Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 18:32
For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn [yourselves], and live ye.
32. The appeal to turn from evil sustained by reference to the prevailing nature of God. He is the God of salvation; his will is that men should live. The A.V. marg. to “turn yourselves (cf. Eze 18:30) or others ” is altogether false. The active form “turn” is either used intransitively, or yourselves (lit. your faces) is understood, cf. ch. Eze 14:6.
(1) The place of the present chapter may be explained by connecting it with the Messianic prophecy immediately preceding (ch. Eze 17:22-24); the passage enunciates the principles and conditions of entering the perfect kingdom. The same principles are stated in two other passages, ch. Eze 3:16-21, and ch. Eze 33:1-20. They are properly in place in the last passage. The prophet feels himself, however, essentially a prophet of the new age, and writing his Book after the fall of Jerusalem he may have expanded principles less fully developed at an earlier time. The age before which he stands is an ideal one, and principles realized but imperfectly now shall then have full prevalence (ch. Eze 12:16, Eze 14:22).
(2) The principle which the prophet insists upon is not the strict retributive righteousness of God, but the moral freedom and independence of the individual person. The individual is not involved in the destiny of his fathers or of his people; neither does he lie under an irrevocable doom pronounced over him by his past life. The immediate relation of every spirit to God and its moral freedom to break with its own past raises it above both these dooms. What Ezekiel teaches regarding God is that he hath no pleasure that the wicked should die. The prophet’s whole purpose is practical, to strike off from the people the shackles of a despair that was settling upon them, whether they looked to themselves or to God. What he says of men is that each stands in immediate relation to God and shall live or die according as he repents or continues in his sin; and what he teaches of God is that in spite of the dark clouds of judgment behind which he seems now hidden his prevailing will is that men should live.
(3) The conception of the prophet is a complex or double one, having an internal and an external side. The inward element in the conception is the spiritual relation of the individual person to God; the outward element is the form “life” and “death” in which this internal relation is made manifest, rewarded or punished in God’s treatment of the individual person. We perceive a cleavage taking place between these two elements. The principles enunciated by the prophet refer to the spiritual relation of the individual to God, and are true when limited to this. The individual shall not, in this sense, suffer for the sins of his people, nor the child for the sins of his father; and even his own past life does not weave an inexorable fate around him from which there is no escape. In all cases consequences evil enough may descend upon the son from the father, or upon himself from his own past life, but not this particular consequence. His moral freedom and independence raises him above these consequences, and brings him as an independent person into direct relation with God, over against others and even over against his former self. And this is really all that the prophet is teaching of new truth here. It is truth which the New Testament teaches, and which is the foundation of all morals. To charge the prophet with cutting up the individual human life into sections which have no moral relation to one another, or with teaching that a man shall live or die according to the condition in which he shall be found “for the moment” when the judgment overtakes him, is grossly to distort his language.
It may be true that the prophet has not yet been able fully to analyse his own complex conception and separate completely the spiritual relation of the mind to God from the person’s external conditions. No Old Testament writer probably has been able to do this consciously and formally, although it is often done in principle and in moments of spiritual elevation (Psa 73:23 seq., Eze 17:14-15). But the ideal character of the age which the prophet feels to be about to dawn, and to which he applies his principles, marks an approach towards completing the distinction. This future though imminent ideal time, the time of the perfect kingdom of God, is that which corresponds to our idea of heaven, or another future world, in which external condition will perfectly correspond to spiritual state. The prophet’s ideal world, in which spiritual relation would be perfectly bodied out externally, was still the earth. “Life” and “death,” in the ordinary sense of these words, were the only means by which inward spiritual relations could find proper outward expression.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Eze 18:32
I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth.
The mercy of God
I. The benevolence of Gods own character. He who is love, and who delights therefore only in happiness, being at the same time a holy and just Governor, must no doubt punish sin, and punish it severely; but never can He punish for the sake merely of giving pain, nor can He ever find any pleasure in the death of him that dieth, viewed in itself and apart from the reasons why it takes place.
