The Gravity of Sins No Longer Remembered
I was just doing some Old Testament research in preparing for this Sunday's sermon and was directed by a commentary to Ezekiel 18 . It is a really interesting passage and it reminds me of a question asked by the Rabbi who taught my Hebrew Bible class at U Chicago. He asked, "Does God punish children for the sins of their parents?" It was an interesting question at the time because he posed it in sharing Scripture that seemed both to agree and disagree. His point was that we needed to look at the historical setting and context of the passages we read so we can see the consistency in Scripture and the evolution of the story, rather than the contrast. The book of Ezekiel includes apocalyptic writing similar to the book of Revelation. It is written during the time of the Babylonian captivity - a time in which God told the people to circumcise their hearts. He is speaking to a group of people who once lived in proximity to other "Children of God" and the Temple,...