Ezekiel 18:2
What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?
The question exposes and forbids the proverb then current in Israel that children suffer for their fathers' sins, rejecting inherited blame as an excuse for personal conduct and for refusing repentance. Its context declares that every soul belongs to God, that the soul who sins shall die, and that the one who acts justly and keeps His judgments shall live. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor the father bear the iniquity of the son.
Children who have reached years of accountability are responsible for their own actions and must cooperate with God in working out their own salvation. When parents' commands conflict with God's commands, children must obey God as heavenly Father, Owner, Creator and Redeemer, even if punished or cast out for it, while still respecting parents and not hating them. When underage children are compelled to transgress what is plainly prescribed by the commandments, the sin is charged to the parents who cause them to transgress.
Righteous living means walking in God's statutes and judgments, not oppressing others, restoring the pledge, not spoiling by violence, giving bread to the hungry, covering the naked with a garment, not lending on usury, withdrawing the hand from iniquity, and executing true judgment between people. If the wicked turns from his wickedness and keeps God's statutes and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live and his transgressions shall not be mentioned against him, for God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked but desires that he turn and live. In another sense, a father's habits of dissipation, dissolute recklessness and intemperance bring consequences upon his child, so that in looking upon the child he sees the result of his own unsanctified life.
Seeing that result should lead to candid conviction producing deep penitence and thorough reform, strict temperance in eating and drinking, cleansing of the heart fountain so that the streams are pure, and a hard battle to overcome self and learn self-control not in one's own strength but as a conqueror in the name of Jesus through His merits, lest there follow a bitter wretched life in this world and condemnation when judgment sits and each is judged from the books. The chapter shows that the Lord will speak the same whether people will hear or will refuse, calling for faithful work at all times and in all places with full capability, tact and ingenuity, so that no one is left without a clear message about sin and accountability. The verse means messages of reproof and warning come to God's people, to mothers, to fathers and to the children of Israel, so that they do not move blindly. Those who hear and take heed with patience and a generous, teachable spirit will receive the Lord's blessing, while those who turn from God's light and act unjustly will face His judgment.