. 28). Reflection is an indispensable step towards repentance. Thinking must precede turning. Thus it was with the psalmist: "I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies," etc.. (Psa_119:59, Psa_119:60) So also with the prodigal son: "when he came to himself," and thought upon his father"s house, and his own wretched condition, it was not long before he arose and penitently went to his father. (Luk_15:17-20) Consideration leads to conversion.

(2) Resolute forsaking of sin. "If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed" (ver. 21); "Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed" (ver. 28). There is no true turning or repentance apart from the renunciation of sin; and where repentance is both true and thorough there is a renunciation of "all his sins;" the sinner "turneth away from all his transgressions." He makes no reservation; he does not long or plead for the retention of any because they are small or comparatively uninjurious. He loathes sin, and endeavours to eschew it altogether.

(3) Hearty following after righteousness. "And keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right." Getting rid of the evil is not enough; we must needs get possession of the good. Ceasing to do evil must be followed by learning to do well. Not only are we not to be overcome of evil; we are to go on to overcome evil with good. "He that would love life let him turn away from evil and do good." If the evil spirit be expelled from our heart, and the Holy Spirit be not welcomed therein, the evil spirit will return with other spirits worse than himself, and they will take possession of our heart and dwell there. (Mat_12:43-45) The desirable moral transformation includes hearty abandonment of sin and hearty cultivation of goodness.

2. Its consequences.

(1) Forgiveness of his sins. "All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him;" Revised Version, "None of his transgressions that he hath committed shall be remembered against him." They shall be so completely pardoned that there shall be no reproach because of them, no recall of them, no recollection of them. How fully and absolutely God forgives! "I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more;" "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake; and I will not remember thy sins;" "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us;" "Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back;" "He delighteth in mercy. He will turn again and have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

(2) Bestowment of spiritual life. "He shall surely live, he shall not die In his righteousness that he hath done he shall live He shall save his soul alive." In the favour and fellowship of God is the soul"s life.. "In his favour is life." And that favour is granted to the soul that penitently turns from sin unto God. (For additional suggestions concerning this life, see our notes on ver. 9.)

3. Its great encouragement. "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked? saith the Lord God: and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?" God delights in the conversion, not in the condemnation, of the sinner; in the inspiration of life, not in the infliction of death. "The God of the Old Testament," says Havernich, "has a heart: himself the essence of all blessedness, and mirroring himself in the blessedness of the creature, he has a heart forevery being who has fallen away from him, and who is exposed to death. The fundamental feature of his character is holy love: he delighteth in the return of the sinner from death to life." "He delighteth in mercy." This is the great encouragement for the sinner to turn in penitence unto him.

II A DEPLORABLE MORAL TRANSFORMATION.

1. Its nature. "When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth." Here is the transformation of a righteous man into a wicked man; of a doer of righteousness into a worker of iniquity. The prophet does not set forth an occasional or temporary aberration from the right and the true; but the habitual and persistent practice of wickedness. Moreover, in the case supposed, the sinner "doeth according to all the abominations" of the wicked, and continues therein to the end of his earthly existence: he "committeth iniquity, and dieth therein" (ver. 26). That such a turning from righteousness to wickedness is possible is evident from the moral constitution of man. He is free to obey or to disobey God; to do that which is right or to commit iniquity.

2. Its consequences.

(1) He forfeits the benefit of his former righteousness. "All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned;" Revised Version, "None of his righteous deeds that he hath done shall be remembered." This is the antithesis to that which was declared of him who turns from sin unto righteousness: "None of his transgressions that he hath committed shall be remembered against him." "Unless we persevere we lose what we have gained." "Look to yourselves, that ye lose not the things which we have wrought, but that ye receive a full reward.

(2) He incurs the penalty of his persistent wickedness. "In his trespass that he hath trespased, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die." (On this death, see our remarks on ver. 4, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die;" and on ver. 31.)

III THE EQUITY OF THE DIVINE DEALINGS WITH MEN IN EACH OF THESE MORAL TRANSFORMATIONS. (Vers. 25, 29.)

1. Men sometimes challenge the rectitude of Gods dealings with them. "Ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal Saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal." The righteousness of the Divine way is thus denied, or at least questioned, sometimes even by the godly. Thus did Job. (Job_10:2, Job_10:3) Thus also did Asaph. (Psa_73:11-14) If sore affliction or protracted trial befall us, we are prone to doubt and challenge the kindness, perhaps even the justice, of God"s treatment of us. Yet "wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?

