God Is Just
No pleasure in punishment
Ezekiel 18:21-24
Read the Bible through:
AM - Song of Solomon 1-4 : PM - 1 Corinthians 13
Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Lord GOD, "and not that he should turn from his ways and live?" (Ezek. 18:23)
No pleasure in punishment
Ezekiel 18:21-24
Read the Bible through:
AM - Song of Solomon 1-4 : PM - 1 Corinthians 13
Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Lord GOD, "and not that he should turn from his ways and live?" (Ezek. 18:23)
My cousin, Jimmy, was a childhood prankster who loved to tease and torment. He would pester the girls, sneak out of school, and generally stay in trouble.
Frequently, he received a skin-tingling whipping from his Mama. I often heard her say, "Son, this hurts me more than it does you." He would holler back, "Then why don't you stop, and we'll both feel better?"
We have been reading from God's message to Ezekiel about the causes and consequences of sin. God told the Israelites how to break free from the sin trap. God assures that all the transgressions the wicked person has committed in the past will not be mentioned to him in the future. This is what God desires. He has no "pleasure at all that the wicked should die" (18:23). To the contrary, the Lord God desires that the repentant sinner "should return from his ways, and live."
Gracious Lord, You are my pleasure and my life.
