Justice and Exile

Ezekiel 18

“God is not just.” is a sentiment that has caused many to reject the Lord. Have you ever run across this? It can happen in a variety of ways. For some who grew up in the church and were part of a church for a time saw or experienced things that shouldn’t have happened; things that brought pain, and went unchecked. That’s a tragedy. They feel justified in leaving not only the church, but the faith they once thought they had.

There are others who see the way of the world around them, the great inequities of people. When George Floyd died in May of 2020 it brought attention to social injustice and how black people did not have the privilege that white people had in society. This is just the tip of things, however. It isn’t limited to black people in Western societies, it is true when you compare one country with another. It is why so many people desire to immigrate the United States. As a whole, there is more wealth and comfort in the US than in many other countries in the world. That rubs against our innate desire for justice. Shouldn’t everyone get to start with an equal footing? Shouldn’t we seek to spread the wealth equally if life is to be fair?

While we may not like it, but we recognize that this is the way it is. You can’t escape the economic conditions of your birth, or the stigmas that society pins on you because of your birth. This reality has been the justification for many to reject or turn away from God and try and find their own way in the world.

This is a bit like what was happening in Israel. Frustrated by their situation, but recognizing it is the way things are, they sought to justify their rejection of God’s calls for repentance. “Why bother?” was their attitude. This is at the heart of this proverb that was popular in their day,

‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’ (Ezekiel 18:2)

It was something they accepted as true and used it to make their case against God. “Your justice, God, is wrong!” God addresses this proverb in this chapter and concludes, “no, you’re confused. It is your ways that are unjust.”

the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? (Ezekiel 18:29)

What are we to do in light of this? Turn and live. That’s how the chapter ends.