1. Those who thus challenge the rectitude of Gods dealings are generally unrighteous themselves. " Hear now, O house of Israel Are not your ways unequal?" The wickedness of the house of Israel had long been exceedingly great, and was still so; yet they were forward to charge God with unfairness in his dealings with them. The greatest sinners are the readiest to daringly call in question the holiness of the character and the righteousness of the doings of God. The more excellent a man is the greater will be his confidence in the holiness of the Divine will and ways, the more hearty his acquiescence in that will, and the more devoted his love to its great Author.

2. If God should, deign to reply to such a challenge, he will most amply vindicate the character of his dealings with men. He does so in this chapter. When the evolution of his purposes in relation to our race is more complete, it will be unmistakably clear that in the salvation of the penitent sinner and in the condemnation of the persistently wicked he has acted in complete harmony with the infinite perfections of his being. "His work is perfect; for all his ways are judgment: a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he;" "Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the foundation of his throne;" "The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and gracious in all his works;" "Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the ages. W.J.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

God’s Merciful call to Repentance

v. 21. But if the wicked, no matter where or what he may be, or in what relation he may stand to others, will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, by an act of true repentance, and keep all My statutes, in particular those given to the children of Israel, and do that which is lawful and right, what God expects all men to observe, as evidence and proof of the faith of his heart: he shall surely live, he shall not die. God, in His great mercy, is ready to deal with him according to his new obedience, not according to his former sins.

v. 22. All his transgressions that he hath committed, by which he brought guilt upon himself, they shall not be mentioned unto him, the Lord’s forgiveness being essentially a complete forgetting of the former sins; in his righteousness that he hath done, by virtue of the new life which followed his repentance, he shall live.

v. 23. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God, an inherent delight, as it were, in cruel punishment of the wicked, and not that he should return from His ways and live? this being much preferable in the sight of the Lord, since He delights in showing mercy. This is the one side of the question, by which the Lord intends to call the wicked to repentance. On the other hand, however, He just as earnestly warns against backsliding and apostasy.

v. 24. But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity, in the foolish notion that he may do so with impunity, since his good record will serve to excuse him, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? Will he be able to escape from the punishment which threatens sinners? The Lord’s answer is: All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned, not be taken into account so as to save him; in his trespass that he hath trespassed and in his sin that he hath sinned, by which he nullified all his former good conduct, in them shall he die. Thus the justice of the Lord weighed the acts of men, as expressive of their inner life, and dealt with them accordingly.

v. 25. Yet ye say, in a statement which lacked all foundation, The way of the Lord is not equal, not in agreement with true equity. Hear now, O house of Israel, Is not My way equal? Did He really treat different classes of men in a different way? Are not your ways unequal? since they, although living in sin, expected the Lord to treat them as if they were righteous. That surely was not fair and just. The Lord therefore states the two cases once more, in inverse order, to impress their significance upon His hearers.

v. 26. When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity and dieth in them, or "on account of this wickedness"; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.

v. 27. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, by a true repentance, not from a mere aesthetic loathing, and doeth that which is lawful and right, in agreement with God’s holy will, he shall save his soul alive, the mercy of God being put into operation in his case.

v. 28. Because he considereth, observing carefully and thereby, under the guidance of the Lord, obtaining the right understanding, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Thus the divine procedure was justified, and the complaint of the people proved to be unfounded. But since the object of the Lord was to effect the deliverance of his people from corruption and perdition, he closes this section of the prophecy with an earnest appeal.

v. 29. Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal, right and just. O house of Israel, are not My ways equal? Are not your ways unequal?

v. 30. Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, thereby bringing their whining and caviling to an end, every one according to his ways, according to his manner of living and acting, saith the Lord God. The Lord’s way was right and good, and those who were not in agreement with His way and order would be unfortunate indeed. Repent and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin, the cause of their damnation. This admonition is now repeated in a still more emphatic vein.

v. 31. Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby ye have transgressed, the expression referring especially to the utter removal of all idols and idolatrous ways, and make you a new heart and a new spirit, not in their own strength, indeed, but by the gracious gift of God; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? The way of death and damnation is ever a matter of man’s deliberate choice, and he has no one but himself to blame in that event.

v. 32. For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, a victim of perdition by his own fault, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves and live ye. Every sinner is a victim of spiritual death, and this will eventually lead to eternal death, unless the way of repentance is followed at the Lord’s urgent invitation. The readiness of the divine grace is the outstanding feature of the Gospel-message.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Yahweh speaking of the wicked person who changes and does what is righteous.

All the transgressions that he has committed will not be called to mind against him

The idiom "call to mind" means to remember. This can be stated in active form. AT: "I will not remember all the transgressions that he has committed and will not hold them against him" (See: Idiom and Active or Passive)

by the righteousness that he practices

"because of the righteous things he has done"

translationWords

evil

turn

sin

statute

just

righteous

life

die

transgress

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.