whereby , &c. The = Septuagint reads "which ye have committed against Me". heart. spirit . Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6 , for all that is of the spirit, and not of the flesh. Compare Luke 1:44 , Luke 1:47 . John 4:24 . "The flesh profiteth nothing" (John 6:63 ). spirit. Hebrew. ruach. App-49 . read more
Ezekiel 18:31. Make you a new heart and a new spirit— The prophets often exhort the Jews to an inward purity and holiness, that they might not rely upon an outward legal righteousness, and a scrupulous exactness in the observance of the ritual parts of the law. By thus instructing them in a more excellent way of serving God than the ceremonial law directly prescribed, they prepared their minds for receiving those truths which would be more fully displayed by the Gospel. Calmet says excellently... read more
31. Cast away from you—for the cause of your evil rests with yourselves; your sole way of escape is to be reconciled to God (Ephesians 4:22; Ephesians 4:23). make you a new heart—This shows, not what men can do, but what they ought to do: what God requires of us. God alone can make us a new heart (Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26; Ezekiel 36:27). The command to do what men cannot themselves do is designed to drive them (instead of laying the blame, as the Jews did, elsewhere rather than on... read more
The appeal 18:30-32 read more
They needed to adopt a new heart attitude, a new spirit, a spirit of compliance to God’s will. It was unnecessary that they die prematurely for their sins when they could turn from them and continue to live (cf. Romans 13:14). read more
God’s Equity vindicatedThe popular view of Israel’s calamities, as expressed in a current proverb, was that they were the punishment of the sins of former generations. Though there was a measure of truth in this, the proverb was used in a false and mischievous sense. It led the present generation to ignore their own sin, to doubt the justice of God’s providence, to despair of escape from the working of a blind fate. Ezekiel, consequently, emphasised in the strongest way the truths of individual... read more
Ezekiel 18:2 There is no doubt about the sins of the fathers falling upon the generation in the case of an illegitimate child. No book has ever been written, no law has ever been made there is not one dissentient voice in the chorus of rebuke, not one hand to help, or one lamp to lead the way, when a love-child is cast into the world. There must be thousands of these nameless ocean-tramps cast away on the broad sea of existence; overloaded, until their water-line has vanished, with their... read more
THE RELIGION OF THE INDIVIDUALEzekiel 18:1-32IN the sixteenth chapter, as we have seen, Ezekiel has asserted in the most unqualified terms the validity of the principle of national retribution. The nation is dealt with as a moral unit, and the catastrophe which closes its history is the punishment for the accumulated guilt incurred by the past generations. In the eighteenth chapter he teaches still more explicitly the freedom and the independent responsibility of each individual before God. No... read more
Ezekiel 19:1-14 . This lamentation has two sections. The lamentations for the princes come first (Ezekiel 19:1-9 ), and that is followed by the lamentation for the land of Judah (Ezekiel 19:10-14 ). The princes are Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin. King Jehoahaz was carried away captive into Egypt 2 Kings 23:33 ; his fate is lamented in Ezekiel 19:1-4 . King Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon and he is lamented in Ezekiel 19:5-9 . In the lamentation for the land of Judah the vine is once more mentioned.... read more
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Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 18:1-32
Each person is responsible (18:1-32)Many of the exiles complained that it was unjust that they should suffer because of the sins of the previous generation. True, the present captivity had resulted from the continuing decay of the nation over several generations, but the exiles could not deny that they too had sinned. There could be no excuses. They are individually responsible for their wrongdoings and they are punished accordingly (18:1-4).Examples of sins are then given. These include... read more