12<\/strong>. It would have been enough to illustrate the earnest exhortation, Turn ye, why will ye die? ( Eze 33:11<\/em><\/span>) by the assurance that if the wicked turns his past sins will not be remembered against him ( Eze 33:16<\/em><\/span>). But the prophet states the truth in a more general form. His purpose is to teach also the general truth that the past of one’s life does not of necessity determine the future either in itself or in the judgment of God. This, next to the assurance of God’s gracious will regarding men ( Eze 33:11<\/em><\/span>), was the truth most needed to comfort the people and awaken them out of the stupor which lay on them into a moral life and activity again.<\/p>\n It is merely to distort the prophet’s words to say that he teaches that a man’s past life goes for nothing, and that he will be judged merely according to what he is found doing “at the moment” of the judgment. The prophet is not speaking of moments. He speaks to men overwhelmed by a judgment of God which seemed to leave no hope for the future, and he lays down the principle needful for the moral awakening of the people that the past is not irrevocable, that a future of possibility lies before them. It is too true that the evil of a man’s past life prolongs itself into the future and that sin cannot at once be done with. Yet we “believe in the forgiveness of sins;” and this is the truth which the prophet desires to teach his countrymen, over whelmed with the thought of their own evil past. When he says the righteous shall “live” he means by living the complex thing, having the favour of God and having an external felicity corresponding to this.<\/p>\n Old Testament prophets and saints were hardly able to conceive the first of these two things existing apart from the second. And the prophet probably still considers them inseparably connected. And hence, when teaching that the son shall not suffer for the sins of the father, and that the righteous shall “live” and the wicked “die,” he has been charged with inculcating a doctrine more false to reality than the old one which it was designed to supersede. But here again a certain injustice is done to the prophet. No doubt when he uses the word “live” he employs it in the pregnant sense, viz. to enjoy the favour of God and to have this favour reflected in outward felicity. But just as Jeremiah relegates the principle that the children shall not suffer for the sins of the father to the new era about to dawn, so Ezek. agrees with him. Neither prophet is laying down a new principle which is to obtain in the world, the world going on as it had done before. Ezek. feels himself, as all the prophets do, on the threshold of a new Epoch, the era of the perfect kingdom of God, and it is in this new era that the principle which he enunciates shall prevail. See at the end of ch. 18.<\/p>\n As for the wickedness of the wicked, <\/B>& c.: see Eze 3:20<\/span>; 18:20-22<\/span>,24<\/span>, where the same things are explained. <\/P> <\/p>\n 12. not fall . . . in the day thathe turneth<\/B> (2Ch 7:14<\/span>;see Eze 3:20<\/span>; Eze 18:24<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people<\/strong>,…. [See comments on Eze 33:2]<\/span>. The purport of what the prophet is bid to say in this and some following verses is, that the righteousness of a man that trusts in it, he sinning and not repenting, shall not save him; and that the wickedness of a repenting sinner shall not damn him:<\/p>\n the righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression<\/strong>; this must be understood, not of a truly righteous man, or of the righteousness of Christ, by which such an one is made so; for that righteousness does deliver those to whom it is imputed, from sin and the condemnation of it, even in the day of his transgression, which is every day of his life; for there is not a just man that does good, and sinneth not; and in the day when his sin is shown him, and he is convinced of it, this removes the guilt of it; and in the day it will be sought for, or he may be charged with it, and when the sins of others will be brought to an account, the righteousness by which he is justified will deliver him from avenging justice; from the curse of the law; from the wrath of God; from eternal death, and everlasting damnation; but this is to be interpreted of one that is not truly righteous, and of a man’s own righteousness; and which he trusts to, as is afterwards expressed; and may and does turn from: this can never deliver a man in the day of his transgression from the guilt and condemnation of it; for a man’s own righteousness is but what he ought to do; and, was it ever so perfect, yet, should he commit one single sin, it would not justify him from it, or deliver him from the curse of the law and wrath of God due unto it:<\/p>\n as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness<\/strong>; when he is truly convinced of his sin, and the evil of it; is heartily sorry for it, after a godly sort; ingenuously confesses it, and departs from it; applies to Christ, to his blood and righteousness, for pardon and acceptance; though his wickedness has been ever so great, or attended with ever such aggravating circumstances, yet it shall not damn him; or he shall not fall by it into hell and everlasting perdition; but shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation:<\/p>\n neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth<\/strong>; he cannot live by it, nor for it; as it cannot justify him, it cannot save him, or bring him to heaven, or entitle him to eternal life; he is not able to live comfortably now; when his sin is charged upon him, his righteousness will not relieve him; and much less will he be able to live happily hereafter; he must and will die in his sins, being found in them, for anything his own righteousness can do for him: this is the same with the former clause, and is repeated in different words for the confirmation of it; self-righteous persons not being easily convinced of the truth of these things.