Ezekiel 18:20. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Oh Friends, today when I sat down to write the Bit, I opened the Good Book at Jeremiah 18. As usual, I looked around for any special signs or worthwhile passages. Obviously my eye caught the 20th verse, and a little reaction happened in my soul. But I complained, well more suggested, (smile) that the passage seemed a tad too long and convoluted. However, the Spirit seemed insistent that we consider its contents. So who am I to argue with the Living God eh? (smile) And the Bit does make some good points that all believers should definitely know and adhere to, if they want to see the Lord’s face at the end. ‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.’ Hn! Certainly strong words my people. Now the first, and possibly most important fact is: ‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die.’ Friends, there are no ifs, ands and buts attached to that statement. You don’t receive the Lord Jesus as your personal Saviour, you mock the One True God and do the things He abhors and prohibits, then your soul is in grave danger of eternal death and damnation. Hear what happened when Amaziah, the son of Joash, reigned in Judah. His first act, after consolidating power, was to execute the unfaithful servants who slew his father. (2 Kin.12:20) ‘But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the Lord commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.’ (2 Kin.14:6) Yes my people, the children of sinners should not pay for their father’s sins, or vice versa, though we do that all the time in this life. Just look at how we treat the family of those who commit serious crimes, or even go to jail for minor things! We automatically paint them with the same negative brush as their relatives. And though some of them may indeed follow in their family’s footsteps, we should not automatically scorn them, or immediately hold them guilty by association. A good example of the Lord’s action in this area is also found in 2 Kings. We refer to the time Hilkiah, the high priest, found the book of the law in the Lord’s house when they were rebuilding it. It seems that the inhabitants of Judah at that time were unfamiliar with the Law of Moses, since most of their previous kings worshipped heathen gods. The Law of Moses here refers to the Pentateuch; the first five books of the Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. However, when this book was found and read to king Josiah, he tore off his clothes, for he was highly perturbed by the anger that God seemed to hold for the people of Judah because of their father’s terrible sins. So he sent a delegation to the current prophet(ess) Huldah to enquire of God’s purpose and direction for the people. (2 Kin.22:8-14) Here is Huldah’s reply: ‘Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil (calamity) upon this place, and even upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read: Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched. But to the king of Judah which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard; because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent (tore) thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers (cause you to join your ancestors in death), and thou shall be gathered into thy grave in peace (die a natural death); and thine eyes shall not see the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.’ (2 Kin.22:16-20) Yes Friends, because Josiah’s right heart was troubled and humbled before the Lord, he was granted peace in his days, though the people of the land would eventually be punished for their evil deeds. That certainly talks to God’s powerful sense of justice and righteousness; not punishing his children for the sins of others. And we’ll close with one more passage on the topic. ‘Behold, all souls are mine, as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.’ (Ezek.18:4) Oh my people, those are the words of our God, put into the prophet Ezekiel’s mouth long, long ago, and remember His Word never changes, which means they still hold true today. So please, let’s take them very seriously and surrender our souls, our entire lives with reverence and adoration unto the Lord, so that it may be well with us at the end. More tomorrow on this Bit, God willing. Till then, carefully consider the Word, for it means what it says, and walk safely with the Lord. Much LOVE!…remember…the wages of SIN…is DEATH…
Oh Friends, today when I sat down to write the Bit, I opened the Good Book at Jeremiah 18. As usual, I looked around for any special signs or worthwhile passages. Obviously my eye caught the 20th verse, and a little reaction happened in my soul. But I complained, well more suggested, (smile) that the passage seemed a tad too long and convoluted. However, the Spirit seemed insistent that we consider its contents. So who am I to argue with the Living God eh? (smile) And the Bit does make some good points that all believers should definitely know and adhere to, if they want to see the Lord’s face at the end. ‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.’ Hn! Certainly strong words my people. Now the first, and possibly most important fact is: ‘The soul that sinneth, it shall die.’ Friends, there are no ifs, ands and buts attached to that statement. You don’t receive the Lord Jesus as your personal Saviour, you mock the One True God and do the things He abhors and prohibits, then your soul is in grave danger of eternal death and damnation. Hear what happened when Amaziah, the son of Joash, reigned in Judah. His first act, after consolidating power, was to execute the unfaithful servants who slew his father. (2 Kin.12:20) ‘But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the Lord commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.’ (2 Kin.14:6) Yes my people, the children of sinners should not pay for their father’s sins, or vice versa, though we do that all the time in this life. Just look at how we treat the family of those who commit serious crimes, or even go to jail for minor things! We automatically paint them with the same negative brush as their relatives. And though some of them may indeed follow in their family’s footsteps, we should not automatically scorn them, or immediately hold them guilty by association. A good example of the Lord’s action in this area is also found in 2 Kings. We refer to the time Hilkiah, the high priest, found the book of the law in the Lord’s house when they were rebuilding it. It seems that the inhabitants of Judah at that time were unfamiliar with the Law of Moses, since most of their previous kings worshipped heathen gods. The Law of Moses here refers to the Pentateuch; the first five books of the Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. However, when this book was found and read to king Josiah, he tore off his clothes, for he was highly perturbed by the anger that God seemed to hold for the people of Judah because of their father’s terrible sins. So he sent a delegation to the current prophet(ess) Huldah to enquire of God’s purpose and direction for the people. (2 Kin.22:8-14) Here is Huldah’s reply: ‘Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil (calamity) upon this place, and even upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read: Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched. But to the king of Judah which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, As touching the words which thou hast heard; because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent (tore) thy clothes, and wept before me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers (cause you to join your ancestors in death), and thou shall be gathered into thy grave in peace (die a natural death); and thine eyes shall not see the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again.’ (2 Kin.22:16-20) Yes Friends, because Josiah’s right heart was troubled and humbled before the Lord, he was granted peace in his days, though the people of the land would eventually be punished for their evil deeds. That certainly talks to God’s powerful sense of justice and righteousness; not punishing his children for the sins of others. And we’ll close with one more passage on the topic. ‘Behold, all souls are mine, as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.’ (Ezek.18:4) Oh my people, those are the words of our God, put into the prophet Ezekiel’s mouth long, long ago, and remember His Word never changes, which means they still hold true today. So please, let’s take them very seriously and surrender our souls, our entire lives with reverence and adoration unto the Lord, so that it may be well with us at the end. More tomorrow on this Bit, God willing. Till then, carefully consider the Word, for it means what it says, and walk safely with the Lord. Much LOVE!…remember…the wages of SIN…is DEATH…
SCRIP-BITS 