II. The arrangements He made with man in his original state of innocence. The native immortality of mans first constitution, the high capacity of enjoyment with which he was endued, the inexhaustible sources of entertainment presented to him in a world every part of which was very good; and then the beautiful garden itself, still more rich and highly decorated than the smiling world around it, and placed under mans care, that in keeping and dressing it he might be the more happy; these, and other such arrangements, surely indicated anything but a disposition to take pleasure in the death of him that dieth. Or, look at the subsequent arrangements made with Adam, and in him with ourselves, who shall say that the agreement was a hard one?
III. The utter detestation in which Jehovah holds sin, the cause of death. Properly, this is the one thing which He detests. Hence, it is described in His word as that abominable thing which He hates. And among the reasons why He so abhors sin, this is one of the first–that it is the enemy of all happiness, the source of all misery.
IV. The method of recovering us from sin which God has adopted. You here find Him doing everything to preserve men from death. But what is still more remarkable, after they had disregarded all these precautions of Divine love, and fallen by their iniquity, you next find Jehovah making arrangements for their recovery from death. And then such arrangements!
V. The various and suitable means employed to bring us to the acceptance of the Saviour thus provided for us. First of all, He puts the Gospel on record, by the instrumentality of men guided in doing so by His own Spirit. There we read of our degradation and ruin by sin, that we may know our disease; and of the eminent skill and qualifications of the Physician, that we may be induced to make application to Him for the remedy of His blood and grace. And then, lest all this should fail of taking our attention and impressing our conscience, we are warned, in the most impressive manner of our approaching destruction; and we are argued with–we are encouraged–we are invited–we are entreated–to flee for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before us.
VI. The work of rendering all these means effectual He puts into the hands of His own Spirit. Jehovah knew too well the obstinacy of the hearts He would have to deal with, to hope for the repentance of a single sinner without providing in this way for the regeneration of his soul by a Divine operation. Such a change manifestly requires an exertion of Divine power as truly as resurrection or creation can do in their more common signification. Great, however, as this work is, its accomplishment is every way secured by the appointment of the Holy Ghost to the office. (P. Hannay.)
Divine sorrow over the impenitent
I. It is painful to see such noble affections misplaced. The spirit that is in man was created capable of loving its Creator, with all the subjects of His kingdom, His law, His Gospel, and His service. Now, can any suppose that the blessed God has pleasure in seeing such noble affections misplaced? Is it not more in accordance with all we know of the Father of the Spirits to infer that He would rather fill capacities like these with His own immensity? and that He would delight in making happy souls so originally great and holy?
II. Such great expectations disappointed. The sinner on whom we have fixed our eye was born, perhaps, a child of promise. Over his very cradle his parents planned his future course, and indulged the fondest hopes of his future distinction, usefulness, and piety. He was, it may be supposed, the child of many prayers and of high expectations. Oh, how dreadful to see such hopes withered, such reasonable expectations nipped and destroyed by the frost of the second death! How can there be in such an object anything that can fill the heart of God with pleasure? Were it the seat of malevolence instead of mercy, it could hardly fail to weep over such costly ruins.
III. The fact will more clearly appear, when we see in the lost sinner such useful talents wasted and ruined. The theme is painful–and let us touch it tenderly. Think, then, of some great man now in torment. While on earth he could exhibit amazing enterprise. He could count the stars and measure the diameter and distance of every planet. He could conceive noble schemes, and trace, by the force of his intellect, every project to its final close. But like the infidels, Hume, Voltaire, Bolingbroke, Hobbes, and many others, he hated the Son of God. Ah! if these men had been as good as they were great, how useful they might have been. But their gigantic minds were their bane and curse. The greatness that might have made them happy has made them miserable. What a loss to all heaven! If any government should be under the necessity of imprisoning for life its loftiest geniuses, would not the loss be an injury to the nation? Would it not be felt and deplored by every loyal subject and true patriot? How then can we for a moment suppose that the God of love and mercy can have any pleasure in the death of him that dieth? Inferences–
1. God will not consign any to perdition who do not oblige Him to do so. Judgment is His strange work.
2. We see hence why the blessed God bears so long with the disobedient and wicked. He abhors the work of destruction, and would not that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
3. There must be something very odious in sin, since even the Father of mercies will not spare from death the guilty, though He is loath to destroy. (D. A. Clark.)
