God Will Repay

Ezekiel 18:19 Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.

20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

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.

22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.

It would be good to read the entire 18th chapter, but these verses speak to our day. There is much talk about what ancestors did to ancestors. In every age, there is evil and yet not everyone did the evil of their age. We are born into sin and we all sin.

There is a country and western song that says, "there is no future in the past." This very true. If I had a time machine and could go back fix all the pain of the past I would. Indeed, if I could go back, I would find Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Mao and others as infants and carry them back to a time where they would have not have the horrible influence they had in their time. Maybe I could just put them in another family that would change their life.

Yet, with the natural wickedness of mankind, I might have opened the door to men even more wicked. It is best to leave the past to God as He is omniscient and we are not. Dwelling on the past instead of the present only keeps us from progressing in the present to a better future.

Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Indeed, no one really gets away with anything. What evil that may appear to succeed in any age will be dealt with by God. In fact, we have no idea how bad things would have been had God not mitigated the evil of men. Paul told us that evil men would only get worse as time goes by and that evil will be fully unleashed during the Tribulation. God has all the facts and deals in facts, not perceptions. He knows all the minor details. He is a better judge than we will ever be.

As God says in Ezekiel, the sons will not pay for the sins of the fathers nor the fathers for the sins of the son. Each is accountable for his own sins. God, in His mercy, will cover the transgressions of a man if He repents and changes his way. That is under Law. How much more so, under grace because of Jesus.

I have had to forgive many people in my past and have asked God to not lay their sins against me to their account. After all, I also need forgiveness from many people over the years and even more so from God who really is the one sinned against. When we sin against each other we sin against Him.

I cannot change the past. I can only treat people as God would have me treat them as made in His image though because of sin it is a broken image like a shattered mirror. I need to remember that I am also a sinner saved by grace looking through a glass darkly so that I extend mercy and grace because I have received mercy and grace.

I know that many of my ancestors were abused under kings. The kings are dead and all they exalted and all they abused are dead. They are either in Heaven or Hell. If in Heaven, the abused are not thinking about the abuse, but enjoying the presence of God. If they are in Hell, they are remembering their sins and awaiting final judgment to be sent eternally to the Lake of Fire with satan and his minions. There is no better justice than that.

Let us walk together dealing with the issues of today. God's got the past handled as well as today and tomorrow if we will walk with Jesus. Amen!