000 Allen FMT (i-xxii) - The Presbyterian Leader

94 Proper 21 [26]/Year A
Ezekiel 18:1–4, 25–32* (Paired)
As noted in connection with Proper 9/Year B, Ezekiel prophesied during
the exile with the twofold purpose of interpreting the reasons for the exile
and offering hope that God would return the community to the eretz Yisrael
(land of Israel). Today’s reading is weighted toward the first of these
purposes.
Ezekiel cites a proverb that summed up a widespread way of thinking
in Israel. “The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are
set on edge” (Ezek. 18:2), meaning that the sins of the parents will
besmirch the lives of those who come after them. According to Ezekiel
18:3, this proverb will no longer apply in Israel. Instead, “Because all lives
are mine” (because God controls all generations), “it is only the person
who sins that shall die” (Ezek. 18:4). Each generation will be held responsible
for its sins and be punished accordingly.
In Ezekiel 18:5–24, the prophet brings forward the case of four generations
that demonstrate the truth of the proverb (Ezek. 18:5–9, 10–13,
14–18, 19–24). He then puts the listeners on the spot by asking whether
God’s ways are unfair, or whether the congregation itself is unfair in its
complaint against God (18:25). When the righteous sin, they are punished,
but when the wicked repent, they are saved (18:26–28). How can
Israel claim that God is unfair?
While God will judge the community according to its ways, God pleads
with Israel to repent (Ezek. 18:30). God wants the people to cast away
their transgressions and “get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.”
Here Ezekiel sounds very much like Jeremiah 31:31–34 (see Fifth Sunday
in Lent/Year B) where the “new covenant” means not replacing the old
one but a fresh mode of implementation. God does not want the people
to die, but pleads for them to “turn, then, and live” (18:31–32).
Ezekiel has aspects of this subject both right and wrong. It makes theological
sense that only the generation that sinned should directly pay the
price for that sin. However, in real life the relationship between cause and
effect among generations is not so neatly demarcated. A generation that
despoiled a river in the name of industrial progress may leave behind an
ecological disaster that affects generations to come. Generations far
removed from those who committed a particular sin may be affected negatively
by it. A better way to nuance Ezekiel’s concern is to think that the
presence of distress in a generation does not necessarily mean that the
affected generation committed the sin that caused the distress. God is
present to help the community deal with the distress.