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June 22, 2014 |
| God is Just | ||
Some preachers focus their messages on the love of God and never mention sin or repentance. In doing so they turn God into a god that loves everything. But the truth is that God does not love everything and more than that God is just.
What does it mean to be just? The word "just" has two meanings that apply here. The first is to be fair and impartial. God has one standard that applies to everyone equally. If he had a different standard for some people than he had for others, that would be unfair and unjust.
The second meaning of "just" is to act in accordance with what is morally correct. It barely needs to be said that because God is God he is the definition of what is morally correct. There is more to it than that though. Because there is a god there is a moral standard and because there is a moral standard there can be violations of it, which are sin. Justice requires that sin be punished by death.
In this lesson we will look at God correcting Israel by showing that his ways are just although they may seem unjust to man. God also shows them that their ways of thinking are unjust.
Ezekiel 18 begins with God coming to Ezekiel with a problem he is having with the children of Israel. In this case it is a saying that is going around the people. The problem is not so much the saying but that the people believe the saying represents God's just treatment of his people.
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 "What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:
"'The parents eat sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'?
3 "As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.
The saying means that the children will be punished by God for the sins of their parents. God had never said that but he had said things that made the Israelites think that. In one place God says "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,"1 When you look closely at what is said here you can see that God is saying that the children learn to hate God from their parents who have sinned against God and thus hated him.
So we see that the children can learn wrong from wrongful parents and thus incur God's judgment but there is another way that children can suffer for the wrongdoing of the parents. Sometimes the wrongful actions of the parents have consequences for the children. For example, if dad or mom spends the paycheck at the bar, the family will go hungry.
Another good example of this is the sin of Adam and Eve. They were changed by that sin and every child born of man and woman would inherit that change and the consequence of death that comes by it.
God is telling Ezekiel to tell them to stop saying this saying. It is not true of God and he begins to explain why.
What God says here contradicts directly what the churches of the left are teaching - collective salvation - that no one can be saved unless everyone is saved. Therefore the sins of one affect the others 4 For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child-both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die.
God loves everyone equally and individually. Therefore the judgment for sin will fall only on the sinner. Likewise salvation is also given individually, with no one's salvation being dependent on another person.
As Ezekiel continues, God elaborates on his just treatment of people. He starts by describing a man who believes in God and lives a righteous life as God has commanded. Of that man God says in verse 9 "That man is righteous; he will surely live". "Then God describes a son of that man.
10 "Suppose he has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these other things 11 (though the father has done none of them):
Understand the "and" between "interest" and "profit". Interest represents what the owner of the money could have earned from the money. Profit represents making more than the interest. So what God says is wrong is the profit on top of the interest. Unfortunately we have built an economy on top of the profit on interest and are paying the price. "He eats at the mountain shrines.
He defiles his neighbor's wife.
12 He oppresses the poor and needy.
He commits robbery.
He does not return what he took in pledge.
He looks to the idols.
He does detestable things.
13 He lends at interest and takes a profit.
Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he is to be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.
Of this violent man, God says he will not live. This is God's judgment which is the second death. Note carefully what verse 10 says, "sheds blood or does any of these other things." God's judgment is upon him for doing any of these things, assuming he doesn't repent of course. Then note what verse 13 says, "done all these detestable things". This is God's call for a judgment by man - the first death. It falls on those whose behavior is unrighteous beyond measure, whose guilt is beyond any doubt.
So far God has talked about a righteous man and his unrighteous son. The righteousness of the righteous man did not help his unrighteous son. Now God talks about the son of that son, the grandson to the righteous man.
Note that this righteous son takes neither interest nor profit. He could have taken interest but he chose not to. 14 "But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things:[…] 17 He withholds his hand from mistreating the poor and takes no interest or profit from them. He keeps my laws and follows my decrees. He will not die for his father's sin; he will surely live. 18 But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people.
God now asks essentially this question - why is this so hard to understand.
19 "Yet you ask, 'Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?' Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. 20 The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.
The Israelites lived a life quite different from the ones we live today. They lived together in large extended families and they lived close together. What each person did affected the others. The shame of one person's actions tainted the reputations of everyone in their families. So it would have been quite natural for them to expect that the justness of God would work this way also.