The death of sinners not pleasing to God
I. What is here to be understood by mens dying. Scripture mentions three kinds of death: temporal death, spiritual death, and eternal death. Temporal death is the dissolution of the connection between the soul and body. Spiritual death is the total corruption or depravity of the heart. Eternal death is complete and endless misery in a future state. Temporal death is a common calamity, which none can escape. By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Spiritual death is as universal as temporal. By nature all men are dead in trespasses and sins, and under the entire dominion of an evil heart. But eternal death is peculiar to the finally impenitent. Neither temporal nor spiritual death is an adequate punishment for sin; but eternal death, or everlasting misery, is a just and proper reward for final impenitence and unbelief. And this is what God threatens.
II. God is really unwilling that any of mankind should suffer eternal death. This appears–
1. From the plain and positive declarations concerning the final state of impenitent sinners, which are everywhere to be found in His word.
2. By the pure, disinterested, and universal benevolence of His nature.
III. God sincerely desires that all should be saved.
1. If God be unwilling that any should die, then He must desire that all may live. He cannot be altogether indifferent about the happiness or misery of His rational add immortal creatures.
2. That God desires that all may escape misery and enjoy happiness in a future state, clearly appears from His providing a Saviour for all.
3. It appears from the invitations which God makes to sinners in the Gospel, that He desires all should be saved. These invitations are universal, and extend to all sinners of every age, character, and condition, who are capable of understanding them.
4. It further appears that God sincerely desires the salvation of all men, from His commanding all to embrace the Gospel and live. He never commands anything but what is agreeable to Him in its own nature.
5. The patience and forbearance of God towards sinners is a very clear and convincing evidence that He greatly desires that they should be saved rather than destroyed.
Improvement–
1. If God be so far from being willing that any of mankind should be lost that He sincerely desires that all should be saved, then He always did and always will feel as much benevolence towards those who are lost as towards those who are saved.
2. If God is so far from being willing that any of mankind should be lost that He sincerely desires that all should be saved, then it is easy to see how His love of benevolence towards them should be entirely consistent with His hatred of them. The more holy He is, the more He must hate sin. The more benevolent He is, the more He must hate selfishness. The more He loves the happiness of sinners, the more He must hate them for destroying it. The more He loves the good of their fellow men, the more He must hate them for opposing it. And the more He loves His own great and amiable character, the more He must hate His malignant and mortal enemies.
3. If Gods benevolence to sinners is consistent with His hating them, then it is consistent with His punishing them forever.
4. If God is so far from being willing that any of mankind should be lost that He sincerely desires that all should be saved, then He will do as much to save all as He can do, consistently with His benevolence. And with respect to those whose future and eternal happiness the good of the universe does not require, but forbids, they themselves will be fully convinced that God did as much for them as He could consistently do, and that their own negligence and obstinacy were the only faulty causes of their own ruin. They will have to blame themselves, that when God put a price into their hands to get wisdom and obtain life, they had no heart to do it, but chose death rather than life.
5. If God acts from the same benevolent motives in loving and in punishing finally impenitent sinners, then saints will forever love and praise Him for all His conduct towards those guilty and miserable objects.
6. It appears from what has been said about Gods willingness and desire that sinners might be saved, that they are extremely unwilling to be saved. They had rather die than live; they choose eternal death rather than eternal life.
