Ezekiel reveals to us in forty-eight chapters what God has instructed him to say to the Hebrews and to us. One of the main themes is personal responsibility. Do the right thing and you’ll be okay, but do the wrong thing without repenting and you’re lost. We’re not necessarily talking about the consequences in this life, because we all know that sometimes bad things happen to good people and vice versa. The more important point is, where will your soul spend eternity. Nothing that happens to us in this life can be as bad as eternity in Hell. (Yes, there surely is one.)
Ezekiel 18:21-24:
But if a wicked man turns away from all his sins which he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness which he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and does the same abominable things that the wicked man does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds which he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, he shall die.
Part of this point, too, is that the sins of the father are not visited on the son if the son is a righteous man. Ezekiel 18:20:
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 wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
God is always ready to receive us back into His loving heart. You will be judged on your righteousness or wickedness, not the righteousness or wickedness of your family, your community, your country. Be ready for the end, your end. Examine your heart and make sure you are right with God.
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