Ezekiel 18:19

Why? doth not the son bear? Or, “Why doth not the son bear?” The query probably has its source in the fact that the parable seemingly contradicts the teaching of the law, the operations of nature, and popular opinion. Ezekiel does not reason with the human objection, but repeats the law of individual responsibility. In Jewish thinking the individual was regarded as a part of a nation or family. Ezekiel’s new teaching was really a precursor of one of the basic concepts of the new covenant. Under the old covenant (see on Ezekiel 16:60) men believed that salvation was based upon an external connection with the central system of worship. The priest was the interpreter of divine law, and the individual, instead of searching the Scriptures for himself, depended upon the interpretation of the religious leaders. Under the new covenant it is expressly stated, “And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest” (Hebrews 8:11; cf. Jeremiah 31:34). All were to have direct access to God. No longer were they to worship at Jerusalem through external ceremony, but they would worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24). God requires justice and mercy toward men and humility toward Him (Micah 6:8).