Individual Responsibility

To begin our message this evening I wish to share a story. “A farmer once asked his neighbor if he might borrow a rope. ‘Sorry,’ said the neighbor. ‘I’m using my rope to tie up my milk.’ ‘Rope can’t tie up milk,’ said the farmer. ‘I know,’ replied the neighbor, ‘but when a man doesn’t want to do something, one reason is as good as another’.”(1)

When a man doesn’t want to do something, one excuse is as good as another. This evening we are going to look at an excuse that the Israelites used for not giving their hearts and lives to the Lord. It was an excuse, which they hoped would exempt them from their own sins, and their own individual responsibility. As we will see, though, the excuse they used was pretty lame.

Understanding the Problem

Before we begin, I want to give you some background into this chapter, which will help us in understanding the context behind what we are about to read.

The historical context of Ezekiel chapter 18 starts to unfold in 609 B.C. with an event mentioned in 2 Kings 23:28-29.(2) In this account, Pharaoh Neco of Egypt killed Josiah when they met at Megiddo. Egypt ruled Judah for about four years until Judah was defeated at Carchemish by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in 605 B.C. and many Jews were taken into exile.(3)

Ezekiel is portrayed as one of the people taken into Babylon during the first captivity, as noted in Ezekiel 1:1-3. In Ezekiel chapter 2, verses 6-7, the Lord told Ezekiel that the people were rebellious, but that he must preach to them anyhow even though they might never listen to a word that he would tell them.

What happened to the social setting, in which Ezekiel was told to preach, is quite interesting. The people had been subject to many false prophets and teachers who were only interested in ear-tickling. These pseudo prophets deceived many people into thinking that deliverance from the captivity was near, and therefore people were fooled into thinking they had favor in God’s eyes.(4)

The exiles became self-righteous and could not accept the fact that they were paying for their own sins. This is the reason for their delight in the lies given by the false prophets. In Ezekiel chapter 18, Ezekiel proclaimed God’s justice and sought to tear down any misconceptions about their sins.

Sour Grapes Proverb (vv. 1-3)

1 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 2 “What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?’ 3 “As I live,” says the Lord God, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.”

We see here a proverb: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” This proverb implies that the punishment for the parent’s sin is distributed to his child. The child then grows up and becomes a parent himself, and then his sin would be passed on to his own child – and so on, and so forth. If there is any truth to this proverb, then whose sin was the very first father in history punished for? This question brings us to the doctrine of “original sin.”

Original sin refers to the sin of the very first father in history, which was “Adam,” and his sin affected the entire human race, and caused condemnation and death to come on all people. This sin is also known as the “Transgression of Adam.”(5) Adam was punished for sin when he and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3). He was not punished for Eve’s sin or vice versa; they were each punished for their own individual sin (Gen. 3:13-19).

I have mentioned the doctrine of “original sin,” but in Ezekiel chapter 18 we encounter the doctrine of “individual responsibility.” The sour grapes proverb reveals a lack of individual responsibility, as this proverb was being used as a way for the Israelites to pawn off their sins on someone else.

The origin of the sour grapes proverb is found in Exodus chapter 20, verse 5, which says, “I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of the parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me.” Notice that the Lord will punish those who “reject” Him. H. A. Ironside comments that if an individual’s parent happens to be evil but the child is good, then the Lord is not going to punish the child; for the Lord punishes individuals for their own sins.(6) He will punish only those descendants that “reject” Him, not those who choose to serve Him.

The Israelites were taking one single verse and using it out of context to support their own sinful stance. If we continue to read Exodus chapter 20, verse 6, the Scripture says, “But showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.” The exiles completely ignored the second part of the Lord’s statement found in Exodus 20:5-6. They also forgot Deuteronomy 24:16 which says, “Parents shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their parents; only for their own crimes may a person be put to death.”