<\/p>\n “And you, son of man, say to the children of your people, ‘The righteousness of the righteous will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not fall by it in the day that he turns from his wickedness. Nor will he who is righteous be able to live by it in the day that he sins.’ ”<\/p>\n This is not talking about sins that we commit because we are sinful and cannot help it, even though we try, it is talking about presumptuous sin. It is talking about an attitude of heart and mind taken up and clung to. If the righteous man deliberately turns to sin and disobedience as a way of life, all his previous righteousness will be of no avail. A man is not saved by the amount of his righteousness. Looked at from the human standpoint he is saved by his response to God’s graciousness. And if that response ceases he is revealed as an unworthy sinner, and he cannot therefore count on any righteousness that he has done. For no amount of righteousness can save a man.<\/p>\n In the same way, if a man whose heart has been turned in the way of sinfulness has a change of heart and mind and turns to God and His graciousness, his past sins will be forgiven him. He will begin a new life in the mercy of God. All his past sins will have been done away.<\/p>\n This tends to raise many questions in the heart of a Christian concerning the fear of falling away, and what will happen to the one who does so. And its answer is that if a man falls away finally then he will not be accepted at the judgment. It will be no good pleading what he has previously done.<\/p>\n But the other side of things also has to be considered, the Godward side. God’s promise is to save a man out of his sins, not to save him in them. His promise is to transform men’s hearts and minds (2Co 5:17<\/span>), to take them from one degree of glory to another (2Co 3:18<\/span>), to work in His own to will and to do of His good pleasure (Php 2:13<\/span>). And He will not fail in those promises. He will confirm to the end those who are His (1Co 1:8<\/span>).<\/p>\n A godly man was once asked, ‘Do you believe in the perseverance of the saints?’ And that godly man replied, ‘No. I believe in the perseverance of the Saviour.’ So those whom the Saviour saves will be persevered with. They cannot fall permanently back into sin, otherwise He would have failed. But it warns us that there is no peace in wallowing in sin on the basis of past experience. If Christ is truly at work within us our hearts will be right at the end, for He will ensure that it is so. There is no contradiction between Ezekiel and the Gospel.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Eze 33:12 Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his [righteousness] in the day that he sinneth.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Ver. 12. Say unto the children.<\/strong> ] The same as before, only with a proviso of perseverance in welldoing, for else all is lost. Non enim quaeruntur in Christianis initia sed finis,<\/em> saith Jerome, The end is better than the beginning.<\/p>\n thereby: or, therein. <\/p>\n in the day = when. See App-18. <\/p>\n for his righteousness = thereby, or therein, in the day, &c. <\/p>\n sinneth. Hebrew. chata’. App-44. <\/p>\n say: Eze 33:2 <\/p>\n The righteousness: Eze 33:18, Eze 3:20, Eze 3:21, Eze 18:24-26 <\/p>\n as for: Eze 33:19, Eze 18:21, Eze 18:27-32, 1Ki 8:48-50, 2Ch 7:14, Mat 21:28-31, Rom 3:25 <\/p>\n neither: 1Jo 2:1 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Pro 2:13 – leave Jer 34:16 – ye turned Eze 3:11 – the children Eze 18:28 – turneth Amo 5:7 – leave<\/p>\n Eze 33:12. The gist of this verse is that as a man terminates his life, so will be his lot ever afterwards. If he turns from a wicked course and does good the rest of his days, the Lord will not hold his former sins against him. On the same principle, if a righteous man backslides and ends his days in sin, his previous good deeds will not save him when the test comes lo determine his lot.<\/p>\n 33:12 Therefore, thou son of man, say to the children of thy people, The {g} righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall by it in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his [righteousness] in the day that he sinneth.<\/p>\n (g) Read of this righteousness, Eze 18:21; Eze 18:24 .<\/p>\n The right conduct of a usually righteous person would not exempt him from judgment if he sinned. Neither would the sinful conduct of a usually sinful person exempt him from forgiveness if he repented. The usually righteous person should not take God’s promise of life for righteous living as a guarantee that he was exempt from punishment if he sinned. As in chapter 18, the issue here is not earning eternal salvation or losing it by the way one lives. It is rather the consequences of individual behavior in this life, which the Mosaic Law promised.<\/p>\n Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 33:12”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21303\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"