7. We learn the astonishing grace of God in making any sinners willing to be saved. Renewing grace is, in the strictest sense, special, irresistible grace. It demonstrates that God is infinitely more willing to save sinners than they are to be saved. It is subduing their unwillingness, and making them willing in the day of His power to be saved. (N. Emmons, D. D.)
Wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.
What must and can persons do towards their own conversion
Turn yourselves! We may ask, Is this the Christian doctrine of conversion? are we not taught to depend on a converting grace? Is not our helplessness in default of grace a commonplace of theologians and preachers? Well, is not that truth indicated by the Psalmists language about the law of the Lord, or the Lord Himself as restoring the soul, or by Elijahs prayer on Carmel, Hear me, that this people may know that Thou hast turned their heart back again, and yet more touchingly, perhaps, by the prayer which Jeremiah puts into Ephraims mouth, Turn Thou me, and I shall be turned? When, in the light of such words, we read Ezekiels exhortation, we understand that when a penitent turns himself to God, he is in fact responding to a movement from God, and using a power which that movement has supplied. So it is that two elements concur in conversion: a Saul replies duteously to the remonstrance, Why persecutest thou Me? an Augustine, having taken up and read the Pauline summary of a Christians moral obligations, surrenders his will absolutely to the practical requirements of the creed which his mind had become ready to accept. We all of us may hear, if we do not wilfully shut our ears, the voice which would draw us to the Christ of apostles and all saints; if we listen, we shall receive strength to obey. (Canon Bright.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 32. For I have no pleasure] God repeats what he had so solemnly declared before. Can ye doubt his sincerity? his ability? his willingness? the efficacy of the blood of his covenant?
Wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.] Reader, now give God thy heart.
Though every man comes into the world with a fallen nature – a soul infected with sin, yet no man is damned on that account. He who refuses that grace which pardons sin and heals infected nature, who permits the evil principle to break out into transgression, and continues and dies in his iniquity and sin, and will not come unto Christ that he may have life; he, and he only, goes to perdition. Nor will the righteousness of a parent or relation help his sinful soul: no man can have more grace than is necessary to save himself; and none can have that, who does not receive it through Christ Jesus. It is the mercy of God in Christ which renders the salvation of a sinner possible; and it is that mercy alone which can heal the backslider. The atoning blood blots out all that is past; the same blood cleanses from all unrighteousness. Who believes so as to apply for this redemption? Who properly thanks God for having provided such a Saviour?
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Another argument to persuade to conversion, taken from the gracious nature of God, who taketh pleasure in the return of a sinner; for that is the meaning of the words: sinners displease God when they undo themselves, they please him when they return.
Turn yourselves; do what you can, leave what sins you have loved.
Live ye; it is a promise.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
32. (Lam 3:33;2Pe 3:9). God is “slow toanger”; punishment is “His strange work” (Isa28:21).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth,…. Which is not to be interpreted simply and absolutely, and with respect to all persons afflicted and punished by him; for he does take delight in the exercise of “judgment” and “righteousness”, and “laughs” at the “calamity” of wicked men, Jer 9:24; but comparatively, as in Ho 5:6. The sense is, that he takes no pleasure in the afflictions, calamities, and captivity of men, which are meant by death here; but rather that they would repent and reform, and live in their own land, and enjoy the good things of it; which shows the mercy and compassion of God to sinners:
wherefore, he renews his exhortation,
turn [yourselves], and live ye; or, “ye shall live” r; I take no delight in your present deaths, your captivity; it would be more agreeable to me would you turn from your evil ways to the Lord your God, and behave according to the laws I have given you to walk by, and so live in your own land, in the quiet possession of your goods and estates.
