Ezekiel 18:10 - Meaning and Application

God, through the prophet, has already laid down the general rule of judgment, that he gives eternal life to those who keep on doing good, and anger and wrath to those who refuse the truth and follow wrongdoing (Romans 2:7, Romans 2:8). Here he shows that a person’s family background will not change that judgment either way.

He applies this clearly in both directions. As often happened in the royal line of the kings of Judah, it also happens in ordinary families, godly parents may have wicked children, and wicked parents may have godly children. So he first shows that a wicked man will surely die in his sin, even if he is the son of a faithful father.

This is not a rare or small matter, but a sad one. A child of a very godly father may still turn out openly wicked, despite all the instruction he received, the good example before him, the warnings he heard, the restraints placed on him, the effort of his parents, and the prayers they offered for him. He may become the grief of his father, the shame of his family, and a plague to his generation.

Such a man goes against everything his good father feared and avoided. He throws off the duties his father valued and enjoyed. He is described as a robber and murderer, an idolater who has eaten on the mountains and lifted his eyes to idols (Ezekiel 18:11), and then gone so far as to join in sacrifice with them. Sin moves downward, step by step.

He is also an adulterer, who has defiled his neighbor’s wife. He is an oppressor, even of the poor and needy. He robs the helpless, presses down those who cannot defend themselves, and takes pleasure in hurting the weak and making the poor poorer. He takes away what he should give, takes by violence, lends on interest to gain by contract, and keeps a pledge even after the debt has been paid.

Let godly parents who have wicked children not think their case is unique. This is the very kind of case God sets before us. It shows that grace does not run in families, and it does not always come with good teaching. “The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,” for if it were, well-taught children would always do well. But God shows that his grace belongs to him alone, and his Spirit works freely. We are required to give our children a good upbringing, but God is not required to bless it. In this, more than in many other things, we see the strength of original sin and the need for special grace, that is, God’s saving help given to the undeserving.

We are also assured that this wicked man will perish forever in his sin, despite being the son of a good father. He may prosper for a while in this world because of the piety of his ancestors, but if he has committed these sins and never turned from them, he will not truly live. He will not enjoy God’s favor. He may escape human punishment, but he will not escape God’s curse. He will surely die, meaning he will be forever miserable. His blood will be on his own head. He can blame no one else, for he destroys himself.

His connection to a good father will not help him. In fact, it will make his sin and his judgment heavier. It made his sin more serious, because he had better example and better teaching. It also made him more corrupt in the end, and that will make his misery in the future more severe.

The second case is the opposite, a righteous man will certainly be happy, even if he is the son of a wicked father. Though the father ate sour grapes, the children will not suffer for it if they do not join in. It is possible, and sometimes true, that the son of an ungodly father becomes godly. He sees how dangerous his father’s sins were, takes warning, and refuses to follow them (Ezekiel 18:14).

Usually children pick up their parents’ temper and copy their example. But here the son looks at his father’s sins and, instead of imitating them, he fears them. People do not usually gather grapes from thorn bushes, yet God can do what people do not expect. He can take a branch from a wild olive tree and graft it into a good one. Wicked Ahaz, king of Judah, fathers good Hezekiah, who sees all the sins his father committed. He does not excuse them or make the worst noise about them, like Ham did with his father’s shame, but he hates them, feels ashamed of them, and thinks worse of sin because it brought disgrace and ruin on his own father.

He considers the matter and does not act the same way. He sees how unworthy it was of his father, how offensive it was to God and good people, what harm and shame it brought on him, and what trouble it brought into the family. So he refuses to do likewise. If we really thought about the ways of wicked people, we would fear both keeping company with them and following them.

The details are listed again, almost in the same words as the description of the righteous man earlier (Ezekiel 18:6), to show that good people walk in the same spirit and the same steps. This righteous man not only avoided his father’s sins, but also followed the virtues of his grandfather. We can look back and find examples to imitate, as well as warnings to avoid.

He can say more than, “I am not an adulterer, extortioner, oppressor, usurer, or idolater.” He has also given bread to the hungry and covered the naked. He has taken his hand off the poor. Where he found his father pressing down poor servants, tenants, or neighbors, he eased their burden. He did not say, “What my father did, I will keep, and if it was wrong, it was his fault, not mine,” like Rehoboam, who refused the heavy taxes his father had placed on the people. No, he took his hand off the poor and restored to them their rights and freedom again (Ezekiel 18:15-17).

So he has carried out God’s judgments and lived by his rules. He did not just do his duty once, but kept on in a steady path of obedience.

We are therefore assured that the ungodly father alone will die in his sin, while his godly son will not suffer because of it.

As for his father (Ezekiel 18:18), if he was a cruel oppressor and did harm, and if, though he had wealth and power, he did no good among his people, even he, great as he is, will die in his own sin and be ruined forever. But the man who kept his integrity will surely live. He will be at peace and blessed, and he will not die for his father’s sin. His father’s wickedness may have damaged his family’s wealth and influence, but it will not harm his acceptance with God or his eternal good.

The prophet then turns the charge back on the people. In effect, he says, “The matter is clear, so why do you still ask, Does not the son bear the iniquity of the father?” No, he does not, if he himself does what is lawful and right (Ezekiel 18:19). But these people who complained had not done what was lawful and right, so they were rightly suffering for their own sin. They had no reason to say God was unfair, though they did have reason to grieve the bad example their fathers had left them. “Our fathers sinned and are no more, and we bear their iniquities” (Lamentations 5:7).

It is true that wicked families often carry a lasting curse, but it is also true that repentance and reformation can break that pattern. So those who remain unrepentant and unchanged should blame themselves if they come under it. The settled rule of judgment is repeated: “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20). This is also the principle God gave earthly judges, who were not to punish a son for his father’s guilt (Deuteronomy 24:16). God himself follows the same rule. The son will not die forever for his father’s sin if he does not follow that sin, and the father will not die for his son’s sin if he has done his duty to try to restrain it.

When God’s righteous judgment is fully revealed, though it is now partly hidden, the righteousness of the righteous will stand out before the whole world. It will be seen as a robe and a crown, bringing everlasting comfort and honor. The wickedness of the wicked will also be plainly seen on him, like a chain or a heavy burden, like a load of lead that drags him down into the bottomless pit.