Topic: God Of Equity [Wednesday July 12, 2017]
Text: Ezekiel 18:1-18
Key Verse: “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” (Ezekiel 18:4).
Our cogitation today brings us to a stern warning from the Lord to the children of Israel to stop the usage of a particular proverb. God considered it as gross injustice to punish the son for the fault of the father, who is unjust, unrighteous and idolatrous while the son lives righteously, keeping the statutes, commandments and judgments of the Lord. In the old economy, an individual belonged to the nation or the family and was related to God only as a member of a larger whole. Now, he has to deal with God directly.
Therefore, each man is responsible for his own acts. The ideal relation with God must be one in which the destiny of every man depends on his own free actions. Each Israelite stands isolated before God, the burden of hereditary guilt falls away from him and he is free to determine his own relationship with God. As prophesied severally by Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Jeremiah 31:29,30; Ezekiel 18:2). The new Israel must be organised on the basis of personal religion. The call to repentance, which is the keynote of Ezekiel’s ministry, is addressed to individual men. It affirms the absolute righteousness of God’s dealings and His readiness to welcome and pardon the individual who is penitent. Every man stands as an individual entity before God, who would not allow the righteous to be unfairly treated just because of someone else’s sin in a previous generation.
True believers need not fear or be cowed by the threats of the enemy; neither should they be incapacitated by the common opinion about generational curses. We have been redeemed completely from them. God is still the same and His words are dependable. You can rise up in the strength of the Lord to silence every contrary voice, statements and situations negating the plans and purposes of God in your life, family and ministry.
Thought for the day: God is righteous in all His judgment.
Bible Reading in one Year: Genesis 35-37
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
