Verse 1
INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY
This chapter is rather brief, but it is artificially expanded in length by the many repetitions of the points of identification which differentiate between the wicked man and the righteous man.
The Israelites to whom this chapter was addressed were using a false proverb in the vain hope of justifying themselves, namely, `The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'!
"The Captivity generation, overlooking the fact that they were even worse than their fathers, were now trying to lay the blame for their woes on the sins of their fathers. The burden of this chapter is that God judges every man upon the basis of his individual and personal conduct. It ends with a passionate appeal for the wicked to repent (vv. 30-32)."[1]
This is not the only chapter in which Ezekiel deals with this same subject. "He also did so in Ezekiel 3:16-21; 14:12-20; 33:1-20."[2] Of course it was not a new idea at all; see Deuteronomy 24:16, and 2 Kings 14:6. "Also, this chapter is an enlargement upon Jeremiah 31:29, and sets forth fully the doctrine of individual responsibility."[3]
"The word of Jehovah came unto me again, saying, What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father; so also the soul of the son is mine; the soul that sinneth, it shall die."
"This false proverb, untrue on the face of it, was singularly inapplicable by Israel in their situation, because they were by no means innocent of wrong doing, being, in fact, actually worse than their fathers."[4]
In response to Israel's use of this evil proverb, God swore with a mighty oath, that he would stop their use of it at once, because it reflected against the justice of God Himself.
"Evidently, the people thought that they were paying for sins of Manasseh, because nearly everyone in that generation believed that the sins of the fathers could actually be visited upon their children. There was a note of self-acquittal here, also, fatalism, despair, and a what's the use? attitude, what avails the moral struggle? Deeper still, there was a question of God's justice."[5]
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die ..." (Ezekiel 18:4). A number of scholars like to emphasize their allegation that, "eternal death" is not mentioned here, only physical death; but we believe more is intended. As Leath put it, "What is meant here is the separation of the soul from its life-source, the Spirit of God (Deuteronomy 30:25; Jeremiah 21:8; and Proverbs 11:19)."[6] Pearson also agreed in this, saying, "The word `die' is used in both a literal and an eschatological sense. 'To live' is to enter into the perfect kingdom of the Lord (which was at that time in the future); and `to die,' is to have no share in it."[7]
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