Ezek. xviii. 25 — 30. Ye say, the ivay of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, 0 house of Israel ; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? When a righteous man turneth aivay from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wicked- ness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he consider- eth, and turneth aivay from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet saith the house of Israel, The %vay of the Lord is not equal. 0 house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways
unequal? Therefore I will judge you, 0 house of Israel, every one according to his luays, saith the Lord God. Re- pent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions ; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
THERE is a general disposition in man to reply against God ; and rather to arraign his justice, than to condemn himself. Occasion was taken for this by the Jews of old, even from the declarations of the law and the prophets. The law had said, that God would " visit the sins of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation ;" and the prophets had frequently declared, that the iniquities of Jero- boam, Manasseh, and others, should be visited on their descendants. From hence the Jews profanely characterized the Divine procedure by this proverb, " The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the chil- dren's teeth are set on edge3." They did not con- sider, that they themselves were sinners like unto their fathers, and merited for their own iniquities every judgment which God had threatened to lay upon them ; nor did they ever consider, that if God was pleased to exercise forbearance towards some, he was not necessitated to continue it towards all, when he saw that the very exercise of it emboldened men the more to sin against him : nor did they ever consider, that the menaces, which were uttered in reference to temporal judgments, were erroneously interpreted, when they were applied to the judgments of the eter- nal world. The prophet therefore was instructed to expostulate with them on their misinterpretation of God's word ; and to declare to them, that though in this world children must unavoidably participate in the judgments of their fathers, it should not be so in the world to come : there the son should not bear in any respect the iniquity of the father, nor the father of the son ; but " the soul that sinned, it should die." In confirmation of this truth, the pro- phet argues with them in this chapter, wherein the whole plan of the Divine proceedings, in reference to
a vcr. 2.