r “et vivetis”, Pagninus, Montanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
We see, therefore, how God throws off that false reproach from himself with which the children of Israel taunted him, saying, that they perished by his immoderate rigor, and could find no reason for his severity against them. He announces, on the other hand, that the cause of death rested with themselves; and then he points out the remedy, that they should amend their life, not only in outward appearance, but in sincerity of heart: and at the same time he testifies of his willingness to be entreated; nay, he meets them of his own accord, if they only repent heartily and unfeignedly. We now understand the Prophet’s meaning. We said, that we are admonished in this way, that if we desire to return to God we must begin at the beginning, namely, renewal of the heart and spirit; because, as Jeremiah says, he looks for truth and integrity, and does not value outward disguises. (Jer 5:3.) But it may seem absurd for God to exhort the Israelites to form their hearts anew: and men badly trained in the Scriptures erect their crests under the pretense of this passage, as if it were in the power of man’s free will to convert himself. They exclaim, therefore, either that God here exhorts his people deceitfully, or else that when alienated from him we can by our own movement repent, and return into the way. But the whole Scripture openly refutes this. It is not in vain that the saints so often pray that God would renew them; (Psa 51:12, and very often elsewhere;) for it would be a feigned and a lying prayer, if newness of heart were not his gift. If any one requests of God what he is persuaded that he has already, and by his own inherent virtue, does he not trifle with God? But nothing occurs more frequently than this mode of entreaty. Since therefore, the saints pray to God to renew them, they doubtless confess that to be his peculiar gift; and unless he moves his hand, they have no strength remaining, so that they can never rise from the ground. Besides, in many passages God claims the renewal of the heart as peculiar to himself. We noticed that remarkable passage in the eleventh chapter of this Prophet, (Eze 11:19,) he will repeat the same in the thirty-sixth chapter, (Eze 36:26😉 and we know what Jeremiah says in his thirty-first chapter, (Jer 31:33.) But Scripture is everywhere full of testimonies of this kind, so that it would be superfluous to heap together many passages; nay, if any one denies that regeneration is a gift of the Holy Spirit, he will tear up by the roots all the principles of piety. We have said that regeneration is like another creation; and if we compare it with the first creation, it far surpasses it. For it is much better for us to be made children of God, and reformed after his image within us, than to be created mortal: for we are born children of wrath, corrupt and degenerate; (Eph 2:3😉 since all integrity was lost when God’s image was removed. We see, then, the nature of our first creation; but when God re-fashions us, we are not only born sons of Adam, but we are the brothers of angels, and members of Christ; and this our second life consists in rectitude, justice, and the light of true intelligence.
We now see that if it had been in man’s free will to convert himself, much more would be ascribed to him than to God, because, as we have said, it was much more valuable to be created sons of God than of Adam. It ought, then, to be beyond all controversy with the pious that men cannot rise again when they are fallen, and turn of themselves when alienated from God; but this is the peculiar gift of the Holy Spirit. And the sophists, who in all ways endeavor to obscure God’s grace, confess that half the act of conversion is in the power of the Holy Spirit: for they do not say that we are simply and totally converted by the motion of our own free will, but they imagine a concurrence of grace with free will, and of free will with grace. Thus they foolishly represent us as cooperating with God: they confess, indeed, that God’s grace goes before and follows; and they seem to themselves very liberal towards God when they acknowledge this twofold grace in man’s conversion. But God is not content with that partition, since he is deprived of half his right: for he does not say that he would assist men to renew themselves and to repent; but he attributes the work to himself entirely: I will give you a new heart and a new spirit. (Eze 36:26.) If it is his to give, it follows that the slightest portion of it cannot be transferred to man without diminishing something from his right. But they object that the following precept is not in vain, that men should make for themselves a new heart. Now their deception arises through ignorance, from their judging of the powers of men by the commands of God; but the inference is incorrect, as we have said elsewhere: for when God teaches what is right, he does not think of what we are able to do, but only shows us what we ought to do. When, therefore, the power of our free will is estimated by the precepts of God, we make a great mistake, because God exacts from us the strict discharge of our duty, just as if our power of obedience was not defective. We are not absolved from our obligation because we cannot pay it; for God holds us bound to himself, although we are in every way deficient.
