Behold, all souls are mine; as
the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul
that sinneth, it shall die."
This is a precious chapter, and a comfortable chapter likewise, for it
helps us to clear up a puzzle which has tormented the minds of men in all
ages whenever they have thought of God, and of whether God meant them
well, or meant them ill.
For all men have been tempted. We are tempted at times to say,--The
fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.
That is, we are punished not for what we have done wrong, but for what
our fathers did wrong. One man says,--My forefathers squandered their
money, and I am punished by being poor. Or, my forefathers ruined their
constitutions, and, therefore, I am weakly and sickly. My forefathers
were ignorant and reckless, and, therefore, I was brought up ignorant,
and in all sorts of temptation. And so men complain of their ill-luck
and bad chance, as they call it, till they complain of God, and say, as
the Jews said in Ezekiel's time, God's ways are unequal--partial--unfair.
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