We live in a more individualistic society and it seems crazy to us that anyone would think that the sins of a parent would be judged by God against the children who had nothing to do with the sin. But that made sense to Israel.
So far God has only talked about one unrighteous person, the son of the righteous father. The assumption was made that that son would not repent of his unrighteousness and would die in his sins. Now God talks about repentance.
21 "But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. 22 None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live.
There are many statements here to note. First, it says "turns away from" which isn't a phrase we use much in English outside the church. Instead we are more likely to say "turn your back on it". By that we mean that we recognize it as evil, reject it, and are determined not to repeat it but to go a different way instead. This is repentance. It consists of remorse (feeling bad for what was done), rejection of the former direction, and determination not to repeat (a new direction).
We also note that repenting from the unrighteous way and instead going in the way of righteousness results in life. What isn't stated here but we understand is that God is looking for a changed heart, a heart that truly desires to go the right way. God is not looking for someone who does righteous deeds because he is afraid of being caught or because he knows that is what his society expects him to do. He wants someone who does what is right because God has said it is right - because he believes in God.
That's why the verse says "keeps all my decrees". If you believe in God you will obey God.
We also note that it says if they do all these things then their unrighteous deeds would be remembered no more. But to the Christian this may sound strange - like they are being saved without Jesus as a savior. That isn't the case. God knew that Jesus would come as the sacrifice that would atone for sins. Those sins would not just be the sins of those living at Jesus' time but also the sins of those in the future AND in the past. Without that sacrifice their righteousness and sacrifices would have afforded them nothing.
Having said that he rewards those who repent, by giving them life, he asks why it wouldn't be this way
23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?
God says he does not take pleasure in putting the wicked to death (second death). He wishes that all would come to repentance. It says this in 1 Timothy 2 3 "This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." God is also pleased when a person turns away from unrighteousness. It says this in Luke 15 7 "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent".
Continuing on, God now talks about those who turn from righteousness to unrighteousness - going the wrong direction.
24 "But if a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live? None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die.
The Roman Catholic concept of Purgatory is based on this idea that the combination of righteous and unrighteous acts in life can have an uncertain outcome which results in a person going to Purgatory to work off their unrighteous deeds until the outcome can be certain. God, through Ezekiel, says this is false. Just as when the unrighteous deeds are forgotten when a person turns to righteousness, all the righteous deeds a person has done are forgotten when he turns to unrighteousness. This is really just a long complicated way to say that salvation does not come by works. Salvation is also not a trade-off between the righteous things you have done and the unrighteous.
Because they are unfaithful to God, they will die. Because they no longer believe in God (or maybe they never really did) they have turned their hearts away from him. The sign of that is their unrighteous deeds. But note carefully what God is talking about here. He isn't talking about the deceits of Satan and the falls they cause for us. True repentance takes care of those because our hearts are still turned toward him.
God now goes to speak Israel's own words back to her ears. The topic is not only who is just but what is just.
25 "Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
God doesn't say explicitly here why the Israelites think God is unjust. We know though because we have those same feelings ourselves. At one end, to the human mind it seems that righteous works should count for something for a person who has slipped into unrighteousness. At the other end it seems that unrighteous works should count for something against a righteous person. The classic example is Hitler. What if Hitler at the last moment in his bunker had recognized the evils he had done and truly repented of them and turned away from them? Shouldn't the enormity of the horrors he has committed count against him on judgment day? Shouldn't he have to answer for each of those 6 million lives he snuffed out as though they were no more than candle flames. This is the thinking of man.
God says no; the slate is clean. The same forgiveness that you want when you sin, is the same forgiveness that all receive when they repent. We want at least some of God's judgment to fall on a repentant Hitler but none to fall on a repentant us. God asks, is it not your ways that are unjust?
God now summarizes this teaching in a wonderful way. Remember that when God speaks of death here he is talking about the second death on judgment day.
30 "Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!
As sinners our sins would have been our downfall. Yet God was merciful to us and provided a way that our sins could be removed from his sight, forgotten. God has made this possible because he derives no pleasure from the death of anyone.
In all of this God is just.
1 Exodus 20:5 also similarly in Deuteronomy 5:9 and Exodus 34:6-7