Read: Ezekiel 18: 1-19:14; Hebrews 9:1-10; Psalm 106:32-48; Proverbs 27:10
The people had a proverb that said “the fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?” It meant that what the father did directly effected the child’s outcome. God saw it differently. He said that what the father did would effect his outcome and what the son did would effect his outcome. Everyone was responsible for their own actions. It was the ending that mattered. If a person was wicked and repented then everything they had done in the past would be forgotten and they would be remembered for what they did well.
Ezekiel admonished Israel to get a new heart and a new spirit. Then they would live.
In Chapter 19, Ezekiel took up a lament over the princes of the nation. Judah is the lioness who had cubs. Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim where leaders who both terrorized and enslaved others and now they would be terrorized and enslaved. Judah, a once fruitful vine was about to become fuel for God’s fiery wrath.
Hebrews explains the first covenant and its regulations. It was a visible picture of what the new covenant would be spiritually. The old covenant was natural but the new was spiritual.
Our Psalm tells us how the nation of Israel fell into sin. They didn’t destroy the gods of the enemy like God told them to do but let them slowly creep in to their lifestyle, corrupting their hearts and defiling their souls. This is how sin comes in. When we are saved, we have to allow God to sanctify us or clean us up from our past. If we don’t the same things that tripped us up in the beginning will begin to defile us again.
Lord, help us to desire the true righteousness that comes from obeying your Word and hearing your voice. Help us to stay away from the things that so easily trip us up. Thank you for reminding us that we are not the product of our parents but can choose for ourselves how we will act and what we will become.
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