CHAPTER 18 continues the exposure of the wickedness of Israel which has been so much the theme of preceding chapters.
God had, in Exodus 34: 6, 7, announced to Moses the ground of His government of His people. He would be “merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and...will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”
We have seen in the testimony of God’s Word in 1 and 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Lamentations, and now in Ezekiel, that the children of Israel went further into sin as generation succeeded generation. Hosea, Amos, Micah and other prophets assert this too. Godly exceptions there were, among the people, but the state of the nation as a whole grew worse and worse.
Amid this ever-deepening guilt before God the people had devised a proverb (verse 2) to account for the distresses in which they were involved, by putting the blame for them upon their (more wicked) forefathers in the first place, and then upon God because of His governmental rule in Exodus 34:77Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. (Exodus 34:7).
His answer is, You will have no further occasion to use the proverb in. Israel. Thenceforth the people of Israel were to suffer, each individually for his own sins. And would their burden, the hardship of which they complained, thus be lightened? Indeed not, for they were more wicked than the generation before their own.
In what follows (verses 4-1S) three cases are put forward, and God’s dealing with each of them. The reader will observe that the subject is the government of God; not the exercise of His grace in forgiving the sinner who turns to Him in repentance. Both are found in His Word. An illustration may help: David’s great sin was forgiven, yet its consequences were reaped by him and his family all of his days. See 2 Samuel 12:1313And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. (2 Samuel 12:13) and the two preceding verses. Galatians 6:7, 87Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Galatians 6:7‑8) is the governmental dealing of God in this world, and John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) is His grace; there is no possibility of conflict between the two.
All the souls are God’s; the soul that sinneth, it shall die (verse 4). It is not here a question of the eternal doom of the lost, but the cutting off of life prematurely because of sin. See chapter 11, verses 1 and 13, which, among many passages to which reference may be made, shows judgment called for and executed on one of the leaders of Israel.
In verses 5 to 9 a man devoid of offense against God and man is described. We might have difficulty in finding one who filled all the requirements here expressed, but we would not waste time in seeking for such persons among the ungodly. First, then of the three cases, is conduct that is acceptable with God. Would His governmental dealing overtake such a one in death? By no means.
Verses 10 to 13 set forth a very different case: one who turns away from a good example to become reprobate. We are not surprised that there is no mention of God and His Word in connection with him, for he has plainly turned his back upon God. Corruption and violence are his chosen companions, and false gods are enthroned in his heart, Shall he then live? He shall die; his blood shall be upon him.
The third case is presented in verses 14 to 17: the son of a wicked man who sees all his father’s sins, and considers and avoids them. He becomes like the first man in verses 5 to 9. He shall not die for the iniquity of his father. The father, however, shall die in his iniquity (verse 18).
Is there not in all this a voice for many a conscience? Israel was convicted, for the piercing sword of the Word of God brought to every hearer, every reader, the solemn question, In which of the three classes am I? and forthwith revealed the true answer. All, or nearly all, were in the middle class.
Yet there was still opportunity for repentance, even at that late hour, when judgment overwhelming in character was only a few short years away (verses 30-32).
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