Therefore I will judge you, O America, each according to his conduct, declares the Lord God.

Ezekiel 18 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying,

‘The fathers eat the sour grapes, But the children’s teeth are set on edge’?

³ As I live,” declares the Lord God, “you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. ⁴ Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.

⁵ “But if a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness, ⁶ and does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period— ⁷ if a man does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, ⁸ if he does not lend money on interest or take increase, if he keeps his hand from iniquity and executes true justice between man and man, ⁹ if he walks in My statutes and My ordinances so as to deal faithfully—he is righteous and will surely live,” declares the Lord God.

¹⁰ “Then he may have a violent son who sheds blood and who does any of these things to a brother ¹¹ (though he himself did not do any of these things), that is, he even eats at the mountain shrines, and defiles his neighbor’s wife, ¹² oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore a pledge, but lifts up his eyes to the idols and commits abomination, ¹³ he lends money on interest and takes increase; will he live? He will not live! He has committed all these abominations, he will surely be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.

¹⁴ “Now behold, he has a son who has observed all his father’s sins which he committed, and observing does not do likewise. ¹⁵ He does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife, ¹⁶ or oppress anyone, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery, but he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, ¹⁷ he keeps his hand from the poor, does not take interest or increase, but executes My ordinances, and walks in My statutes; he will not die for his father’s iniquity, he will surely live. ¹⁸ As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was not good among his people, behold, he will die for his iniquity.

¹⁹ “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity?’ When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has observed all My statutes and done them, he shall surely live. ²⁰ The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

²¹ “But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²² All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. ²³ Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?

²⁴ “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die. ²⁵ Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Hear now, O house of Israel! Is My way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right? ²⁶ When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and dies because of it, for his iniquity which he has committed he will die. ²⁷ Again, when a wicked man turns away from his wickedness which he has committed and practices justice and righteousness, he will save his life. ²⁸ Because he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²⁹ But the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?

³⁰ “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct,” declares the Lord God. “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. ³¹ Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? ³² For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”

If we take the last part of today’s text and replace “house of Israel” with America, it will speak God’s heart and will for our nation.  the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?

“Therefore I will judge you, O America, each according to his conduct,” declares the Lord God. “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O America? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”   God takes no pleasure in the death or the suffering of anyone.”         2 Peter 3:9 says:  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. The text begins saying:  Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers eat the sour grapes, But the children’s teeth are set on edge’? As I live,” declares the Lord God, “you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.”  Each individual will be judged for their own sins unless they repent and turn from their transgressions. John 3:16 says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  Turning from sin is not enough. We need to turn to Christ, who redeemed us from sin. Acts 4:12 says:  There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.  In John 14:6 Jesus says:  "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Again, the text says:  The soul who sins will die… each according to his conduct.  God will not judge us individually for the conduct or the sins of our nation, our culture or our society. But as our nation, culture and society move away from God and His will, we also move away from His hand of protection, His blessing and His grace. As our nation collectively embraces immorality; as we collectively reject God, His word and His will, as we reject His son, who died to forgive and redeem us, we are subject to the consequences of our choices. There is a line in the song America the Beautiful that says:  America, America! God shed His grace on thee.  As we collectively move away from God, we also shed the blessings, protection and provision of His grace.  Still, part of God’s grace is that He gives us time to repent. Individually none of us know when this life will come to an end, so the time to repent is now. As a nation, we don’t know when Christ will return, whether it is days, months, years or decades away, but it is still time now for us to return to Him. No political party or human institution can save us individually or collectively. In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God says: If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.   The salvation of our nation begins with the people called by the name of God humbling themselves and praying; seeking God’s face and turning from their wicked ways. It begins as we, the people of God abide in Him. It begins as we determine to live as Jesus called us to live in Matthew 5:14-16:  “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”  We can no longer be silent or unseen and expect God to bless our nation.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, may our nation recognize how far it has strayed from Your will.  May each one individually come to know Your love and grace; repent and turn from their sin. May it begin with me. I humbly seek Your face, that I might walk in Your grace and be light in the darkness of our nation.  In Jesus name, the only name by which people can be saved, I pray.  Amen.