They object again, God then deludes men when he says, make yourselves a new heart. I answer, we must always consider to what purpose God thus speaks, namely, that men convicted of sin may cease to throw the blame on any one else, as they often endeavor to do; for nothing is more natural than to transfer the cause of our condemnation away from ourselves, that we may seem just, and God appear unjust. Since, then, such depravity reigns among men, hence the Holy Spirit demands from us what all acknowledge they ought to pay: and if we do not pay it, still we are bound to do so, and thus all strife and complaint should cease. Thus, as it concerns the elect, when God shows them their duty, and they acknowledge that they cannot discharge it, they fly to the aid of the Holy Spirit, so that the outward exhortation becomes a kind of instrument which God uses to confer the grace of his Spirit. For although he gratuitously goes before us, and does not need outward channels, yet he desires exhortations to be useful to this end. Since, therefore, this doctrine stirs up the elect to deliver themselves up to be ruled by the Holy Spirit, we see how it becomes fruitful to us. Whence it follows, that God does not delude or deceive us when he exhorts each of us to form his heart and his spirit afresh. In fine, Ezekiel wished by these words to show that pardon would be prepared for the Israelites if they seriously repented, and showed its effects through their whole life. That was most true, because the elect did not embrace this doctrine in vain, when at the same time God worked in them by his Spirit, and so turned them to himself. But the reprobate, though they do not cease to murmur, yet they are rendered ashamed, since all excuse has been removed, and they must perish through their own fault, since they willingly remained in their wickedness, and by self-indulgence they cherished the old man within themselves, — a fountain of all injustice. Whenever such passages occur, let us remember that celebrated prayer of Augustine: grant us what you command, and command what you wish, (Epist. 24;) for otherwise, if God should lay upon us the slightest burden, we should be unable to bear it. Besides, our strength will be sufficient to fulfill his requirements, if only he supply it, and we are not so foolish as to think anything comprehended in his precepts which he has not granted to us; because, as I have said before, nothing is more perverse than to measure the angelic righteousness of the law by our strength. By the word heart, I understand him to mean the seat of all the affections; and by spirit, the intellectual part of the soul. The heart is often taken for the reason and intelligence; but when these two words are joined together, the spirit relates to the mind, and so it is the intellectual faculty of the soul; but the heart is taken for the will, or the seat of all the affections. Hence we see how very corrupt the Israelites were, since they could not be otherwise reconciled to God, unless by being renewed in both heart and mind. Hence also we my gather the general doctrine, that nothing in us is sound and perfect, and hence all entire renovation is necessary that we may please God.
The subjoined phrase, why will ye die, O house of Israel? suggests many questions. Here unskillful men think that God speculates on what men will do, and that the salvation or destruction of each depends on themselves, as if God had determined nothing concerning us before the foundation of the world. Hence they set him at naught, since they fancy that he is held in suspense and doubt as to the future end of every one, and that he is not so anxious for our salvation, as to wish all to be saved, but leaves it in the power of every one to perish or to be saved as he pleases. But as I have said, this would reduce God to a specter. But we have no need of a long dispute, because Scripture everywhere declares with sufficient clearness that God has determined what shall happen to us: for he chose his own people before the foundation of the world and passed by others. (Eph 1:4.) Nothing is clearer than this doctrine; for if there had been no predestination on God’s part, there had been no deity, since he would be forced into order as if he were one of us: nay, men are to a certain extent provident, whenever God allows some sparks of his image to shine forth in them. If, therefore, the very smallest drop of foresight in men is laid hold of, how great must it be in the fountain itself? Insipid indeed is the comment, to fancy that God remains doubtful and waiting for what will happen to individuals, as if it were in their own power either to attain to salvation or to perish. But the Prophets words are plain, for God testifies with grief that he willeth not the death of a mortal. I answer, that there is no absurdity, as we said before, in God’s undertaking a twofold character, not that he is two-faced himself, as those profane dogs