Individual Responsibility Ezekiel 18

“Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die” (Ezek. 18:4, NASB).

It’s easy to blame someone else for our problems. If I can find someone else to blame for my problems, this means that I do not have to take individual responsibility for my problems. This seems to be the way of the human family. In Genesis 3 the woman blames the serpent for her disobedience to God, and the man blames the woman for his disobedience to God. However, when we read this story it becomes apparent that God holds each individual responsible for their own sins. In this article I will use Ezekiel 18 as a scriptural reference to make the point that all of us are individually responsible for how we live our life. This article is motivated by the fact that in church I am constantly hearing Christians blaming President Donald Trump for all of the problems that exist in America. Although the president is responsible for executing the laws of this country, he is not responsible for the choices that I make every day. Our text today gives us a picture of this fact.

Before we look at Ezekiel 18, it will help us to review chapter 17. In chapter 17 the Lord sends a prophet to Zedekiah the king of Judah. The Lord tells Zedekiah that he has failed to live by the covenant that he made with the king of Babylon. God will punish him. The king of Egypt that Zedekiah is depending upon will not be able to help him. If we read only Ezekiel 18 we might easily conclude that all the problems in Judah are the result of a bad king. It is easy for the citizens of Judah to blame their fathers and the king for all the evil that has come upon them. So it is today in America; and especially many people in the church are blaming President Trump. However, Ezekiel 17 is not the only recorded account of how the Lord sees the problems that exist in Jerusalem. Let us look at another account of what is taking place in Jerusalem recorded in the scriptures.

The books of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles give us an account of the reign of Zedekiah. In 2 Kings 24-25 and 2 Chronicles 36 the writers give us an account of the last days of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar overthrows Jehoiakim and takes him to Babylon along with “some of the articles of the house of the LORD to Babylon and put them in his temple at Babylon” (2 Chr. 36:7, NASB). Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin is made king, but he too is taken captive to Babylon and Zedekiah is made king over Jerusalem and Judah (36:10).

Zedekiah refuses to live by the covenant that he makes with the king of Babylon, and by extension the Lord God of Israel. The Chaldeans burn Jerusalem. They put out the eyes of Zedekiah and take him captive to Babylon (2 Kings 25:7). From these accounts we can see that the Lord holds the king responsible for the welfare of the nation. The kings of Judah do evil in the sight of the Lord and they are punished. Are the people guiltless? Do they share blame for what takes place in Jerusalem and Judah? It seems that the people do not accept individual responsibility for their personal lives and the plight of the nation. Let us return to Ezekiel 18.

The people of Jerusalem fail to accept individual responsibility for what is taking place in their lives. Instead, they turn to an old proverb and blame their fathers. The Lord calls them out and corrects their assumptions. “‘What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers eat sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are set on edge’” (Ezek. 18:2, NASB)? Today, we are blaming the president for the evil that is taking place in America. We are blaming the people of yesterday for our problems. I ask how the President can be responsible for all that is taking place in the country when he is in office less than a month. How can we blame our forefathers for what is taking place in our lives when we reject their teaching and the examples that they set before us? How can we ignore all the sacrifices that they made so that we can have a better life than the life that they lived?

Why do we not take individual responsibility for our own life? What does the president have to do with the individual choices and decisions that we make each and every day that we live? Who decided who you married? Who decided whether you would study in school, go to college, get a job and provide for your family or skip school, run with a wild crowd, not work and as a result live in need? Why do you not follow the positive examples set by your fore parents? Why do you continue to reject their loyalty to the church and their God? How can we, church folks, say that we trust in the Lord, and declare ourselves to be His children that live under His mighty sovereign rule, His love, His grace, His compassion, and His mercy give so much credit to a man regardless of their position and power? Why do we fear a man more than we trust God and believe His promises? Where is our faith?

In Ezekiel 18 God sends this word to His people. He says, “As I live,” declares the LORD God, ‘you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die” (vv. 3-4, NASB). In Ezekiel 18:5-24 the Lord explains the reasons that each person has individual responsibility. The people however, reject the words of the Lord. “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.” Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right” (18:25)? The Lord has the final word for His people.

The people of Judah do not repent. Second Chronicles 36:14-17 tells us that the people refuse to listen to the prophets that the Lord sends to them. They are unfaithful to the Lord and they refuse to follow His ways. In spite of God’s continuous warnings they “continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy” (v. 16, NASB). We reject godly men and women to be our leaders, and we accept persons that are known to have a record of ungodly practices in their life. When we reject the Lord’s godly people and select ungodly people we are in fact rejecting the Lord. We have an example in 1 Samuel 8:1-7. “The LORD said to Samuel, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them” (v. 7).

We must all accept our own individual responsibility. We cannot blame others. Our first individual responsibility is to be faithful to the Lord. If we are faithful to the Lord we will hear His word. We will obey His commands. We will trust the Lord regardless of the situations that exist in our lives. Ezekiel 18:29 tells us how we are to conduct ourselves when the circumstances in our lives seem to be overwhelming. We must repent. We must cast away our transgressions. We are to “‘Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! ‘For why will you die, O house of Israel’? ‘For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,’ declares the LORD God. ‘Therefore, repent and live’” (31-32, NASB). We must repent of the sin of blaming others. We must live by faith in the Lord. We all have individual responsibility.