Ezekiel 18

“The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.” (Ezekiel 18:20, ESV)

Once a person spoke with me about “generational curses”. He was convinced that people suffer because of the sins of their parents and grandparents. This was probably because of a misinterpretation of Exodus 20:5-6:

“For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (Exodus 20:5–6, NKJV)

If all we had were these two verses in Exodus, then we could see how people could infer that God punishes children for the sins of their parents. Evidently, this was the belief in Ezekiel’s day, for they circulated a certain proverb:

“The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” (Ezekiel 18:2, NKJV)

You see, the people who were suffering the destruction of Jerusalem concluded that it was all because of the sins of their parents, and there was nothing they could do about it. They had adopted a form of fatalism. What was going to happen would happen, and there was nothing they could do to change it. But God made it clear in this chapter that He doesn't work like that, and He didn't want them repeating this proverb.

Instead, the soul that sins will die. We are not punished for our parents’ sins; nor are our children punished for our sins. Each person will be judged according to what he or she has done, and God shows no favoritism. On the other hand, we are not considered righteous because our parents were righteous. If we turn away from their righteousness and commit evil, then we will die for our own sins. But if we turn away from the unrighteous behavior of our parents and do right, then God will reward us accordingly.

This should cause each of us to examine himself. Am I doing what is right? Or am I living for myself without regard for the statutes and judgments of God? The LORD takes no delight in the death of the wicked, but that we should all turn and live!