Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32  The word of the LORD came to me: “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: “`The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?  “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For every living soul belongs to me, the father as well as the son– both alike belong to me. The soul who sins is the one who will die. …  “Yet you say, `The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?  If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin, he will die for it; because of the sin he has committed he will die.  But if a wicked man turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life.  Because he considers all the offenses he has committed and turns away from them, he will surely live; he will not die.  Yet the house of Israel says, `The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?  “Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.  Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel?  For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

 Ezekiel was a prophet before the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C. and during the first part of the Babylonian captivity. These were hard times for God’s people. God allowed the children of Israel to be conquered and the people to be carried off to Babylon as slaves. This captivity was something they brought on themselves because of repeated disobedience to God, refusing to even acknowledge Him as God. The part about the fathers eating sour grapes and setting the children’s teeth on edge is a complaint that they think they are being punished for what their ancestors did. Ezekiel responds that they were not paying for the sins of their fathers – they themselves are sinful: Is it not your ways that are unjust?

 This passage points out sin and calls people to repentance. The wicked will die. The righteous will live. Those who are sinning must repent and turn from their offenses. That is God’s desire for His people, because when they repent they will find life.

This reading focuses on individual accountability before God. The wicked will die. The righteous will live. But what makes a person righteous before God? Outward deeds or the condition of the heart? A righteous standing before God demands a righteous heart. And that is something that comes from outside of us. Ezekiel wrote about this earlier:

“And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh…” Ezekiel 11:19

God gives us a new heart. He provides righteousness through His Son, Jesus Christ. It is something our Father gives us in faith. The people of the Old Testament were made righteous by looking forward to the Savior in faith, while we are viewing our Savior from the perspective of history. It is through Christ that we have been set free.

Thinking about the Israelites in their captivity reminded me of a story I read about Harry Houdini, the great magician and escape artist. He boasted that he could escape from any jail cell in the country. He demonstrated this ability many times, but one time things went wrong. When the heavy door clanged shut, Houdini pulled out a piece of metal that had been concealed in his belt and started to work on the lock. For thirty minutes, he picked away, but couldn’t get the lock to open. An hour passed, and now he was bathed in sweat, not understanding why he could not open the lock! Two hours passed, and he finally collapsed in frustration against the door he could not unlock. When he fell against the door, it swung open. It had never been locked. In his mind, it was locked, and that’s all it took to keep him “locked” in and frustrated.

The bondage and imprisonment of our minds is often like that jail cell. Jesus has freed us from sin, but often sin captivates our minds and convinces us that we are still in bondage. Many live and think and act as though they are still captive to sin, when the truth is that Jesus has already set them free. You discover that if you read the Bible.

John 8:31-32  … Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (NASB)