Ezekiel 18—19, James 4 • Key Verse: Ezekiel 18:2
In chapter 16 Ezekiel quoted the proverb “like mother, like daughter ter” (v. 44) to tell Israel that
the nation had become like the people of Canaan, giving into that heathen environment. Now he
uses a proverb to drive home another point as he writes, “‘The fathers eat sour grapes, and the
childrens teeth are set on edge” (18:2).
Unless you have eaten sour grapes, you can’t relate. Expecting a sweet taste, you instead
encounter sour. It may literally set your teeth on edge as you react to the sourness. The next time
you have some sour grapes, eat one while sitting next to another person. Ask the person if the
sour grape you ate left a bad taste in his mouth. The person may wonder about your mental state!
“Why would something you ate leave a bad taste in my mouth?” he might reply.
Ezekiel is not writing about grapes but about how a father’s actions affect his children. We might
say “the apple does not fall far from the tree.” The people, though, had misapplied this principle.
They were fatalistic in regard to judgment, thinking that they were being judged because of the
past wickedness of their fathers.
God then said directly that judgment will come to the one who sins (v. 4). A righteous father can
have a wicked son. That wicked son may have a righteous son. Each will be judged on his own
merit.
You will stand before God as an individual, not as someone else’s child, and be judged yourself.
Be sure that you have trusted Christ for salvation and do not rely on the righteousness of your
ancestors.
It is so important that we individually receive Christ! Having a godly heritage is a wonderful
blessing, but our heritage will not get us into heaven.
Woodrow Kroll & Tony beckett
www.backtothebible.in