September 1 — Turn and Live
SCRIPTURE READING:
Ezekiel 18-20
SCRIPTURE:
Ezekiel 18
¹The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,
²What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?
³As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
⁴Behold, 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.
⁵But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right,
⁶And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour's wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman,
⁷And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;
⁸He that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man,
⁹Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.
¹⁰If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things,
¹¹And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour's wife,
¹²Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination,
¹³Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.
¹⁴Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father's sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like,
¹⁵That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour's wife,
¹⁶Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment,
¹⁷That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.
¹⁸As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity.
¹⁹Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.
²⁰The 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.
²¹But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
²²All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
²³Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
²⁴But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
²⁵Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
²⁶When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.
²⁷Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
²⁸Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
²⁹Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?
³⁰Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
³¹Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
³²For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.
Ezekiel 19
¹Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
²And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.
³And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.
⁴The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.
⁵Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion.
⁶And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men.
⁷And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.
⁸Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit.
⁹And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
¹⁰Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.
¹¹And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.
¹²But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.
¹³And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.
¹⁴And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.
Ezekiel 20
¹And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the LORD, and sat before me.
²Then came the word of the LORD unto me, saying,
³Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.
⁴Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:
⁵And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the LORD your God;
⁶In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:
⁷Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
⁸But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
⁹But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.
¹⁰Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.
¹¹And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.
¹²Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them.
¹³But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
¹⁴But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.
¹⁵Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;
¹⁶Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
¹⁷Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.
¹⁸But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:
¹⁹I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them;
²⁰And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.
²¹Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
²²Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth.
²³I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries;
²⁴Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.
²⁵Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;
²⁶And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.
²⁷Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me.
²⁸For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings.
²⁹Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.
³⁰Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations?
³¹For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.
³²And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.
³³As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:
³⁴And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
³⁵And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.
³⁶Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.
³⁷And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:
³⁸And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
³⁹As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.
⁴⁰For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.
⁴¹I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.
⁴²And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.
⁴³And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.
⁴⁴And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
⁴⁵Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
⁴⁶Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;
⁴⁷And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
⁴⁸And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.
⁴⁹Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?
DEVOTIONAL:
Ezekiel 18 confronts a proverb that had become an excuse for spiritual fatalism: the fathers had eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth were set on edge. Israel's exiles certainly lived with consequences produced by earlier generations, yet the LORD would not permit inherited circumstances to become a defense for present rebellion. Each person stood morally accountable before Him. The chapter does not deny corporate solidarity or the long reach of sin through families and societies; it denies that anyone may blame ancestry as though repentance were impossible. God repeatedly sets life and death before His people and calls them to turn. His declaration that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked reveals judgment as holy rather than cruel. The Judge who names sin also summons sinners away from it. Repentance therefore is not cosmetic regret. It is a decisive reorientation toward the God whose ways are just.
Chapter 19 turns from individual responsibility to a lament over Judah's royal house. The lioness and her cubs portray a Davidic monarchy brought low through violence, captivity, and foreign domination; the transplanted vine ends burned and without a strong rod to rule. Chapter 20 then reaches farther back, rehearsing Israel's repeated rebellion from Egypt through the wilderness and into the land. Again and again the LORD acts for the sake of His name, withholding the full measure of destruction even while disciplining covenant unfaithfulness. That history exposes a deep problem: Israel does not merely need improved circumstances. A rescued people can carry an unchanged heart into a new place. The recurring Sabbath language in chapter 20 also reminds us that covenant obedience was meant to mark Israel as belonging to the LORD. Their refusal profaned the sign because their worship and their loyalties were divided.
The command in Ezekiel 18 to make a new heart and a new spirit presses human responsibility to its proper edge; later, Ezekiel 36 will reveal that the very renewal God commands is also something He graciously gives. Scripture does not solve the tension by weakening either side. Sinners are truly commanded to repent, and saving renewal is truly the work of God. In Jesus the Messiah, that convergence becomes good news. He calls people to repent and believe, bears judgment for sinners at the cross, rises in victory, and gives the Holy Spirit to those who trust Him. Salvation is not earned by a record of improved behavior. It is received by grace through faith, and the grace that pardons also begins to reshape allegiance, desire, and conduct. The gospel does not excuse rebellion; it liberates the repentant sinner from its mastery.
Ezekiel 20 also warns against a subtler form of rebellion: wanting the privileges of God's people while adopting the worship patterns of the surrounding nations. The elders came to inquire of the LORD, yet God exposed a long history of idolatrous compromise. Religious activity cannot compensate for a heart that reserves its deepest loyalty for something else. Modern idols rarely stand in carved form, but they still demand trust, identity, sacrifice, and obedience. Career, comfort, approval, politics, money, family image, or personal autonomy can all be treated as ultimate. The question raised by these chapters is therefore searching: not merely whether we participate in Christian practices, but whether the living God has the right to contradict us, command us, forgive us, and redirect us. Genuine repentance places the whole life beneath His lordship.
In daily life, repentance becomes visible in concrete choices. A husband or wife who has sinned should confess without shifting blame to upbringing, stress, or the other person's failures. Parents can acknowledge family patterns without treating those patterns as destiny, teaching children that Christ gives both forgiveness and a new way to walk. At work, integrity means refusing to hide behind a corrupt culture when conscience and Scripture require honesty. In church life, mature discipleship creates space for warning and restoration rather than either excusing sin or treating repentant people as permanently defined by it. The practical question is not, What excuse explains me? but, What faithful step does obedience require now because I belong to Christ?
In U.S. civic life, the virtue arising from this passage is moral accountability joined to mercy: communities suffer from inherited problems, yet citizens and leaders remain responsible for present choices and should leave room for genuine reform. Pray for judges, legislators, educators, parents, pastors, employers, and public servants to reject both scapegoating and self-righteousness, to tell the truth about wrongdoing, and to pursue policies and practices that protect life while encouraging responsible restoration. Christians should show up in public life as people who own their duties, extend mercy without calling evil good, and point beyond political blame toward the transforming grace of God.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Where does Ezekiel 18 challenge the temptation to excuse present disobedience by appealing to family history or circumstances?
How does God's call to turn and live prepare us to understand repentance and new birth in Jesus the Messiah?
What inherited pattern in your family or personal history needs to be faced honestly rather than treated as destiny?
How can Christians hold moral accountability and mercy together when engaging public problems in the United States?
PRAYER:
ADORATION: Holy LORD, Your ways are equal, Your judgments are righteous, and Your mercy is deeper than our excuses. You are the God who speaks truth about sin and still calls the sinner to turn and live.
CONFESSION: Forgive us for blaming others when You call us to repent. Expose the loyalties we protect, the habits we excuse, and the religious appearances we use to avoid wholehearted obedience.
THANKSGIVING: Thank You that in Jesus the Messiah You have provided atonement, resurrection life, and the gift of Your Spirit. We praise You that our past need not be our master when Your grace makes us new.
SUPPLICATION – GENERAL: Give us hearts that respond quickly to correction. Strengthen marriages, families, workplaces, and churches with truthful confession, patient restoration, holy courage, and obedience that grows from faith rather than fear.
SUPPLICATION – U.S. / CIVIC: Grant our nation a clearer sense of responsibility before You. Give public leaders humility to admit wrong, wisdom to correct what can be corrected, and mercy that seeks restoration without weakening justice.
SCRIPTURE: For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.