blurt out against us, but because his counsels are incomprehensible by us. This indeed ought to be fixed, that before the foundation of the world we were predestinated either to life or death. Now because we cannot ascend to that height, it is needful for God to conform himself to our ignorance, and to descend in some way to us since we cannot ascend to him. When Scripture so often says that God has heard, and inquires, no one is offended: all pass over those forms of speech securely, and confess them adopted from human language. (Gen 16:11, and often.) Very often, I say, God transfers to himself the properties of man, and this is admitted universally without either offense or controversy. Although this manner of speaking is rather harsh: God came to see, (Gen 11:5,) when he announces that he came to inquire about things openly known; it is easily excused, since nothing is less in accordance with his nature: for the solution is at hand, namely, that God speaks metaphorically, and adapts his speech to the convenience of men. Now why will not the same reasoning avail in the present case? for with respect to the law and the whole teaching of the prophets, God announces his wish that all should be saved. And surely we consider the tendency of the heavenly teaching, we shall find that all are promiscuously called to salvation. For the law was a way of life, as Moses testifies, This is the way, walk you in it: again, Whosoever has done those things shall live in them: and, again, This is your life. (Deu 30:15; Deu 32:47; Lev 18:5; Isa 30:21.) Then of his own accord God offers himself as merciful to his ancient people, so that this heavenly teaching ought to be life-giving. But what is the Gospel? It is God’s power unto salvation to every believer, says Paul. (Rom 1:16.) Therefore God delighteth not in the death of him who dieth, if he repent at his teaching. But if we wish to penetrate to his incomprehensible counsel, this will be another objection: Oh! but in this way God is chargeable with duplicity; — but I have denied this, though he takes up a twofold character, because this was necessary for our comprehension. Meanwhile Ezekiel announces this very truly as far as doctrine is concerned, that God wills not the death of him that perishes: for the explanation follows directly afterwards, be you converted and live. Why does not God delight in the death of him who perishes? Because he invites all to repentance and rejects no one. Since this is so, it follows that he is not delighted by the death of him who perishes: hence there is nothing in this passage doubtful or thorny, and we should also hold that we are led aside by speculations too deep for us. For God does not wish us to inquire into his secret. Counsels: His secrets are with himself, says Moses, (Deu 29:29,) but this book for ourselves and our children. Moses there distinguishes between the hidden counsel of God, (which if we desire to investigate too curiously we shall tread on a profound abyss,)and the teaching delivered to us. Hence let us leave to God his own secrets, and exercise ourselves as far as we can in the law, in which God’s will is made plain to us and to our children. Now let us go on.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
32. I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth If they die, it will be not because of God’s will, but because of their own. It is God’s will that all men come to repentance. (See 2Pe 3:9; 1Ti 2:2-4.) Only their own obstinacy or indifference or love of sin, or unbelief, can keep them away from life. “The most glorious, the most blessed truth ever revealed of God to this sinning world is here that God has compassion toward even very guilty sinners; is pained, and not pleased, when he must punish; is delighted, even to infinite joy, when the sinner turns from his wicked way and lives.” Cowles.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
REFLECTIONS
READER! let us both pause over this solemn chapter, and ponder well the contents of it, looking up to God the Holy Ghost, with an humble eye of supplication, that He will be our teacher. Here we learn most awfully the sure end of sin. Here also we learn in what must consist the righteousness and everlasting safety of the re deemed.
Precious Lord Jesus! how increasingly precious is thy righteousness in this point to every truly awakened heart, convinced by the Holy Ghost of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. Truly, O Lord, there is, there can be no righteousness but Thine to be depended upon or trusted in. All our righteousness is as filthy rags, in which there is no confidence. From every fancied goodness of ours, for it is but fancied, not real, we should all apostatize, and die in our iniquity. Truly, Lord, in Thee alone is salvation found. Lord! turn poor sinners to behold Thee and Thy loveliness, and to seek Thy face in Thy strength, that their souls may be saved in the great day of the Lord!
