The Parents’ Sins

The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness. But if wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my decrees and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die. All their past sins will be forgotten, and they will live because of the righteous things they have done. Ezekiel 18:20-22

AS THEY SUFFERED IN EXILE, the people of Israel repeated this proverb: “The parents have eaten sour grapes, but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste” (Jeremiah 31:29; Ezekiel 18:2). Whenever they repeated this saying, they were complaining that they were being punished for the sins of their parents. In other words, they were accusing God of injustice.

Setting them straight, God told them that while their parents and grandparents did sin and deserved punishment, this younger generation was not, in fact, innocent. They had actually repeated the sins of their parents in even greater measure. Thus, the punishment being poured out on them was unquestionably deserved. Following their parents’ example, the children had also been eating the sour grapes of sin.

It was not God’s unfairness that was the problem; their sin was the problem. They were simply in denial. But while Ezekiel took away their excuse, he did not leave them crushed under the weight of the reality of getting what they deserved. He promised grace and mercy. He pleaded with them to turn and live. He promised that their past sins could be forgotten by the one they’d sinned against.

Righteous Father, as parents we know exactly what we deserve. We deserve to eat the sour grapes of judgment for all the idols we have served and the laws we have broken. But instead, you are feeding us the very best foods. You are blessing us instead of cursing us. And we ask, Lord, that you would extend this blessing to ________. Draw ________ to turn away from sin and toward you. Flood ________’s life with the good news that past sins will be forgotten and the future will be filled with life.