Ezekiel 18
Examine Conventional Adages!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Saturday, June 22.
There was a proverb used in ancient Israel that was thwarted by God in both Jeremiah and Ezekiel, “The fathers eat the sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are set on edge” (Ezekiel 18:2 and Jeremiah 31:29). Moreso, in Jeremiah 31:30, God corrected their conventional adage, “But everyone will die for his own iniquity; each man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth will be set on edge.” The original expression taught that children would pay the penalty for their parents’ sins, but the revised one taught that people experience the consequences of their own actions. This correction came when generations would be born into captivity due to the sins of those who had come before them, so God hammered it home in Ezekiel 18, concluding with an eternal truth about personal agency in verses 29-32:
“But the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right? Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct,” declares the Lord God. “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”
When conventional adages are not true, deviating from the Word of God, even if they had originated from the Bible, do not live by them. Examine their precepts, ensuring that the wisdom you live by has not been compromised by cultural norms, political ideologies, superstitions, or other religious doctrines.
Seize the moment and listen to what you say because your tongue is like a rudder, which can unknowingly steer your life off course (James 3:1-12).
God bless you!
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