Dearest Lord Jesus! help both Writer and Reader to praise Thee, in the consciousness that Thy salvation is forever, and Thy righteousness that which cannot be abolished. Thy people, kept by Thee, upheld by Thee, and justified by Thee, and in Thy righteousness, cannot turn away. If, dear Lord, the righteousness was their own, and wrought out in their own strength, then indeed both themselves and their merit might and would be lost, and as it came, so it would go. But founded in Thee, and in the power of Thy might, they are strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Help then, O Lord, both Writer and Reader, to be forever looking unto Thee for righteousness and strength. Let it be the constant language and experience of both our souls to say, as one of old did, and to rest in the same blessed assurance, I will go forth in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of Thy righteousness, even of Thine only. My mouth shall show forth Thy righteousness and Thy salvation all the day, for I know not the numbers thereof.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 18:32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn [yourselves], and live ye.
Ver. 32. For I have no pleasure. ] See on Eze 18:23 ; Eze 33:11 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I have no pleasure. This is the answer to the question in Eze 18:23.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I have: Eze 18:23, Lam 3:33, 2Pe 3:9
yourselves: or, others, Eze 18:30
Reciprocal: Gen 2:17 – surely Jer 44:8 – that ye might cut Eze 18:13 – shall he Eze 33:11 – I have Luk 15:10 – there Luk 19:42 – If Joh 3:10 – and knowest Rom 11:11 – Have they stumbled Rom 13:12 – cast 2Co 5:20 – as 1Ti 2:4 – will 1Pe 2:1 – laying
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 18:32. The primary object of discipline is discussed at verse 23.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
This death among His people gave the Lord no pleasure (cf. Eze 18:23; Isa 28:21; Joh 5:40; 1Ti 2:4; 2Pe 3:9). He called them to change their attitude, to practice obedience to the covenant, and to live. Repentance was possible for the generation of Jews to whom Ezekiel ministered in Babylon.
God still deals with people in the same righteous manner under the New Covenant as He did under the Old. Whereas our responsibilities under the New Covenant are somewhat different from Israel’s under the Old, the Lord still holds His people personally responsible for our obedience to His will. Personal failure to obey still affects our present lives negatively, and personal obedience still affects our lives positively. As Christians we are personally responsible for our actions, just as the Israelites were. Our personal actions will affect our lives just as was true in Israel. For Christians, who live under the New Covenant, premature death may be God’s judgment for sin (e.g. Act 5:1-11; 1Co 11:30; 1Jn 5:16). However, under the New Covenant what we do in this life also has eternal consequences, not that we will lose our salvation, but we will suffer the loss of some eternal rewards (Rom 14:10-12; 1Co 3:8-15; 2Co 5:10). [Note: For an exegetical study of believers’ rewards under the New Covenant, see Joseph C. Dillow, The Reign of the Servant Kings: A Study of Eternal Security and the Final Significance of Man, pp. 515-32. For a more popular treatment of the same subject, I recommend Joe L. Wall, Going for the Gold. See also the Doctrinal Statement of Dallas Theological Seminary, Article XVI: The Christian’s Service, par. 2.] The Lord normally gave Old Testament saints the hope that their reward would come before they died (but see Dan 12:2-3; Dan 12:13), but He has given Christians the hope that our reward will come mainly after we die. God has always justified people for their trust in Him, and He has always rewarded them for their works.
"The Church in every generation must be alerted to a future judgment seat that is to be a sober constraint and incentive in present living (Rom 14:10; Rom 14:12; 2Co 5:10; Gal 6:7-8). The necessity of continuance in the faith and in a lifestyle that commends it is backed by grave provisos from which no believer is exempt (Rom 11:22; 1Co 15:2; Col 1:23; Heb 3:14)." [Note: Allen, p. 281.]
"Few units in Ezekiel match ch. 18 for the transparency and permanent relevance of their message." [Note: Block, The Book . . ., p. 589.]