Ezekiel 18 Devotional

He Would Rather You Live

“Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Lord GOD. Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?”Ezekiel 18:23 (BSB)

The people had a proverb ready to explain their suffering: they were paying for their fathers' sins, and nothing could be done about it (18:2). God forbids it. Every life belongs to him, and each person answers for his own sin (18:4, 20). He walks through three generations, a righteous man, his violent son, and a grandson who sees his father's sins and refuses to copy them, to show that family history traps no one (18:5-18).

At the center of the chapter, God asks whether the death of the wicked gives him any joy, and answers that he wants them to turn back and live (18:23). A wicked person who turns will live, and his past offenses will not be held against him (18:21-22). God even tells his people to get themselves a new heart and spirit (18:31), the very gift he promised to give in 11:19. What God commands, he also supplies. Whoever you have been, the way back is open, because he wants you to live.

To think about: What past failure, yours or your family's, have you assumed defines you, and how does God's desire for you to turn and live answer it?