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JEREMIAH 31: 29, 30

EZEKIEL 18: 2-4

Intro: Christianity has no more insidious foe than misrepresentation -- either in the  lives
       of its adherents or in the interpretation of its doctrine.
        A. Usually results from snatching phrase from context.
        1. Proverb - "The fathers have eaten sour grapes."
                a. Man helpless because of relationship to his father.
        2. God punishes children because of father's sin.

I. HISTORY OF PROVERB. JEREMIAH  31: 29,30.
        A. Only found two places in scripture (our texts).
                1. Jeremiah - ministry for doomed to failure. 
                        a. His prophesies of hope come from dungeon.
                                "Behold the days come."
                                "I will sow the house of Israel ." ) 
                                "I will make a new Covenant." ) 
                                "That I will rebuild the city." )
                        b. "In those days ye shall no more say..."
                        c. Looking forward to restoration and true concept of God.
                2. Ezekiel 18:2-4.
                        a. Ezekiel received call 6 yrs. before fall of Jerusalem.
                        b. Did not begin until Babylon captivity.
                        c. Received elders from Jerusalem and asked why they used proverb 
                           "The Fathers" - chapter 18 refutation.
        B. Used today -
                1. Look at me, I cannot help what I am, "My father ate sour grapes and my
                   teeth..."

II. GOD'S ANSWER TO THE PROVERB.
        A. In its use in the scripture it is denied.
                1. Jeremiah tells of day when usage shall cease, and then gives it the direct
                   lie.
                        a. Tells opposing truth - "Everyone shall die for their own sins."  
                           "Every man that eateth."
                2. Ezekiel Exposition on "Everyone shall die for own iniquity."
                        a. vs. 1 - "All souls are mine."
                                1. No man shut off by distance of Father.
                                2. "Man shall be judged by things he does not, what he 
                                   inherited."
                                3. Here is man who says, "I am not blaming my Father,
                                        but those early years of deeds - my past, my sin - 
                                        they master me still."
                                        a. New birth.
                                        b. Break from past.

III CONCLUDING TRUTHS.
        A. God never punishes children for fathers' sins, except as children continue in sins
           of father.
                1. Passage quoted - Ex. 20:50, "I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting
                   the iniquity of the fathers upon the children."  "Upon the 3rd and 4th 
                   generation of them that hate me."
                2. Distinction between judgment and chastisement. Children often suffer as
                   result of parents' sin.
                3. You inherit your fleshly body from your father heredity.
                        a. Our spirits created by God. Not generated by Father.

If your teeth are set on edge - you have eaten.
"My father ate and I inherited tendency."
God is greater than your father, and the powers he places at your disposal - greater than all
tendencies toward sour grapes.

"I have eaten them, I am guilty, but though I now hate them, I require them and must eat."