Ezekiel 18 and 19 notes

Here they are as promised.

Ezekiel 18

Here we have a wonderful passage of teaching in this chapter. Each person will account for his/her own sins. the people of Israel were going around saying the children are punished for the sins of their parents. Lots of wonderful messages here.
First of all the sin of parents can affect the children of those parents. There is what some people call a "generational curse" where the behavior of parents do negatively impact the lives of the children. Parents are often blamed for bad behavior by children. The fact that people were saying this maybe meant that they weren't concerned with their sin because there apparently would be no consequences on them but only their children. Now parents who willingly sin and delay the consequences until the generation of their children are being entirely too selfish.
Every soul is God's and he states that. Furthermore every soul will account for their own actions. This is illustrated by the example of a righteous generation followed by a wicked generation followed by a righteous generation. The action of the individuals are what determines their life (eternal) or not.
One thing can be inferred even though it isn't said. It is this, that a generational curse does not have any power over an individual. It is a matter of personal choice. Bad actions and choices by your parents do not necessarily mean their children will make bad choices.
The symmetry here is wonderful as well. Good actions and choices by parents do not necessarily mean a child will make good choices. It will always be an individual's choice.
Pause- reflect on what this means, wonderful circumstances do not prevent bad choices, and terrible circumstances do not make certain bad choices. I think of my shortcomings as a parent, and all parents I would hazard to say make errors. I see in my mind hungry and abused children that God loves, those in terrible family situations and yet they have hope, the best type of hope.
Conversely children in near perfect homes still have choices to make. Life determining choices.
Another interesting point, it is that our bad choices (sins) are forgotten when we turn toward righteousness and repent. In I Cor 13 we read that love doesn't keep a record of wrongs. Are we keeping records of the wrongs done to us? Neither here nor in I Cor is an exception noted. More symmetry, righteous acts are not deposited and kept in an account so we can transgress. If a person chooses to turn away from God, they will die Eze 18:24.
What it means is that people have to constantly choose to follow God. They have to continue down the righteous path they started daily. There is no plateau, there should be constant growth. Building up sin credit isn't possible. On the other hand a person who has made selfish, prideful decisions can choose a different way and his/her past is erased from God's memory (even if not from man's).
What remarkable love.
The Israelites claimed that this wasn't "fair" - was it because they were trying to build up a credit to allow transgression? Transgression being a willful act that hurts the welfare of another person. Or were they leaning on pride and the fact that they had been righteous "longer" than a person who just turned to God. Longer somehow making them better.
This means there is hope for wicked people to turn and find life, and at the same time the righteous person has an opportunity to fall. The day you accepted Christ was a turning to God, a choosing His way over your own. I hope that choosing His way is a daily activity by us all. Choose to live His way daily, hourly, by the minute, by the second, it is his desire that none should perish, and His ways are the best (by far) choices.
What remarkable love.

Ezekiel 19

This requires a history lesson from 2 Chron 36. Judah is the lioness, her cubs are kings at the end before exile. Her first cub taken to Egypt with hooks. This would be Josiah's son Jehoahaz- taken to Egypt by its king. He then appointed Jehoiakim, Jehoahaz' brother as king. Nebuchadnezzar came and laid seige to Judah and took this king to Babylon.
This shows that Judah was weak, that it was overrun by two different nations. A vine if you will, easy to break. But torn from its land, its roots, and now only fit for the fire.
After Jehoiakim was taken to Babylon, Jehoiachin his son made king, but he was later ordered to be brought to Babylon. Zedekiah (Jehoiachin's uncle- Son of Josiah??) made king, and was the king when the city was taken and destroyed.