We Are Individually Responsible

I want to begin our message this morning by bringing an awareness of a modern-day proposal that is being floated in our local, state, and federal governments, and then tie that in to what Ezekiel has to say in our passage. Across our nation, people are talking about something called “reparations.” Back around 2020, there was a House Bill (H.R. 40) to form a commission of 13 members to “document the evils of slavery and discrimination, then recommend appropriate remedies, including paying money to the descendants of slaves.” Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, the Episcopal bishop of Maryland, urged congress to pass this bill, stating that Americans must “offer atonement.”

Our country has indeed committed terrible atrocities against many different ethnic groups. But when we look at the Bible, can we back up this idea of reparations? Can we justify making the people of today pay for the sins of their forefathers? We know that reparations and paying for our ancestor’s crimes is what people think should happen, but what does God think? What does a biblical perspective look like? Ezekiel looks at this question from the opposite direction. If we find ourselves in a situation where we are paying reparations, or to put it in the words of Rev. Sutton, “offering atonement” and being punished, is it because of the sins of our forefathers that this is happening to us? Well, let us get started answering this question by looking at verses 1-4.

Blaming Our Problems on Our Ancestors’ Sins (vv. 1-4)

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. 4 Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine; the soul who sins shall die.”

So, we see here a proverb: “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” They were saying, “We are being punished for our parents’ sins.” You could also see this as saying, “Our life is bad, because of what our ancestors did.” Is there any truth to this sour grapes proverb? Can we be punished for the sins of our forefathers? Or, should we be punished for the sins of our forefathers? You hear both notions being presented today. On the one side, people are saying, “Our lot in life is so bad, because of what the people in the past did,” and then on the flip side, “Because of what people did in the past, their descendants deserve a bad lot in life, and deserve to be punished; and so, we must make sure they get what they deserve!”

Theologically speaking, can people be punished for their parents’ sins? And should they be? This question brings us to the doctrine of “original sin.” Original sin refers to the very first sin of the very first father in history; and that father was Adam. According to the apostle Paul, his sin affected the entire human race, resulting in condemnation coming to all people. Romans 5:18 says, “Through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation.” If we view this verse alone, without looking at verse 19, we might conclude that all people are being punished for what Adam did.

Biblically and theologically, we need to understand that Adam’s punishment was not deferred and transferred to other generations. Adam was expediently punished for his own sin when he and Eve ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3). That is what the expulsion from the Garden of Eden was all about. It was punishment. Adam and Eve could no longer live at ease in paradise, but they had to suffer a grueling existence fighting the elements. It should also be noted that Adam was not punished for Eve’s sin or vice versa; they were each punished for their own individual crimes (Gen. 3:13-19).

The effects of sin that we experience today is not us being punished for Adam and Eve. Listen as I read from both Romans 5:18 and 19: “Through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation . . . For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” Did you catch that part about how people were made sinners? What was passed on from Adam to us is the sinful nature. What we inherited from the first man and woman is the tendency to sin, not some kind of punishment. And when we sin as individuals, we are punished for the sin that we ourselves have committed, not for what someone else did.