Three cases illustrate this principle: a father doing right (vv. 5-9), his son doing evil (vv. 10-13), and his grandson doing right (vv. 14-18). In each case Ezekiel described the individual's actions and the Lord's responses.
18:5-6 If a person behaved righteously and obeyed the Mosaic Law, that person would live. This is the basic point. Evidence of righteousness before God was typically obedience to specific commands in the Law. The Lord cited five types of behavior that manifested departure from the will of God under the Mosaic Law.
First, eating ceremonial meals at idol shrines and trusting in idols were forbidden but practiced by the Jews in Ezekiel's day (cf. Deut. 12:2-4). This was a violation of the first four commandments in the Decalogue that required exclusive allegiance to Yahweh.
Second, committing adultery and having sex with a woman during her menstrual period were practiced even though God prohibited them (Exod. 20:14; Lev. 15:24; 18:19; 2010, 18; Deut. 22:22).259This and the following three cases are examples of the fifth through the tenth commandments that specify how one should treat other people. With regard to himself, the righteous man maintained his moral and ceremonial purity even in the privacy of his marital life.
18:7 Third, oppressing others and not returning something given as collateral when someone returned what he had borrowed were violations of the covenant (Exod. 22:26-27; Deut. 24:6). This is an example of life within the covenant community but outside the marriage relationship.
Fourth, not robbing but instead providing food and clothing to the needy were commanded (Deut. 15:11; 24:19-22; cf. Isa. 58:7). Both of the examples in this verse deal with one's relationships to the neighbor inside and outside Israel. Both examples also specify the correct action in contrast to the incorrect.
18:8 Fifth, not charging interest of other Israelites or practicing iniquity but providing true justice and faithfully doing all that God required of His people further represented doing God's will. The selfishness of the Jewish usurers cut to the very heart of their sinfulness. Again, God specified correct conduct as well as condemning sin (cf. v. 7).
18:9 In sum, the Israelite who lived by the Mosaic standards was righteous in behavior and could anticipate a long life of blessing from God (Lev. 18:1-5; Deut. 11; 26:16-19; 30:15-20; cf. Phil. 3:6). Clearly one's attitudes and actions toward other people demonstrate his or her attitudes and actions toward God.
18:10-13 Such a righteous person might have an unrighteous son who violently shed the blood of others. This son might do all the bad things that his father avoided doing and might fail to do all the good things that his father did. He would die for his own sins; the responsibility for his death would be his own.
18:14-18 This sinful son might have a son who observed his father's behavior and chose to follow the example of his righteous grandfather rather than that of his unrighteous father. He refrained from the same evil practices and engaged in the same forms of goodness. That man would surely live for his righteousness whereas his father would die for his wickedness. Wicked parents do not necessarily produce wicked children because the children can choose to do right.260
". . . in this world God does indeed punish entire groupsfor the sins that they as groupscommit, even when some members of the group may be innocent. Such groups are often nations, cities, or other political entities, but they may also be societal groups such as priests or prophets, or economic groups such as businesses or trade guilds, or such voluntary associations as churches."261
