“What 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?
As I live saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel”
Ezekiel 18:2
The Setting
Ezekiel chronicles the consequences of a first, second, and third generation of sinners. In Ezekiel 18, verses 5-9 speak of the first. “But if a man be just.” Verses 10-13 describe the second with, “if he beget a son.” Then he transitions to the third and final generation in 14-18, “Now, lo, if he beget a son.” This three generation cycle is observable in every nationality, age, or dispensation. Whether a person is aware of their place in this cycle or not seems to have little effect of slowing or reversing the process.
The process is a gradual slide away from a relationship with the Lord. In Ezekiel 18:5-9, the first man to find forgiveness and a purpose from God likely spends his whole life in thankful service. He realizes what His forgiveness costs, and he labors in light of that indebtedness. He feels unworthy and understands the blessings of grace. The first generation is responsive.
The second man, as listed in Ezekiel 18:10-13, is a generation who tests the limits of that grace. The second is likely to assume the privileges of his father’s walk with God, but he will never attempt to “walk worthy” of them. He lives his life rather to spite the goodness of God- to sample the sins that his father was glad to leave behind. The second generation I call rebellious.
The third generation according to Ezekiel 18:14-18 has the most opportune vantage point to observe and learn. He “seeth all his father’s sins which he hath done, and considereth” lifetimes spent either striving for the Lord, or striving against Him. He may judge from experience the risks and rewards of sin and holiness. The third generation find themselves on a pivot that will either turn upward, or continue downward. This generation I call reflexive.
The Study
The point of this study is first of all, to reveal what is true wisdom and what is not. The world has its wisdom: things that make sense without God. Paul said that “the world by wisdom knew not God.” (1 Corinthians 1:21) This wisdom is passed along through tradition, family ties, folklore, motivational quotes, or philosophy. An unwitting Christian reads God into it, and will ‘like, share, and subscribe’ the “philosophy and vain deceit” (Colossians 2:8) thinking his assent will be a witness for God somehow. But “God is not in all their thoughts.” (Psalm 10:4b) In all those wise sayings of the world, the lost man reads God OUT of it.
This is dangerous because it is so easy to do. It is also dangerous because it gives us a false sense of winning a lost man without the word of God. You can’t win a duel with the worldly mind without the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph. 6:17) It is ultimately dangerous because using worldly wisdom as an inroad to reach the lost may actually push them farther down the road of damnation.
The False Pretense
The ancient proverb in Israel was, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” A Christian’s mind will read into this the fall of man, Romans 5:12, and a nationalistic sowing and reaping for sin. Those are ALL TRUE pictures of this proverb… if you read God INTO it. But look at it again: do you see the Lord in it? He’s not there! If you see God there, it may be that He can use it to guide your thoughts to Him. However, as far as the Word of God is concerned, just because something may be occasionally spiritually accurate does not make it Scripturally sound. In this case, the Lord says that people will “not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.”
Chances are, if you are reading this, you are saved or religious. (You know God or think you know Him.) Therefore, you will take any mushy sentiment and smear God over it, and call it good. For some of you, it may be out of sincerity that you acknowledge God in all your ways. But for most, it is out of the desire to soothe the seared conscience; to quiet the reproving voice of Scripture in the heart. For most, it is a substitution of a Bible verse for a bungled mess. It is the swap of a powerful Proverb for a sappy saying.
The Forcible Principle
The mob of men that brought to Jesus a woman taken in adultery learned the difference between these two. When they had set her in the midst of them, they quoted a partial truth derived from half of a statement from the Old Testament. Jesus did not agree with their half truth nor did He reuse their misinformation for a chance to reach them. No, the only wise Lord Jesus ignored them, and wrote a whole Scripture for them to take in.
“And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.”
John 8:8-9
It is the power of the word of God to quicken the conscience. Worldly wisdom has no power to convict. Worldly wisdom also cannot reprove, that is to change or remake, a man. Before the Crucifixion, Jesus promised the Comforter: “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:” (John 16:8) That is the fundamental formula for salvation used by the apostle Paul. (Acts 24:25) Both conviction and reproof depend upon the sword of the Spirit.
Job said, “How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?”(Job 6:25) Not, ‘How right are forcible words!’
The paleness of worldly wisdom can be seen in some of the most popular philosophic quotes:
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Know thyself.” -Socrates
“Be all that you can be.” -U.S. Army recruitment slogan
“Make the best use of what is in your power, take the rest as it happens.” -Epictetus
“I think, therefore, I am.” -René Descartes
Compare that to these:
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.” -Proverb 7:10
“A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.” -Proverb 18:2
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” – Philippians 4:13
“Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” -Philippians 3:8
“But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” -1 Corinthians 15:10
They are not equal. They cannot both be right. You cannot believe them both. You will prove them by your life, and the generations following you will write down the lessons you never learned. Or you can trust God’s words by faith, and eternity will forever confirm the truth of the Scriptures.
The Sum
Only scriptural wisdom will pass the test of reality. God reproved the false wisdom of Israel’s favorite proverb through Ezekiel’s practical preaching and teaching. He uproots their wrong idea and leaves them instead with this eternally accurate truth: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Ezekiel 18:20) God’s wisdom is immovable and immutable. It is unchanging, for it changes all who believe it and act upon it.
Discover more from Spiritual Reload
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
